Screw It Just DO It with Alex Chisnall

Building your podcast, your vlog, your blog whatever your pillar content strategy is going to be. I am hoping this will set you up not only for 2020 but maybe it will help you finish the year strong as well. These are exercises that I will be getting my students to do on my first podcast course. So I thought it would be really useful to share some of them with you. 1) What's your story? 2) List out all the things that you love - everything. 3) Write down all the subjects you have knowledge of. 4) Rocking Chair Test - list out what you want to be remembered for.

So there’s 50 days left to go in 2019. What have you still got on your To Do list for 2019 that you could accomplish in the next 50 days and put yourself ahead of your competition for 2020. So many people I speak to are consigned to doing what’s left on their 2019 To Do list in 2020. What could you still do in the next 50 days that would move you and your business forward? Pick one thing and go hard in trying to accomplish it this year. Then take a well earned break with your family & friends over Christmas. But don’t put off until tomorrow what you can accomplish today. Do what your competition isn’t prepared to do. 

I welcome Cemal Ezel, Founder and Ceo of Change Please to episode #179 of Screw It, Just Do It: UK Social Entrepreneur Of The Year, 2017, $1 Million Chivas Venture Winner, and Richard Branson's Startup of the Year 2018 - and the man responsible for the coffee you're drinking onboard a Virgin Train or Virgin Atlantic Airways aircraft. I had the pleasure of catching up with Cemal twice in one week in October, as he very kindly spoke at my Entrepreneur Summit 2019 and at the SME forum I host for British American Business every quarter for UK businesses looking to scale in the US. Now I've known Cemal for 4 or 5 years now and the growth of his business has been nothing short of phenomenal. I last interviewed him two years ago in 2017 and other than Piers Linney, this is the only repeat guest I've had on this show. Why: Because my 2017 interview with him was, and still is, my personal favourite of every episode ever recorded for this show. I wanted to highlight what's possible - anything - if you're super-focused, persevere and are very clear on your why. It's just one hell of a story. Change Please trains people who are homeless as barista's and provides each person with a London living wage job, housing, bank account and mental health support. Today's episode comes in two parts, first my chat with Cemal in front of our live audience, complete with paper rustling form yours truly, secondly, an up to date talk from Cemal on Change Please's expansion into the US and the challenges that they have faced. We talk about: The perceptions that need changing around social businesses Distribution being the biggest challenge The currency of the future StartUp!

So this Week I was a guest on a live webinar with Rachael Taplin from Media Match Maker. We had 30 minutes of guests asking me their podcasting questions followed by 30 minutes of pitching ideas for their own podcasts. I loved this format and love the idea of hosting my own live webinar with you! Do you like this idea? If so, direct message me @ @alexchisnall on LinkedIn, @alexanderchisnall on Instagram or email alex@screwitjustdoit.org in the meantime, here were the most commonly asked questions I received - along with my answers. let me know your thoughts!  

So, I'll be honest with you. I've been helping X-Forces Enterprise, an organisation that helps ex-military servicemen and servicewomen transition from military to civilian life, by helping them create their own podcast and vlog. When I heard their  founder of X-Force's personal story, I wanted to share it with you. I obviously had to ask her, as I didn't realise she hadn't shared it publicly before. It's a story that I believe can only inspire more of you to not only start your own businesses, but also illustrate that you don't have to let what's happened in your past hold you back, or be the narrative to your present and future. Ren Kapur MBE set-up X-Forces Enterprise in 2013 after seeing a number of troops return home from active service and struggle to find work. They now offer support to former members of the armed forces and their families and helps them start up their own businesses by offering funding, mentoring and education through a regular programme of workshops. Ren has subsequently been awarded an MBE for her services to enterprise in the Queen's birthday honours. That's impressive, but it was her personal journey that interested me, and what she's overcome to achieve this success. She left school at just sixteen and two days for an arranged marriage, had two children whilst still a teenager herself, then had her children taken away whilst they were still very young. In episode #177 we talk about her: Unconventional upbringings & how your past needn't hold you back Opportunities starting a business offers Community - belonging, family and support Let's StartUp!