MDE 48: An interview with Harriet Griffey, author of 'I want to sleep'
A lot of people, especially entrepreneurs, struggle with getting enough sleep. At some time in your life you may suffer from insomnia in some form. As someone who has never slept well and a former nurse who did night shifts Harriet Griffey felt compelled to write a book about sleep. She had spent a lot of time researching the subject and wanted to write a guide that was accessible and quick - something appreciated by those who struggle to get enough sleep. In my interview with Harriet I…
MDE 47: Unleashing talent to solve the world's biggest problems, Lara Galinsky of Echoing Green
This week we take a different approach and interview Lara Galinsky, SVP of Echoing Green. Founded 30 years ago by a private equity company, Echoing Green is now a charity that funds social entrepreneurs from all around the world to develop ideas that have positive impact. So far they have funded over 600 social entrepreneurs in 60 countries with $36million. In this wide ranging and upbeat conversation we cover what the organisation looks for in the future leaders they invest in, some of…
MDE 46: From redundancy in the City to silk ties, Patrick Dudley-Williams of Reef Knots
Redundancy from his job of 13 years pushed Patrick Dudley-Williams into executing his idea of starting a business. Seeing a gap in the market for tie that 'said something about what you did outside of work'. Not wanting to sit in a grey box looking at numbers for the rest of his life, Patrick decided it was 'now or never'. He took the plunge 2 years ago with the added pressure that his wife had twins 2 days after he was made redundant! This year the business is on track to turnover…
MDE 45: Reinventing & turning around a failing business aged 22, Julianne Ponan of Creative Nature
When she bought a failing business selling a bewildering range product lines from candles to Buddah statues, Julianne Ponan set her boundless energy and can-do mindset to turning it around. She used her experience of suffering from allergies to additives to develop the business into selling super foods in the form of supplements and snack bars. Julianne was only 22 but knew she had a purpose to try and help with the obesity problem and cater for the 'free from' market which was talking…