Evolve to Succeed
217 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 2 ratingsInsightful conversations with entrepreneurs, business leaders and other high-performing individuals, exploring the link between personal and business success.
What is success? How do you develop resilience? Who inspires you? How do you maintain your physical and mental wellbeing?
Our guests explore these questions and more...
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Episodes
The Evolve to Succeed podcast is changing!
March 18, 2024 05:30 - 1 minute - 1.86 MBIn this short update, your host Warren Munson brings some exciting news about the Evolve to Succeed podcast.
Jack Bradley – Creating the ultimate backpack
March 11, 2024 05:30 - 37 minutes - 37.4 MBJack Bradley is a national award-wining designer and founder at Zenscape, which creates next generation travel gear to help people explore the world. Jack’s entrepreneurial journey began in 2016 during a European backpacking trip. Inspired by the challenges of constantly moving and searching through backpacks, he envisioned a solution for more efficient travel. Click here to view Jack's Kickstarter campaign.
Stephen Steers – Selling through story telling
March 04, 2024 05:30 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MBStephen Steers is president at the New York-based Steers Consulting Group, which helps the founders and sales teams of professional services firms tell the stories that get their customers excited to buy. He is also the author ‘Superpower Story-Telling’. He’s consulted, advised and led workshops for more than 750 companies from 30 countries, including giants such as Nike, Google and Microsoft for Startups.
Jason Gault – Leadership, challenge and authenticity
February 26, 2024 05:30 - 54 minutes - 45.6 MBJason Gault is CEO at TeamJobs, as well as Team Manager at the Primera-TeamJobs cycling team. Amongst the topics discussed, Jason talks about the changes he’s seen in his 22 years in recruitment, what he learned about leadership and people during his four years as a Dorset Police Officer, the value of a business partner, the demands of being a sole owner, and how he balances his time between TeamJobs and the cycling team.
David Hole – On the university of life
February 19, 2024 05:30 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBDavid Hole is an accredited money coach with over 30 years’ experience as a professional financial advisor. David not only specialises but also gains huge personal fulfilment in using his expertise to help people achieve their financial goals. However, David’s recent positioning as a money coach is just another path in what has been a bold and unusual journey, both personally and professionally.
Mark Masters – Community marketing and building an audience
February 12, 2024 05:30 - 47 minutes - 44.6 MBMark Masters is a marketing consultant and owner of You Are The Media, a marketing and media training and learning community. What started as a side project in 2013, You Are The Media has now grown into a name on an international scale, with people participating from all over the world.
Ben Gibbons – Close your eyes and commit
February 05, 2024 05:30 - 51 minutes - 47.9 MBBen Gibbons is the co-founder of Circular 11, which transforms low-grade plastic waste into building materials and household products, creating a viable market for the film-based plastics that constitute 50 to 80% of global packaging waste. Using composite and biocomposite technology, Circular 11 turns this waste into recyclable items, fostering closed-loop, local circular economies for global communities.
Employee Engagement with Matthew Fretten & Evolve
January 29, 2024 05:30 - 1 hour - 63.4 MBOn this episode, Warren sits down with both Evolve’s delivery lead and advisor David Mutton, and Matthew Fretten, managing partner at Frettens Solicitors, which has won awards for employee engagement. Amongst other things up for discussion is defining what engagement actually is and how to maintain it during periods of growth. Warren and David look at the four pillars of employee engagement and we hear what Matthew and Frettens have done to reach such high levels of employee engagement.
Martin Higgins – Transforming a family business and managing risk
January 22, 2024 05:30 - 46 minutes - 44.5 MBMartin Higgins is managing director at MSP Capital, a company he developed with his father Ray in the late 90s. What was then a small operation has since grown into one of the leading providers of non-regulated commercial finance in Southern England.
Jay Blades - From homelessness to a friendship with the King
January 15, 2024 05:30 - 40 minutes - 41.1 MBJay Blades, BBC Repair Shop star and renowned furniture restorer (among other things), tells the compelling story of how he went from homelessness and despair to repairing his life, including developing an unusual friendship with King Charles III. It's a remarkable account of determination and resilience, told with great passion and humour.
Leanne Spencer – Workplace wellbeing and a better 2024
January 08, 2024 05:30 - 50 minutes - 44.4 MBLeanne Spencer is the co-founder of Bodyshot Performance, an award-winning wellbeing company that uses technology and science-based solutions to create happy, healthy and resilient teams. As experts in corporate wellbeing and wellbeing strategy, Leanne and her team help their clients to lead with wellbeing in their organisations.
2023 Top 10 - Part 2
January 01, 2024 05:30 - 41 minutes - 37.9 MBHost Warren Munson counts down the ten most popular episodes from 2023. This episode features Gerard McSharry, Simon Hawtry-Coombs, Helen Stacey, Steve Wyatt and Toby Gutteridge.
2023 Top 10 - Part 1
December 25, 2023 05:30 - 36 minutes - 33.9 MBHost Warren Munson counts down the ten most popular episodes from 2023. This episode features Jo Barry, Carly Jermyn, Kate Adie, Adam Walker and Marc Trent.
Jimmy Glass - Mindset, failure and THAT goal
December 18, 2023 05:30 - 1 hour - 61.3 MBJimmy Glass is the general manager at Wimborne Town Football Club. Between 1989 and 2004 he made over 160 professional appearances as a goalkeeper and is perhaps best remembered for scoring the last-minute goal that kept Carlisle United in the Football League in 1999. As well as touching on his football career, Jimmy talks openly about life after the game and what he's learned from both his successes and failures.
Dom & Elliot Chapman – Brotherly trust, staying true to your word and the next North Star
December 11, 2023 05:30 - 46 minutes - 41 MBDom and Elliot Chapman are co-founders of venture capital firm Chapman Capital, which acquires and grows boutique agencies. Chapman Capital was was born on the back of the brothers’ experience of trying and failing to sell their B2B lead generation agency Social Chaps, and they’re using the knowledge and resources gained from that to help agencies who are struggling to build a strong pipeline.
Kristy Davies-Sumpter – Sales and winning and retaining new business
December 04, 2023 05:30 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBIn another one of our special, quick fire episodes we cover the topics of sales and winning and retaining new business. With us for the conversation is Kristy Davies-Sumpter, MD and sales expert at Zest Consultancy, a sales and customer experience consultancy that aims to help clients win new business and retain loyal customers.
John and Mark X. Cronin – Challenging perceptions and championing diversity
November 27, 2023 05:30 - 44 minutes - 39.6 MBJohn and Mark X. Cronin are the dynamic father-son team behind John’s Crazy Socks, a social enterprise with a mission to spread happiness. They bootstrapped their business into the world’s largest sock store with multi-million dollar revenues, and won Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneurs of the Year in 2019. What makes their story particularly special is that 27 year-old John has Down syndrome, and is constantly challenging preconceptions about differing abilities, exemplifying the remarkable achie...
Paul Lester CBE – Leadership, integrity and loving what you do
November 20, 2023 05:30 - 47 minutes - 43.8 MBPaul Lester is a man of incredible wisdom and experience in the realm of business and leadership. He is or has been chairman of a number of businesses, including several FTSE 250 companies. Among other topics, Paul discusses what he learnt from extended management stints in the States and France, his views on private versus IPO companies, how the boardroom and his leadership style has changed over the years, and what an owner managed business should be looking for if they feel the need to pu...
Lee Hill – How to be customer obsessed
November 13, 2023 05:30 - 45 minutes - 40 MBLee Hill is MD and founder of Insightful, Runway and The Study. Lee works with individuals and businesses who are not only striving for growth but are customer obsessed. He believes that being customer obsessed will lead to faster growth whilst retaining larger profits.
Mark Northey & Evolve - Strategies for Growth
November 06, 2023 05:30 - 42 minutes - 41.2 MBFactors such as Brexit, Covid and geopolitical instability continue to have a major affect on the world economy, and the natural consequence is that businesses are struggling for consistency and direction. Warren sits down with Evolve’s delivery lead and advisor David Mutton to talk about the challenges and barriers to growth and the various routes and structures one can follow to achieve growth. The second element of the conversation introduces Mark Northey, founder and MD of Norco, a c...
Sally Henderson – Healthy leadership
October 30, 2023 05:30 - 46 minutes - 43.2 MBSally Henderson is a leadership mentor whose practice is founded on the belief that senior teams and leaders shouldn’t have to choose between being effective or being happy. Sally, who came from a recruitment background, has worked with leaders and teams from a number of large companies including British Red Cross, Coca-Cola, Forbes, NatWest, Nestle and Shell. Amongst other topics, Sally talks about her trademarked RealMethod, which aims at giving executive teams and senior leaders the pract...
Special 200th Episode with Kate Adie
October 23, 2023 05:30 - 44 minutes - 40.7 MBTo celebrate our 200th episode, we’ve lined up a very special guest in the form of Kate Adie. Kate was Chief News Correspondent for BBC News between 1989 and 2003, during which time she reported from war zones around the world. She retired from the BBC in early 2003 and now works as a freelance presenter on BBC Radio 4. Kate’s 14 year career as a news correspondent saw her cover everything from The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Lockerbie bombing and the Tiananmen Square protests, to the ...
Mark Norton – Working for my father, the value of trust and focusing on the numbers
October 16, 2023 05:30 - 53 minutes - 45.4 MBMark Norton is CEO at Composite Profiles, award-winning metal decking contractors and specialists in composite floor and structural roof decking. Composite Profiles was founded 30 years ago by Mark’s father, and Mark has been with the company for an incredible 25 years.
B Corp – Everything you need to know
October 09, 2023 05:30 - 30 minutes - 29.6 MBLast month, the UK B Corp community celebrated 1,500 UK businesses becoming B Corp certified, an increase of 50% in less than a year. In light of this milestone, we’ve put together a special episode that’ll help you understand B Corp better, give you insight into the differences its made in the lives of the business owners who have become certified, and reveal some of the practical measures they’re taking to make their enterprises greener.
Olly Leicester – Positive habits, doing hard things and change from the top down
October 02, 2023 05:30 - 44 minutes - 41 MBOlly Leicester is a certified corporate health and performance coach who helps clients manage and resolve a number of disorders, ranging from stress, anxiety and depression, to diabetes, hypertension and obesity. The foundation of his work revolves around the establishment of healthy habits, as well as the development of self-awareness, confidence and compassion in order for the individual to better understand themselves and therefore establish paths to physical and mental wellness that are ...
George Scott-Welsh – Investment, work ethic and a people-centric approach
September 25, 2023 05:00 - 51 minutes - 45.3 MBGeorge Scott Welsh is CEO at Incuhive—a business incubation, investment and collaboration space that operates in several locations. This episode takes in a range of topics including the influence that coming from a very entrepreneurial family has had on George, his varied career choices and important lessons he’s learned from them, his attitude to money, and the one thing that drives his passion for the businesses he invests in.
Simon Hawtrey-Coombs – Enthusiasm, franchise success, and giving up alcohol
September 18, 2023 05:30 - 43 minutes - 39.7 MBSimon Hawtrey-Coombs is a franchisee of the global DPD group for the Bournemouth and Southampton branches, a position he has held since 2001. As well as this, Simon has owned and managed several businesses over the years, including a commercial cleaning company and a boat charter business, and he now uses his vast experience to work with and advise business owners and CEOs from both global household names and start-ups.
Alexis Kingsbury – Delegation, company culture and empowerment
September 11, 2023 05:30 - 48 minutes - 41.1 MBAlexis Kingsbury is co-founder at AirManual and SpiderGap. He is also a speaker on topics such as freeing up time and the business applications and limitations of AI. Alexis’s entrepreneurial journey started before he was even a teenager, and in later years it was the honest if brutal advice from a manager that inspired his path to understanding how businesses need to be run, and how best to use processes to solve people challenges and save time.
Marc Trent – At the helm of a hundred year-old family business
September 04, 2023 05:30 - 49 minutes - 47.2 MBMarc Trent is CEO at Charles Trent, a fourth generation family-run vehicle recycling company with nearly a century of industry leading experience. Established in 1926 by Marc’s great grandfather, the company has grown to operate across multiple sites and has a customer base that spans the world. Amongst other topics, Marc talks about Trent’s newly-established, 100,000 square feet facility in Poole, which is the first of its kind in the whole world operating a 17-hour shift operation that pro...
Michael French – Alignment, food shortages and community sufficiency
August 28, 2023 05:30 - 47 minutes - 46.5 MBMichael French is the projects coordinator at Grounded Community. Based in Boscombe, Grounded Community works to give the local community access to healthy, nutritious food. It grows fruit and veg, provides education and workshops, redistributes surplus food and creates networks to help others share food.
Jamie Sergeant – The secrets of running a global business
August 21, 2023 05:30 - 44 minutes - 43.8 MBJamie Sergeant is Global CEO of Crowd—a multi-award winning global creative agency that specialises in amplifying demand for brands around the world. Combined with his creative thinking and knack for spotting and developing raw talent, Jamie has a particular passion for the nurturing and export of creative excellence and works in partnership with leading British agencies to globally raise awareness of UK advertising at scale and drive reputation.
Cybersecurity – What every business owner needs to know
August 14, 2023 05:30 - 18 minutes - 17.4 MBIn the first of a series of shorter, subject-specific episodes, host Warren Munson talks to Chris Palmer, managing director and founder of AnyTech Solutions, about the biggest cyber threats that your business could face and the simple, first step you can take to start protecting your business from cyber threats, and what you should do if you are attacked.
So you want to be an entrepreneur?
August 07, 2023 05:30 - 36 minutes - 35 MBAs well as telling the story of his own entrepreneurial journey, host Warren Munson reviews the experiences of several guests that have appeared on the show over the past few years. From hospitality and IT, to gaming, nursery school owners, olive farmers and more, this episode examines the joys and challenges of entrepreneurship from a wide variety of perspectives.
Nigel Smith – Strong values, serious work and a culture of fun
July 31, 2023 05:30 - 40 minutes - 34.8 MBNigel Smith is managing partner and solicitor at Ellis Jones Solicitors, which have offices in Dorset and Hampshire as well as London. From his serendipitous path to becoming a lawyer, the pleasures and challenges of running a professional services business and watching members of the team develop, other topics covered include adapting to the changing landscape of professional services, Ellis Jones’s commitment to community, the motivation behind signing up for the Armed Forces Covenant, and...
Entrepreneurship and mental health
July 24, 2023 05:30 - 49 minutes - 47.4 MBWarren Munson joins host Emma Sheppard and fellow guests Leanne Spencer—bestselling author and expert in corporate wellbeing—and Rachel Harris—Director of striveX and founder of ACCOUNTANT_SHE—to talk about the very important topic of entrepreneurship and mental health. With rising costs, economic uncertainty and recruitment challenges, SME owners are under considerable pressure at the moment. It’s therefore crucial to have an open discussion about issues such as burnout, positive habits t...
Richard Eastham – Urbanism, human exchange and the need to belong
July 17, 2023 05:30 - 41 minutes - 36.8 MBRichard Eastham is founder of Feria Urbanism, an award-winning design practice that connects community aspiration with urban planning projects to design thriving hubs of activity that benefit people, the natural environment and the local economy. Amongst other achievements and accolades, Richard has been nominated as one of the four most inspiring people in the planning and design profession by the Royal Town Planning Institute’s Young Planner Survey.
Dani & Mel Bowen and Carna Wilson – Teamwork, risk and learning from children
July 10, 2023 05:30 - 39 minutes - 34.6 MBCarna Wilson and sisters Dani and Mel Bowen founded Muddy Boots Nursery School in 2014 while they were all still in their 20’s. Their original vision was to start a nursery where children can spend as much time as possible outside, exploring, learning, getting dirty, challenging themselves, testing out ideas and growing their imaginations. Fast forward to 2023, and there are now five Muddy Boots nurseries scattered around Dorset.
Steve Wyatt – Pain, addiction and restoring my life
July 03, 2023 05:30 - 1 hour - 59.6 MBAfter more than twenty years of drug addiction, which included three years on the street, three years in prison, and four years in rehab, Steve Wyatt found a talent for furniture restoration and used it to restore his own life. He now owns a furniture restoration space called Restored Retro and collaborates with Repair Shop star—as well as friend and mentor—Jay Blades by stocking Jay & Co’s furniture in his own shop.
Gina Felce – Gaming, fundraising and a people-centric approach
June 26, 2023 05:30 - 47 minutes - 42.6 MBGina Felce is the co-founder and COO of Tailwind Games, a video game development studio working within the Roblox metaverse that has raised more than $4-million since its creation in 2021. Gina was also one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2022. Amongst other things, you’ll hear how Gina transitioned to tech from a career in costume design, what she’s learned from her experience of angel and venture capital funding, her people-centred principles at Tailwind Games, what it’s like running the compan...
Gordon Fong – Deep connections and the value of community
June 19, 2023 05:30 - 41 minutes - 36.4 MBGordon Fong is the CEO and co-founder of tech company Kimcell, which contains three businesses within it—Datacenta Hosting, e-mango and X-Net. Gordon is deeply passionate about making connections, both in the technical sense and the personal one. His goal is to enhance and champion business in Dorset, and part of this has been Kimcell’s expansion into the Dorset Innovation Park.
Kelli Aspland and Laura Waters – Sunscreen, Dragon’s Den and the surprise of success
June 12, 2023 05:30 - 44 minutes - 38.1 MBKelli Aspland and Laura Waters are the founders and directors of Solar Buddies, a child-friendly sunscreen applicator. Their story began in 2011 whilst discussing issues they were both encountering, along with other fellow parents, about how they children could apply sunscreen safely and effectively whilst not in their care. Fast forward twelve years and their award-winning product has been featured on TV screens around the world, including Dragon’s Den, and they now operate out of two premi...
Kevin Dawson – Wisdom from three generations of business
June 05, 2023 05:30 - 51 minutes - 45.2 MBKevin Dawson is the owner and managing director at Dawsons Bang & Olufsen, which has been designing, supplying and installing industry leading audiovisual systems for an incredible 90 years. Kevin himself has been with the company, which is a family business, for almost 43 years. The podcast covers topics such as the pleasures, pressures and complexities of a long-running family business, Kevin's opinions on the supposed death of the high street, his dedication to keeping his delivery van...
Darren Colley – Military mindset, situational leadership and staff engagement
May 29, 2023 05:30 - 51 minutes - 44.3 MBDarren Colley is the managing director at Iracroft, a premier supplier of a comprehensive range of metal pipe and tube fabricated products for diverse industry sectors. As well as his role at Iracroft, Darren is also a member of and an Ambassador for The Institute of Directors and sits on the Regional Advisory Board of MakeUK. Darren is self-professed result-driven senior executive, with extensive experience within the business transformation, general management, engineering management, pr...
Will Rolph – Love, olive oil and regenerative farming
May 22, 2023 05:30 - 44 minutes - 39.2 MBWill Rolph (left), together with brother Harry, produce Two Fields olive oil from a small farm in Greece. Olive oil farming was something they both unexpectedly fell into, and it’s a great story of love, learning, reconnecting to nature and the value of taking things slowly. Both Will and Harry have found profound meaning in the simple olive, and the act of producing their small batch olive oil has transformed both their lives in significant ways.
Steve Coburn – Forward-focus, upside down leadership and ethical business
May 15, 2023 05:30 - 48 minutes - 43 MBSteve Coburn is managing director at Project Five, a multi-award winning outsourced IT Support company that works with local businesses of all sizes in Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire. Amongst other things, Steve is also president and director at the Surrey Chamber of Commerce, chairman of Collectively Camberley—a business improvement district—and owns the Login Lounge, a 20,000 square foot, live music venue, coffee house, wine bar, and co-working space in the centre of Camberley.
Jo Barry - Empathetic leadership
May 08, 2023 05:30 - 38 minutes - 32.5 MBJo Barry is managing director at Platinum Care Solutions Group, which has been providing care solutions in Hampshire for over 20 years. Alongside its sister companies—Acre Care and Safe Harbour—Platinum Care is the largest, independent, care group on the south coast, as well as being award-winning.
Nida Leard – Upgrade yourself from version 5.0 to 6.0
May 01, 2023 05:30 - 39 minutes - 36 MBNida Leard is the founder of Nida Leard Consulting, where she advises world-class experts to become what she terms ‘legendary market outliers’. She is also the author ‘One to Millions Entrepreneur’, host of the Nida Leard Podcast, and a former Fortune 500 executive with more than two decades experience in business, psychology and personal development.
Gerard McSharry – Boyhood ambitions, skydiving and making flooring interesting
April 24, 2023 05:30 - 50 minutes - 43.6 MBGerard McSharry is the owner and director of Higherground, a flooring company that’s been in business since 1990. Remarkably, Gerard has wanted to be a business owner since the age of eight and is therefore an entrepreneur through and through. Being at the helm of your own business certainly comes with its ups and downs, and over time Gerard has seen quite a few. Recessions, wars, a banking crisis and the pandemic—Gerard has successfully navigated through them all and has some amazing wisdom...
Helen Stacey – Losing, winning, being kind and having fun
April 17, 2023 05:30 - 51 minutes - 45 MBHelen Stacey is the managing director and owner of Aspire—a boutique recruitment agency based in Dorset. She has over thirty years of experience in the sector and set up Aspire to stand out from the crowd and align with her values. Her career includes building what was, at the time, the largest independently owned recruitment agency in the South, growing it from nothing in 1999 to a turnover of £13-million, with five offices and 70 staff at its peak.
Adam Walker – Early entrepreneurship, regeneration and creating co-working spaces with community
April 10, 2023 05:30 - 54 minutes - 50.9 MBAdam Walker has been the owner of Adam Walker Property Company since 2001, Director of the real estate consultancy Re:curate and most recently the co-founder of Foundry – co-working spaces aimed at empowering local businesses. Adam is a natural entrepreneur, having co-founded a highly-successful coin operated and gaming machine supply company with his uncle aged just 19. Following that, Adam turned his eye to property development and has remained in the game ever since.