Happy MBA

Lizzie Penny and Alex Hirst are the cofounders of Hoxby, a community and social enterprise that provides companies with the best talent and helps people work in a way that best aligns with their chosen lifestyle.They're both advocates of what they call Workstyle, and have just published a book called Workstyle: A revolution for wellbeing, productivity and society.They also consult with companies to help them be more resilient and inclusive by learning how to take advantage of the rich diversity of talent across the whole of society.During this episode, you’ll learn more about their ideas, how and why they built Hoxby and what it takes to create organisations designed to cater for individualised ways of working.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort

“We are all part of this massive wood wide web. We are all connected, we are all entwined.”Life is full of changes, some are unexpected and traumatic and others can be intentional and nourishing. Coach and Vision 20/20 mentor Lana Jelenjev would like you to help you navigate change by thinking of your life as a tree – whether ripped from the soil or mindfully re-rooted.Re-rooting means digging carefully around your existing roots, gently shaking away old unwanted soil and looking for fertile ground for future growth. Through sharing her own story, Lana invites you to consider how you can consciously make nourishing changes yourself.LinksLana JelenjevWatch Lana’s talk in fullJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort

"When you’re writing something about your business. Anything. If it could be used – intact and just as coherently – by any of your competitors. It’s not good enough. Say something that only you can say, instead."Mychael Owen is an enigma. He started his first business at university, won a few awards and by 25 was advising other people how to start and grow businesses By 30 he'd started his first agency, employed 30 people with a turnover of £1.5m.On the surface everything looked great. But soon he started meddling. He was bored, restless and distracted.At 45 he realised that he craved being truly creative again, doing something he felt he was born to do. in short he was rudderless.So he did something drastic – over the next 6 months he closed all of his businesses. The change included'Wasting' (by the old rules) £100k on a business he didn't understandA couple of minor breakdownsChoosing to seek out a new tribe because his old tribe didn't understand him any more andThe unearthing of a four step journey back via 1. generosity, 2. value, 3. confidence, 4. preeminence.Mychael now has something that makes him money and makes him happy because he stops businesses becoming boring, and through his various other projects he meets his needs for writing, designing and hosting.Despite years of entrepreneurial experience, by his own admission he's still winging it and regularly has doubts and fears like we all do.But one thing he knows for sure is this: that the stories we tell matter. And that we should all tell more stories that other people can't tell.Join Carlos and Laurence to hear what Mychael has to say about telling authentic stories that connect with others.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort

When Carlos was a teenager, he never thought he could be an entrepreneur. He had very specific beliefs around what it mean to be an entrepreneur or businessman – the entrepreneur type was loud, flamboyant and risk taking. The businessman type was sober, stern and hard-nosed.He didn’t identify with either of those types.These days, though, we’ve been given much more opportunity to start businesses; from anywhere, doing nearly anything, for just about anyone. The options feel unlimited. Anyone can start a business. But thanks to Silicon Valley startup culture we have a limited perception of the type of person that can build successful businesses.At the Happy Startup School, Carlos and Laurence talk about doing the business from the inside out. They want to help people build businesses and create impact that is aligned to who they really are. The question then becomes “who am I… really?”One way to explore this question is through understanding the Enneagram. This model can be described as a system of personality typing that defines patterns in how people interpret the world and manage their emotions. It's based on nine personality types and maps each of these types on a nine-pointed diagram, which helps illustrate how the types relate to one another.On this episode, Carlos is joined by fellow Happy Startup members and Enneagram enthusiasts Beccie D’Cunha and Kieran Morris. This is the perfect introduction to the Enneagram and will show you how personal development can lead to professional development.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohortFollow Kieran via LinkedInConnect with Beccie via LinkedIn

One of the core models shared with participants of the Vision 20/20 programme is the Story of Change. Based on the Satir Change Model developed by Virginia Satir (family therapist and author), the Happy Startup School uses it to describe the transformation they wish for others.Rather than build products and services that they hope people will buy, members advocate a more design thinking approach that's based on understanding the change that people want to see in their lives. This helps them focus on making things that matter and creating actual value in people's lives.On this episode, Carlos and Laurence are joined by Serena Savini, HR expert and founder and host of the I'm Back! podcast. She was a member of Vision 20/20 Tribe 4, and she shares her mission to help people come back to work from life changing injuries and experiences. And how this story is helping others.If you're navigating a pivotal moment in you professional life or embarking on a project that is totally out of your comfort zone, then this is for you.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohortThe I’m Back! podcast

Mood is a mobile app that lets users track their mood with one tap a day. It was invented by Gareth Dauncey, a Welsh architect specialising in low-impact design and adaptive reuse of historic buildings.Gareth created Mood after years of spreading himself too thin. Things hadn’t felt right for a while so he started recording how he felt each day with a calendar and coloured pens. Over weeks and months he started to gain a new perspective that helped him take charge of his mental well-being.Following a couple of serendipitous encounters with his now good friend Marco and Ruby Wax he was set on a path that felt like his calling. He turned his manual tracking process into an app, and was able to help others through helping himself.In this episode, Carlos and Laurence talk with Gareth about his journey of creating Mood and becoming more aware of his mental wellbeing.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohortDownload the Mood appFrazzledMind

If you’re like Laurence and Carlos, following a squiggly life isn’t just a matter of circumstance, it’s in your nature.Sarah Ellis, cofounder of AmazingIf, says in her TED talk with her cofounder Helen Tupper “The legacy of the ladder is all around us.” That’s the career ladder; the linear view of life where work is all about straight line progression.Many of us were led to believe that progressing in life was as simple as ABC: school to university to graduate training scheme to skilled professional to moving up the hierarchy to getting paid more, to success.However, Carlos and Laurence didn’t follow that path. Instinctively they knew that it didn’t suit them. It didn’t excite them.They followed a more meandering road. Carlos been an academic, a web designer, a freelancer, an entrepreneur, an event manager, a retreat host, an online course creator, a community builder and a coach… This wasn’t a path that he’d predicted but for him it’s now all starting to make sense.When you follow a squiggly path it’s hard to understand how all your skills, knowledge and experience thread together, and therefore how to use them in the next stage of your journey.“A squiggly career is both full of uncertainty and full of possibility. Change is happening all the time. Some of it is in our control, and some of it's not.” says Helen in her and Sarah’s talk.Accepting this change is the secret to your resilience and understanding the meaning of your squiggly path is key to taking advantage of your future opportunities. However, you can only understand what it all means when you spend time pausing, reflecting, and asking yourself the right questions.On this episode, Laurence and Carlos are joined by one of the cofounders of AmazingIf and co-author of the books Squiggly Careers and You Coach You, Sarah Ellis.They talk about Sarah’s own squiggly career, her transition to entrepreneurship and what success means to her. This conversation is designed to inspire you to make important changes in your career and also make you feel more comfortable with living a squiggly life.

One of the most powerful ways we've found to connect with our followers is through our newsletter. But how do you do it so that it's energising and not exhausting, particularly when you're just starting out?For this episode, Carlos is joined by Lyndsay Lucero, founder of Baxley Goods. She's passionate about making exceptional goods that also help our planet. She shares her journey of creating a newsletter for her company to inspire you to do it for yourself, why having your own newsletter is important, and what makes for good and bad newsletters.If you want to create an authentic connection with your audience in a way that feels energising and not exhausting, this episode was made for you.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohortConnect with Lyndsay via LinkedInBaxley Goods

Anniki Summerville is a broadcaster, author, journalist, and speaker specialising in telling positive and authentic narratives about women in their forties and beyond.This is about the "shoulds" and how when we reach midlife a lot of us start questioning them. The invitation is to do that a lot sooner, and lose the comparisonitis that can follow us around.Could the solution be to could encourage smaller sparks earlier in life, rather that one big midlife explosion when we hit our forties? Join Carlos and Laurence for this fun discussion.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohortAnniki Somerville onlineFollow @annikisommerville on Instagram

How do we have to be to create a new world that sidesteps the mistakes of the old?What do we need to learn about relating differently and more compassionately with ourselves, and others, in order to create a different social and cultural reality?And what does a new world business designed to help people practise this look and feel like, and how do we learn to lead such a thing?Gaylene creates space for the new, the imaginative and the transformative. Through The Space to Come she and her team create experiences that sensitively centre art, conversation, feeling and care.From interactive events and live installations to leadership programmes, our spaces help you better connect to yourselves and each other and prepare for an emerging, more compassionate world.LinksThe Space to ComeGaylene’s talk at Summercamp 2022Join the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort

Kindness, compassion, and playfulness can create positive ripples in the world. This episode’s guest, Bernadette Russell, has a daily intentional practice of kindness that not only brings her a sense of hope and joy, but has also opened doors to new opportunities and experiences.By embracing our childlike wonder and bringing it into our adult lives, we can redefine what it means to be a grown-up, take responsibility for our actions, and make a difference in the world.Through intentional acts of kindness, we can rediscover hope.LinksBernadette’s websiteFollow @bernadetterussell on InstagramHow to Be Hopeful: Your Toolkit to Rediscover Hope and Help Create a Kinder World – Bernadette’s latest bookJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort

There’s never enough time, and the work is never done. On this episode, author and journalist Oliver Burkeman shares his insights on how we can better manage our time, but not get bogged down in productivity.If you’re felt overwhelmed, stressed or unfulfilled, Oliver’s book, Four Thousand Weeks, offers a valuable reframe: pushing against the endless need for productivity, and towards a Zen-like surrender to the fact that we can’t – we won’t – get it all done.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohortFour Thousand Weeks – Oliver’s book

To cultivate creativity and authenticity, we have to be be willing to take risks and face the fear of rejection.James Victore is a designer and author whose podcast and course help people cultivate creativity and courage. He believes in authenticity, self-awareness, and the importance of understanding one's creative voice in order to put meaningful work out into the world.He encourages people to find their own voice and to not let self-doubt or negative opinions hold them back. He joins Laurence and Carlos on the Friday Fireside to discuss how being true to oneself and following through on creative ideas leads to success and fulfilment.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohortFeck Perfuction: Dangerous Ideas on the Business of Life – James’ bookThe Right Questions – James’ podcastJames’ Born Creative course

One of the things Laurence and Carlos are really passionate about at the Happy Startup School is helping entrepreneurs build businesses that are aligned to who they really are.Most people they work with are experienced professionals or seasoned business owners who are looking for a different work path: a path that feels less effortful and alive.Up until now the path they’ve followed seemed like the right one as they felt like they were achieving and succeeding. However, they were eventually left feeling drained and even burnt out.According to Gaiai Pollini, one of the causes for this is that they weren’t being true to themselves. They had made decisions and taken actions that weren’t actually theirs. They were based on behaviours that were learned at a young age in order to meet their needs and which have stayed with them into adulthood.If you start a business to make a fundamental change in your life but base your decisions on your adaptive behaviours, there’s a good chance you won’t make the change you wanted.To make this change you need to identify the source you. Your source is true and fresh in the moment while your layers of adaptive behaviours can constrict and constrain.In this episode, Gaia shares the five different styles of adaptation she uses in her work:The outsiderThe helperThe super personThe people pleaserThe perfectionistThis conversation will help you explore yourself with curiosity and self-kindness and invite you to do some self-reflection so that when you come to creating something new in your life, it will be relevant to your truth, and who you really are.LinksThe F**k it LifeSay F**k it and Feel the Fear – the Happy Entrepreneur podcast, with John ParkinJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort

For those of us born in the West today, living to 100 will be the norm, not the exception. Living longer is clearly a gift, but the simple truth is these extra 25-30 years of life did not exist before.This new horizon is as important and exciting as the invention of motion pictures, cars or even space travel.When a change this big happens, innovation follows.Ayse Birsel is the author of Design the Life You Love, a step-by-step guide to building a meaningful future. As well as being on the Thinkers 50 shortlist for talent, she is the co-founder and Creative Director of Birsel + Seck, a studio where Ayse designs award-winning products for companies including Herman Miller, GE, IKEA, Philips, Staples and Toyota.On this Fireside, Ayse shares more about her research for her new book Design the Long Life You Love. Conducted with people 65 and over, she explains how the lessons from these pioneers of life can serve us all — designers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders — in our work, our lives, and the lives of others, regardless of age.LinksConnect with Ayse via LinkedInDesign the Long Life You Love: A Step-by-Step Guide to Love, Purpose, Well-Being, and Friendship – Ayse’s new bookJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort

We believe that money is a law of nature and is as real as the metal or paper it’s made of. We give it power and even say it makes the world go round. And this is where we can get unstuck.We give money more power than we need to. But money is really neutral screen on which we project our fantasies, desires, and insecurities.In this episode, Carlos speaks with Nadjeschda Taranczewski, CEO of Conscious-U, and coach to CEOs and founders who want to reinvent their organisations. They talk about the three different types of projections we can have on money and how they affect our behaviour. And they explore how we can shift our relationship to it by dealing with these projections more playfully.LinksConnect with Nadjeschda via LinkedInConsciousUJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort

For the last 7 years Joshua Coombes has been a man on a mission. In 2015, while working at a London hair salon and feeling a little disillusioned, he took to the streets with his scissors to build relationships and offer haircuts to men and women experiencing homelessness in the capital.He began posting transformative images on social media to amplify the voices of those he met. The stories that accompanied these photos resonated, and others began to get involved in their own way.Do Something for Nothing was born – a movement that encourages people to connect their skills and time to those who need them.Joshua didn't want to set up a big charity, or focus on making a “huge impact” or “changing the world”. Instead he wanted to focus on helping the person right in front of him; the person many of us walk past every day.Joshua felt his energy was better spent getting to know a few people better, telling their stories and letting that ripple out. Nick Cave called it “a simple, big-hearted and world-shaking idea”.What can each of us give that we have in abundance that can change people's lives, even in a small way. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most profound.Listen to hear Joshua's story and better understand what impact means for you.LinksConnect with Joshua via LinkedInDo Something for Nothing: Seeing Beneath the Surface of Homelessness, Through the Simple Act of a Haircut – Joshua’s bookThe Wisdom of TraumaJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohortBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the conversation live

Laurence has been a big fan of Tim Frenneaux's work since he first discovered Gather Outdoors, a blog and online store he launched back in 2015. He's still got a couple of their sweatshirts.Tim launched Gather shortly after he turned 40. Around this time he lost his dad and realised he wasn't living the adventurous life he dreamt of as a kid. More recently Gather has evolved to become Adventurous Ink, a book club for people who love the great outdoors. His blog is a wonderful source of ideas, resources and inspiration for anyone that wants to bring more nature connection to their lives.Like Laurence and Carlos, Tim believes that seeking the sublime and awe in nature can be the antidote to many of the problems we face as a society. From disconnection to ourselves, but also to each other and the planet.Tim talks about how nature can allow us to open up, and how Adventurous Ink grew from the Do Lectures.

Are you starting something new? Are you on the hunt for customers? If so, stop thinking of your customers as just buyers, and start thinking of them as potential partners and co-creators.From the Happy Startup School’s experience, what you think people want isn't always what they actually want. And the more you talk to them the more likely you'll find out what really floats their boat and discover how your energy to create can best meet their hunger for a solution.In this episode, Carlos speaks with Adam Forbes, founder of Familiarize. Adam left his corporate job after 20 years to start his new business, and he has principles for co-creating with your customers to share:Start with pain What are people finding difficult and challenging?Understand your customer What are they really trying to do and what outcomes are they looking for?Build hypotheses How do you frame what you think is happening as assumptions you can test?Get out of your head How do you engage and talk to people so you can learn from real world situationsThink collaborators not customers How do you nurture relationships even when you haven't built anything yet?LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort

In the summer of 2009, brothers Dave and Mike Radparvar decided to quit their jobs in the heat of the recession to go all-in on their passion project — Holstee, a functional and sustainable t-shirt company they had started with their friend Fabian Pfortmüller.Since then they’ve pivoted many times. Though what they’ve done and how they’ve done it has changed, why they’re doing what they do has always remained the same.And it all stemmed from the manifesto they first created when they launched their company.It’s a manifesto that’s caught the imagination of people and companies around the world and has been viewed millions of times and translated into over 14 different languages.Holstee is about helping people live lives full of purpose and meaning. They sell a range of physical products as well as the Holstee Membership, Reflection Cards, and a recently-launched Reflection.app.In this episode, Carlos and Laurence talk to Dave about how the company was started, how its evolved and what it means to live a meaningful life.If you’ve ever come across the Holstee manifesto, bought any of their products or have a wish to build a business that scales its impact through its values and not just by selling lots of products, then listen to learn from Dave’s story.LinksThe Holstee ManifestoJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort

In Ben Hunt-Davis' book Will it Make the Boat Go Faster, the gold medal winning rower talks about four layers of goals: the crazy, the concrete, the control and the everyday.The crazy layer is about describing a goal that is bold and exciting. Something that feels beyond your reach but you're motivated to achieve.When you have a goal that lights up your imagination and promises to meet your core needs you're more likely to take the steps to make it happen.This week, Carlos and Laurence are joined by friend Miguel Roque. They met at their Alptitude USA retreat in 2018 when he was leading the team at Merch by Amazon, a service he helped to grow and scale.He's currently Head of Operations and Tech at Bezos Academy where they're building a network of tuition-free, Montessori-inspired preschools in underserved communities.LinksConnect with Miguel on LinkedInJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Alptitude retreat

What does it mean to build a purpose driven business? For many it means doing something that has social or environmental impact. It's about serving society, the planet or a local community. But to Laurence and Carlos it also means creating a business intentionally – building a business whose size, scale, impact and benefit takes into account your needs and not just your customers'.If you don't like managing people, don't build a business that requires employees. If you like to take 6 month holidays don't build a business that means you have to be there all year round. If you hate working in an office don't build a business that means you have to commute to a building everyday.Building a business on purpose means being clear about what you actually want, need... and hate. Don't make the mistake of just following someone else's business plan – take time to consider what your life plan is and design a business plan that supports it.On this episode, Laurence and Carlos reveal the Purpose Playbook. It's one of the key deliverables on our Vision 20/20 program. They share how it works and why they believe it's so important when designing your Excite Strategy and how it helps you build a business that aligns with who you really are.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort

How much do you know yourself?Sometimes the choices we make in life are dictated by unknown forces that seem outside of us. But what if they're actually inside us and we just have to look.The careers we fall into, the businesses we start and the partners we choose are all guided by our perceptions, beliefs and personality types. Doing the inner work of getting to know yourself can help you make sense of how you got to where you are now and where you go next.On this episode, Carlos and Laurence are joined by Beccie D'Cunha and Anna Kolak. Both are coaches and have worked with the Enneagram, a system of personality typing that describes human personality as a number of interconnected personality types.It's one of many frameworks and models out there, but this episode focuses on how the Enneagram can inform us about what really drives our decisions. The four discuss the pros and cons of using these types of tools, what it means for a coach, and how they build their business and serve their clients.If you've ever been curious about yourself and wanted to take more control of your direction in life then this is the episode for you.LinksConnect with Beccie on LinkedInConnect with Anna on LinkedInVision 20/20 – a roadmap for success on your own termsIEQ9 Enneagram Questionnaire

Every Friday Luke Swann spends time doing nothing. He creates space for rest, wellbeing and focussing on what he feels is important. He calls it his Friday Flourish.In this episode, Carlos and Laurence learn from Luke what he does to create this space and why it's so important to him.In this fast paced world we're all too eager to be busy and stay on top of our to do lists. But what if those to do lists aren't filled with things that are actually benefitting us? Luke's eager to focus on the things that are really important to him. Which means regularly taking stock of what he really wants and needs.He has a fascinating story of a challenging upbringing, difficulties with mental health and encounters with the law. He's been on his own journey of transformation and through a disciplined approach of connecting with himself he's found more purpose in his life."If you don't know yourself well, others will tell you who you are."Luke is an educator, author and entrepreneur and founder of New Purpose: a wellbeing programme enabling students to develop character and pursue purpose in life. As a result of his childhood experiences and having been able to tune in to his own intrinsic needs he's now on a mission to improve education and wellbeing together.Listen to learn more about his story and be inspired by his journey of transformation. Learn what it took for him to go from not caring much about anything and having low self-esteem to being motivated and driven to make real social change… while still looking after his happiness.LinksConnect with Luke via LinkedInVision 20/20 – Join the next tribe

What does it mean to be a good dad?Carlos has two kids; Gabriel is 13 and Esmé is 9. And for nearly a decade and a half he’s been trying to work out the best way to be their dad.He has no manual nor any training... only lots of questions.Should he be disciplined or relaxed? Should he focus on their financial security or their emotional wellbeing? Where do his dreams and ambitions fit in? How can he balance it all?When answering these questions, Carlos has relied on his gut instinct… and his own role model.His dad.But following his way of fathering has also been a challenge. There are many things that Carlos is grateful to him for, and also things that he would have like to do differently.And doing things differently is where some of the struggle has been.Carlos wants to understand his father’s past struggles, present fears, and his lifelong passions to shake up his old assumptions and discover what really makes him dad tick.In this episode, Carlos and his dad Luigi talk about going from a shepherd to a guide; his childhood, education, money, working with people, solitude, art, dreams, and responsibility.

There's something about being in nature that helps us reset our nervous systems.Maybe it's the wonder and awe it can create in ourselves. Carlos likes to think, particularly when around mountains, the awe of being near such massive and ancient structures drowns out the noise of our everyday lives.And without that noise we can start to think differently and more clearly.Every year, before the pandemic, Laurence and Carlos would take groups of entrepreneurs and professionals to the French Alps to take some time away from their busy lives and have an opportunity to think about things differently.It wasn't about following a program or improving ourselves. It was about giving space for the ideas and intentions that we never have time for during our hustle and bustle.These things get forgotten. And sometimes they're the most important messages we need to hear in order to live more intentionally.On this episode of the podcast, we are introduced to two friend that Laurence and Carlos met in the mountains and share their stories and our stories of why taking a natural pause is so important.LinksThe Happy Startup SchoolAlptitudeConnect with Sally-Anne on LinkedInSally-Anne’s Evolving Leadership programmeConnect with Arno on LinkedInAlpAdventures

What is stopping you from doing what you’d love to do?When Chris Packe quit his well paid job he was told that he was in a privileged position and that it was all down to luck of circumstance.But he believes it’s also down to choices and priorities.He’s noticed that people often deny that they have the power to change things, saying their lives are out of their control.However, unless you are one of the very unfortunate ones in society, the situation you are in (or not in) is most probably a product of choices you have made (or not made), whether deliberately or passively.When talking to someone he once worked with, they said what they most wanted to do was leave their job, but couldn’t.They needed to keep working to pay for the massive house, the kids’ school fees and their love of fine wine and fine art.To Chris, money can facilitate or limit a person. Their sense of freedom and autonomy depends as much on lifestyle as income.When Chris decided to leave his job as an investment banker, money was a practical consideration but the real driver was simply to allow himself to have an adventure.For most people, making a big change in their lives comes down to priorities, not circumstance.Or whether they are willing to make the choice at all.In this episode of the Friday Fireside we’ll hear more about Chris’ journey from working in finance to working in nature - running youth programmes and events for teenage boys and girls, fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, adults and business folk.

If you're like me (or the me 10 years ago) you believe in mind over matter.As a hyper rational human I used think that thinking was all there was.My body was just a vehicle through which my mind would navigate life.I always lived in my head and ignored the signals that came from my body (other than pleasure, pain and hunger).Because of that I was very much cut off and unaware of my feelings.I thought that feelings only started in the mind.But I've now come to understand how much the sensations in our bodies affect the quality of our thinking.And how our thinking can ramp up the feelings in our bodies.It's a highly interconnected system that can go horribly wrong if you ignore the connection.Burnout, poor decision making and inability to face real challenges are all symptoms of being out of touch with our bodies.We can't only think our ways to success; we also have to feel our way there too.On the Friday Fireside we'll be exploring how we can get ourselves being more aware of our bodies and we'll present a different way of thinking and learning that isn't just head driven.We'll be joined by Ruth Polden. She's a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, Yoga teacher, YogaBirth Senior Tutor and former dancer /choreographer.The Feldenkrais Method is a powerful, innovative approach to learning. Blending biology, physics, neuroscience, and motor development, it is designed to engage with our brain’s “neuroplasticity,” (our brain’s awesome ability to change, rewire itself, adapt and repair), to benefit our body and how we move and function in life.Being a physicist I'm looking forward to seeing how physics and feelings combine!

As a leader of a business it’s up to you to tell everyone where you’re going.It’s your responsibility to create a clear vision for everyone to buy into and have clarity as to the direction and relevance of their work.However, in an ever-changing world what happens when you don’t have all the answers.How do you balance the vulnerability of not knowing with the need for a clear vision of the future?And how do you cope, after spending a big chunk of your life knowing exactly where you’re going and what you’re aiming for, when you need to change but don’t know what that change should be.You can do all the rational analysis you want but you can still feel unclear.This is where being more in tune with your body can help.And cultivating (and trusting) your instincts.On this episode of the Friday Fireside we’re joined by Pauline Tenner, author of Laid Bare: What The Business Leader Learnt From The Stripper.It’s a self-help book for business leaders and entrepreneurs that care about employee well-being and business profitability.But the bit that interested me was how it talks to showing up unapologetically in your role as a business leader.I’m also fascinated by Paulina’s current journey of transitioning out of her business and finding a new path.As well as an author, Paulina is an entrepreneur, an angel investor, TEDx speaker and a founder of GrantTree. She started her business with a purpose to help tech startups navigate the complex world of government funding and since 2010 has grown her team organically from 2 to 50 and raised over £200M for more than 600 technology startups.A couple of fascinating aspects of GrantTree are that it has an open culture company which pioneered a self set salary scheme and that it also employs holacracy in its management approach.Her new book, which encapsulated her learnings is now a Hot New Release on Amazon which you can pre-order here [http://www.paulinatenner.com/book.](http://www.paulinatenner.com/book.)Mentioned in this episode:Happy Startup Summer Camp 2022 Join us s for a weekend of possibility, and a lifetime of impact. 16th-18th September.

Shamash Alidina is a mindfulness and ACT trainer. And is also the author of mindfulness for dummies.ACT stands for acceptance and commitment therapy and in this episode of the podcast Shamash shares some of the principles of ACT and how they can help us cultivate more resilience and self-compassion in our lives.In summary the key principles of ACT are:Be presentOpen upDo what mattersBy following these principles we’re more able to make conscious choices and overcome any challenges we face because of them.Most of the time there are no wrong or right choices.There are just choices and repercussions.If we believe that we’re able to deal with any repercussions then it becomes much easier to make choices.It’s when we find ourselves unable to make choices that we get stuck.We also talk to Shamash about how pain and purpose are two sides of the same coin.And how doing something meaningful usually mean that it’s also going to be challenging.We talk about how achieving goals and living our values affect our sense of happiness and meaning.As well as the pressure we put ourselves under to always be happy, particularly in our community.Being happy all the time isn’t really the point. Particularly if we criticise ourselves for not being so.If you're an entrepreneur or you're starting a new project or venture and you’re wondering if you’ll be able to overcome all the difficulties and challenges that will inevitably come your way then I recommend you listen to this episode.Because there are a few nuggets of wisdom that Shamash will share with you that will help you cultivate the resilience and resourcefulness you need.Mentioned in this episode:Happy Startup Summer Camp 2022 Join us s for a weekend of possibility, and a lifetime of impact. 16th-18th September.

"Think Different" is the famous slogan used by Apple to differentiate themselves from the grey PC boxes that IBM were churning out in the 80s and 90s.However, what if you think differently at a fundamental level? You see the world differently. You process the world differently. And you engage with the world differently.On this episode, Carlos and Laurence talk with Matthew Bellringer - coach, consultant, speaker and divergent pathfinder.They learn from him and guests about neurodivergence and why the conventional ways of working and being in business aren't suited to everyone.Matthew himself has recently been diagnosed with ADHD and he's been on a journey of understanding how to align the way he works with the way he thinks.If you feel like a misfit at work or an unconventional entrepreneur that needs to do things differently, you're in the right place.Mentioned in this episode:Happy Startup Summer Camp 2022 Join us s for a weekend of possibility, and a lifetime of impact. 16th-18th September.

Marianne is training as a Purpose Guide™ and on this Friday Fireside we're going to explore with her what it means to discover our true purpose.It's easy to beat yourself up because you haven't started living your life's purpose yet.But purpose may not be a process of searching outside of you.Maybe it's about looking inside and sensing.If you'd like to feel your way to purpose rather than forcing yourself to find it then join us."The place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet"Mentioned in this episode:Happy Startup Summer Camp 2022 Join us s for a weekend of possibility, and a lifetime of impact. 16th-18th September.

What's your 10 year plan? What's you 5 year plan? What are your goals for next year? WTF are you actually going to do tomorrow?In business people are obsessed with plans and strategy. But what happens if you don't really know what you want? And what happens if you change your mind?What happens if the world changes along the way?Carlos loves plans, and hates uncertainty. But he's learned about the power of serendipity and the power of being present.In a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, how do we navigate our way to success in our lives and in our businesses.It's one step at a time. Simple to say, Harder to do.In this conversation, Laurence and Carlos explore this topic together and reflect on how it's been core to how they've got this far with the Happy Startup School.Mentioned in this episode:Happy Startup Summer Camp 2022 Join us s for a weekend of possibility, and a lifetime of impact. 16th-18th September.

How do we put down our armour of self-sufficiency and competence?While it protects us from challenges and shields us from criticism, it also cuts us off from deep connection and essential support.We think that we need the armour to “hold ourselves together” because if we “let go”, we might not be able to pull ourselves together again.Holding it all in affects our ability to be creative, make healthy business decisions, and have lives which spring from our core values.Holding it all in is a form of unkindness to ourselves because we’re not allowing ourselves to show weakness. We’re telling ourselves that weakness is bad.Holding it all in means we don’t really get to see what’s inside.We cut ourselves off from our sense of inner knowing, and from really knowing others.We are social animals that have evolved to survive as a group. Not as individuals.But in the modern world of the hyper-successful founders and all-knowing influencers we’ve forgotten this.We’ve forgotten how to be really happy  because we’re too busy striving.To experience real happiness we need to experience all three directions of kindness: giving to others, giving to ourselves, and receiving.Which means from time to time we need to put our armour down.On this episode of the podcast, we’re joined by Anya Pearse, an intuitive advisor, Head of Positive Psychology at The Museum of Happiness, and Fellow of the Positive Psychology Guild.She has reframed her 15 years of disability through chronic illness into a spiritual path, combining a researcher’s curiosity, a poet’s turn of phrase, and a comic’s sense of timing to explore and share positive psychology and self-compassion with others.At the Happy Startup School we believe that community is foundational to helping creative entrepreneurs thrive in this modern money-driven world.We’re not built of the same stuff as the unicorn driving silicon valley founders or the hard nosed CEOs of the corporate world.We crave connection and we thrive on mutual support.In our conversation we explore how kindness and compassion are essential to our way of doing and being in business.

Writing a book takes time and effort.And life's too short to write a book that no one will read.On this episode, we invited someone to help us understand how to minimise the risk of writing books that aren't actually useful or reach their audience.His name is Rob Fitzpatrick and he's the author of Write Useful Books, The Workshop Survival Guide and one that we've been recommending for years, The Mom Test.Carlos has been reading his latest book Write Useful Books and thought it was a really useful  take on how to approach writing non-fiction that helps people.He combines the product design, lean strategy and marketing concepts to provide a practical and structured approach that helps you focus on writing something of value.Rob is an entrepreneur of 14 years and has written three books about his learnings along the way, including the best-selling handbook for doing better Customer Development, The Mom Test: How to talk to customers and figure out if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you.Back in 2007, he dropped out of grad school to go through YCombinator with his first startup, and has been building products and businesses ever since. Beyond software, he has also kickstarted a physical card game, built an education agency, and more.A programmer by training, Rob was forced to learn enterprise sales the hard way at his first company. With a foot in each of those worlds, and with his experience both bootstrapping and raising funding across a wide range of products, industries, and business models, he offers an broad and balanced view of the entrepreneurial journey.

We’re joined by Tad Hargrave, founder of Marketing for Hippies, who shares his thoughts on how to market well so that sales becomes effortless. We talk about purpose, problems, premise and promise.Our obsession with selling tactics is actually compensation for our poor marketing.When we’re having to work hard to “convince” people of the value of our work then we’re probably talking to the wrong people.As a creative or purpose-driven entrepreneur you’re repulsed by the idea of manipulating people or having to convince them to buy from you.And so you’re put off the idea of “selling”.Unfortunately selling has for a long time been associated with winning and losing; a dominance game of who has the strongest influence.But where is the consent?If you’re doing hard sales it feels like trying to get the other person to agree with the choice you’ve already made for them. It’s a mission to hear your words come out of their mouths.Is that the kind of selling you want to do?If you’re like us this feels awful and unethical.But you don’t have to do it that way.You can actually do sales better if you go for truth rather than persuasion.You need to tell your truth and the truth of your work in a way that it connects with the right people.And that’s all about marketing and storytelling.When done well you can stop “selling”.All you do is just connect your truth with the truth of your customers. When they’re ready they’ll work with you.

Most creative and purpose-driven entrepreneurs love coming up with new ideas and working with their customers and clients.But they hate sales, marketing and working on finances and spreadsheets.They also complain about cashflow, profitability and burnout.Their wheels are spinning because they focus on a narrow aspect of their business (delivery and ideas).And they ignore all the other bits that they consider “boring” or “uninspiring” or “difficult” (finances, marketing, positioning, selling, recruitment etc…).There’s a massive imbalance in where they put their attention and energy.Alan, our mentor and friend, joins us to help you learn to love all of the business of business.He lays out the different building blocks of your business and helps you appreciate the bits you shy away from, and how working on them can bring more ease to your life.

How do we realise worthwhile ideas in the world? Define a goal, create a plan, build a great team? That's how we're told to do it. How about instead, we listen to what we're really called to do?Tom Nixon is an entrepreneur, founder of org-chart startup Maptio, and the author of the book Work with Source, which introduces a new perspective on being a founder, based on research conducted by Peter Koenig.Chatting with Laurence and Carlos, he discusses how finding and cultivating sources of creativity leads to greater autonomy and happiness, and the balance that needs to be struck between giving people creative freedom, and not sufficiently defining roles.Go furhterGail Bradbrook, founder of Extinction RebellionYvon Chouinard, founder of PatagoniaWL Gore: the company others try and fail to imitateFanny NorlinRocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business, by Gino Wickman

What if you don’t agree with mainstream definitions of success?What if, when looking at what everyone seems to value and strive for, you start to feel like “do I actually belong here?”You see the well trodden path to successThe one validated by the hundreds of thousands that have gone before you. Each of their steps deepening the footprints of those that went before. As if this is the only way.But it isn’t.Not everyone has a path dictated to them by others.And some of us don’t even know what path we want to take.Instead we take a more creative and emergent route.Also known as the experimental path.The opposite is the conceptual path; you formulate a vision of what you want to accomplish and then work backwards to plan all the steps to get there.However, if you have no vision of the future the only way forward is to just choose the next step based on what feels right.This isn’t for everyone as it’s much more uncertain and possibly much slower.It’s like following the small country lanes instead of the motorway.In this episode of the podcast we unpack the ideas of a conceptual vs experimental type of person with Kendra Patterson, founder of the Stepping Off Now podcast.We also talk about being a late bloomer and how she came to living a more emergent life.Some key points from the episode:Kendra remembers feeling like a late bloomer at the age of 22, and while working on her PhD suffered a significant period of burnout which led to her resetting her own career expectations.Honestly, I had no vision for the future.Kendra had to redefine for herself what success meant, and avoid judging her own success by what she thought were clear examples of having "made it". For her, a linear trajectory where one thing built to the next simply wasn't reflected in her actual life experience.I'm gonna do what feels good to me.Kendra had to discover a sense of faith that the next moment would bring her what she needed, so she created her own guidepost to lead her forwards.F you guys, I'm just gonna do my own thing!As a novelist, Kendra has had to deal with gatekeepers who make a decision on what's "worth" publishing, and what isn't. Many of those gatekeepers faced similar challenges in the past, and have now pulled the ladder up from beneath them. For Kendra, self-publishing her work has enabled her to reach more readers, free of those gatekeepers.Some useful links from this episode:The Surrender Experiment by Michael A. SingerEmergent Strategy: Shaping change, changing worldsKendra's websiteKendra's podcast - Stepping off now

Are you a company of one?From Paul Jarvis’ book of the same name a company of one is a founder who does not believe in growth for growth’s sake.Their goal is to build a company that is focused on being better rather than bigger.In this episode of the podcast I talk to one of our Happy Startup members who’s taken the company of one mission to heart.From this conversation you’ll hear about why Francois decided to work for himself, what he’s learned about authenticity in business and why he’s valued being part of a business community that doesn’t just offer support at the business level but also at a personal one.If you’re on the Company of One journey and currently finding it a lonely and challenging path then this episode is for you.Francois Souyri is the founder of Paperblade. He empowers businesses who use Office 365 to use the technology to operate and grow more effectively. Rather than waste time trying to solve IT problems he’ll free you up to work on the more important things.If you want his help and support go to 365coach.me for immediate Office 365 support or paperblade.com for strategic IT consultancy.

How can we challenge the idea that in business only the unkind and ruthless rise to the top while the caring and compassionate get overlooked.In this beautiful conversation with Christina Kisley and Graham Allcott we explore why we need to find more kindness in business and why we’re less likely to hear about kind leaders than unkind ones.In actual fact there are more kind leaders than we think and we need to make people more aware that kindness is compatible with business success.While being kind may not immediately increase your profits it will make your business more sustainable and resilient.We talk about the difference between being kind and being nice and we also discuss what it means to be compassionate at work.This conversation is about the soft, yet powerful, aspect of business that few people are good at but more of us need to learn. How we can be strong leaders yet sit with people who are struggling?Christina is a leadership coach helping purpose driven organisations work more effectively.Graham, as well as founder of Think Productive, is also author of Productivity Ninja and is helping transform the productivity and wellbeing of people and organisations.

This episode of the podcast is a recording from our Friday Fireside way back in November last year.We were joined by our good friend Ole Kassow, an inspiration to us ever since we started The Happy Startup School back in 2012.He’s the founder of Cycling Without Age, a movement on a mission to create a world where the elderly remain an active part of society and the local community.Since 2012 it’s grown from a single cargo bike in Copenhagen to 2000 chapters in 50 countries, serving over 1.5 million people worldwide.But when Ole first started it wasn’t meant to turn into a movement. It was just an experiment to see if he could put a smile on the face of an elderly gentleman by getting him on a bike.Retrofitting a cargo bike with a seat he took the man out for a spin which not only put a smile on the old man’s face, but also on Ole’s.The rest is now history.Listen to this episode to learn what it really takes to be a changemaker.You don’t always need big plans to create systemic change. Think big, but start small. In Ole’s experience most stories of systemic change have started with an individual trying to solve a very specific problem with a simple solution.Also, it isn’t just about creating impact for others but also about finding joy in the work. You’re then more likely to keep doing it and also recruit others easily.Find a solution that inspires people.Ole encourages budding change makers to connect their personal story to their story of change. This makes the work feel more meaningful and it also makes it easier to connect with others.You can find out more about Ole and his work here - https://cyclingwithoutage.org/

Eiji Han Shimizu is a purpose driven filmmaker and creative entrepreneur who discovered the many different ways we find happiness by making the movie Happy.During this conversation we find out about his pursuit of happiness and how he got greedy for it.Having ticked off all the different paths to happiness the last one on his bucket list was to find meaning.He says that we all have different elements to our lives that seem like a set of senseless dots but when you’re able to connect them that’s when we find meaning and purpose and achieve the focus to make the impossible happen.His latest movie is True North, a manga style animation about the plight of political prisoners in North Korean concentration camps. Animated movies are expensive to make and having been unsuccessful in finding a backer he had to bootstrap its production. While the budget required was still beyond his savings he found a way.It was his calling and it helped him “make sense of his silly life”.He shares many pearls of wisdom during this episode one of them being that when things get hard the secret to keeping going is to play the theme tune to the Indiana Jones movie in your head. That’s the soundtrack to success.

This episode of the podcast is another window into our community where you get to know our members and what they do.Today I’m talking to Simon Batchelar, cofounder of Pallant Digital and the Marketing Success Club. He shares his journey from running a digital marketing agency for large clients to now offering courses and coaching to founder run businesses that he believes can make a difference.Simon has a need for adventure and impact and believes that change happens from the bottom up. He wants to help amplify the voices of small business doing good things so they can all make a big impact.During our conversation he shares some of his ideas about what it means to do marketing well and how to build a trusting relationship with your customers.He’s fighting the get rich quick marketeers out there by helping more people market themselves more authentically and sustainably.You can find out more about Simon's agency work here - https://pallant.digital/.You can also learn about the Marketing Success Club and take their free courses here - https://marketingsuccess.club/Check out his YouTube channel with fellow marketeer Adam Bastock - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCusIq1ZLn8kqgGZx4iN71GQ

Will and Joel are friends from university who went into business together. They put all their enthusiasm and energy into it and it grew. They worked hard and they got their rewards.However, at some point it stopped working so well.It went from simple to complex.It went from being exciting and rewarding to just feeling like a job.The spark had gone and they weren’t sure why. They’d focused their attention on trying to make the business work well again but had forgotten to also focus on their friendship.In this episode of the podcast we hear about how improving the communication between founders is more important than trying to improve the business. Particularly if before they were founders they were friends.Will and Joel honestly share the story of their business and their relationship as cofounders. They valued their friendship more than anything else but in creating a false harmony they were doing more harm than good.They’ve both been on a journey of learning not only about business but also about themselves and each other. By discovering what each of them really wanted they were more able to decide where the business needed to go and how it needed to grow.This isn’t just a story of business growth but also founder growth.Will and Joel, because of their friendship, found the courage to be truly vulnerable with each other and through that become stronger together.They reignited their passion for the business by discovering what they needed personally and then exploring how the business could meet those needs.

This episode of the podcast is another recording from our weekly Friday Fireside show. It was recorded on October 2nd and features our good friend Kees Klomp, whom we lovingly think of as the buddhist businessman.Kees is now Professor of Applied Science at Rotterdam University and founding partner of Thrive Institute a think tank looking to reinvent business and society.According to him the business of business is to serve life. That’s its purpose because without life there is no business.During this conversation he shares some challenging ideas about where the current economic system is taking us and what he believes needs to change in order for business to be truly purposeful.We talk about how pain and purpose are intrinsically linked and we also discuss the difference between meaning and purpose.We live in an age where the majority of people feel disengaged from their work and where the businesses they work for are having an adverse affect on our climate and environment. Kees says these are symptoms of a broken system; that system being capitalism.However, he says that it’s impossible to change this system unless we tackle the stories and beliefs that hold it up.And so its up to all of us to reeducate ourselves into a new way of living that’s based on interconnectedness rather than individualism - my wellbeing is your wellbeing and is the planet’s wellbeing.I recommend you get yourself and nice hot drink and find a comfortable place to sit in order to listen to this episode because if you’re like me your mind will be blown.

In this episode of the podcast we shine a light on one of our members, share their work and find out what it’s been like to be part of the Happy Startup School.If you’re launching a business for the first time and are looking for support and guidance during those initial uncertain months then check out our community at http://happystartups.co. We provide mentorship, masterclasses, training and networking to help you build your confidence and your business.Remeny Armitage’s superpower is making friends. She’s turned that superpower into a business and now helps other businesses grow by turning their existing clients into happy and loyal advocates. She knows that if you serve your clients better your profits increase.She started her journey of entrepreneurship over three years ago and during this conversation she shares how she’s grown in confidence and got more clarity about the value she offers.Through the community she’s become more focused and has been “building a fortress around her of really good people”. That’s enabled her to be more bold about her business.She does her work because it makes her happy and others happy. We’re thankful and proud to have her part of our tribe!Are you scared to talk to your clients? Get Remeny to do it. It may be the best thing you ever do.

If you ever find yourself pitching to a VC or for any kind of funding it’s important to know how to tell a compelling story.When it comes to pitching VC’s Haje Kamps, pitch coach, author of Pitch Perfect and CEO of Konf (a virtual conferencing platform), says the three elements you need to remember are: define the problem; say why you’ve got the perfect team; and demonstrate how you’ve got some traction in the market.In this recording of our Friday Fireside Haje shares some of his views on storytelling, startup life (particularly when it comes with dealing with venture capital) and why he believe it’s important in business to not only tell compelling stories but also authentic ones.Other things we touch on are: the importance of building strong brands; being intrinsically motivated and the general irrational behaviour of people.

This episode of the podcast is another recording from our live Friday Fireside webinar. On this week’s show we were joined by Eleanor Tweddell.Eleanor is the founder of Another Door, a community that supports people through redundancy, and author of the book “Why losing your job could be the best thing that ever happened to you”.During our conversation we hear about Eleanor’s journey from corporate employee to entrepreneur and the hurdles she’s had to overcome along the way.She shares her thoughts on the importance of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, playing with ideas and surrounding yourself with inspiring down-to-earth people.

Will LythWorking for yourself for the first time can seem like a scary step. You go from the safety of a regular pay check to the uncertainty of not knowing where the next job might come from.But some us aren’t built for the 9 to 5 and we crave the autonomy and freedom of being our own boss and so we accept the uncertainty and take control of how we work.In this conversation with freelance copywriter William Lyth I hear about his journey from employee to self-employed. He shares that while switching profession and learning a whole new skillset was a risk it was a bigger risk to stay where he was.Originally a developer Will changed direction and found work that gave him flow. He followed the path of becoming a copywriter and along the journey has learned as much about himself as he has about how his new profession.Some of the things he’s learned he put into blog post called “10 pitfalls to avoid as a first time freelancer”. That’s when I reached out to him and asked if he’d join me on the podcast so that we could share his 10 bits of wisdom with you.You can find out more about William's work here - https://williamlythcopywriter.com/