Secret Leaders with Dan Murray-Serter & Chris Donnelly

Emma Parker, Founder of Playful Promises, discusses the challenges of running a lingerie business, including financial difficulties and mistakes made. She shares how her business went into administration but managed to keep the intellectual property of the brand. She also talks about building a brand, becoming ASOS's private label supplier, and the importance of work-life balance.

Shane Parrish, Founder of Fanham Street, shares key principles of clear thinking and great decision-making. Topics include journaling for clarity, reliable internet solutions, the power of small moments, HR management with Personio, lessons from Brexit and lockdown, and the role of luck and positioning in success.

Alex Chisnall, Founder of a Podpreneur and host of the Screw It Just Do it podcast, shares his major failure in entrepreneurship, including debt collectors knocking on his door. He discusses the consequences, regrets, and valuable business lessons learned. He also opens up about past financial struggles, the importance of honesty and seeking support, and highlights the importance of learning from failures and growing sustainably in business.

Amy Edmondson, an influential management thinker, discusses her new book on failure and psychological safety. Topics include aversion to failure, evolving management styles, and embracing failure for personal growth. The podcast also explores the importance of security frameworks, HR management for startups, and strategies for parents to guide their children in approaching failure.

Games Workshop founder Sir Ian Livingstone, an industry veteran, angel investor, and fantasy author, discusses the origins of Games Workshop, the power of play and its positive effects, the speaker's entrepreneurial journey and selling the company, favorite video games and board games, security certifications and HR tools for startups, and the influence of video games on popular culture.

Simon Beckerman, founder of Depop, discusses the creation of the popular mobile social marketplace for vintage clothing. He shares challenges of separating from a family business, raising money for the startup, and designing the app. After selling Depop, Simon now tackles the food industry with DELLI, an app for buying and selling locally sourced food. The podcast also touches on building a startup, transitioning to an employee, achieving security frameworks, work-life balance, and prioritizing parenthood.

Meet Jordan Schwarzenburger, the Chief Creative Officer at YMU Group and manager of The Sidemen. He discusses the success of The Sidemen, their commercial ventures, and the importance of talent management. Topics include building a strong management team, making yourself dispensable, and the importance of humility in leadership.

Would you go back to save the business you started, when you’d already walked away? Renée Elliott had to fight for her business, Planet Organic, right from the start. Two years after they launched in 1995, her then-business partner tried to force her out, which culminated in a High Court battle. Renée won and along with her husband Brian who came on as Managing Director, took back control of the business. They ran it together for ten years. Then, in 2009 they decided to step away from the business to raise their children. They moved to Italy, then returned to the UK, where Renée started a coaching and wellbeing business, Beluga Bean. Nine years after she stepped back from the business, Renée sold the majority of her shares in Planet Organic. She'd done it, achieved the entrepreneur's dream, built a business, sold it and could now relax… or that’s what everyone thought. In May 2023 Renée made headlines when she led a bid to buy Planet Organic after it was announced the company was going into administration. It’s an extraordinary journey, but one Renée has not been able to be completely open about…until now.--SponsorsVorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders.Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders.Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders--NewsletterSign up here: https://secretleaders.email/.You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.

Dan Murray-Serter, Founder with 150k followers running three businesses, spills the secrets of building a personal brand. Topics include the benefits and unintended consequences of personal branding, social media engagement, different approaches to personal growth, outsourcing and investing, and the secret to building a personal brand through content distribution.

Christine Lemke, Co-Founder and CEO of Evidation, discusses her unique origin story and the creation of Evidation, an app that rewards users for daily activities. She shares her indifference towards unicorn status, highlighting the importance of financial stability. The podcast also explores topics like growing up in a lawless town, internet connectivity solutions, the significance of co-founder relationships, and the challenges faced by startups.