Explore every episode of the podcast Inside The Maverick Mind

What does it take to captain your country on the pitch, then go on to shape how that country governs itself? 

This week, we sit down with Professor Laura McAllister CBE - former Wales women's football captain, Vice President of UEFA, co-chair of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, and one of the most compelling voices in Welsh public life.

Laura takes us from kicking a ball with her grandfather in the Llynfi Valley to sitting at UEFA's top table as the only woman in the room. She talks candidly about what sport taught her about leadership, why she never had to choose between football and politics, and why Wales is far better regarded abroad than many at home dare to believe.

We cover the Euros breakthrough for Cymru women, the slow grind of gender equality in global sports governance, the real risks facing Welsh democracy, and why she thinks "authenticity" as a leadership concept is mostly nonsense.

This is a conversation about quiet power, honest challenge, and what it really means to represent your nation - on the pitch and off it.

Topics covered: Women's football in Wales | UEFA governance | Constitutional future of Wales | Welsh identity & independence | Public service broadcasting | Leadership, legacy & the maverick mindset

**Inside the Maverick Mind | Episode: Spencer John

What happens when a boy from Port Talbot - no father, raised by his nan, told at 12 he had three choices: the cemetery, prison, or the forces - refuses all three and builds option four?

Spencer John went on to a 25-year career in investment banking across London, New York, Sydney, and the Middle East. Today he's the founder of Ethos Chain, an advisor to the UK Ministry of Defence on financial warfare, a FTSE 100 non-executive director, and the chair of employment advisory boards across all six Welsh prisons.

But none of that is the real story.

The real story is about trauma rewiring a brain into a superpower. About a daily gin habit at 13 that saved a life - and nearly ended it. About waking up unable to move on Clapham Common and feeling, for the first time, completely at peace. About walking onto a Wall Street trading floor and seeing not power, but insecurity. And about choosing, again and again, to build option four.

In this conversation, Spencer and host Emyr Afan - two boys who grew up miles apart in South Wales and found each other on a charity bike ride across America - go deep on:

🧠 Pattern recognition as a survival mechanism
💼 25 years in global finance - and why he walked away at his most successful
⚔️ Advising the MoD on unconventional warfare
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Changing outcomes in Welsh prisons through employment
❤️ The Yellow Sands Foundation and giving back to the rough diamonds
🌍 The end of the global multinational — and what's replacing it

This is raw, honest, and genuinely remarkable.

Picture it: 2006. A twenty‑something at a kitchen table with a battered laptop, a pile of receipts, and an idea most accountants would’ve called ridiculous…

Instead of charging by the hour, she turned accountancy into a subscription — like Netflix, but for tax returns.

That founder is Lucy Cohen, creator of Mazuma. She’s rock‑chic disruptor, not grey‑suit stereotype — and she built a model that became a multi‑million‑pound business helping thousands of small businesses across the country.

Lucy’s also a former Team GB powerlifter, an award‑winning author, a women’s health + mental health campaigner, and (in her own words) someone with raging ADHD.

And yes — she’s been through a lot. She’s also almost lost her life, and what she’s had to fight through (physically and mentally) has shaped how she leads, how she lives, and what she’s building now. We don’t dwell on the details — but we do talk about what it takes to rebuild and keep moving forward when everything changes.

We get into business, ADHD, resilience, identity, and doing success on your terms.

📩 Want to suggest a true Maverick? Drop a comment 

Get in touch: itmmpodcast@gmail.com
Follow us on Instagram: @InsideTheMaverickMind 

🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every fortnight.

Inside the Maverick Mind: Aled Miles - From Bridgend to Boardrooms

Join us for an extraordinary conversation with Aled Miles, Welsh-born tech leader who's led Symantec's Norton Division, TeleSign, Source Labs, and now heads IntelliStack. As Welsh Government Envoy to the US, Aled bridges Wales and Silicon Valley.

In this episode: 

🔥 Surviving the LA Palisades wildfire - a harrowing account of losing everything and finding humanity 

🎯 Leadership lessons from crisis: calmness, consistency, and the power of energy management 

🌍 From Bridgend to Boston: How a 16-year-old exchange program shaped a global career 

💡 The "diagnosis before strategy" framework that transformed his approach to business 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Why Wales matters in global tech - semiconductors, cybersecurity, and creative industries 

🚀 Bold decisions: When to re-platform, when to pivot, and learning from failure 

🎤 The power of Welsh storytelling in business and why "follow your passion" is terrible advice

Key Takeaways:

• The CEO as "Chief Energy Officer" - managing energy in yourself, your team, and the market
• From unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence: the leadership journey
• Why differentiation matters more than perfection
• The importance of incremental change over grand gestures

**Inside the Maverick Mind | Blanche Sainsbury - From Boardroom to Purpose: Power, Sacrifice & the National Children's Awards

What does it really take to reach the top of British media - and then walk away from it all?

In this episode of Inside the Maverick Mind, host Emyr sits down with Blanche Sainsbury, former board-level executive at Trinity Mirror and Daily Mail General Trust, to explore one of the most compelling leadership stories you'll hear this year.

Blanche started her career as a teenage classified girl in a newsroom ruled by typewriters and big egos. Four decades later, she'd helped run some of the UK's most powerful regional media businesses, overseen multimillion-pound budgets, navigated cost-cutting in a changing industry - and made headline news herself when she became one of the first people in the UK to remove an editor from their post.

Then she did something unexpected. She walked away.

Not into retirement - but into purpose. Blanche and her husband Mark founded the Child of Wales and Child of Britain awards, shining a spotlight on extraordinary children doing remarkable things in the face of adversity. What started as a simple idea to celebrate inspiring young people has grown into one of the most anticipated events in Wales, with sold-out rooms, standing-room-only demand, and a reputation for leaving audiences speechless.

In this conversation, Blanche and Emyr get into:

• What it was really like to be a woman at board level in British media in the 1990s and 2000s
• The personal sacrifices of climbing the career ladder - commuting between cities, missing sports days, and living away from home for years
• The moment the content stopped feeling right - and why Celebrity culture and Love Island were the final straw
• How she made the decision to leave a six-figure career and start something from scratch
• What it takes to build a national awards brand with integrity and storytelling at its heart
• Why vulnerability is a leadership superpower - and why she's never afraid to say "I don't know"
• Growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, being raised largely by her grandmother, and how that shaped her relentless drive
• Her "Maverick Moment" - walking into the Daily Mail offices in London and choosing honesty over ego
• Why a maverick carries on regardless - and the importance of boundaries, radiators over drains, and protecting your energy

This is a conversation about leadership, legacy, and what happens when you finally put purpose before profit.

🎙️ **Hosted by Emyr | Inside the Maverick Mind

🏆 Find out more about the Child of Wales and Child of Britain Awards

Inside the Maverick Mind | James Sills — The Choirestarter: On Fear, Belonging & Why Everyone Can Sing

What if the most powerful tool for connection, wellbeing, and culture in your workplace isn't a strategy, a workshop, or a wellbeing app - but singing?

James Sills is the man they call the Choirestarter. A musician, author, facilitator and founder of Sofa Singers - the online singing community that launched in lockdown, broke the Zoom room on day one, made the six o'clock news reaching 17 million people, and earned a Prime Minister's Award. 590 live sessions later, it's still going. Because the need hasn't gone away.

In this episode we go deep on why James believes every single one of us is born a singer - and what it actually takes to help people believe that about themselves. We talk about Bantam of the Opera, the Bradford City fans choir he built from scratch that sang on the pitch at Valley Parade, performed for the King, appeared on BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and is now the subject of a BBC One film. We talk about what it means to lead without ego, to make belonging your life's work, and to build communities that outlast you.

James also opens up about the dark year that taught him the lesson every leader needs to hear: you can't pour from an empty cup.

In this episode:

• Why singing is the fastest way to bond a group of strangers (Oxford University's Icebreaker Effect)
• How James gets a room full of sceptics singing - without them realising it
• What Sofa Singers taught him about the global hunger for connection
• The message from an IVF patient that changed everything
• Why he walked away from a safe teaching career - and never looked back
• What "finding your tribe" really means in the age of loneliness
• His maverick moment: conducting the BBC Philharmonic with 50 football fans

🎙️ Inside the Maverick Mind is the podcast exploring the mindset, moments and maverick moves behind extraordinary lives.

📖 James's book: Do Sing — Reclaim Your Voice, Find Your Singing Tribe 🌐 Sofa Singers: [sofasingers.com] 🎵 Bantam of the Opera: 

Subscribe so you never miss an episode — and if this one moved you, share it with someone who needs to hear it.

InsideTheMaverickMind #JamesSills #SofaSingers #BantamOfTheOpera #Singing #Wellbeing #MentalHealth #Leadership #Belonging #Podcast #Choirestarter

What does it take to build a standout hospitality business — and make it feel personal at every level?

In this episode of Inside the Maverick Mind, Emyr Afan sits down with Giovanni Malacrino — restaurateur, entrepreneur, and one of the driving forces behind Cardiff’s modern food and hospitality scene.

From his Italian roots to building a name in Wales, Giovanni shares the reality behind running hospitality businesses in a fast-moving, high-pressure environment. This isn’t just about food — it’s about people, standards, energy and creating places that others want to be part of.

👉 Subscribe for more Maverick Minds

💬 Comment below — what makes a great hospitality experience for you?

What does it take to build one of the UK's most celebrated sports production companies from scratch - with a new baby, a gut feeling, and no safety net?

Emyr Afan sits down with Sunil Patel, CEO and co-founder of Whisper, the award-winning team behind Channel 4's Formula One coverage, the Paralympics, International Cricket, and the BAFTA-winning A United Kingdom: Women's Euros 2022.

Sunil opens up about growing up the son of a corner-shop family, discovering his passion for sport and TV at Teddington School, and the defining moment he walked away from a BBC staff job - and nearly became a police officer - before co-founding Whisper with
Jake Humphrey and David Coulthard.

In this conversation, Sunil and Emyr explore:

• How ADHD became Sunil's superpower in high-pressure decision making
• Why diversity of lived experience - not just background - drives creative output
• The maverick philosophy behind remote production and Whisper's Cardiff Broadcast Centre
• What it felt like to step back into the VT coordinator's seat at the British Grand Prix
• The legacy of Eddie Jordan and lessons from two decades of taking the shot

From the Formula One paddock to the Paralympics, from London to Cardiff, this is a masterclass in backing yourself, building culture, and refusing to stay in your lane.

🎙️ "A maverick is someone who takes risks and lives with the consequences." - Sunil Patel

What if you stopped chasing success — and started feeling alive instead?

In this episode of Inside the Maverick Mind, Emyr Afan OBE sits down with the extraordinary
Mykel Dixon — author, creative catalyst, and one of the most refreshingly honest voices on what it means to live and lead with aliveness.

Mykel challenges one of the biggest myths of modern life: that joy, vitality, and fulfilment are waiting for you on the other side of achievement. Instead, he flips the script entirely —
feel alive first, and everything shifts.

We explore:
Why aliveness is the source of success, not the reward
What it means to remember who you were before the world got to you
The real cost of being a maverick — and why it's worth every scar
How to stop giving your power away to other people's projections
The shift from getting ahead to coming alive

This conversation is for the creatives, the restless, the ones who've always felt like a little too much — and anyone ready to stop waiting for permission to be fully themselves.

👉 Subscribe for more Maverick Minds @insidethemaverickmind on YouTube!

What does it take to build a high-growth tech business from Wales and compete on a global stage?

In this episode of Inside the Maverick Mind, I sit down with Mark Sweeny, Founder and CEO of de Novo Solutions — one of the UK’s fastest-growing cloud consultancies and winner of this years Welsh Government St Davids Awards for business.

Mark walked away from corporate security to build something of his own. Since then, he’s scaled de Novo into a serious player in the cloud and digital transformation space, working with major clients while building a culture rooted in values, performance, people and Wales.

In this conversation, we explore:
🚀 Why he chose risk over comfort
📈 Scaling a tech company without losing its soul
🧠 The mindset required to lead through uncertainty
🌍 Why building from Wales matters
🔥 The realities of growth, pressure and decision-making

This is a candid discussion about leadership, ambition, and what it really takes to build something meaningful in a competitive market.

If you’re a founder, scaling a business, or thinking about making the leap into entrepreneurship — this episode is packed with insight.

👉 Subscribe for more Maverick Minds
https://youtube.com/@insidethemaverickmind?si=Eyh2Y4l6rVD9w0O7

#InsideTheMaverickMind #MarkSweeney #DeNovo #TechLeadership #Entrepreneurship #ScaleUp #CloudComputing #WelshBusiness #stdavidsawards

In this episode of Inside the Maverick Mind, Emyr Afan sits down with Dr Julia “Rock” Jones - a neuroscience-led performance and habit specialist who’s spent years helping leaders rethink how they think.

Dr Julia’s work sits at the intersection of brain science, behaviour and high performance. But this isn’t about hacks or hustle. It’s about understanding how the brain actually works - and how small, consistent changes can shape resilience, energy and long-term success.

In this conversation, they explore:

• Why willpower is overrated
• How habits are really formed (and broken)
• The science behind stress, focus and performance
• Why high achievers burn out — and how to prevent it
• What it truly means to build sustainable success

This is a calm, intelligent and deeply practical discussion about performance in the real world - not perfection, but progress.

👉 Subscribe for more conversations with founders, leaders and original thinkers
💬 Comment below — what habit has made the biggest difference in your life?

#InsideTheMaverickMind #DrJuliaJones #Neuroscience #HighPerformance #Leadership #HabitChange

In this episode of Inside the Maverick Mind, Emyr Afan sits down with Simon Powell, one of Wales’ most influential and quietly disruptive tech entrepreneurs.

With more than four decades at the forefront of travel technology, Simon’s story starts in a traditional family travel agency and evolves into building systems that powered thousands of UK travel businesses. Long before “digital transformation” became a buzzword, Simon was solving real-world inefficiencies with practical, scalable tech - and along the way, he’s bought and sold around 20 companies, giving him a rare, deal-tested view of what makes businesses grow, stall, or scale.

In this conversation, Simon opens up about:

            •           How spotting friction in everyday systems became his superpower

            •           Building and scaling travel tech businesses before it was fashionable

            •           Buying and selling companies - what he learned from the wins and the scars

            •           The mindset required to stay curious and relevant across decades

            •           Dyslexia, learning differently, and why thinking visually can be an advantage

            •           Investing in people, not just ideas

            •           What being a true maverick really means when the spotlight is off

This is not a hype-driven founder story. It’s a thoughtful, grounded exploration of leadership, resilience, and long-term thinking from someone who has genuinely shaped an industry from the inside out.

👉 Subscribe for more conversations with founders, leaders, and rule-breakers

👍 Like and share if this episode resonated

💬 Comment below - what part of Simon’s journey struck a chord with you?

#InsideTheMaverickMind #SimonPowell #Entrepreneurship #Leadership #WelshBusiness #TravelTech #MaverickMindset

Andy Middleton is a pioneering force in sustainability, ecologic thinking, and biomimicry - and he happens to be based in one of the most breathtaking corners of the world: St Davids, West Wales. As founder of the TYF Group, co-creator of the World Freestyle Kayaking Championships, and a key contributor to Wales' groundbreaking Future Generations Act, Andy has spent decades helping individuals, communities, and businesses think - and act - differently.

In this conversation, we explore how growing up on the Pembrokeshire coast shaped his worldview, why he believes shareholder capitalism is in its "death days," what biomimicry and ecologic thinking can offer a world in crisis, and why the most powerful conversations happen not in boardrooms but in nature.

We also dig into the DO Lectures, the dangers of AI singularity, legacy, family, and what it truly means to be a maverick.

🌊 Topics covered:

• Growing up in St Davids & founding TYF
• Coasteering, kayaking & being #2 in the world
• From adventure business to sustainability pioneer
• The Future Generations Act & Wales as a global model
• Biomimicry, ecologic thinking & the rules of physics
• The DO Lectures & community on the edge
• AI, singularity & upgrading our "maverick quotient"
• Legacy, George Bernard Shaw & being "fully used up"

From 100% commission door-to-door sales to co-creating a Glastonbury for Business - Frankie James joins Emyr Afan on Inside the Maverick Mind.

Frankie is the force behind the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and Ideas Fest, an outdoor business festival that blends entrepreneurship with music, wellbeing, and genuine human connection. Co-created with economist Dylan Jones Evans, Ideas Fest has grown into one of the UK's most distinctive spaces for founders to think, connect, and be inspired.

In this episode, Frankie shares:

• How brutal door-to-door commission sales shaped her approach to people and business
• Why she went to university after working - and what she'd do differently
• The real story behind launching Ideas Fest during the pandemic
• Why community beats competition and how collaboration supercharges growth
• The importance of honest founder spaces - not just highlight reels
• Her Maverick Moment: taking over a field and throwing thousands of entrepreneurs into it
• How to scale something special without losing what makes it human

Whether you're a founder craving connection, someone building community around a bold idea, or just looking for permission to do things differently — this one's for you.

🎙️ Inside the Maverick Mind - the show where unconventional thinkers share what really goes on behind the business.

📌 Find Frankie James:

• Ideas Fest: ideasfest.co.uk
• Great British Entrepreneur Awards: greatbritishentrepreneurawards.com
• Instagram/LinkedIn: @FrankieJames | @IdeasFest

📌 Subscribe for more maverick conversations every week.

#Entrepreneurship #IdeasFest #MaverickMind #BusinessPodcast #GreatBritishEntrepreneurAwards #Founders #CommunityOverCompetition #Wales #StartupUK

The Voice Behind the Anthem: John Parr on Fame, Betrayal & Never Giving In

In 1985, a song exploded out of a Hollywood cinema and never really stopped playing. That song was St. Elmo's Fire — and its writer and singer, John Parr, joins Emyr Afan on Inside the Maverick Mind for one of the most honest, surprising and inspiring conversations you'll hear this year.

Born on the wrong side of the tracks in a Nottinghamshire mining town, John Parr spent 20 years grinding his way to a room with David Foster — then wrote a number one anthem in three attempts on a single afternoon. But what came next wasn't the fairy tale the world imagined.

In this episode, John opens up about:

• The real story behind "St. Elmo's Fire" — and the wheelchair-bound hero who inspired it
• Why his record label hated the song and refused to promote it
• The betrayal that cost him 20 years of his career — and how he survived it
• What it was really like touring with Tina Turner, Toto, The Beach Boys and Journey
• Working with Mutt Lange and the lesson that changed how he creates
• His growing obsession with Welsh culture, Hedd Wyn, and a film that could change everything
• Why he believes the next great anthem needs to be about mental health
• And the uncanny sign that made him certain he was on the right path

This is the story of a man who never gave in — even when everything gave out.

🎵 "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" | 🎬 Filmmaker | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Friend of Wales

---

📩 Subscribe for more conversations with maverick thinkers, creators and disruptors.

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Henry Engelhardt didn't just build a successful company. He built one of the most loved workplaces in British corporate history - and did it by betting everything on a single, radical idea: that happy people build better businesses.

Starting as a complete outsider to the insurance industry - a Chicago kid who'd worked a hotdog stand, the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and McDonald's on the Champs-Élysées - Henry co-founded Admiral Insurance in 1993 from a standing start, without offices, without a name, and as the seventh player in a market already crowded with giants. By the time he stepped down as CEO, Admiral was a FTSE 100 company employing over 10,000 people across four continents, had been named one of the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For more times than most businesses even try, and had made its entire workforce shareholders.

On his final day as CEO, hundreds of staff lined the car park wearing T-shirts printed with his face.

That's not a corporate valediction. That's a movement.

In this conversation, Henry talks candidly about growing up in 1970s Chicago, the mentors who shaped him, why being an industry outsider was his greatest competitive weapon, how he turned culture into a hard financial advantage, the four pillars that drove everything Admiral became, and why - even now - he writes down what he's grateful for every single day.

This is one of the most honest, warm and genuinely useful conversations about leadership, people and business we've ever recorded.

Inside the Maverick Mind is the podcast that goes beyond the boardroom and behind the breakthrough. Each episode, host Emyr Afan sits down with the entrepreneurs, leaders and rule-breakers who didn't just build successful businesses — they changed the game entirely.

These aren't polished corporate interviews. This is real talk: about failure, obsession, instinct, culture, and what it actually takes to build something that lasts. From startup scars to FTSE 100 boardrooms, from Chicago hotdog stands to Cardiff Bay — every guest has one thing in common: they refused to play it safe.

New episodes every [frequency]. Subscribe and join us inside the minds of the people who dared to think differently.

Until next time — remember, the world doesn't change by playing it safe.

YOUTUBE DESCRIPTION:

In 2022, Craig Maxwell OBE was told he had a rare form of cancer and 12 months to live.

Most people would stop. Craig accelerated.

In this extraordinary episode of Inside the Maverick Mind, Craig — a former Welsh Rugby Union executive and one of the youngest commercial directors in world rugby — sits down to talk about the moment that changed everything. The diagnosis. The fear. The clarity that followed.

But this isn't just a story about facing death. It's a story about what you choose to do with the time you have.

Since his diagnosis, Craig has run marathons, cycled across countries, climbed mountains, and walked the entire Welsh coastline — all while undergoing treatment. In doing so, he has raised over £1.7 million to fundamentally change how cancer is diagnosed in Wales. So that others are found in time. So that no one else hears the words "we can treat it, but we can't cure it" when it's already too late.

In this conversation, Craig talks about:

• The moment he received his diagnosis — and what happened in the hours that followed
• What he's most afraid of, and the things no one can prepare you for
• How a terminal illness made him a better husband, father and friend
• What "keep going" really means when the stakes are as high as they get
• The £1.7 million mission to save lives through early cancer detection
• What he wants his children to know about who their father was

This is one of the most remarkable, thought-provoking and life-affirming conversations we have ever recorded.

Please watch. Please share. It could save a life.

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations with people who think differently when the stakes are real.

CraigMaxwell #CancerAwareness #EarlyDetection #TerminalCancer #Podcast #WelshRugby #LungCancer #Mindset #Legacy #InsideTheMaverickMind

What does it take to build a premium national brand when you couldn't write your name at age 10?

Chris McNamara, founder of The Brogue Trader, is living proof that instinct and resilience can outrun any traditional path. In this raw and refreshingly honest conversation, Chris opens up about struggling with dyslexia and ADHD in a school system that didn't know what to do with him, moving into a council house at 19 with a newborn, a bean bag, and a borrowed microwave - and somehow building a shoe brand with stores from Cardiff to Edinburgh.

But this isn't just a business story. It's a story about a boy who chose work over school at 14, who nearly got involved in a post office robbery out of desperation, who survived a heart attack and an armed confrontation at Le Mans - and who has never once stopped moving forward.

We explore:

• Why The Brogue Trader was built on experience, not just footwear
• How a car sales training process still drives his shoe business today
• The mentor who told him "it's okay to be skint - it's not okay to look skint"
• Why family is the true foundation of everything he's built
• What a heart attack at the peak of his success taught him about vulnerability

Whether you're an entrepreneur, a parent, or just someone who's ever been told they're not enough - this one will hit home.

🎙️ Inside the Maverick Mind - exploring the thinking behind people who refuse to follow the expected path.

She started with £5, two puppies, and a husband who'd just left. That's not a crisis - that's a maverick opening line.

Nicola Venetia Steele is the founder of Venetia Steel Boutique in Bridgend, South Wales - a woman who turned dyslexia, redundancy, hand-me-downs, heartbreak, and a garden shed into one of the most distinctive boutique brands in Wales.

But this isn't really a story about clothes. It's a story about identity. About what happens when a little girl grows up feeling overlooked, underdressed, and underestimated - and turns all of that into style, grit, commercial instinct, and fierce self-belief.

In this episode, Nicola talks about:

• Growing up as the youngest of four, excluded and in hand-me-downs that didn't fit

• Turning up to school in her uniform on wear-your-own-clothes day - because she had nothing else

• How dyslexia became her greatest business superpower

• The mentor who gave her wings - and the lesson that changed how she handles people forever

• Building from a kitchen table to a garden shed to a standalone store

• The dream that told her to sign the lease

• Why she built a boutique specifically for women over 40 who feel invisible

• Losing her dog Zosia - and what that taught her about love and priorities

• Why independence has been both her greatest strength and her greatest cost

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction - "£5, two puppies, and a dream"

01:10 Were you born a maverick or did life force you to be one?

05:30 The Fiat Panda - what freedom really looks like

10:30 Wear your own clothes day

14:00 Fashion as control, confidence, and belonging

17:00 How dyslexia became a superpower

22:30 The mentor who changed everything -Linda

28:00 Dreams, instinct, and signing the lease

33:00 From kitchen table to garden shed to boutique

38:00 The redundancy - and protecting her team

43:00 Building Venetia Steel Boutique

50:00 Women over 40 - visibility, style, and confidence

56:00 Zosia

1:02:00 Maverick Maxims - quick fire

1:08:00 "A maverick is someone who..."

ABOUT INSIDE THE MAVERICK MIND

A podcast hosted by Emyr Afan exploring the minds of unconventional thinkers, builders, and creators. Each episode goes beyond the business story to ask what really drives the people who refuse to play it safe.

What does it take to survive a dictatorship, build a career across five continents, beat leukaemia - and then run 270 kilometres across the Sahara?

In this episode of Inside the Maverick Mind, host Emyr Afan sits down with Lucia Rowe - linguist, travel industry leader, cancer survivor, and ultramarathon runner -to explore one of the most extraordinary life stories you'll ever hear.

Lucia grew up in Ceaușescu's Romania, where the knock on the door in the night was a constant terror. Two of her school friends were killed in the street during the revolution. And yet, from those dark beginnings, she built a 25-year career in the travel industry, helped launch and scale A-Rosa River Cruises in the UK and beyond, and became a powerful voice for breaking down barriers in business.

Then came the diagnosis nobody wants - leukemia, during COVID. With no immunity and a global pandemic raging, Lucia chose to fight. She made a plan. She drew on something bigger than herself. And five years later, she is in full remission.

Not content with that, she took on the Marathon des Sables - one of the world's toughest ultramarathons - was medically withdrawn the first time, and went straight back to finish it in 2026.

This is a conversation about fear, endurance, sunshine moments, solidarity in the sand, and what it really means to keep moving towards the light.

Topics covered:

Growing up under Ceaușescu and the lasting trauma of the Securitate

Building A-Rosa River Cruises from scratch in the UK market

Facing a leukemia diagnosis during COVID and choosing to fight

Running 60+ marathons and 15 ultramarathons post-illness

The camaraderie and raw humanity of the Marathon des Sables

Raising £50,000+ for Ruben's Retreat and the Family Holiday Charity

What success, freedom, and resilience really mean

Ruben's Retreat:

Family Holiday Charity: 

Inside the Maverick Mind - conversations with people who do things differently.

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Nick Hounsfield didn't set out to build a tourist attraction. He set out to build the kind of medicine you can't prescribe.
A former osteopath, Nick spent 18 years treating the symptoms of stress, burnout, and disconnection — until he realised the real problem wasn't in the treatment room. It was in the environment people were returning to.
So he left his practice, made a promise to his dying father, pitched to over 230 investors, fought for planning permission on greenbelt land, and built The Wave — the UK's first inland surf destination, just north of Bristol. A place designed to make people healthier, happier, and more connected, without them even knowing.
Then, just months after opening, Nick had a major stroke.
In this episode, we explore what it means to build a place of recovery and then become the person who needs it most — and how that experience reshaped everything Nick thought he knew about ambition, resilience, and what actually matters.
We cover:
* Why Nick walked away from a thriving osteopathy practice to build something "impossible"
* The 10-year journey from £500 and a sketch to a £30 million destination
* What 230 investor rejections taught him about vision, timing, and personality fit
* The stroke that stopped everything — and the clarity that came with it
* Blue health: the science of why water makes us happier and healthier
* His new mission, One Blue World, and why it goes far beyond surfing
* The difference between stubbornness and vision
* Why pause is as important as push
Nick's story is a masterclass in maverick thinking — and a timely reminder that sometimes the boldest thing you can do is build the world you think people need.