Business Without Bullsh-t

Meet Paddy Willis, an entrepreneur by nature and Founder/Exec Chairman of Mission Ventures, challenger brand building business on a mission to create a better food system using entrepreneurial solutions to solve some of the industry's biggest challenges around health, diversity and sustainability.

Paddy has a vast career history ranging from working in the wine trade to the telecoms industry and most notably inn baby food where he co-founded Plum Baby, an award-winning organic baby food brand that achieved distribution in over 2,000 multiple retailer stores across the UK within just 15 months of launch with annualised retail sales in excess of £6.5 million after 18 months. Plum quickly achieved the leading position as the premium brand that consumers trusted, and Paddy sold to a private equity firm within 5 years from launch with annualised retail sales of £15m.

Trust us when we say Paddy knows what he talking about when it comes to all things business and entrepreneurship, so pull up a chair, grab your note pad and press play.

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This week's BWB Extra continues our conversation with Monica Harrington, Founder of Fit Form Fashion where we hear more about her life as a lingerie stylist. From the type of clientele Monica has, to the hospital and charity work she does for women who have been effected by breast cancer, to the professional training she provides for lingerie fitters and corporate events she puts on, we take a dive into what it's like being Monica.

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Meet Monica Harrington, an industry-recognised lingerie stylist and brand consultant and Founder of Fit Form Fashion, her personal styling service offering a range of lingerie and sportswear styling for everyday and special occasions.

Monica's worked with lingerie for over 30 years delivering brand and product consultancy, shoot styling, bra-fit training and workshops for major clients from Adidas to Triumph to Calvin Klein and Sloggi. Our conversation with Monica tells her life story, how she found her passion for lingerie and why she started her own business.

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This week's BWB Extra continues our conversation with William Wadsworth Founder of Exam Study Expert where we dive deeper into discussing the science of learning and talk about the different types of learning techniques, which ones William prefers to teach and discuss the differences in people's learning capabilities and how to best approach them. We also hear about William's client experiences and his plans to grow and scale the business.

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Meet William Wadsworth, a first-class Cambridge University graduated memory psychologist and founder of Exam Study Expert who helps students study smarter, not harder, so they can ace their exams with less work and less stress.

Following top 0.01% exam results himself at school, William is now obsessed with helping others get the grades of their dreams as a study strategy coach for private clients, and as an in-demand workshop leader for schools and universities. His expertise has been widely featured, from a regular column in The Times to numerous high-profile education industry conferences. William also hosts the award-nominated Exam Study Expert podcast and blog www.examstudyexpert.com which help over a million readers and listeners get the grades of their dreams every single year.

Take a deep dive into the enlightened mind of a man who has created an entrepreneurial venture in the world of education and academic performance.

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This week's BWB Extra continues our conversation with Oliver Bruce, CEO and Founder at PinPoint Media where we dive deeper into discussing the social media phenomenon that is TikTok, what makes it so powerful (and why Andy's particularly concerned about it), how the platform should be used and why businesses should be embracing it. We also discuss the future of Tech and the workplace, and how the next generation should be preparing to adapt to the shift we'll be seeing in the jobs market.

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Meet Oliver Bruce, CEO and Founder of PinPoint Media, a no nonsense content agency based in Cheltenham, London and Manchester specialising in social content, campaign planning, virtual and augmented reality and video media.

During University Oliver ended up growing PinPoint Media from his halls with the simple mission statement to ‘make film accessible to all’. He knew that video was so important to businesses and by using a model based on critical mass he was able to produce high volumes of content for little cost to the client. This aggressive approach to video sales funded his first staff member hire in his second year of university. 

Since founding PinPoint Media 2013, video and the need for content has exploded. It’s become accepted by the masses and is a fundamental requirement to any business big or small. This universal acceptance has allowed for significant growth within PinPoint who now have 32 staff members with a Head Office in Cheltenham and satellites in London and Manchester working with clients such as Barratt Developments PLC, Ticketmaster, America's oldest bank BNY Melon and blue-chip companies.

Strap up, press play and take a deep dive into the pulsating entrepreneurial mind of Oliver Bruce.

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This week's BWB Extra continues our conversation with Carol Alexander, Professor of Finance at Sussex University Business School. We hear more about Carol's love for Mathematics and why she is now passionate about writing papers on Crypto and Blockchain instead of traditional financial markets (hint - she does like banks!). And you'll also hear us have a good chat about the state of UK politics in this new emerging world of digital currency and what we really think of Rishi Sunak ..

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Meet Carol Alexander, Professor of Finance at Sussex University who is an expert in FinTech, blockchains and crypto amongst a whole raft of other things. She also holds BSc in Mathematics with Experimental Psychology (First Class) and a PhD in Algebraic Number Theory from the University of Sussex, and an MSc in Mathematical Economics and Econometrics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Carol is also the author of the best-selling textbook “Market Models” and of the four-volume textbook series Market Risk Analysis amogst others and has also published a raft of industry paper publications which you can find at www.carolalexander.org or her University of Sussex profile pages.

Our extended conversation takes a deep dive into the entire framework of all things Crypto and FinTech. From hearing Carol's crystal clear explanations on what crypto, blockchain and smart contracts actually are and how they work, to discussing NFTs, how they'll shape society's future and the rise of Web 3.0, we leave no stone unturned!

Clear your diary, pull up a chair and press play (and don't forget your notebook!)

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This week's BWB Extra continues our conversation with Amy Poon, Founder at Poon’s London. We dive deeper into discussing Amy’s life growing up in the Chinese restaurant business, her dad’s migration to the UK, to him becoming a Michelin Star chef and building the original Poon’s restaurant empire and what Amy has planned for the resurrection of Poon's London and their passion for good quality Soya Sauce.

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Meet Amy Poon, Founder at Poon's London who create signature Chinese sauces and fresh wontons for nationwide home delivery.

Amy was born in London and educated at University of Oxford where she obtained a third class degree in Japanese and has lived in Geneva, Tokyo, Sydney and Singapore. A jack of all trades and master of none, she has tutored in French and Latin, worked as a hostess, marketed Patek Philippe watches, opened a champagne bar in Singapore’s red-light district, sold contemporary Asian art, run an event company, sat on the board of UN Women in Singapore and written two books.

Amy returned to London in 2018 to resurrect the family food business that she vowed never to get involved in. Our chat with the lady herself reveals all!

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