Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Climb Show

In this episode, we talk with Chris Hirst, former CEO of Havas Creative and author of No Bullsh*t Leadership. Chris redefines leadership as a learnable skill, challenging the myths that surround it. He shares insights on building high-performing teams, the power of culture, and transforming failures into opportunities. Whether you're leading a team or aspiring to, Chris offers practical advice on how to lead effectively and unlock potential in any context.

In this episode, we chat with Jon Marchant, Marketing Director at MOJU. Jon shares insights on finding your tribe, fitting into the right culture, and aligning with a meaningful mission. He discusses MOJU’s innovative approach to revolutionizing morning routines with health-boosting products. Learn how MOJU is challenging norms, building market presence, and educating consumers on healthier alternatives. Jon’s expertise offers valuable takeaways for marketers at any stage of their career.

In this episode, Zaid talks about the importance of ensuring mental health is no longer a taboo topic to be spoken about within the workplace and, demonstrates his passion for team development. He also shares valuable advice for those just starting or early on in their careers based on what he has learnt throughout his career...

Who is Zaid? 🤩

He is a passionate board-level executive & commercial managing director, who specialises in customer-centric change management & brand-building. He enjoys challenging, complex, fast-paced environments. He loves the combination of operational, commercial, strategic & customer-led roles, & the challenge of developing a winning team. He has led 4 major post-acquisition integrations.

He is Chief Marketing Officer of Channel 4, the publicly-owned and commercially-funded UK public service broadcaster, with a statutory remit to deliver high-quality, innovative, alternative content that challenges the status quo.

Previously, Zaid was Chief Brand & Marketing Officer of BT Group which owns and operates the BT, EE, Plusnet & Openreach businesses.

Zaid also has experience of large & small companies, having been a Procter & Gamble Managing Director, and CMO of an internet start-up, HouseTrip (now part of TripAdvisor). He have a passion for innovative approaches that challenge the status quo & improve business results & organisation capability. He is an advocate of insight-led, customer-centric approaches that build deep partnerships with customers, suppliers & end consumers.

He spent 20 years in marketing & commercial general management at P&G, working on UK, European & Global businesses. He was commercial P&L leader of the UK P&Gbeauty business with sales >£1Billion.

Sponsored by School of Marketing. Delivering digital and data-led marketing apprenticeships and training.

In this episode, Orlando Wood, Chief Innovation Officer at System1 Group, took a dive in to the neuroscience behind what creates a successful advertising campaign in today's digital world. We explored System 1 thinking, brand awareness vs performance advertising, AI in ad development and the key ingredients for a successful campaign. 

This episode is not one to miss for anyone interested in marketing and advertising! 

Who is Orlando Wood? 

Orlando Wood is Chief Innovation Officer of System1 Group and Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. He is also a member of the IPA’s Effectiveness Leadership Group. Author of Lemon (IPA, 2019), Look out (IPA, 2021), co-author of System1, Unlocking Profitable Growth (2017), his research on advertising effectiveness draws on psychology and a study of the creative arts.

Orlando’s work has influenced thinking and practice in the research, marketing, and advertising, winning him awards from the ARF (Great Minds Distinction Award), the AMA (4 under 40), Jay Chiat (Gold Award for Research Innovation), ISBA (Ad Effectiveness Award), MRS (Best Paper and Research Effectiveness Awards) and ESOMAR (Best Methodology)

Sponsored by School of Marketing. Delivering digital and data-led marketing apprenticeships and training.

In this episode, Sharry Cramond, Marketing Director at M&S Food and author of “Win Your Lottery”, shares insights into her journey in the world of retail, and how she has managed to become so successful. Sharry's has a passion for the marketing space and understands the importance of "doing what is right" and having a diversity of thought within a team.

Sharry has had an incredible career in household brand like Tesco and M&S Food, growing their brands. In her 12 years at Tesco she held various commercial and marketing roles, including being part of the team that created Tesco Bank and then Tesco Mobile. She is also an author of the global best seller "Win Your Lottery", which covers her ten simple steps to be as happy and as rich as you want to be. 

Sponsored by School of Marketing. A digital and data-led, marketing apprenticeships and training provider. 

In this episode, Claire Beale, Editor and Salonniere at The Creative Salon, shared how her career was tipped upside down when she was made redundant at Campaign Magazine during the pandemic, and spoke about how this was a blessing in disguise...

Claire immediately bounced back and within 2 hours she was planning the next exciting phase of her career. That's when The Creative Salon was born. 

Throughout this episode, it becomes evident that Claire's love for the industry, and ambition to create her best work, is what has allowed her to stay facing forwards as she explores this next phase of her career!

Sponsored by School of Marketing. A digital and data led, marketing apprenticeships and training provider.

Colin Lewis, renowned columnist, strategist and consultant, joined us on The Places We'll Go Marketing Show to share his journey of becoming and expert in ecommerce and marketplaces. 

In this episode, Colin's wisdom shines through as he speaks about the power of using weak ties to fuel relationships, realising that is nobody cares about you as much as you do, so having persistence, determination and simply working hard is the key to development. Colin also spoke about how careers come in peaks and troughs every 7-8 years, so embrace the changes that come along the way. 

Sponsored by School of Marketing. Delivering digital and data led marketing apprenticeships and training.

In this episode we are joined by Stephen Woodford, CEO of Advertising Association, who's passion for the advertising world shined through when speaking about his favourite ad of all time and how it transformed the world of advertising...

Stephen is a huge advocate for improving diversity and inclusion, especially within the workplace and lead Advertising Association's "All In" industry wide survey that was used to gain  insights on the representation and experience of the UK advertising’s workforce plus data to benchmark progress from.

 Who is Stephen Woodford?🤩

Stephen was appointed CEO of the Advertising Association in September 2016. The Advertising Association’s mission is to promote and protect the role, rights and responsibilities of advertising and its impact on individuals, the economy and society and all the key media owners and trade bodies are members of the AA. Prior to joining, Stephen held management roles in three agencies, Leo Burnett, WCRS/Engine and DDB/adam&eveDDB. He also currently chairs youth marketing agency Livity, a social purpose-driven business that seeks to transform young peoples’ lives, especially from BAME backgrounds.

He is a founder and director of U, a digital challenger to conventional banks. Stephen is a past President of NABS and serves on the board of the History of Advertising Trust. He was IPA President (2003-05) where he led both their first ethnic diversity initiative and transformed its professional qualifications for new industry entrants, which over 15,000 people have now sat and passed in the UK and around the world.

In this episode, Josh Krichefski, Global CEO of MediaCom, spoke about the power and importance of having a growth mindset and being able to keep a strong perspective on what matters in your working and personal life. Josh's honest and upfront personality is what ensures he stays on top of his game, even during times of struggle which Josh touches on during this episode. It is clear that Josh is one of the most genuine leaders in our industry  and cares deeply about the mental health and wellbeing of those around him and those from underprivileged backgrounds.   

Who is Josh Krichefski? 🤩  

Josh has been at MediaCom for more than a decade in a variety of leadership positions at Global, Regional and Local levels. He is currently both our Global COO and CEO EMEA, where he is responsible for 4,400 people across 37 offices, driving the vision and culture in EMEA and ensuring that MediaCom is the strongest agency network in the region.  Previously Josh was MediaCom’s UK CEO, the country’s No.1 media agency billing over £1.8bn across 6 offices. He has not only worked in media agencies but on the creative agency side too, working at St. Luke’s in the early 2000s and he also ran his own digital agency, Kword.

Sponsored by School of Marketing. Delivering digital and data-led marketing apprenticeships and training.

In this episode, we are joined by Arjoon Bose, International Head of Creative & Growth Ideas at General Mills, who brought his passion for people and creativity to the table to talk about. Arjoon's energy is evident as he shares some mottos that have allowed him to develop such and incredible, international marketing career for himself, when he once thought he was destined to be a Chartered Accountant... Accounting's loss is marketing's gain!

• Smart creates solutions, stupid creates stories
• Be a force for joy
• Share your knowledge
• Be curious, be courageous and do the brilliant basics
• Always back yourself and trust your gut
• Fail fast, bounce back faster

Who is Arjoon Bose? 🤩

Arjoon has over 16 years of brand building and business leadership experience  across CPG via personal care products and now food and drink which he hopes to leverage in helping establish or grow the market for brands and create stakeholder viability while always being a vanguard of cultural leadership.

He started his career in beauty and worked across the three major brands of the L'Oreal Group (Garnier, Maybelline New York and L'Oreal Paris) for over a decade across Asia, North America and Europe/UK with two major marketing stints at the global headquarters in Paris.

After making many beauty dreams a reality with skin creams and hair creams, in the summer of 2015, he took his passion for indulgence up a notch with super-premium ice-cream-a much loved childhood icon that remains eternally popular globally... Haagen-Dazs, giving his career a new orientation in the world of foods with the American giant General Mills.

As of 2016, Arjoon then added the 'better-for-you snacks' portfolio to his belt which namely includes Nature Valley, the world #1 snack bar and has doubled the UK business under his leadership together with his team.

At the end of 2018, Arjoon transitioned to be a founding member of the General Mills New Ventures incubation team for Europe-Australasia setting up our Natural & Organic Business Unit for as well as our European Venture Capital arm which seeks

Sponsored by School of Marketing. Delivering digital and data led marketing apprenticeships and training.

In this episode of The Places We'll Go Marketing Show, Sarah Jenkins, the Marketing Director of Saatchi & Saatchi, demonstrated her passion and excitement for the marketing industry and the power that Saatchi & Saatchi has to influence the world. After getting to know Sarah, it was clear that her passion comes from people, and being surrounded by a diverse and creative team that work together to empower and motivate each other through thick and thin. You'll finish this episode feeling like you can take on the world and that "nothing is impossible"...

Topics: 

• The power of having a tribe around you
• Make yourself noticed
• Networking is key to development
• Don't be afraid to speak up
• Diversity and inclusion

Who is Sarah Jenkins? 🤩

Sarah joined Saatchi & Saatchi in December 2019. She works with Chris Kay, Chief Executive Officer of Saatchi & Saatchi, to both shape the strategic direction of the agency and drive the day-to-day business.

Previously a nine year veteran of Grey London where she held the role of Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Account Management and was responsible for some of the agency’s flagship creative accounts - including The British Heart Foundation and Lucozade.

Sarah has worked in both global network agencies and start ups and across organisations as diverse as Mars, GSK, P&G and the Home Office.

A staunch believer in the need for greater diversity of talent at all levels across advertising, Sarah has been a driving force behind the industry wide Advertising Diversity Task Force, which brings together the most progressive agencies across the communications industry to use their combined energy, expertise and skills to shift the diversity dial.

Sponsored by School of Marketing. Delivering digital and data led marketing apprenticeships and training. 

Who is Paul Frampton?

Paul is the European President for Control v Exposed, a marketing services consultancy and addressable media specialist. Paul is an experienced business leader and one of the UK’s defining voices in disruption and marketing.

He was previously CEO of a hospitality tech scale-up, Tink Labs, scaling the business from 20 to 200 across EMEA. Prior to that, Paul was Group CEO for Havas Media Group, responsible for a £100m turnover, 900 people organisation.

The Evening Standard newspaper in London included Paul in their ‘Progress 1000 Brand Builders 2016’ while The Drumvoted him the ‘5th Most Influential Person in UK Digital’. Paul was also honored to accept Twitter’s‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. An active advisor and investor in the start-up community for businesses in the Marketing and HR tech space and an early-stage VC. Paul is an influencer on LinkedIn and Twitter with over 25,000 followers. He serves as Chair of The Youth Group, dedicated to improving job prospects for young people. An advocate for diversity and inclusion, Paul is an advisor for Women in Marketing and was named one of Management Today’s ’30 Male Agents of Change.’ When not working or speaking at industry events, Paul focuses on family life, his five children, and DJ’ing. He is an BA Honours graduate of The University of Southampton.

In this episode, Karen Wilkinson, Marketing Director for UK & Ireland at Evergreen Garden Care, shares her inspiring career journey and insights into the evolving marketing landscape. Discover how embracing change and lifelong learning drive personal and organizational growth. From navigating emerging trends like Gen .ai to unlocking the power of passion in marketing, Karen offers valuable lessons for marketers at all levels. Tune in to explore Karen's colorful career path, her tips for overcoming fear, and the importance of building meaningful connections in marketing. Join us as we uncover the transformative potential of embracing change and seizing opportunities in the world of marketing.

In this episode, Mimi talks about importance of empathetic leadership and where her passion for empathy came from, she takes a deep dive into what triggered her to write her best selling book "Softening the Edge" and Mimi also spoke to us about how her international career has developed over the years. 

Who is Mimi Nicklin?

"I believe that Empathetic Influence can make a significant difference to the world of work and society, and I am extremely passionate about conscientious leadership and the impact we can have as leaders today. Today I balance my work in empathy with my strategic and creative leadership in at The Devmark Group, ensuring I integrate my leadership work in the corporate and marketing world with my passion for inspiring empathy globally.

A lifelong copywriter, I never thought about becoming an author until I wrote Softening The Edge. Once I identified the reach and impact of the Empathy Deficit globally, I couldn’t stop writing. I am a strategist and writer by nature and this book focuses on something I have been passionate about for my entire career - the sustainable wellness of our workforce, human led leadership, and the future of effective creativity and brand building. My principles are principles of people and I focus on opportunities for enhanced organisational culture as well as brand strategy that heroes consumer empathy and creativity.

I am the host of The Empathy for Breakfast Show, a weekly breakfast podcast, with a reach of 85,000. You can view it on all leading podcast platforms.

I believe in the systematization of empathetic influence & Regenerative Leadership to create the best of creative work, the happiest of teams and the most sustainable facets of a healthy society. I have worked across twenty-five markets from within independent agencies, as well as within both WPP and Omnicom, and from client side. Having recently changed my role from the Regional Managing Director role at Rapp MEA to focus on strategic and creative delivery as their contracted full time strategic ECD, I am now passionately driving strategic and creative output as part of the agency's growth strategy for 2021.

Previously the Global Vice President, GlaxoSmithKline, for Grey Group in Singapore and having held roles as Regional Strategic Director and Chief Marketing Officer, my key strength is in building team culture and cohesion, creative storytelling and strategic concept, insight and brand development. I have honed this living in London, Hong Kong, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Singapore and Dubai."

Sponsored by School of Marketing. Delivering digital and data-led marketing apprenticeships and training.

This episode was the most inspirational episode of The Places We'll Go Show so far, we were lost for words at how eloquently Cephas Williams spoke about the importance and urgency of people to take real action in order to move the black conversation forward, and start to build a positive reality for future generations of the black community. Cephas also spoke about "the power we hold as marketers, to reinvent the world we live in", and how big of an impact this can have on the black community if the right people cared enough to enforce change.

Who is Cephas Williams?

Cephas is the founder and photographer behind the ground breaking 56 Black Men campaign and Drummer Boy Studios. He previously studied architecture and started his first business in 2009.

After taking a series of portrait photographs of 56 Black Men in hoodies, he launched '56 Black Men' as a campaign in the UK to change the narrative regarding black men in the media and as an introduction to a much wider conversation.

Since launching the campaign on the 23rd of December 2018, it has had both a local and global impact, and has since been featured in The Guardian, The Metro, The Independent, on Channel 5, Sky News, BBC and Aljazeera amongst others, creating both a local and global impact.

Cephas believes everyone should have a fair chance to change their narrative and so utilising his degree in Architecture, he created Drummer Boy Studios in 2017. Cephas set out to merge his passion for architecture and his passion for the community in a bid to create physical spaces that cater to those who often suffer the brunt of gentrification. The studio ran as a creative hub, a workspace with creative facilities; conducive for growth, innovation and collaboration for people interested in the creative sector including industries such as Music, Film, Media, Enterprise, Fashion and Gaming.

Upon doing this, Cephas was confused as to why things like this were not being spotlighted in the media, after all the work and money and time put into creating this space within the community and the success it gained. He had also secured a partnership with BDP to become the official development partner for the business.

Despite this, he was still facing opposition from people in the local council office and not being supported with the positive work being done. This pushed him to think about how many more Black men are doing great things but are never heard or spotlighted. Cephas started to question further, why is it that things like this never make headline news? And why the prevailing headline news about Black men was always surrounding knife crime or violence here in the UK. As a result he decided to create the 56 Black Men campaign to challenge the negative stereotypes of Black men in the media and spotlight positive achievements of the black men through the series or portrait images.

In recent years Cephas has been successful in galvanising support for his businesses from key partners and industry leaders including companies such as Accenture, EY, O2 Telefonica and Clear Channel as well as people such as, Paul Polman (Ex CEO of Unilever), Simon Pegg and others.

At this time Cephas is focused on a new message towards a wider Black British conversation through The Black British Network. In his recent public letter to his son titled Letter to Zion, Cephas explores a heart felt message and his thoughts around the much needed change we need to see in the world, with specific reference to the Black community and the need for us to come together to see long lasting change.

In this episode, Pano talks about his hunger for learning, the importance of believing in yourself and what he wants his legacy to be after a such an incredible career at Pret A Manger. 

Who is Pano Christou?

Pano is an experienced Executive with a demonstrated history of working in the retail industry. He is skilled in Service Operation, Food & Beverage, Operations Management, Customer Service, and Retail. Pano is also a strong business development professional with an Advanced Management Programme focused in Business/Leadership from Harvard Business School.

In this episode, we were joined by Richard Robinson, Managing Director of Xeim and Oystercastchers, who revealed his love for re-defining the rulebook, his passion for learning and the role mentoring has played in his life. 

Who is Richard Robinson?

Richard is Managing Director of Xeim Engage, incorporating Econsultancy and Oystercatchers, and committed to making good things happen between brands, agencies and talented folk. He was named as one of the ten most influential leaders in digital & tech by BIMA as well as being a Chartered Marketer. Richard is a specialist in accelerating modern marketing performance & digital transformation. Most days you’ll find him wrestling with some of the biggest strategic challenges facing the world’s best-known brands.

Before his current role Richard worked internationally with The Coca-Cola Company, domestically with McDonald’s restaurants heading Adult and Family Marketing, and led Publicis Worldwide’s P&G business across EMEA. In parallel Richard is a multi-award winning diversity advocate and has been recognised as a ‘Male Agent of Change’ by the Women’s Business Council & Management Today, as well being ranked in the top 20 male advocates championing women in business by both the Financial Times and Yahoo Finance. Vice-Chair of The Ideas Foundation, and a board Member of Creative Equals, BAME2020 and Edcom (The European Institute of Education in Commercial Communications). Regular mentor for WhosYourMomma, BIMA, NABS & The Women's Sport Trust.

When time allows Richard is a remarkably slow marathon runner.

In this episode, Richard talks about what he learnt throughout the pandemic, the importance of always learning and always balancing both work and home life. 

Who is Richard Bon?

Richard Bon is Managing Director of Clear Channel UK. He joined the company back in 2000 and subsequently progressed through various roles in the marketing, planning, and trading departments. He now sits on the company's European ExCo and as of 2020, he is additionally Commercial Lead for Clear Channel Europe.

Richard has led the digital transformation of Clear Channel in the UK to expand the company's Digital Out of Home footprint. Digital now represents the majority of the company's revenues. Under his leadership, Clear Channel's digital estate has grown to over 5,000 screens. Including Adshel Live, the largest DOOH network, and Malls Live, the leading full video malls network in the UK. Richard is also spearheading the next phase of the company's growth including the delivery of automation and programmatic solutions underpinned by data.

Richard hails from France. He is a proud family man, with a natural passion for vin rouge, food and cycling.

In this episode, Russell shared his view on where marketing is today and how it has changed since he entered the industry, how his career journey differed to most and what advice he would give to those just starting their career.  

Who is Russell Parsons?  

Russell is the editorial lead for the UK's most prominent marketing title and event. He is responsible for leading the content, editorial and strategic direction across several platforms for both brands, he has a track record of conceiving, developing and curating content for highly successful events, editorial products and commercial partnerships that meet the needs and exceed the expectations of the senior marketing audience and those of clients. Russell is also a trusted authority on marketing issues, he regularly hosts podcasts on the biggest issues in marketing, as well as delivers keynote speeches and regularly hosts and appears on panels at industry events.  

Career highlights include: 

• Rethinking and relaunching The Festival of Marketing as a digital event in 2020 and delivering its highest ever NPS score for content, helping the event exceed its delegate and commercial targets 

• Helping steward Marketing Week to record audience satisfaction ratings and deliver a spike in commercial and subscription revenue in 2020 

• Helping launch industry initiative School of Marketing, which aims to widen accessibility to marketing 

• Winning the British Society of Magazine Editors' 'New Editor of the Year Award' in 2017 

• Oversaw the ‘Brand of the Year’ winner in the PPA Digital Awards 2017 

• Conceiving and presenting highly regarded sponsored podcast series such as ‘Marketing Week Meets' and ‘Marketing that Matters’

In this episode, Kathleen talks about the importance of relating her work back to psychology, owning who you are and grabbing life by the horns.

Kathleen Saxton is a Managing Director at MediaLink, who leads the firm’s operations in EMEA. An industry veteran with 25+ years of experience in sales, marketing, media and executive search, her remit is wide-ranging and spans business growth, agency selection, talent advisory and strategic consulting.

Saxton joined MediaLink in 2020 from The Lighthouse, a talent advisory firm she founded in 2009 to provide executive talent and counsel to companies across the marketing landscape. Prior to founding The Lighthouse, Saxton held commercial leadership positions spanning organisations including Sky Television, Global Radio and Bauer and later held board positions within Omnicom, Publicis and Virgin. She is also the co-founder of Advertising Week Europe.

Kathleen is a qualified and practicing psychotherapist and co-founder of Psyched Global, and as such applies psychology to all elements of her work. She sits on the board of NSPCC Childline and is an active member of WACL, the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP), and the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). She is also a regular industry speaker and a mentor for the UK government’s Speakers For Schools program.

In this episode Thomas reveals the secrets to successful marketing leadership, how he used imposter syndrome to fuel his ambition and the 12 power/value creation zone.  

Who is Thomas Barta?  

Thomas Barta is the world’s leading expert on marketing leadership.  

A former marketer and McKinsey partner, he has conducted the world’s largest studies on marketer's success. No wonder some call him: The Marketers’ Coach.  

He is the founder of the Marketing Leadership Masterclass, with Syl Saller, co-author: The 12 Powers of a Marketing Leader, fmr McKinsey partner & marketer, organizational psychologist, Marketing Academy leadership dean, Marketing Society Honorary Fellow.

In this episode, Jess Myers talks about the importance of loving the brand you work for, how mentoring influenced her career and how her childhood led her to becoming so successful.   

Who is Jessica Myers?  

Jessica is a member of the Metro Bank Executive Committee, having joined in November 2019 to build the Bank’s first-ever Brand and Marketing function. Her role focuses on shaping Metro Bank’s brand strategy, building transformational marketing capabilities, and investing in brand and marketing communications that exemplify the brand to drive business growth.   

Jessica is a brand and marketing specialist, with a track record of leading brands through transformational change. Before joining Metro Bank she led the RBS Brand team, with responsibility across its 10 portfolio brands. Prior to this, she held various brand and marketing roles at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney and has also worked at American Express

In this episode, Carrie reveals what first made her launch Rise at Seven and what made her become such a successful marketer and entrepreneur.  

Who is Carrie Rose?  

Carrie Rose, 27 year old co-founder and CEO of leading search-first creative agency Rise at Seven. Rise disrupted the search industry just 18 months ago, winning Missguided on the spot without a pitch for presenting a search-first approach to creative. The story spread, attracting other disruptor brands that wanted a creative approach to their search strategies including Pretty Little Thing, My Protein, Made.com, Game, Playstation, ODEON and more.  

Now a multi-million pound agency, we operate across London, Sheffield and US/ Carrie vlogs her journey building a global agency in public over on YouTube. She recently featured on campaign magazines 30 under 30 list and voted rising star by content marketing association.  

Carrie co-founded Rise at Seven alongside Stephen Kenwright in June 2019 taking a lead on our creative content marketing offering, Digital PR and social media strategy. Having worked in SEO for over 7 years and won multiple awards for her creative campaigns and digital PR executions – Carrie spotted an opportunity and a gap to make creative work for search.

Margaret Molloy joined the "Places Will Go" show as a distinguished guest, celebrated for her impactful career in the marketing industry. As the former Global CMO of Siegel+Gale and an influential leader globally, Margaret discussed her professional journey, highlighting her notable decade at Siegel+Gale, where she worked with clients across 70 countries. She shared insights into her role in brand simplification and her dedication to creating pride within her team and clients. Throughout the discussion, she expressed a deep connection to New York, her adopted home, and emphasized the importance of continual learning and listening in personal and professional growth.

In this episode, Fran gives advice to entrepreneurs just starting out, why she started Lightbulb Sessions and what she wants her legacy to be  

Who is Francesca James?  

Francesca is the founder of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and community. With a background in publishing and events, Francesca is passionate about telling the stories of entrepreneurs in an effort to support and champion their endeavours.  

Founded in 2013, the Great British Entrepreneur Awards acknowledges the hard work and inspiring stories of entrepreneurs and businesses in the United Kingdom.  

The Awards have celebrated some outstanding entrepreneurs who have gone on to become household names. Now with events in eight cities in Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the awards receive around 3,000 applications annually.

In this episode, Ed talks about having a good work/life balance, feedback culture and how to be a player instead of a victim  

Who is Ed Smith?  

Ed has CEO and GM experience in media, advertising and technology, as well as, extensive experience in the Marketing world.  

He was part of the Mt.Buller Resort Management Board and Australian Alpine Enterprise, operators of Falls Creek and Mt.Hotham ski resorts.  

Not for profit member of the board of trustees of Make A Wish UK, former director of Make A Wish Australia.

In this episode, Raja talks about the importance of always learning, how we need to view customer loyalty and the mistakes he made when starting his career.  

WHO IS RAJA?  

A transformative business leader with substantial senior management experience across different geographies around the world.  

Raja has managed large-scale businesses at Fortune 500 companies across financial services, consumer-packaged goods and healthcare, including at Unilever, Citigroup, Anthem, and Mastercard.  

He is globally recognized for his innovative thinking, leadership in business transformation that he has brought to executive roles across industries, and leadership in Mastercard’s marketing and brand transformation.

In this episode, Ellie gives advice to those trying to find their way in the world, reveals what her big breaks were and talks about the steps she took to get to where she is today.

Who is Ellie Norman?

An energetic and versatile marketing leader with over 16 years experience in fast moving complex commercial environments including 4 years in Media / Telecoms & Entertainment Marketing and 8 years in Automotive Marketing.

Ellie is someone who has experience of managing ‘challenger’ brands within their categories across multiple routes to market in multi-franchise environments.

With an insatiable appetite to bring sustainable change and transform brands into benchmarks she successfully leads both internal and agency teams to work to levels of excellence with a genuine positive ‘can do’ attitude to deliver the business demands through high-impact marketing campaigns.

With drive and intuition she thrives working in diverse and challenging environments, and as a cheerleader of econometrics has a proven track record of commercial acumen, whilst staying focused on the strategy.

In this episode, David shares when he felt most alive, what he thinks it means to be alive and the importance of inner work.

Who is David Smith MBE?

David is a Nike Athlete, Speaker, Writer and Coach, he has competed internationally in several sports including GB Rowing & British Cycling.

David has over come tremendous adversity and now shares both his experience in high performance sport and his first hand experience of fighting for his life with a rare tumour.

Pushing both mental and physical boundaries in the hope to inspire others to live a flourishing life.

• To be fully alive is to be in the now
• The greatest challenge to mankind is to be 100% in the now
• Time is finite
• Inner work is most important
• Chasing gold is ludacris

In this episode, Suki talks about diversity and inclusion in the work place, trying to evolve yourself and the importance of wellbeing.

• Diversity and inclusion in the work place
• Importance of wellbeing
• Positive energy
• Post-traumatic growth
• Greatest emotion is love
• Equation for business transformation

A passionate entrepreneur and transformational business leader.

She loves her work and her ambition is to help support, lead and shape the modern business and marketing environments.

Suki is passionate about driving company and industry transformation through new models, ways of working, improved cultures, with wellbeing and resilience at their heart. She is also a charity Campaigner in Cancer and Mental Health, as well as a proud mum.

WHO IS SIR STEVE REDGRAVE CBE?  

Undoubtedly most famous as the winner of an unprecedented five Gold Medals in five consecutive Olympic Games, Sir Steve Redgrave's accomplishments in the world of rowing are unparalleled.  

Today, Steve continues to share his unique knowledge and experience of endurance events to benefit the competitive worlds of sport and commercial enterprise, investing his time in individuals and projects across the world.

Who is Steve Hatch?  

In his role as CEO of YouGov and ex Facebook’s Vice President for Northern Europe, Steve manages all business operations and strategy in the region as well as leading the UK team.  

Steve was the first Regional Director for the UK and has overseen its growth in operations to over 3000 people across its London offices.

WHO IS ALINE SANTOS?  

Aline believes in putting people front and centre in everything that she does. 

Using insights to develop and market products and ideas that add real value to people’s lives is what energizes her. 

This is why helping to redefine “Dove Campaign -Real Beauty” in the 90’s and the “Dirt is Good” campaign with OMO in the past 10 years – shaped Aline's career.  

Another huge passion point has been to empower women to live their full potential at home, in the workplace and in society. This is not just the right thing to do, it is the only way we will make lasting progress as the human race.

He was an integral member of the England Rugby World Cup Winning team in 2003.  

Since retiring from professional rugby, Will has established himself as a leading rugby analyst and motivational speaker.  

Combined with the lows of injury setbacks, personal tragedy and also self-doubt, will provides a gripping insight in to the studied determination that is needed to achieve in any arena.

In this captivating episode, join us as we unravel the insightful journey of Zoe Harris, Chief Marketing Officer & Exec Director at On the Beach. Zoe's passion and joy shine through as she delves into the intricacies of marketing strategy and leadership. Throughout the discussion, key themes emerge, painting a picture of bravery, clarity, and impactful decision-making. From the notion of always being in peak performance to the importance of reframing and thinking counterintuitively, Zoe's approach challenges norms and embraces innovation. The conversation highlights the significance of holding firm to principles while remaining open to doing things differently. Zoe's anecdotes about "fuck it" moments and backing oneself underscore the essence of bold leadership and self-belief. Furthermore, her insights on leadership, confidence, and the power of small gestures leave a lasting impression. This episode is a testament to Zoe's remarkable journey and serves as a beacon of inspiration for marketers seeking to make waves in their respective industries.

WHO IS SOPHIE DEVONSHIRE?

Sophie started her career in brand management with Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola & worked consultancy/agency side with Interbrand, Leo Burnett and The Caffeine Partnership as well as founding, growing and selling her own e-commerce business.

She has seen that the smartest leaders in business understand that building connections and sharing stories and ideas with peers can be energising and a powerful accelerator to success.  

So that's why she is completely delighted to have been asked to be the global CEO of The Marketing Society, the prestigious, progressive global community of senior marketers, whose purpose is to empower brave leadership.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN 

1. Learning to live and work in a rapidly changing world 

2. Survive and thrive in the fast lane 

3. Embracing the excitement of growth

Clive played International Rugby for England 20 times between 1980 & 1984 also went on two British & Irish Lions tours. Clive is best known as the Winning Head Coach who led England to World Cup glory in Australia in 2003.

OLYMPICS: In 2006 Clive joined the British Olympic Association as Team GB's Director of Sport to support the national coaches and athletes at the Beijing and Vancouver Olympics, and went on to deliver Team GB's most successful Olympic Games at London 2012.

BUSINESS & SPORT: Drawing upon his successful experience at the top of elite sport Clive is now working across different sports and businesses to support athletes, coaches, teams and organisations to improve both individual and collective performance.

WHO IS CHARLIE DAWSON  

Charlie established The Foundation in 1999 with the aim of helping organisations be more sustainably successful by being customers not financially led.   

His original inspiration came from working on a new car company launch, Daewoo, that did this by happy accident to great effect, breaking records for speed of growth and disrupting an inward-looking market.   

Previous clients include: HSBC, Morrisons, eBay, Harvey Nichols and Eurostar   

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN 

⭕ Seeing the world from the outside-in 

❤ Being customer-led really will lead to commercial success 

✅ Why being customer-led is the foundation of sustained success

WHO IS CONNY BRAAMS 

As Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, Conny is a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive and responsible for the end-to-end digital transformation of Unilever and Marketing worldwide.  

Conny’s broad international business experience and her track record in driving change at scale, is critical to lead the transformation of Unilever into a future-fit, purpose-led, fully digitised organisation at the leading edge of consumer marketing.  

Externally, she has been recognised in Volkskrant Top 200 Most Influential People, Campaign’s Power 100, Marketing Week’s Top 100 Marketers, and Provoke’s Influence 100 in 2020.  

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN 

❤ Life at Unilever ✅ Getting a brand value you care about accepted by management ❌ Avoiding complacency

Key Takeaways

• Marketing is not double maths
• Need to be exposed to weird shit/randomness
• Balance of logic and magic
• Always root everything in the business objective
• Bring the outside in
• Passion is a winning ingredient
• Use your own experiences to guide your thinking and feeling at the beginning of the thinking journey
• Healthy conflict is important

Richard looks after the strategic output across all brands in the Saatchi & Saatchi London group. In his role as Chief Strategy Officer, he Is responsible for the intellectual output of the agency and the strategies deployed for clients.

At Saatchi & Saatchi, he has worked on clients from T-Mobile to the Labour Party to Marie Curie to HSBC while previously he worked on Sky where he helped launch Sky+ in 2003. He was promoted to the role of Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi London in February 2017 and remains Chief Strategy Officer for the agency.

WHO IS JAMES BRETT 

James is the Founder of Plant for Peace, a global initiative aimed at bringing sustainable stability to countries crippled by conflict by the creation of horticultural cooperatives.  

It’s a remarkable initiative currently focused on Afghanistan, where James has singlehandedly addressed 55,000 tribal elders urging them to stop growing poppies - the source of much of the world’s heroin - and start growing pomegranates instead.  

The ‘fruits’ of this initiative is a range of innovative products the first of which – an organic yogurt-covered fruit bar – can be found in Waitrose and Holland & Barrett from May 2015.  

It’s a story that includes child abuse by his grandfather, the early tragic death of his mother, his subsequent decline into drug addiction, homelessness, prison, betrayal, violence and mental illness.  

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN 

1. Tools to overcome adversity 

2. Launching an international product 

3. What you can do to make a dent in the universe

Key Takeaways 

- Motivated by culture, doing something I am strong at, and learning 

- Need to kiss frogs to find the "click" 

- Avoid "I will be happy when" 

- Happy brains are more successful

 - 10% circumstances, 90% what you do with it 

- Had to re-build at Unilever and spend 6 months eating humble pie 

- Doesn't want her kids being sheep and frightened 

Who is Sarah Warby? 

Sarah is a marketeer, a growth officer, a non-exec director, and an amateur painter.  

She learned the ropes in Unilever, lived in Australia for a while, was Marketing Director at Heineken, CMO at Sainsbury’s, helped to launch a FinTech start-up, was CEO of a sex toys business and has moonlighted as a welder in South Wales. 

She’s also a Non-Exec Director at Moneysupermarket plc and Chair of the Marketing Academy Fellowship alumni council.  

Sarah is a Fellow of the Marketing Academy and Marketing Society and was Marketing Society Leader of the Year in 2013.

WHO IS SHERILYN SHACKELL?

Sherilyn Shackell, is the founder and CEO of The Marketing Academy. A former recruiter who was living her life for reasons that didn’t line up with her values, a near-death experience in her early forties led Sherilyn on a journey to find her purpose.  

The Marketing Academy is a unique 'not for profit organisation dedicated to inspiring and developing talented stars from emerging leaders to CMOs to become the leaders, Board Directors and CEOs of tomorrow. The Marketing Academy programs are highly-selective but totally FREE of charge.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN 

1. Making difficult decisions 

2. Why it's never too late to change 

3. Her journey to the top

WHO IS KATE ROWLINSON?  

Kate is CEO of MediaCom UK and has been part of the MediaCom family for ten years. Having worked across EMEA and APAC regions, she brings a wealth of global experience; as well as her passion for the People First culture.  

She sits on the Stella Advisory Board – WPP’s women’s leadership group set up to increase the number of women in senior executive roles across the group – while also acting as a mentor on Groupm’s 50:50 programme - which aims to achieve an equal gender split at an executive level.  

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN 

1. Where the media landscape is going 

2. Dealing with micro-aggressions or discrimination 

3. How can brands get the most out of their media agency

WHO IS CRAIG INGLIS?  

Craig started his career in 1992 as a marketing graduate trainee at Thomson Holidays.  

He joined John Lewis in 2008 as Head of Brand Communications and became Marketing Director in 2010.  

After 12 amazing years, he decided it was time to move on and is now the non-executive Chairman of the Marketing Society since 2018.  

Outside of work, Craig is generally busy with his four kids, loves running, cycling, golf and snowboarding.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN 

1. What is creative marketing

2. How to embrace creativity 

3. His journey to the top

In this episode, we delve into the world of marketing and happiness with Toby Horry, the Global Marketing Director at TUI. Join us as we explore Toby's unconventional journey in marketing, his core teachings, and the impactful adverts that have shaped his career. From taking the unconventional route to embracing diverse experiences, Toby shares the secret sauce behind his success.

We discuss the changing landscape of travel and its impact on people's happiness, along with Toby's personal purpose in spreading joy through his work. Discover how Toby finds balance between work and personal life, and gain insights into the big questions driving his career forward.

Join us for an inspiring conversation with Toby Horry, where we uncover the essence of creating happiness in both marketing and life.

WHO IS RACHEL BOTSMAN?

Rachel Botsman is passionate about helping people understand how trust works in the modern world. Her ideas aim to inspire people to think with more humility, talk more openly, or act more meaningfully.

She is the author of two highly acclaimed books and a Trust Fellow at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. Her podcast series, Trust Issues, is available on iTunes and Spotify.

Her articles on trust have appeared in the WSJ, Financial Times, Wired, New York Times, Guardian, and Harvard Business Review. Rachel’s TED talks have been viewed 4+ million times.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

1. Why trust is essential in business

2. Marketing you can trust

3. Her journey to the top

WHO IS CARRIE LONGTON?

Co-founder of Mumsnet.com, Mum of three tech-savvier-than-me kids, cake-maker, runner, new wild swimmer and seaside lover.

Mumsnet is part of the landscape now, but back in 1999, it was just another tech startup. By 2018 Mumsnet had 1.3 billion page views from 119 million unique users and revenue of £8.6 million.

And then Carrie found out she had cancer. Carrie’s treatment worked and she is now in good health. And Mumsnet continues to thrive.

WHO IS JACK GREEN? 

Jack Green was incredibly lucky to have a 10-year career as a professional athlete where he represented Great Britain and England in the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay at two Olympic Games (London 2012 and Rio 2016), three World Championships, two European Championships and a Commonwealth Games.  

After retiring from track and field he moved into the corporate well-being sector where he led on and delivered a well-being strategy during COVID-19 for BBC Studios.  

He has now launched his well-being consultancy, Olywel, and they are available to support companies with their well-being and performance environments.  

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN 

1. Protecting your mental health 

2. Understanding mental health 

3. His journey to the top

WHO IS MARGARET JOBLING? 

In September 2020, Margaret was announced as one of Marketing Week’s Top 100 Most Effective Marketers for her work at Centrica.  

Some of her key achievements include launching Dove deodorant across Europe; delivering the first-ever global Lynx campaign and winning a Cannes Gold Lion for Lynx “Getting Dressed” campaign. 

Margaret launched the first-ever award-winning “time to be selfish” brand campaign for Radox which turned around the performance of the brand. 

Margaret lives in Surrey and has her own qualitative study group of 4 children and a Chihuahua called Alfie and a Great Dane called Vegas.  

In her spare time, she acts as a taxi service for the kids, gets taken out for a walk by the dogs, runs the odd half marathon and occasionally gets a chance to sleep.  

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN 

1. How she manages her time 

2. Habits of a FTSE 100 business leader 

3. Her journey to the top