Evolve to Succeed

Gina Felce is the co-founder and COO of Tailwind Games, a video game development studio working within the Roblox metaverse that has raised more than $4-million since its creation in 2021. Gina was also one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2022.

Amongst other things, you’ll hear how Gina transitioned to tech from a career in costume design, what she’s learned from her experience of angel and venture capital funding, her people-centred principles at Tailwind Games, what it’s like running the company with her life partner Mike, how to get the best out of your creatives and why she chose Bournemouth as Tailwind’s base.

Gordon Fong is the CEO and co-founder of tech company Kimcell, which contains three businesses within it—Datacenta Hosting, e-mango and X-Net. Gordon is deeply passionate about making connections, both in the technical sense and the personal one. His goal is to enhance and champion business in Dorset, and part of this has been Kimcell’s expansion into the Dorset Innovation Park.

Kelli Aspland and Laura Waters are the founders and directors of Solar Buddies, a child-friendly sunscreen applicator. Their story began in 2011 whilst discussing issues they were both encountering, along with other fellow parents, about how they children could apply sunscreen safely and effectively whilst not in their care. Fast forward twelve years and their award-winning product has been featured on TV screens around the world, including Dragon’s Den, and they now operate out of two premises with ten members of staff and rapidly counting. 

Kevin Dawson is the owner and managing director at Dawsons Bang & Olufsen, which has been designing, supplying and installing industry leading audiovisual systems for an incredible 90 years. Kevin himself has been with the company, which is a family business, for almost 43 years. 

The podcast covers topics such as the pleasures, pressures and complexities of a long-running family business, Kevin's opinions on the supposed death of the high street, his dedication to keeping his delivery vans clean, and both the toughest and proudest moments he’s had in the business. It’s an incredible story that begins at a time when not every household in the UK had electricity!

Darren Colley is the managing director at Iracroft, a premier supplier of a comprehensive range of metal pipe and tube fabricated products for diverse industry sectors. As well as his role at Iracroft, Darren is also a member of and an Ambassador for The Institute of Directors and sits on the Regional Advisory Board of MakeUK.

Darren is self-professed result-driven senior executive, with extensive experience within the business transformation, general management, engineering management, production engineering, project and contract environments. He’s regarded as a highly collaborative corporate leader and trusted boardroom member who communicates effectively, institutes initiatives and creates positive change, efficiencies and increased profitability. He has a great aptitude for organisational transformation, which includes identifying new business streams, reducing time to market, and minimising costs whilst boosting quality and client satisfaction.

Will Rolph (left), together with brother Harry, produce Two Fields olive oil from a small farm in Greece. Olive oil farming was something they both unexpectedly fell into, and it’s a great story of love, learning, reconnecting to nature and the value of taking things slowly. Both Will and Harry have found profound meaning in the simple olive, and the act of producing their small batch olive oil has transformed both their lives in significant ways.

Steve Coburn is managing director at Project Five, a multi-award winning outsourced IT Support company that works with local businesses of all sizes in Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire. Amongst other things, Steve is also president and director at the Surrey Chamber of Commerce, chairman of Collectively Camberley—a business improvement district—and owns the Login Lounge, a 20,000 square foot, live music venue, coffee house, wine bar, and co-working space in the centre of Camberley.

Jo Barry is managing director at Platinum Care Solutions Group, which has been providing care solutions in Hampshire for over 20 years. Alongside its sister companies—Acre Care and Safe Harbour—Platinum Care is the largest, independent, care group on the south coast, as well as being award-winning. 

Nida Leard is the founder of Nida Leard Consulting, where she advises world-class experts to become what she terms ‘legendary market outliers’. She is also the author ‘One to Millions Entrepreneur’, host of the Nida Leard Podcast, and a former Fortune 500 executive with more than two decades experience in business, psychology and personal development. 

Gerard McSharry is the owner and director of Higherground, a flooring company that’s been in business since 1990. Remarkably, Gerard has wanted to be a business owner since the age of eight and is therefore an entrepreneur through and through. Being at the helm of your own business certainly comes with its ups and downs, and over time Gerard has seen quite a few. Recessions, wars, a banking crisis and the pandemic—Gerard has successfully navigated through them all and has some amazing wisdom to share, as well as thoughts on the meaning of resilience.