DiscoverA Little Bit Radical: Business | People | Planet
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A Little Bit Radical: Business | People | Planet
Author: Standing on Giants
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Now a top 40 business podcast in the UK! All success stories started with an idea,…an idea that was a little bit radical. In this bi-weekly podcast we learn from leaders across businesses and organisations on how to do things differently and bring exciting new ideas to life.
We’re not interested in armchair gurus. These are people doing the work day in, day out, to make change and drive us towards a healthier, happier world. Past guests have included senior leaders from established businesses like Heineken, Patagonia, and Riverford, as well as founders of startups in emerging industries.
We’re not interested in armchair gurus. These are people doing the work day in, day out, to make change and drive us towards a healthier, happier world. Past guests have included senior leaders from established businesses like Heineken, Patagonia, and Riverford, as well as founders of startups in emerging industries.
41 Episodes
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Surf’s up! Often called the ‘British Patagonia’, Finisterre are one of the most respected names in sustainable fashion. Headquartered in St Agnes, Cornwall, Finisterre produce long-lasting, repairable products inspired by the sea. We’re joined by CMO Bronwen Foster Butler for this episode. She discusses:
The dramatic circumstances of her birth in the Canadian wilderness
The effect of having a peculiar name and how she ‘likes to play in the edges’ of life
How she became a parent to a daughter during COVID and how that provided an impetus to become more radical
Her experience in a previous role of being asked ‘whether she wanted a promotion, or to become a parent’
Finisterre’s approach to flexibility and inclusion
Working for a boss who is a CEO and a RNLI helmsman
Her commitment to ‘how you get the job done’ not ‘when you get the job done’
‘Sea Tuesdays’ - where the whole team get an hour to connect with the sea
The founding story of Finisterre and the mission to create products that serve cold-water surfers, whilst preserving the ocean
The very first product the founder, Tom, created
Their partnership with the last Merino Wool shepherd in the U.K.
How the wetsuit industry is partly responsible for ‘Cancer Alley’ in the USA, with the production of chloroprene - connected to Neoprene
How they are reinventing wetsuits, moving away from petrochemical neoprene, to YULEX rubber
Launching the world’s first YULEX wetsuit rental programme
Finisterre’s repair service - a challenge to fast fashion
The shocking reality of where most of our charity shop clothes go
Her reaction to the U.K. government rolling back environmental policy
Dealing with Climate Anxiety
Her approach to leading her team through their Pride campaign, in the face of online trolling
Bronwen on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronwen-foster-butler-73a31923/
Visit: finisterre.com
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to get in touch? Email podcast@standingongiants.com
Without people you don’t have a business. Higson, are a people consultancy, working with organisations to create progressive work cultures with high productivity and high happiness. Augusta Vivian, is the founder and joins us for this interview where she discusses:
How she feels we are all entitled to have fun at work
Her personal values of fun, kindness, curiosity, and stubbornness and how her early life shaped those
How to go about defining your personal values
Her entrepreneurial Great Aunt who broke the mould as a woman on her own in business
Her experience of being told ‘what to wear to be successful’
Her work at Higson to help businesses become more happy, productive workplaces
The common blindspots that businesses face when creating a positive work culture
The real benefit of unlimited holiday vs an annual allowance
How to create your company values and design the behaviours within your org to live up to them
The importance of practicality and pragmatism with any cultural change work
What she’s most proud of in her Founder’s journey
How she approaches Strategy at Higson and regularly reviews it
The importance of feedback in all directions with radical candour
The charities Higson supports with 20% of profits every year
The new phase for Higson: becoming a certified Carbon Literate organisation
Augusta on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/augustavivian/
Visit: https://consulthigson.com/
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? Email podcast@standingongiants.com
Sally runs Something Big, a B Corp, employee-owned agency based in Surrey that punches above its weight. Having won briefs against agency heavyweights like Ogilvy, Something Big specialises in employee communications with a particular focus on DEI initiatives. Clients include DHL, Telefonica, and IAG. In this conversation we discuss:
How she’s always been the ‘odd one out’ from her school days
Her experience of being the only female in a team of 24 men
Why she had to keep her relationship with her husband secret for over a decade
How she’s embraced being uncool in an agency world of cool people
The significance of turning 50 for her
Her work at Something Big and their specialism in employee comms, workplaces, and DEI
Her personal connection to DEI through her experience as a woman in a male-dominated workplace
How the Barbie movie signifies a huge amount of progress in gender equality, but also highlights how there’s more to do
How to run DEI programmes in a huge company that spans 220 countries
How to build a client relationship 25 years long
What it takes to be the world’s best workplace
The problem with agencies who are ‘in it for themselves’ rather than for the client
Winning a brief against Ogilvy
The piece of work she’s most proud of
The nuts and bolts of employee ownership
Building psychological safety in her business by example
Dismantling a blame culture
The potential commercial windfall from looking after people properly
How community building could improve our society through citizen engagement
Connect with Sally on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/somethingbig/
Visit: https://somethingbig.co.uk/
Connect with Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? Email podcast@standingongiants.com
Timpson has been a fixture on our high streets since 1865 in the UK. In recent years, they've received acclaim for their approach to hiring ex-offenders. Now, 10% of their workforce have been given an opportunity after a criminal conviction. A unique 'upside-down' company, Timpson eschews many traditional business practices. For example, they don't have a marketing and communications department. In this episode we meet Janet Leighton, Director of Happiness at Timpson. She discusses:
How she’s gained a reputation for being ‘bonkers’
How her natural optimism gives her resilience
How important it is to be yourself at work
How belief in people and being kind and considerate is a key to maintaining optimism in the face of challenges
What has kept her at Timpson for 20 years
How Timpson functions without a marketing and comms team
How to get an email reply from James Timpson, the CEO
Timpson’s unique ‘upside down management’ style
Her road to the role ‘Director of Happiness’
How happiness isn’t soft and fluffy
Their radical ‘in-house’ approach to everything
The day to day of a ‘Director of Happiness’, including what Janet was dealing with on the day of recording
How Janet deals with colleague issues from financial risk, to suicide
The importance of colleague wellbeing in business performance
How she feels the solution to financial wellbeing is not necessarily as simple as paying people more
What led Timpson to pay for colleagues family funerals
Timpson’s work with offenders and their approach to recruiting ex-offenders
Workers joining the company via ‘release on temporary licence’
How best to support ex-offenders entering the workforce
How they don’t use CVs and are only interested in ‘what you’re doing today, and what you want to do tomorrow’
The state of UK prisons
Some of the success stories from the prison recruitment programme
Her offer of help to any business who’s interested in starting a programme for people with prison lived experience
Janet on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janet-leighton-8109891a/
Visit: https://www.timpson.co.uk/
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? Email podcast@standingongiants.com
How is your mental health right now? According to MIND, 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health challenge this year. For this episode, we meet Paul Smith, MD of JAAQ at Work. JAAQ is a free online platform that provides access to experts in mental health, wellbeing, disability, diversity and many more topics. Founded by Danny Gray, the platform also features the stories of high profile celebrities, sportspeople, and music stars - opening up about their struggles with mental health. Paul discusses:
How he feels his was a ‘lazy’ child and that it was quite a surprise that he ended up being a radical thinker
His passion for football and his burgeoning career as a professional for Reading FC and Ipswich
Rob’s first career as a professional actor and how that compares to pursuing professional sport
How identity is tied up with our careers and the problems with that
His career in recruitment and what led him to found his own company with two of his colleagues
The story of JAAQ. Changing the world of mental health one question at a time
JAAQ’s founder Danny Gray and his struggles with body dysmorphia
The offering of JAAQ at Work, improving mental health for workplaces
His struggles with transitioning from founder to employee
The user experience of JAAQ
The importance of getting the right expertise and the JAAQ advisory board
The opportunity for businesses that prioritise wellbeing
The scale of the challenges facing HR leaders
The importance of intersectionality and the importance that the platform can help people ask questions they wouldn’t ask in the workplace for fear of embarrassment
How he feels that no one business has really smashed it out the park on mental health yet
The JAAQ video that’s made the biggest impact on his life
Paul on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/psmith0/
Visit JAAQ.org
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? podcast@standingongiants.com
Is the world waking up to refillable? From local refill stores, to refill stations in supermarkets, the movement is gathering momentum. Ahead of the curve on this was Phill Kalli of FillRefill, a company committed to making cleaning products for home, hair and body that are good for you and the planet. As the name suggests, all of FillRefill’s products are refillable, making them a great example of a circular economy business.
He discusses:
His Dad, a maverick chemist and manufacturer who took on ‘big soapers’
How he came to reinvent the family business as a consumer facing brand
How a lot of the solutions to our waste problems existed 100 years ago
His first career in the music business, managing an up and coming band ‘Vincent Vincent and the Villains’
The lessons he’s taken from the music industry into his current work
Transforming an established business into a brand fit for the modern age
Tough decisions he’s made, including stopping supplying Chlorine Bleach, their biggest selling product
How he avoids feeling insecure about not understanding the chemistry of his business
The difference between a FillRefill product and the mass market products in the supermarket - from factory to end consumer
His refreshing take on ‘big soap’
The decision to make their formulations public and give people the opportunity to buy raw materials and make their own products
The latest product he’s really excited about
How he feels the Government could do more to support the transition away from single use and support small businesses that are accelerating that
Visit: www.fillrefill.co
Phill on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillipkalli/
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? podcast@standingongiants.com
We order over 6 billion takeaways a year in the UK. Many of those are ordered on Deliveroo. Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, and operating in 10 countries. Our guest, Elena Devis, is former Head of Vegan Category at Deliveroo, now a consultant in the plant based space. In this conversation she discusses:
Her adventurous spirit from a young age, including travelling overseas by herself at 13
Her first exposure to the word ‘vegan’ and the steep learning curve from her meat and fish heavy diet in Valencia, Spain
The changes in her health she saw upon going vegan
How she feels there’s ‘less ego’ in her decisions now as she’s got older
Her pragmatic approach to lifestyle change as opposed to an absolutist approach
Her time at Deliveroo over 5 years of huge growth and evolution
The importance of great leaders
How she created her own role as Head of Vegan Category at Deliveroo
Her approach to working with partners to adopt new ideas and new dishes
How to fight for the role and projects you want in a large business with the right data, stakeholders, and proposition
How ‘being human’ is the most important thing about being a manager
How PMS and the menstrual cycle affects women at work and how men can best support their colleagues
How her manager’s approach to her PMS was life changing and the importance of menstrual leave
Her passion for meditation
Elena on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenadevisgimenez/
Visit: https://www.plant-futures.com/
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? podcast@standingongiants.com
Designing campaigns for Patagonia, Selfridges, BMW, and Penguin Books, Forster Communications is an award-winning communications agency. Our guest today is Peter Gilheany, Board Director at Forster. An employee-owned B Corp, Forster are a great example of how to live your values. They’ve turned down lucrative briefs from companies that refuse to declare a climate emergency, and have even set sustainability goals for their existing clients in order to continue working together. He discusses:
His working class Irish background and his parents ‘relaxed’ attitude to their 5 children
How he and his siblings have all forged their own paths
The difference between being a ‘strategic’ or ‘tactical careerist
How there is a huge need to challenge what is seen as ‘received wisdom’
The narrow view of what a ‘good career’ is
The story of Forster Communications and the founder Jilly Forster, former Head of Communications for the Body Shop
Employee Ownership and how it works at Forster
The pieces of work that best embody Forster Communications
How to walk the talk on tackling the climate emergency for any business
The stringent targets they set for themselves, their community, and their clients
What happened when they told their clients to publicly declare a climate emergency and set net zero targets
A leap into the unknown around a social housing project that led to incredible results
His surprising response to being labelled a ‘lifestyle business’
Who knows how to communicate about climate change better? Extinction Rebellion or the average PR agency?
His take on Greenwashing
How to turn down briefs that don’t align with your values
The campaign he’s ashamed of and wouldn’t take today
The pervasive hangover within business that you can either be financially successful, or morally good
The evolution in the charity sector over their corporate social responsibility
The future of the charity sector, financially unstable, but ideologically free to campaign and speak truth to power
Peter on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pgilheany/
Visit: https://forster.co.uk/
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? podcast@standingongiants.com
*Remember to follow A Little Bit Radical to help us land more awesome guests!*
Matchable volunteering is revolutionising the way companies volunteer. Far from the days of painting fences and picking up litter, Matchable finds you a perfect volunteering opportunity for your interests, skillset, and time available. Boasting clients like Primark, Lululemon and Dentsu, Matchable has created over £2m+ of impact value through volunteer partnerships. Today we're speaking to Foong, the founder, who shares her journey so far including:
Her traditional asian upbringing and her 'tiger mum'
Being sent to a French school in London. The only Asian kid, and the only non-French speaking kid
Her mum's unique approach to pocket money
The discipline her childhood gave her and how that's been useful in her career
How she 'lived someone else's idea of success' with a career in a Big 4 accountancy firm
The ultimate rebellion against her parents to become a startup founder
The genesis of Matchable and the mission to revolutionise company volunteering
How she's motivated by helping people find their purpose through volunteering
How she set about becoming a founder and what a founder looks like today
Her fear of public speaking
The challenges involved in being a founder and how you're expected to do EVERYTHING
Her approach to hiring and empowering people to own their area of the business
The experience of volunteering through Matchable
Reducing the volunteer matching journey from 3 months, to 3 minutes
The focus on UX
The range of organisation available on the platform - from traditional charities to more innovative impact startups
Providing more flexibility to employees around their volunteering - opportunities from 30 minutes of contribution and encompassing a range of skills
When the CEO of Dentsu volunteered to write a blog for one of their impact organisations
The benefits for businesses of running a volunteering programme from ESG KPIs, to employee retention, to learning and development
The hidden load of emotional labour that can land on leaders
Foong on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wai-foong-ng/
Visit: wearematchable.com
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? Email podcast@standingongiants.com
How did you sleep last night? Would you like to sleep better? Chances are you answered that with a resounding yes! Kaveh Memari is the Founder of sofi.health, a startup combining ancient plant medicine with cutting edge A.I. to improve your sleep and state of calm. Through a tailor-made spray, Sofi responds to your ongoing needs and feedback, using machine-learning to adjust dosage and blend as you go. Kaveh discusses:
His experience in 10 different schools in 4 different countries before the age of 9
The importance of being able to make friends quickly
The ‘pandemics pre-pandemic’ of poor sleep and stress
How he hopes he’ll ‘never become an adult’ and his approach to ‘play not work’
His team at Sofi - where everyone is a ‘one off’
How the Sofi product was developed with a group of customers ’Pioneers’
The Sofi product - using ancient plant medicine, combined with cutting edge machine learning and data, to tackle poor sleep and stress
How to personalise products at scale
The initial pilot with Valerian in 2022 and how they mapped 300 unique responses
The staggering results from their first trial
The potential impact if we could stop prescribing the wrong medication on a global scale
The science and safeguards in place to avoid dependency and addiction on Sofi products
The Sofi moonshot
How he stays resolute in the face of adversity and being told his idea will never work
His answer to the moral question of collecting huge amounts of health data
The power of mixing disciplines: from biochemistry to medical herbalism
Find out more at sofi.heatlh
Follow Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? podcast@standingongiants.com
Blair Glencorse is the Founder and Executive Director of Accountability Lab, a global NGO focussing on empowering citizens to make changes they know are necessary in their communities. A global expert in citizen engagement and anti-corruption, Blair has a unique approach to improving governance and accountability across the world. Whether it's 'naming and faming' honest and trustworthy government officials through X Factor style 'Integrity Icon', or publishing the annual strategy in a rap song. He discusses:
'Positive deviance' - what it is and why it's been important to him since childhood
The problem with the way we set up incentives in our society
The 'Integrity Icon' project and how it made honest government officials famous - starting in Nepal
His experience at the World Bank and how the idea for Accountability Lab came from his work with people in Nepal
How most frontline issues, be it lack of education or clean water, stem from a lack of accountability in leadership
The mission of Accountability Lab today and his role
Why they chose to publish their strategy in hip-hop form (listen to a clip!) and the problem with most corporate strategy documents
Their engagement with musicians, artists and technologists to amplify their ideas through culture
How accountability will be good for business in the future
His approach to 'radical transparency'
The balance between collaboration and competition across multiple sectors, especially when it comes to anti-corruption and climate issues
The emergence of 'Chief Integrity Officers' and the importance of balancing ethics with compliance to avoid corporate scandals
His advice for a new Chief Integrity Officer and how to embed ethics throughout a culture
The organisations whose example we should try and follow
A success story from 'Integrity Icon', increasing female representation in regional government in Pakistan
His approach to leadership as a collective effort within a flat structure
Defining organisational values and how to embed values-led decision making
Blair on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairglencorse/
Accountability Lab: https://accountabilitylab.org/
Accountability Lab's annual strategy hip-hop track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnjXPevXlu4
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? Email podcast@standingongiants.com
Many of us are conscious of making better choices in life, but what about better choices in death? Our guest today is Sarah Jones, founder of Full Circle Funerals. As well as offering a wide range of funeral options to suit each individual, Sarah commissioned the first piece of independent research into the environmental impact of the funeral industry. She discusses:
The impact of moving around a lot as a child, never spending longer than 2 years at any school
The influence of her Dad on her radical nature
Her path to funeral directing through vascular surgery and social care
The importance of looking after both the person that has died and their family when it comes to funeral care
The therapeutic potential of a funeral
Her rejection of a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to funeral care
How she crowdsourced funding from the industry to commission the first independent research into the environmental impact of our funerals
The most and least eco-friendly funerals you can have
The lack of regulation in the funeral industry
How to make cremation (which accounts for more than 70% of body disposal in the UK) more sustainable
Her thoughts on whether we are 'good at dying' in the UK
Her vision of 'death literacy' and how we could talk about death, dying and bereavement more openly
How to understand grief better and show up for people experiencing it
Sarah on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-jones-fullcirclefunerals/
fullcirclefunerals.co.uk
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? podcast@standingongiants.com
You've probably heard of Patagonia. Their products adorn outdoor enthusiasts and conscious clothes buyers across the world. Often held up as THE responsible business, Patagonia champion progressive causes and activism across the world. Most radically, in September 2022, Patagonia's founder Yvon Chouinard, announced that he was transferring ownership of the company into a trust which would use profits to tackle the climate crisis. Alex Beasley, General Manager UK, Ireland and Nordics, joins us for this conversation. He discusses:
How 'saying no' to his father was a big moment in his early life
The huge value of going to university beyond the subject you study
How he still considers himself 'an engineer' after studying Civil Engineering, despite not working in that industry
How Patagonia unlocked his 'little bit radical' nature
Why he doesn't like job titles
The importance of collaboration, listening, and amplifying each other's strengths to solve big challenges
The history of Patagonia, its mission: 'In business to save our home planet'
The 'For profit, not-for-profit model'
The 1% for the Planet programme and the details of how Patagonia fund hundreds of small impact projects every year
The story of how Patagonia's energy in the UK came to be produced entirely on the roof of Streatham Tube Station in London
How Patagonia encourages Autonomy on both an individual and business level
How the culture of Patagonia is implemented across the globe
How Patagonia can be put on a pedestal, and how they want to 'knock the pedestal away'
The importance of curiosity to be successful
Patagonia's founder Yvon Chouinard, his manifesto for work culture 'Let My People Go Surfing', and his decision to give away his business for the benefit of the planet
The moment Yvon announced this decision to the company, and where Alex was...
Patagonia's vision of a circular economy and the decisions they make to champion that
The huge campaign Patagonia supported to protect the River Vjosa from 260 dams and keep it as the last remaining free flowing river in Europe
How he feels our economic paradigm needs to change - you can't have infinite growth on a finite planet
His criticism of the word 'consumer' and 'consumerism'
Alex on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-beasley-60bb2723/
Visit: patagonia.com
Rob on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? Email podcast@standingongiants.com
One + All make children's school uniforms, brilliant quality ones too. When you dig beneath the surface at One + All though, you'll find a seemingly never ending list of 'little bit radical' changes and initiatives. 100% employee owned, certified B Corp, pay differential limits, certified carbon neutral...the list goes on and on. It wasn't always like this though, the man that sent One + All on its journey to being a more radical business is Donald Moore. In this conversation he discusses:
How he's proud of 'not being very bright' as it has led him to keep things simple in business
His distaste for traditional economics and business schools
How he's always viewed getting fired as inevitable
The moment in the wake of the 2008 financial crash triggered a complete shift in company strategy towards a people-centred approach
How the shift increased profits five fold as well as customer and colleague satisfaction
Employee ownership and how it works
How to prevent your business from ever being sold against your wishes
His campaigns against 'fat cats' and executive pay
How they approach 'reward' at One + All, giving proportionally more benefits to the lowest paid
How supporting their team with financial wellbeing set them up to cope with the cost of living crisis
His campaigning on poverty and how misunderstood the issue is, including by B Corp companies
The reality of poverty in the UK today, from children pretending to eat at school, to the surprise items that are the most shoplifted
How all employers should pay the real living wage, but also take an active interest in what their lowest paid are dealing with on a daily basis
How he hates the term 'HR'
Donald on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-moore-26235521/
One + All: https://oneandall.co.uk/
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? podcast@standingongiants.com
We love snacks! Especially in the UK, where 97% of us snack at least once a day. Over half of us snack 5 times a day! On a mission to transform the way we snack in public spaces and workplaces, Healthy Nibbles was founded by Sara Roberts, our guest today. A fiercely impressive entrepreneur and leader, she discusses:
How her early life was full of radical moments, including moving to New Zealand as a child and a tragic bullying incident which disrupted her school years
How she dealt with frustration and resentment in her early years
How she went slightly off the rails and stopped clubbing by the time most people were starting…
Learning to have empathy for her bully, and leading with empathy as an adult
Building a truly diverse team around values
Her husband of 30 years and business partner of 20
How the idea for Healthy Nibbles came to her in a hospital ward whilst her father was receiving cancer treatment
The unique customer experience of buying and eating a healthy snack at a Healthy Nibbles site
The exciting features of a Healthy Nibbles machine
The holistic approach to eating well at work and the need for more education
The ‘Wellbeing Windfall’ for employers that prioritise their team sleeping well and eating well
How to save £2,000 per annum per employee through healthy snacking
How to achieve ‘High Performance’ with ‘High Safety’
Health and wellbeing as a strategic imperative
Her tips for moving forward with a programme of well-being and avoiding a ‘tick box’ exercise
Sara on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraeroberts/
Visit: https://www.healthynibbles.co.uk/
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? Email podcast@standingongiants.com
One of the biggest emitters in our world is the internet. In this episode we speak to Richard Kenny, MD of Interact. Interact are a real David in a world of Goliaths, developing some of the most innovative approaches to reducing the energy consumption of the world's data centres. They recently beat Microsoft to the award for Energy Impact at the Data Centre Design awards. Rich is down to earth and full of great stories in this conversation. We discuss:
Buying, rebuilding, and selling his first computer aged 9
Becoming one of the first professional MMA fighters in the UK and how his experience influenced his later career
The importance of 'controlling the controllable'
His studies and early career in international development and poverty alleviation
Techbuyer's ethos around refurbishment and the circular economy
Their breakthrough in disproving Moore's law - that computer chips do not double in performance and efficiency every two years
The data centre industry's blind spot for their own hardware and the efficiencies that can be created by optimising and reconfiguring
How the streaming of music hit 'Despacito' used the same energy as 4 African nations
Whether you should consume data on 4g, 3g, WiFi, and how many photos you should be taking
His optimism for the future driven by innovative technology
His love of his home county of Yorkshire and the burgeoning tech sector that's growing there
His wish for political change through getting more diverse people into power
How the most important jobs are not remunerated as such in his view
Follow Rich on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-kenny-6b46a250/
www.techbuyer.com
Rob on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? podcast@standingongiants.com
In the mid-80s, Guy Singh-Watson left his cushty job as a management consultant to return to his roots (quite literally) as a he ploughed a few acres of his parents' farm and started growing organic vegetables. Over the 30 years since, Riverford Organic Farms has grown to become the most recognisable name in organic produce in the UK, turning over £100m + per year. The list of 'little bit radical' aspects to Guy and Riverford is extensive, from pioneering 'direct-to-consumer' veg boxes in the 90s, to becoming an employee owned business, to being a proud B Corp. A famously self-assured and opinionated figure, Guy doesn't hold back in this interview where he covers:
How his childhood on a farm encouraged him to think creatively, practically, and entrepreneurially
His parents' radical ideas on farming and the world which influenced him
His very unusual 8th birthday present
How he continues to become more radical as he gets older and is determined to challenge what he sees as terrible governance
His views on Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and the Conservative government
From milking cows, to opening the New York office of a Management Consultancy within a year of graduating
The early days of Riverford
His hideous experience selling to supermarkets and
The 'freaks from the fringes' who inspired him to switch to a direct-to-consumer model
The community-led marketing approach which grew the business in the early days
His dislike of the word 'professional' and how he reveres 'competence'
How capitalism needs to be regulated and his admiration for the B Corp movement
How the 'customer is not always right'
Riverford's environmental policies and his frustration with over-focus on plastics
The importance of fully understanding how your product fits into your customers' lives
Employee ownership and his motivations for handing over ownership of Riverford to its employees
Whether every business could be employee-owned
His desire for a political shift to re-distribute wealth to those who need it most
Our need to reclaim the sense patriotism and collectivism that founded the NHS and the welfare state
Keep up with Guy's latest blogs on 'Wicked Leaks' https://wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk/author/guy-singh-watson/
Visit the Riverford website: https://organic.riverford.co.uk/
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Standing on Giants: standingongiants.com
Want to appear? Email: podcast@standingongiants.com
Thank you so much to everyone who has listened to 'A Little Bit Radical' so far, we're frankly overwhelmed with how well it's going! We have more of the good stuff in season 2 with more big names in business who do things differently. Including:
Guy Singh-Watson - Riverford
Alex Beasley- Patagonia
Katie Wilson - Octopus EVs
Wai Foong Ng - Matchable
Donald More - One + All
Sara Roberts - Healthy Nibbles
Rich Kenny - Techbuyer and Interact
And many many more!
How do you build a business with kindness at its heart? How do you give your employees a voice in your decision making? How do you do great work and create a great place to work at the same time? Jenny Kitchen is co-founder and CEO of Yoyo Design. Boasting an impressive list of clients, Yoyo regularly produce groundbreaking creative work. What's more, they are a B Corp and in the top 5% of B Corps globally for 'Workers' - meaning they are one of the world's leading employers. In this conversation we discuss:
Jenny's upbringing in rural France and how it shaped her
Founding Yoyo at just 24
Her membership of Extinction Rebellion and how it has shaped her approach to business and leadership
Yoyo the company and her work
Her favourite project, partnering with Spotify and University of Southampton
The power of not sticking to a specific sector
How she turned down a company that didn't align with Yoyo's values and the fallout
How she embeds democratic principles into the operations of Yoyo
Her methods to ensure she hears the truth from her team in feedback sessions and 'closes the loop'
Her burning desire to be kind without people pleasing
How treating your people well drives business results
The need to break the toxic idea that successful business requires suffering
How to take your first steps in developing a more progressive work culture
Her little bit radical idea to introduce universal wage caps and the cap she's imposed at Yoyo
Jenny on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-kitchen/
Yoyo Design: https://yoyodesign.com/
Rob on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Standing on Giants: https://www.standingongiants.com/
Want to appear? Email podcast@standingongiants.com
We all know The Body Shop's fantastic products, but did you know about their long history of activism? Campaigning for change across issues as diverse as animal testing, climate justice, domestic violence, and even human rights abuses in the Niger Delta, The Body Shop doesn't shy away from standing up for what's right. Alice Mazzola is Global Head of Activism for The Body Shop. In this interview, she discusses:
How her parents encouraged discussion around political and social issues
Her educational background in Middle Eastern studies and Arabic
Rethinking activism at The Body Shop - recognising the different 'styles' of change-maker
How campaigns require a broad range of skills and strengths
Her feeling of becoming less radical with age but how her young team keep her connected to radical ideas
The Youth Collective - a 12 person board of under 30s acting as an advisory panel to the company
The role of a Head of Activism
A guiding principle of 'talk about what's not being talked about right now'
The Body Shop's playbook for activism
'Be Seen, Be Heard', their latest campaign focussed on getting young people more engaged in politics
How the campaign has lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in Malaysia
The value in not taking the easy road
How The Body Shop engages customers in their activism work through their stores and colleagues
Should every company have an activism department?
Her advice to businesses starting on their journey to being a force for good
How she wants to see the return of kind debate across society
Why she's never been on Twitter
Why we should all join a debating club
Alice on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicecrabtree/
Visit: https://www.thebodyshop.com/
Rob on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-warren/
Want to appear? Email podcast@standingongiants.com