Life Done Different.ly

This conversation is with the chef, raver and compulsively creative Brad Carter. Brad’s not averse to learning from others but his energy levels peak, his boat is well and truly floated, when he has a vision for something different.  From winning a pizza-making competition at school through his partying years to a surprise Michelin star, Brad seems to relish constraints using them to make things his own. This includes his restaurant Carters, the one-star doner bar, Psychedelic Jam, and much more.  

Welcome to our conversation with the Musician and Artist Boff Whalley.  Boff was formerly the lead-guitarist of British anarchist punk band Chumbawumba. Best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping".Boff grew up in Burnley, in a Morman family. He embraced the art and punk scenes, experimented with different types of music, and with his anarchist mates from the squat formed Chumbawumba which became famous for Tubthumping and pouring water over John Prescott at the 1998 Brits. Chumbawumba, unusually, seem to have navigated their way through an industry with their values intact. It's a fascinating story where Boff and others seem to have found a way to balance being oneself with being part of a group . . . and thrived.

Derek Sivers is a man with his own mind. To describe him as a musician, circus clown, entrepreneur, programmer, author, speaker, philosopher and Dad might whet your appetite but it would only be a part of the story. Whatever Derek does, he rarely does it on auto-pilot. He has a knack for questioning things. His beliefs are less likely to be a story he's inherited and more likely to be a useful experience. He listens to himself and when what he does fails to resonate, he notices it and explores the alternatives. He's learned to be unafraid of hierarchies, unafraid of complimenting people and understands the considerable benefits of doing things differently when things don't feel quite right. Don't try and put Derek in a box.I discovered Derek's 'How to start a movement' Ted Talk over 10 years ago and have been recommending it ever since. It was a real pleasure to speak with him. He seems very clear that he learns from the people he respects and the material they recommend but it seems to me the lessons unlock

This is a conversation with Steve Chapman. Steve worked for Glaxo Smith Kline for 20 years, he started packing boxes and ended up in a senior management role - and then he became an artist. It sounds like a huge dose of doing something very different but it's not quite as dramatic as that. Steve has found a way to do what he wants to do and earn a living selling his art and helping organisations understand creativity and the human condition. He says "I'm at my best when I’m on the edge of not quite knowing what I’m doing". Amen to that, I think we all are. We can only grow when we're pushed, when we step into the unknown. Steve talks here about working in a factory, social loafing, our addiction to expertise, embodying 'not knowing', the beginner's mind, silent podcasts, rumblings of discontent, helpful bosses, feelings being real, quantum flirting, safe uncertainty, child-like enthusiasm, comedy, money, learning to live below his means and more.To me, Steve is a great example of someone who has and continues

Better Business On Purpose is a book that Neil has recently co-authored.It's a practical guide for leaders who want to grow profit and have a positive impact on the world.Included in the book: Examples of inspiring businesses that have embedded purpose in their DNA, and who are making it work. The '7 Ps' - a systematic approach to making your business more purpose-led and profitable at the same time. The case for "doing more": why all business leaders have their role to play, and why it is never too late to begin. Find out more here: https://www.bbopbook.com

Hello and welcome to our conversation with Pieter Levels. Peter is the man behind NomadList.com, remoteOK.com, InflationChart.com, rebase.co and more.Pieter is hard to describe if you’re after an old-world description. He’s most certainly a business guy and a software developer guy but he works remotely, sometimes he charges for his creations, sometimes he doesn’t. He practices radical honesty with himself and others. He’s unafraid to experiment, to play and learned as a student that doing something different can have unexpected and very rewarding consequences.He works with a few trusted friends but creatively he’s the man. Neil has been telling me for six months that a conversation with Pieter would be fun and interesting. He was right. Pieter is in charge of himself, he’s not going with the flow unless it serves him. He’s not short of money but doesn’t own a home and his laptop seems to be as extravagant as it gets.He keeps things simple and for someone so successfully immersed in the world of digital, has

Until she went to Sweden as part of a student exchange programme, Steph didn't really question the trajectory she was on. She was going with the flow. A spell in Sweden, a different culture with different people and in particular a different educational system woke Steph up to the idea that she had led a sheltered life and that different was at the very least interesting and at very best, significantly better than the way things were done back home.The idea that there were other ways to do things stuck . .  so when it came to joining the world of work, Steph started to question the model of get a job, go to the job, keep the job and climb the career ladder. She started to experiment with a whole heap of different remote working jobs. Got herself a job with a fully remote company, flew to live in Scotland and she’s been working remotely ever since. Fully understanding that remote working was possible allowed Steph to question the other narratives in her life. If I can work remotely what else is possible?Steph

Hi All - in this episode we talk to Rosie Sherry. Rosie is a self-declared introvert and community builder extraordinaire. She is best known for the Ministry of Testing, Indie Hackers, Rosie.land and RecklessMother.com Rosie builds communities and has done so for more than 15 years. It includes the Sherry community of Rosie, Graham and their 5 kids aged 17 to 3 - none of whom go to school. It’s not that Rosie is looking to rebel. It's just that she seems to be clear about how she wants to spend her time and a conventional path would not allow her to live life, her way. So she designs her own made to measure life with little or no reference to the way most people live theirs. Rosie’s approach is one where she just does stuff. If she enjoys doing it, she’ll spend more time doing it and then, because she’s spending the time she works out how to get paid to do it. Rosie is half Columbian, half Irish, sounds Scottish, was born in London, grew up in London, Indonesia and  Columbia, moved back to London with no qual

Mills founded ustwo with Sinx, his mate from school. Ustwo has become a digital product studio, a games company and an investment business. They have always worked with the biggest brands in the world and are the team behind the hugely successful Monument Valley. This is Mills' story, an episode of two halves. The first half being the story of 'ustwo' and the transition from chaos to order, and the second half is the story of Mills who lead the wonderfully creative chaos and as a consequence found himself in the need of new purpose. Mills is a modern-day emotional adventurer, exploring himself with the same verve he used to grow his company. If you like people who are open and honest. If you like people who are brave. You'll like Mills.

Emile is a 37-year-old knife-maker and bladesmith but it’s taken him a while to feel comfortable with those descriptions. Previously his world was software, apps, websites and originally studio engineering. Originally from the UK, he now lives in Chamonix in the French Alps. Emile has spent most of his working life with the distinct feeling that he wasn’t doing what he was meant to do. This is Emile’s very frank story of his struggles with anxiety and his search for meaning. His brilliantly open description of his rock bottom moment, which paradoxically appeared at the top of a mountain with friends, is an advertisement for action if there ever was one. Emile is very keen to point out he hasn’t nailed it - life that is! But it is a brilliant story of how to get started.

Charles Wookey is unusual. He's also the CEO of an unusual charity. Blueprint for Business is an independent charity whose purpose is to create a better society through better business. Charles has had an eclectic career. You would be hard-pressed at any point to guess his next career move. Finance, politics, economics, God and purpose-driven business are in the collection so far and the next chapter is brewing. Charles' story is one of quiet confidence, curiosity and charm and it teaches us that leading yourself, finding your own path and not the one that others expect of you, is a path worth exploring.

This is Part 2 of our conversation with Junior Smart, youth leader, ex-offender and much much more. This episode covers Junior's time in prison and his journey from disorder to Order of the British Empire.

Junior Smart is a youth leader, an ex-offender, an academic and a couple of months ago he added father to this list. If you don't believe people can change, listen to this. This is a story about the power of belonging. A need we all have to belong to a group. A lesson in how we often attach importance to the wrong things and end up in the wrong group, the wrong Club. It's a lesson in how, with an open mind and good people in your support team, you can change beyond your imagination. This is Part 1, more to follow . . .

Welcome to our conversation with Matt and Lucia Long. Matt and Lucia are both professional musicians and both lost their income overnight when COVID hit back in March. This is a story about fighting and rolling with the punches. It's about fighting when you have a plan and energy and rolling with the punches when you don't. It's the story of how, out of the chaos, they created Mini Music Makers; fun, energetic, educational music classes for pre-school kids and how it might yet lead them to the Costa Rican jungle dressed as Shady the Raccoon.

Welcome to our conversation with Ben Ivey. Ben is a coach to Entrepreneurs but what makes Ben interesting is his attention to the Entrepreneur as a person, the whole person not just as a business person. He's as happy talking about love as he is margins. He wants you to live the best life you can, one where regrets are minimised and magic moments are maximised.

Tom Libelt is a digital nomad. He lives between Thailand, Poland and the US. He's lived in many different countries and the path he's taken has not been conventional. Born in Communist Poland, Tom moved to the US aged 11 and by his mid-teens, he already had experience selling everything from marijuana to music. He had a successful departure into making music and had his fifteen minutes of fame before going back into business, the coffee business and then after a life of exploring, Tom started to focus on the business of digital marketing and the business of balancing healthy routines with reluctant adventuring.

Hi All - I was going to describe this as a COVID-19 special or as a pop-up episode but things that pop up, by there very nature, pop down again and I’m not entirely sure when that’s going to happen and we’re not discussing COVID-19 itself, more the way it’s affected us . . so I think we’re going to call these episodes. . . change uninvited In this episode, Neil and I are just getting our bearings on the whole thing. More will follow.

Our guest in conversation today is Clare Farrell, a leading voice of Extinction Rebellion and a Lecturer in 'sustainable fashion' (if there is such a thing) at St Martin's College, in London. Clare was a joy to hang out with.

Hi all - this conversation with Katey Wiseman was a bit of an impromptu experiment. A friend and I got chatting to Katey in The Walrus pub in Brighton. I'm sure Katey won't mind me saying this but Katey is a normal person, she has to balance work, being a mum and relationships in the same way we all have to balance things. But Katey was waiting to rehearse with La Bordello Boheme, a beginners burlesque show (not normal!) and once Katey had worked out we weren't complete weirdo's she started to share her story of how she'd moved from 12 years in a not very nice relationship with confidence at a low point to taking her clothes off in public. It was clear Katey is no extrovert so I wanted to find out more about the steps she took to rebuild her confidence and this is the conversation that followed a few weeks later.

Hello and welcome to this conversation with Damian Keyes, Musician and Entrepreneur. Big thanks to Jake at The Sneaky Panda which is a secret cocktail bar hidden behind a bookcase within the Artist Residence Hotel in Brighton. If you haven't been there it's absolutely worth it. The Artist Residence describe their hotels as an eccentric bunch of fun and friendly places to eat, drink and sleep - and we reckon they should add 'have interesting conversations' to that list. There's a big difference between being in a conversation and listening to a conversation and it's a real privilege being able to both. Listening to our conversation with Damian I was most struck by his 'burn the ships' approach. It's an approach that many guests have taken but I'm not sure anyone else has been so conscious, so deliberate about their own approach to life. In 1519, The Spanish Conquistador and explorer, Captain Hernan Cortez landed in Veracruz, Mexico. On his arrival, he ordered his men to burn the ships on which they'd ar