Episode 100 | Hedgehog or Fox ?

S2 Episode 106 | Discussion with Samuel Nicholls Co-Founder of TipStart and Diplomat @ UK Foreign Office | Social Enterprise and Theory of Change | Politics and Books

Today my guest is Samuel Nicholls who is a Diplomat working at the UK Foreign Office. He also co-founded and run a social enterprise called TipStart. His mission is to harness the motivation and social responsibility of graduates to disrupt privilege in employment.

TipStart is a for-profit social enterprise that uses a digital platform to connect graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds with firms struggling to recruit diverse talent. Through these connections, the graduates improve their awareness of the sector they want to work in, increase the size of their professional network and increase their personal confidence. The firms involved are able to build a new diverse recruitment pipeline as well as offering a compelling learning and development opportunity to their staff. 

Check TipStart webpage : https://www.tipstart.org/

Books discussed in the episode:

1. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead : https://amzn.to/3i4WtAg

2. Americana: A 400-Year History of American Capitalism by Bhu Srinivasan  : https://amzn.to/3vDyufc

Enjoy the episode !

S2 Episode 105 | Discussion with Rael Bicker on Business Excellence , Corporate Culture , Entrepreneurship | Navigating twists, turns and loops to achieve excellence

Mr Rael Bicker deliver custom designed keynotes, workshops, mentoring and coaching that all fall under the umbrella of “Business Excellence”. We all recognize that perfection is not possible, and that excellence is being the best we can be with the resources we have. Rael works with people who are passionate about being on the journey toward achieving the best level of business excellence that they can.

He can draw my inspiration and content from many sources and develop and deliver keynotes, workshops, mentoring and coaching that is uniquely customised to every audience and client. 

My Experience: From being 6000ft underground in a mine, to starting an education business (that grew to have 4000 plus students) to spending years working in venture capital, he have has seen it all. He have listed companies on multiple international stock exchanges, and his financial services group has settled more than $3bn in loans over 19 years. He have a diverse work history combined with unique global research interviews with companies in more than 25 countries. Taking this knowledge and experience makes me perfect to advise people on growing and achieving excellence.

My Background: Rael hold two Masters degrees; an MBA and MSc (Engineering) and am currently a Fellow of the MFAA (Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia), a Certified Speaking Professional  (CSP)  (Professional Speakers Australia) and a Member of AICD (Australian Institute of Company Directors). Additionally, I am the first inspirationalist in Australia with Integrus Global and a Mentor with both Mentored With Mark Bouris and Mastermind.space

Rale's Book : Dive In – Lessons Learnt since business School

This book, published in May 2018, was intended to be a guide for people to take my experiences and be able to put the lessons into practice. As the blurb says:

“Business does not have to be complicated.  Business can be simple.

Take a breath, dive in, and adjust the course while you are moving.

This book looks at 30+ years of work and business on two continents through startups to listed companies. It is a collection of business principles that underline the idea of sometimes just taking a leap of faith and Diving In is all you need to succeed”

(a free copy – www.raelbricker.com/freebook)

Professional Speaking website :  www.raelbricker.com

Podcast Website  : www.excellencepodcast.com

For the latest video links : https://bit.ly/3fIpbmw

LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rael-bricker/

Enjoy, learn and listen !

S2 Episode 104 | Discussion with Online piano coach, best selling author Mark Deeks | Music , Mindset and Mental Wellbeing

“If music be the food of love, play on.” – William Shakespeare

Today I am hosting Mark Deeks who is the best selling author of “NOT Another Piano Book: How Everything That Stopped You Playing Like a Piano Legend So Far… Shouldn’t!”

He has spent more than 20 years working as a musical director, pianist, arranger and teacher, and has built a really diverse group of musicians as a client base. From artists such as Faye Tozer of Steps to black metal bands Winterfylleth (a band Mark ended up joining!) and Drudkh. He has given Lenny Henry piano lessons, and written versions of songs by metal stars Sonata Arctica for symphony orchestra and choir.

Mark’s extensive work as a musical director has included everything from choirs for the BBC, Magic Radio, and his own Sing United, to music theatre shows such as West Side Story and The Sound of Music. He has conducted the Royal Northern Sinfonia and written string parts for Japanese post rock legends Mono. He has previous clients around the world including France, Canada, Finland and Holland, and has even co-written and toured a comedy musical with the BBC’s Alfie Joey

Link to Mark's website : https://markdeeksmusic.com/who-is-mark-deeks/

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PlayPianoIn30Seconds/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markdeeksmusic/

Resources shared during show:

https://taplink.cc/markdeeksmusic

Amazon link to Mark's book: https://amzn.to/3si4uU1

Enjoy Digital Dreamers !

S2 Episode 103 | Discussion with Professor of Marketing Jaideep Prabhu on Innovation and Cross national business ecosystems |Cambridge Ecosystem | Books

Today's guest Professor Jaideep Prabhu is from Cambridge Judge Business School. His research interests includes : marketing, strategy and innovation. 

Specific area of his interests: cross-national issues concerning the antecedents and consequences of radical innovation in high-technology contexts such as banking, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology; the role of firm culture in driving innovation in firms across nations; how multinational firms organise their innovation activities worldwide; the forces that drive R&D location decisions and the factors that influence the performance implications of these decisions; the internationalisation of firms from emerging markets; and innovation in emerging markets.

You can find more details on his profile page : https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/faculty-research/faculty-a-z/jaideep-prabhu/

Books Prof. Jaideep Prabhu had written ( sharing links in amazon) :

1. Frugal Innovation: How to do better with less Kindle Edition by Navi Radjou  (Author), Jaideep Prabhu (Author), Paul Polman(Foreword) : https://amzn.to/31NDy3z

2. Jugaad Innovation: Think Frugal, Be Flexible, by Navi Radjou  (Author), Jaideep Prabhu (Author), Simone Ahuja  (Author), Kevin Roberts (Foreword) : https://amzn.to/31KsVhU

3. How Should A Government Be?:  by Jaideep Prabhu (Author) : https://amzn.to/39BjaHd

Book recommended by Jaideep in the chat : Homeland Elegies: by Ayad Akhtar : https://amzn.to/3rQI23X

Listen, learn and enjoy! 

S2 Episode 102 | Discussion with International Marketing , Digital Marketing Expert Magdalena Albinska| Creating and exploring life and marketing

Magda is a Digital Marketing and Social Media Manager with 10+ years of experience in international marketing projects. Instagram Evangelist by passion, believer in the power of community and influencer marketing. Early adopter of new platforms, always asking questions, learning and seeking to discover the next big thing. ICC coach, lecturer and workshop leader honing the marketing skills of students, workshop participants, teams and colleagues to fuel creativity and share what I learn and work with everyday.

She have a deep understanding of marketing processes, with an agency and cross-industry background in digital and social media marketing project management. Developing a community of influencers around the brand's messaging in a win-win dynamic is an integral part of many social media marketing strategies that she have worked on and have partnered with multiple internal and external stakeholders to bring many facets of the brand’s social presence to life.

Magda's interests outside of work include developing my understanding of the world around me, learning languages, photography and travel. She likes to indulge my creative side in the kitchen. She is bilingual - English / Polish and I thrive in an international environment.

Key tools: Google Marketing Platform, Facebook Business Manager, Hootsuite, SproutSocial, SimilarWeb, BuzzSumo, Brand24, FreshMail, Sare, 

You can connect with her on : https://www.linkedin.com/in/albinska/

Follow her on IG: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albinska/

LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/albinska/