I welcome Cemal Ezel, Founder and Ceo of Change Please to episode #179 of Screw It, Just Do It: UK Social Entrepreneur Of The Year, 2017, $1 Million Chivas Venture Winner, and Richard Branson's Startup of the Year 2018 - and the man responsible for the coffee you're drinking onboard a Virgin Train or Virgin Atlantic Airways aircraft. I had the pleasure of catching up with Cemal twice in one week in October, as he very kindly spoke at my Entrepreneur Summit 2019 and at the SME forum I host for Br...
Nov 06, 2019•35 min•Season 1Ep. 179
So t his Week I was a guest on a live webinar with Rachael Taplin from Media Match Maker. We had 30 minutes of guests asking me their podcasting questions followed by 30 minutes of pitching ideas for their own podcasts. I loved this format and love the idea of hosting my own live webinar with you! Do you like this idea? If so, direct message me @ @alexchisnall on LinkedIn, @alexanderchisnall on Instagram or email alex@screwitjustdoit.org in the meantime, here were the most commonly asked questio...
Nov 02, 2019•28 min•Season 1Ep. 178
So, I'll be honest with you. I've been helping X-Forces Enterprise , an organisation that helps ex-military servicemen and servicewomen transition from military to civilian life, by helping them create their own podcast and vlog. When I heard their founder of X-Force's personal story, I wanted to share it with you. I obviously had to ask her, as I didn't realise she hadn't shared it publicly before. It's a story that I believe can only inspire more of you to not only start your own businesses, b...
Oct 30, 2019•43 min•Season 1Ep. 177
I'm surprised that I've never talked about this in #175 episodes of Screw It, Just Do It, but I don't think I ever have. I wanted to put it out there to firstly, help anyone else who's feeling that they're on the verge of burning out, and secondly, to put measures in place to ensure it doesn't happen again. So, the end of 2019 is in sight and we're all trying to finish the year strong, smash the goals we set out at the end of 2018. Plus we've also got an eye on 2020 and planning for next years s...
Oct 26, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 176
"There were people there from Marks & Spencer & John Lewis. They were asking ‘how do you get people working for you?’ And Mark said ‘we’ll we take all the ones that you don’t want! We’ll take people with piercings, facial hair, tattoos, coloured hair, whatever you like. If you’ve got the passion and you want to work with us and you’re going to enjoy what we do, then you’re very welcome” Welcome to episode #175 with LUSH UK Co-founder Rowena Bird, recorded live at last Thursday's Entrepre...
Oct 23, 2019•36 min•Season 1Ep. 175
🔥 Lit A Fire Under My Arse🔥 ..probably the most memorable comment I’ve been tagged in after last nights Entrepreneur Summit That was 💯 % THE BEST EVENT I HAVE EVER BEEN PART OF 🙌🏻 Listen to all the podcasts watch as many YouTube videos, read as many blogs & take as many courses as you want But you CANNOT beat attending a live event If you’re looking to start, grow or scale your business you can’t NOT be inspired after hearing: LUSH’s Rowena Bird helped grow a $1Billion business S ocial ...
Oct 19, 2019•19 min•Season 1Ep. 174
On episode #173 I welcome Brendan Kane , innovation strategist, best-selling author of One Million Followers: How I built a massive online social following in 30 days, and who for the last decade has worked on improving online strategies for Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Disney. He's somebody therefore who's learned to optimise analytics, data and paid media to help companies achieve massive growth. Is this someone we could all learn from? 100% YES! When Brendan set out to achieve his one million fo...
Oct 16, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 173
Getting people to come to an event that you put on is a huge challenge. There’s a whole bunch of reasons why it's tricky to pull off. Far from wanting to put you off, I wanted to give you some actionable advice on the eve of Entrepreneur Summit 2019 this coming week. ✅ Just because you have a 'well known' name in your space as your headliner - doesn’t mean anyone else knows who they are - or that they share your enthusiasm ✅ There has to be a genuine reason why you want to host an event, and tha...
Oct 12, 2019•18 min•Season 1Ep. 172
Welcome to #171 with former hedge fund entrepreneur David Yarrow who is now one of the world's best-selling fine art photographers. His photographs can sell for upwards $100,000 and hang in the homes of actor and fellow conservationist Leonardo De Caprio and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to name but two. Indeed his latest book includes a forward by Tom Brady, whilst his previous book, Wild Encounters, sold out numerous times and featured a forward by Prince William. But it wasn't al...
Oct 09, 2019•50 min•Season 1Ep. 171
You Are Your Own Media
Oct 05, 2019•19 min•Season 1Ep. 170
On today's show I welcome Chris Edson, Co-Founder of OurPath, who are tackling one of the world's biggest health issues globally. In light of the NHS in the UK recently warning that obesity is becoming the 'new smoking', I chat to Chris about OurPath helping those trying to lose weight and prevent the onset of Type II diabetes. Before we dive in, I've got a new podcast for you to check out. Those of you who are regular listeners to the show will know that I launched the Screw It, Just Do It podc...
Oct 02, 2019•42 min•Season 1Ep. 169
Today I bring you episode #168: a show, with a difference. Now normally Saturday's are a solo episode from yours truly. A bit of background: Back at the start of the summer we hosted a live episode with Jimmy's Iced Coffee 's brand new product launch - their Flat White in a can, with the whole Jimmy's crew including founders Susie Owen and Jim Cregan - plus a live audience at Urban Garden in Bournemouth. We also ran a competition to win a mentoring session with Jim, myself, Virgin StartUp mentor...
Sep 28, 2019•44 min•Season 1Ep. 168
In episode #167 I welcome Maria Hatzistefanis , beauty entrepreneur, businesswoman, best-selling author, speaker, mentor - and podcast host. She founded her ground-breaking skincare group, Rodial , in 1999 by identifying a niche for treatments targeted to specific skin concerns. With a growing global beauty empire, her results-oriented products excite with evocative tongue-in-cheek names such as Dragon’s Blood and Snake Serum. There are 2 brands – Rodial, and Nip + Fab – sold through 20,000 door...
Sep 25, 2019•36 min•Season 1Ep. 167
Sep 21, 2019•24 min•Season 1Ep. 166
Camilla Ainsworth was the youngest finalist in the history of the BBC Apprentice series. I met up with her in London at the hotel she was staying in, after a reunion the night before with all of her fellow 2018 contestants. A former law student, Camilla was just 22 when she appeared on 2018's The Apprentice, narrowly missing out in the final. Whilst Lord Sugar didn't choose her, the CEO of Holland & Barrett was suitably impressed with her vegan Nut milk brand Mylkplus, and she went ahead to ...
Sep 18, 2019•42 min•Season 1Ep. 165
Welcome to this week's solo episode, #164. It was ten years this week that I left full-time employment at Virgin Atlantic Airways and decided to enter the world of entrepreneurship. 9/9/09 I like the symmetry. Since then I have started four different businesses. I've had my share of both success and failures. I've learnt that there is no 'secret formula', no 'secret sauce' to running a successful business. There is also no such thing as an 'overnight success'. This has been borne out throughout ...
Sep 14, 2019•19 min•Season 1Ep. 164
On episode #163 I welcome the founders from two of Britain's brightest food and beverage challenger brands: Dan Broughton, co-founder of Dalston's Soda Co & Emily Fitch-Deeley, co-founder of Fitch Brew Co They are both part of a burgeoning scene. 10 years or so ago quality products weren’t as accessible. But since then there’s been a street food revolution, the evolution of gin, and the craft beer movement. Both believe in making something with higher-quality, natural ingredients, and theref...
Sep 11, 2019•47 min•Season 1Ep. 163
On today's solo episode I wanted to chat to you about THE MOST ASKED QUESTION THAT I GET: 'How Do I Make Money From Podcasting'? The most popular misconception is that you can only make money from podcasts through sponsorship. I'm here to tell you that's exactly what it is - a misconception. Unless you've already got a significant social following, or email list t market your podcast too, you'll need at least 1,000 downloads per episode to have a conversation with potential sponsors. But all is ...
Sep 07, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 162
" I never focused on branding. I never focused on what I was going to do in 6 months 10 months, twelve months or two years. I never cared about that. I cared about what is it going to take from to talk to someone who's got money. Because two things are going to happen when I do: One, I'm going to find out how you've got money and I haven't. Two, you're going to be so enamoured with me because I'm a smooth Irish chappie, you're going to give me a job. Funnily enough, number two never happened, bu...
Sep 04, 2019•47 min•Season 1Ep. 161
Welcome to episode #160 of Screw It, Just Do It. In today's solo episode I give you my 11 networking tips for entrepreneurs who HATE networking! I also chat to Adriano Travaglia from the European Startup Festival which takes place in Malmo, Sweden between September 20-21st. This is an annual event which takes place in a different European city each year and one which is close to my heart - as I'll be speaking at it. September is upon us and we've still got one third of 2019 to go. A lot can stil...
Aug 31, 2019•25 min•Season 1Ep. 160
On today's show I welcome Julia Kessler and Kerstin Robinson, founders of Nix & Kix , a health-focused soft drinks brand with the added kick of cayenne pepper. I met up with them on the hottest day of the year at their London HQ, and they managed to rehydrate me with some of their delicious drinks. Serendipity brought the two of them together when they were both at the airport moving from Germany to the UK as you'll hear during our chat. They're now at the forefront of exciting brands reshap...
Aug 28, 2019•47 min•Season 1Ep. 159
"Storytelling is the most underrated skill in business" So says Gary Vaynerchuk in his 2009 book, 'Crush It'. Still as relevant in 2019 as it was a decade ago. People like hearing stories. They also like sharing stories that they resonate with. So how are you telling your story? How are you documenting what you do, and educating your audience about your product/service? What medium are you using: the written word, video or audio? There's a form of communication out there for everyone. Whether yo...
Aug 24, 2019•15 min•Season 1Ep. 158
"I ran into several angel investors. They came up with this idea, and said 'You are the guy with the brains from the space side, do you want to quit your job and start an entrepreneurial venture and see how we can make money in the space industry?' That was basically the pitch. On which I quit my job." Welcome to episode #157 with Coen Janssen, Co-Founder of Hiber , whose miniature satellites are helping to get the world online and help connectivity. Having launched its first nano satellites int...
Aug 21, 2019•35 min•Season 1Ep. 157
On today's show I want to give you three simple tips for Linkedin and how you can be using it to get far better reach and engagement. If you're not using LinkedIn , or aren't being very successful on there, then I want to share with you the three tactics that I use that have been working really well for me in my business this year. I've noted that a number of entrepreneurs that I follow who are well respected in the social media space, all say that if they were starting over again, Linkedin is w...
Aug 17, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 156
"If you keep on trying something long enough you will figure it out. A lot of people aren't willingly to put that time in." I say to my team "Fail faster, faster, faster, faster. I want you to fail twenty times today so that we can get to the next step and figure out what to do next. Every time we fail we learn something new, and we continually whittle down the possibilities of what will work. That's not for everyone. I love it now. I've been making products that are first in the world, only in ...
Aug 14, 2019•44 min•Season 1Ep. 155
Welcome to episode #154: Patience, Plateau's and perseverance. Why do we expect overnight success? I went for a 5K run the other night to try and beat my personal best. I was initially pissed off that I didn't get it. But in retrospect, I'm more pissed off that I quit. I quit with about 250 yards left to run when I realised that I wasn't going to get a PB. I know I shouldn't have quit. I should have finished the full 5k. Why should I expect success when I've only been running 5k's for the last 6...
Aug 10, 2019•19 min•Season 1Ep. 154
"I met Steve Hindy and he was the owner of Brooklyn Brewery. The first time I'm at a brewery. I thought "This is cool, they're making a lager, but it's not boring and it's beautifully packaged." I came back and said that's what I want to do. So I then built a brewery in the basement of the pub out of clapped out this and that. We went from brewing one day a week to brewing seven days a week. I was never going to be the best publican in the world. It was like an idea that just started snowballing...
Aug 07, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 153
A couple of things resonated with me this week. Chatting to ex-Dragon Piers Linney for last week's episode with Antler in London, and then listening to Tony Robbins chatting to former heavyweight champion of the world Mike Tyson. Piers launched his #Startup with Piers Linney course and, among other things, we discussed why everybody isn't successful - when all of the information to succeed is already out there. I also listened to Tony Robbins' latest podcast with former world heavyweight boxing ...
Aug 03, 2019•19 min•Season 1Ep. 152
"I was being hounded by the producers at the BBC. I went to the Virgin Fast Track event, Richard Branson was on stage asking 'Who wants to come on a safari with me'? So I said 'why not?'. He then said 'for this much money' and I thought 'God, I can buy a Porsche' for that. Everyone was sat there saying 'don't do it Piers', but I put my hand up. I ended up at at Sir Richard's private game reserve in Ulusaba in the Kruger national park in South Africa, which is basically like a bond lair... My pho...
Jul 31, 2019•42 min•Season 1Ep. 151
Welcome to Episode #150! Today I'm going to be talking about #75HARD. A little over 3 months ago I randomly came across a podcast, Episode #290 of The MFCEO Project by Andy Frisella : A 75 Day Guide To Winning The War With Yourself. In it he launched his program, #75HARD, which has now become a worldwide movement. I decided shortly after listening to this episode to start the programme myself. There was just something about Andy's energy, his message that resonated with me. A little under 3 mont...
Jul 27, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 150
