Blog

Brian Daly is the managing director of Shelton Distributors, a confectionery distributor with over 2000 clients nationwide. With over 20 years of experience in FMCG trading, Brian talks to us about commercial planning, relationship building and negotiation, and even touches on the impact his executive coaching course has had on his leadership style.

I love the emphasis Brian puts on building relationships and meeting people individually as a way to negotiate and make deals that work for both parties. He highlights how having a people-centric approach is not just a nice way to do business, but also an effective way to create opportunities.

Jonatan Ramhöj is a front-end engineer with over a decade of experience. In this interview, he tells us about his career journey and insights into the world of software engineering.

“As a product manager, you have to be an expert on your users, their problems. You need to be an expert on the business, what matters to the business. And you need to figure out a way to solve their problems in a way that also achieves your business objectives—finding the middle ground of what the business cares about, what the users care about, and aligning a product vision that helps you to sort of check both boxes.”

Lucie Cunningham is the founder and CEO of THE HomeShare, a not-for-profit organisation which provides a cost-effective solution to both home care for older people and affordable accommodation for young people, through their bespoke matching and monitoring service.

But she didn’t start there! Lucie actually started her career as cabin crew before moving into the social care industry, and then later decided to start her own business. She had no plan B but she credits her passion for the homecare service with being able to drive the business and keep going through difficult days.

‘You really have to be patient with yourself in any transition period of your life, right? So when I went from full time to freelance and also when I went from freelancer to course creator, I fell into this trap of being really impatient about it and thinking, "where are the results?! [But] they take time to come. It's really a difficult period, but it doesn't last forever.“‘

Thalita Milan’s career has gone from marketing automation to online course creation, from working for startups to working for herself. What I find really interesting about Thalita, is that she’s continuously looking for ways to stand out from the crowd while adding value. She demonstrated this by learning new software in a company when others were struggling to understand it, by sending video applications for freelance gigs online, and by continuously updating her customer offers.

During the interview we spoke about how to get started with course creation, the secrets to maintaining loyal customers and the practical steps behind being an online content creator.

You can find out more about Thalita here:

Website: thalitamilan.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thalita-milan/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt9uiRkIYgo9LZ2BmUYxm2A

Last week I went to the web summit in Lisbon and got the chance to meet with lots of ambitious people in software development and technology. One of them was Ailish McCarthy, who runs her software development studio, helping non-tech founders get their tech built.

Ailish spoke about trends in the industry, the challenges of female founders getting investment, tips for how business owners can communicate with software developers and her plans for her own business.

If you’d like to connect with, you can find her here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ailishmccarthy/

Website: ailishmccarthy.com

Talia is a freelance travel consultant specialising in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. She has lived in 8 different countries and moved 18 times, so she knows plenty about trying new things and meeting new people.

In this interview, she discusses her struggles and accomplishments while starting her own business, working effectively with clients and her tips for others getting into the same industry.

You can find out more about her here: https://mazepatravel.com/

Or watch her informative videos on Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mazepatravel

In this podcast, Peter McGuire, a multi-award-winning freelance journalist with 25 years of experience, talks about his journey into journalism and offers insights into the field. He mentions that he initially resisted becoming a writer or journalist, before eventually taking the step to work for a local newspaper.

Peter attributes his ability to sustain a freelance journalism career to several factors—such as the importance of having good contacts, knowing how to pitch the work and being adaptable to different styles of writing. He acknowledges that some freelancers need to transition into other roles, such as public relations, due to financial constraints.

He also highlights the flexibility and freedom that freelancing offers, expressing his preference for this lifestyle over a traditional 9-to-5 job, however, he also recognises that freelance work isn't for everyone, as many people thrive on the structure and stability of regular employment.

In this interview, we speak with Victor Soto, a sales leader with a passion for helping people become the best version of themselves both inside and outside the workplace.

He shares his valuable insights on the importance of building trust, setting clear expectations, and fostering strong team dynamics, even when the team is spread out across different locations.

When he’s not working as a sales leader, he’s driving his passion project of a men’s circle—which is a trusting space for men to talk freely and openly, and connect with other like-minded individuals.

In this interview video, we're chatting with Federico Melandri, an Italian architect who's been working in Lisbon since 2012. He runs his own studio, focusing on residential architecture projects.

Federico discusses the importance of sustainability and durability in architectural projects and emphasizes the need for good social skills and passion for the work. He encourages architects to continuously learn and draw inspiration from various sources, including fellow architects and diverse architectural styles.

In this video, career coach Ronan Kennedy interviews his friend Niels about his career journey so far.

Niels shares his experience as a day trader on the stock market and his journey of starting a software company. He discusses the challenges and risks involved in day trading and emphasizes the importance of not giving up. He also talks about the psychology behind trading and gives advice to those interested in pursuing a career in the field.

He shares his own experience of building an app and the challenges he faced in hiring and managing a team of software developers.

Amanda Perkins is a freelancer who offers delivery excellence, business analysis and salesforce consulting.

In this interview, Amanda discusses career changes & passion projects, working at Salesforce,  and consulting for companies remotely.

She is passionate about empowering women to build long-term wealth and regularly presents to her own women in finance group.

Find out more about Amanda or contact her here: aperkinsconsulting.com

Terra has run a business supporting online entrepreneurs with technology and marketing. In that role, she's performed every job a business needs to grow, from planning and marketing to client support and project management.

In this interview, I spoke to Terra Milo about why she started freelancing, what she learned on the way, her journey to her new job and some of her top tips for landing a new role. You can find out more about Terra here: https://insidious-ulna-80e.notion.site/Terra-Milo-Portfolio-d19a38f49ed449a08f9ea9d708eb4338

Dalaney is a Marketing Psychologist, Online Business Strategist and Co-founder of Untapped, a company that guides Evolutionary Experts to scale their business, impact and community.

In this interview, Dalaney talks about impact-led work, finding your purpose and the growing market for all types of coaches and consultants. He also discusses his career path to date and the changes and revelations he had on his journey.

Website: www.untapped.nz/

Follow Untapped on Instagram: @untappedhq

And Dalaney on Instagram: @Dalaney_davis