Creative Forces Podcast

James Ingram is the chief executive of the e-commerce photography and video specialist, Splashlight, and host of the Creative Intelligence Podcast. After growing up in Chicago where he showed an early interest in creative design, James moved to Brooklyn at the age of 19 to start working in the printing industry. Over the next three… Read More CFP #20 – James Ingram

Dave Fishwick is a self-made millionaire and the star of Channel 4’s Bank of Dave. After growing up in Nelson, Lancashire, and leaving school at 16 with no qualifications, Dave started his entrepreneurial journey selling used cars. More than two decades later his eponymous company has grown into the biggest supplier of new and used… Read More CFP #19 – Dave Fishwick

Dr Felice Gersh is a multi-award-winning obstetrician and gynecologist and the founder of the Integrative Medical Group of Irvine. After completing her medical training at the University of Southern California Medical School she spent many years working as a doctor of obstetrics and gynaecology where she developed a unique take on women’s healthcare and began… Read More CFP #18 – Dr Felice Gersh

Dr Sue Black left home and school at 16, got married at the age of 20 and was a single mother of three at 25. After completing a degree in computing and then a PhD in software engineering she’s now a technology evangelist and digital skills expert, a UK government advisor, Honorary Professor of Computer… Read More CFP #17 – Dr Sue Black

Musician, record label manager and photographer Simon Allen is a founding member of funk and soul outfit The New Mastersounds and runs the band’s label, One Note Records. Born in Warwickshire, Simon moved to Leeds at the age of 18 where he met guitarist Eddie Roberts and started a musical relationship that is still going… Read More CFP #16 – Simon Allen

In a special podcast looking back at some of the highlights from Creative Forces episodes six to ten, DJ and author Dave Haslam explains why he chose “Sonic Youth Slept on My Floor” as the title of his memoir, food waste entrepreneur Tessa Cook talks about the moment she came up with the idea for… Read More CFP #15 – Creative inspiration part two

In a special podcast looking back at some of the highlights from Creative Forces episodes one to five, new media visionary Ajaz Ahmed explains whether he knew what he wanted to be when he was school, dating industry expert Charly Lester explain why she loves taking on challenges, author Nick Royle outlines where his ideas come… Read More CFP #14 – Creative inspiration part one

After joining CBS as a trainee tape operator at the age of 17, Grammy and Brit award-winning record producer Steve Levine has gone on to enjoy a hugely successful career in the music business, working with artists like The Clash and The Beach Boys and producing the first three Culture Club albums. A pioneer of… Read More CFP #13 – Steve Levine

Jason Wingard is a multi-award winning filmmaker, writer and director. His latest film, the critically-acclaimed comedy Eaten By Lions starring Jack Carroll, Antonio Aakeel & Johnny Vegas, premiered at the 2018 Edinburgh Film Festival and won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Bagri London Indian Film Festival. His short film In Another Life, which… Read More CFP #12 – Jason Wingard

Paul Blanchard is a PR guru, author, media commentator and creator of the hugely successful Media Masters podcast. As well as his two decades working in the media industry, Paul has created and sold an IT business, served as a local councillor and stood for parliament. In this episode hear how he started the Media… Read More CFP #11 – Paul Blanchard

Keith Farrell is a writer and director. After several years working on period drama documentaries, including the multiple-award winning A Terrible Beauty, the story of the the 1916 Easter Rising in his native Dublin, Keith has most recently moved into writing and directing contemporary drama. His 2017 short film, Rabbit Punch, about a young refugee… Read More CFP #10 – Keith Farrell

In 2009 Rowan Hoban and Sarah Bird spotted a gap in the market for family-friendly festivals and decided to co-create the Just So Festival in their spare time. Just under a decade later, Just So has gone on to win multiple awards and Rowan and Sarah, through the arts organisation they created alongside it, Wild… Read More CFP #9 – Rowan Hoban and Sarah Bird

Dave Haslam is a DJ, journalist and author. After setting up his own fanzine, Debris, in the early 80s, Dave DJ’d over four hundred and fifty times at Manchester’s legendary Hacienda nightclub before going onto gig at festivals and club nights all around the world and play alongside bands like the Stone Roses and New… Read More CFP #8 – Dave Haslam

Tessa Cook is the co-founder of OLIO, the smartphone app which connects neighbours and local businesses so they can share surplus food rather than throwing it away, and since its launch in North London in 2015 it’s now being used by hundreds of thousands of users in more than 30 countries. After leaving the family… Read More CFP #7 – Tessa Cook

Andrew Bloch is the co-founder and group managing director of Frank, one of the UK’s leading consumer PR agencies. After starting life with just three people in 2000, Frank now has offices in London, Manchester, Glasgow and Sydney, and counts Disney, Volkswagen and Sir Alan Sugar among its clients. In this episode Andrew explains how… Read More CFP #6 – Andrew Bloch

Charly Lester is an entrepreneur, dating industry expert and journalist. After creating the hugely popular 30 Dates Blog as a twenty-nine year-old financial contractor, Charly went on to become the Guardian’s dating editor and created The Dating Awards covering the UK, Europe and the US. With professional matchmaker Caroline Brealey she’s now launched A League… Read More CFP #5 – Charly Lester

Ajaz Ahmed is the chief executive of AKQA, the digital agency he founded when he dropped out of university at the age of 21. With a client list over the years that includes Nike, Virgin, Rolls Royce and Netflix, Ajaz and AKQA have consistently pushed the boundaries in their field and hoovered up more awards… Read More CFP #4 – Ajaz Ahmed

Stanley Chow is an artist and illustrator whose iconic and instantly-recognisable portraits of celebrities, footballers and musicians have received worldwide acclaim and generated a client list which includes the New York Times, The New Yorker, Manchester United and The White Stripes. In this episode hear how Stan’s love of drawing developed from a young age… Read More CFP #3 – Stanley Chow

At the age of just 22 Julianne Ponan became the owner and chief executive of the superfood brand Creative Nature. Just six years later Creative Nature products are stocked in the UK’s biggest supermarkets, and she and the company have won a ton of awards. In this episode find out how Julianne has grown the… Read More CFP #2 – Julianne Ponan

Nicholas Royle is a writer, publisher and editor. He’s written seven novels, two novellas and three volumes of short fiction​. He’s a senior lecturer in creative writing at the Manchester Writing School and head judge of the Manchester Fiction Prize. If that wasn’t enough, he also runs Nightjar Press and works as an editor for Salt… Read More CFP #1 – Nicholas Royle