The Trust Series – Details, episodes & analysis

Daniel Dart, founder of Solo GP fund Rock Yard Ventures, joins Catherine and Chris to talk about the power of second chances, having experienced homelessness and incarceration earlier in his life.

This episode is a fascinating and inspiring walk through Daniel's incredible life. The brainchild behind Time Again, a prominent punk-rock band, Daniel wrote and sang about social issues and poverty. Talking about his work in criminal justice reform and the ability of small groups to effect massive change, he believes in the power of dreaming big to make things happen.

Daniel holds an MBA from MIT and is the first formerly incarcerated student in the school's history. Not only has his work been published in Harvard Business Review and the World Economic Forum, he has presented his academic and economic research worldwide, including in Sri Lanka, China, Ireland, Japan, and the United States.

[Episode contains some swearing.]

Catherine and Chris are joined by Becky Holmes, bestselling author of 'Keanu Reeves is not in Love with You'. Becky's book is a fascinating and insightful read about romance fraud and the scammers behind it. 

In this episode, Becky shares her experience of being contacted by multiple romance scammers and the entertaining ends she went to distract, confuse and turn the tables on them. She also talks about the experience victims of romance fraud have shared with her and the long-lasting and devastating emotional effects on them and their families.

Becky strongly believes we must educate everyone we know about romance fraud to help prevent more victims being targeted and fight against the shame people feel when they've been subjected to it.

Pedro Pina, VP Head of YouTube for Europe, Middle East and Africa, has been named as one of Europe’s leading LGBT+ role models. Pedro explores the ways in which brands can build and maintain trust with diverse employees and consumers. He highlights the importance of companies having visibility of under-represented groups at leadership levels and the role brands have in helping embrace diversity.

‘There is this idea that the under-represented groups are the ones that need to make the change...they can’t. The clue is in the name - they are under-represented, so they can’t!’

Barry Eichengreen, economist and professor at UC Berkeley and Orkun Saka, assistant professor of Economics at City, University of London discuss the decline of trust in scientists, how this has manifested during the pandemic and what this means going forward for society as a whole.

‘There is a decline in trust in scientists as individuals and scientists as a collection of people, but not as an endeavour.’

Olga Mack, CEO of Parley Pro, a Blockchain Strategist and author, outlines her own experiences which led her to have an interest in blockchain, including emigrating to the US from the former Soviet Union at a young age. 

‘The trust we place in institutions sometimes works .. but sometimes it doesn’t and when it doesn’t, it really has an impact on you as an individual, as a family and as a society.’

“Trust operates on a number of levels. If I think about it at its core, it’s about confidence and dependability. Do I have confidence in the person’s ability and can I depend on them?”
Anthony Omo, Director and GC at the General Medical Council, highlights the importance of consensual decision making in building trust between doctors and their patients and talks about the concerns regarding accessibility to prescription medicines online. 

“Trust is fundamental to every exchange we have everyday.”
Anoop Joshi, Director of Legal at Trustpilot, outlines the progressively important role online reviews play in the purchase process and talks about the responsibilities Trustpilot has to deliver trusted reviews to their customers and platform users. He shares insight into how they are seeing an increasing sophistication in attempts to get non-genuine reviews onto the platform and talks about Pasabi’s role in helping tackle the challenge of review sellers and fake reviews.

“Trust is always built when you’re authentic and you have high integrity.”
  Chris Hurst, MD at legal recruitment and search firm, Carlyle Kingswood Global, speaks about the need for trust and authenticity in recruitment - for the recruiter, candidate and employer. He shares insight into how trust is built over time assisted by authenticity, empathy and a level of emotional intelligence. Talking about the importance of giving candidates the tools to succeed as themselves to allow them to be their best authentic selves.

“Sellers trust marketplaces to treat them fairly vis-a-vis exposure.”
  Kate Burns, ex-General Counsel at Not on the High Street, discusses the role of a GC from being the ‘risk assessor’ to the ‘conscience’ of a company. Speaking about the important role trust plays in the online buying journey, and the likelihood of marketplaces being the proven future model, Kate outlines the difficulty with regulation when there isn’t a one-size fits all marketplace model.

“Trust means something I expect to be the case will happen as expected.”
  James Ratcliffe, General Counsel and Director of Recoveries at The Art Loss Register, talks about the importance and complexity of authenticity in the Art market and the role ethics play where the law does not suffice. He considers the matrix of trust at play between art owners, dealers and buyers where market value, trusted ownership and authenticity of the artwork are mutually dependent. James also highlights how vetting is changing with the move to digital.