The Boardroom with Richard Farleigh

What would you do if you walked into a meeting expecting to be fired… and walked out as Managing Director? In this episode of The Boardroom, Richard Farleigh sits down with Kevin Gaskell, the man who turned around Porsche after the company lost 90% of its sales and hit rock bottom in customer satisfaction. From cutting half the workforce to rebuilding culture, reinventing strategy, and personally calling journalists every day for 3 years — this is a masterclass in leadership, resilience, and bold decision-making. This is one of the most powerful business turnaround stories you’ll ever hear. Richard also writes a free weekly newsletter about business, investing and entrepreneurship. You can read it here: https://richardfarleigh.substack.com. 📲 Follow Richard Farleigh: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/richardfarleigh/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-farleigh-7a0a1616/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@richardfarleighhq 🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship, investing, strategy, and the real side of business. CHAPTERS 00:00 – Introduction 00:30 – Becoming Porsche CEO at 32 (by accident) 02:30 – The turnaround plan: simple but powerful 03:00 – Cutting 50% of staff (and the emotional cost) 04:30 – Rebuilding culture and leadership mindset 06:00 – Winning back dealers and the press 08:30 – The genius behind the Porsche 968 Club Sport 10:40 – From worst to #1 in customer satisfaction 12:00 – Culture vs strategy: what really matters 14:00 – Handling resistance and removing leadership 16:00 – Moving fast and making bold decisions 18:30 – BMW: growing a successful business by 80% 21:00 – The power of listening to employees 23:00 – Why small ideas create big cultural change 25:00 – Leadership style: humility vs authority 27:00 – Startup lessons and financial blind spots 29:00 – The danger of unrealistic forecasts 31:00 – Money vs passion: what really drives success 32:30 – Extreme challenges: rowing oceans & climbing poles 34:00 – Business lessons from endurance adventures 37:30 – Why Kevin loves tough challenges Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when the traditional education system fails a child? In this episode of The Boardroom, Richard Farleigh sits down with Stephen Simpson, founder of Forest Schooling UK — a radically different approach to education designed for children who’ve been excluded, misunderstood, or left behind. Instead of rigid classrooms and strict curriculums, Stephen’s schools focus on trust, emotional regulation, and child-led learning — all set in nature. From adopting a child with behavioural challenges to building a full-time school backed by the Department for Education, Stephen’s journey is as powerful as the results he’s seeing. This is more than education... it’s transformation. Richard also writes a free weekly newsletter about business, investing and entrepreneurship. You can read it here: https://richardfarleigh.substack.com. 📲 Follow Richard Farleigh: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/richardfarleigh/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-farleigh-7a0a1616/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@richardfarleighhq 🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship, investing, strategy, and the real side of business. CHAPTERS 00:00 – Introduction 00:20 – Meet Stephen Simpson & Forest Schooling UK 01:30 – What Is a Forest School? 03:00 – The Children Traditional Schools Can’t Help 03:45 – A Typical Day: Trust Before Teaching 05:20 – Why Their “3 Rs” Are Different 05:45 – The Personal Story That Started It All 08:20 – Turning a Small Club Into a School 10:10 – Opening a Full-Time Forest School 11:10 – Ofsted, Paperwork & Legitimacy 12:00 – Non-Profit Model & Business Reality 13:00 – The Hidden Challenge of Growth 14:20 – Funding, Land & Building the School 15:25 – Measuring Success Without Exams 16:20 – Why GCSEs Aren’t the Priority 17:30 – The Problem With Memorisation in Schools 18:30 – Why Imagination Matters More Than Ever 19:00 – Kids Who Don’t Know How to Play 20:00 – Confidence, Personality & Social Skills 21:20 – Trauma, Care System & Childhood Impact 24:15 – The Power of One Teacher 26:00 – Why This Work Matters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of The Boardroom, Richard Farleigh sits down with financial educator and entrepreneur Sammie Elled-King, founder of Up The Gains. Sammie shares his powerful journey from spiralling credit card debt and impulsive spending to building a fast-growing financial literacy brand and fintech app designed to help people track spending, save money and earn cashback. The conversation explores UK cost-of-living pressures, wealth inequality, housing affordability, investing psychology and the rise of social media consumption culture. Richard also reveals insights from his career in hedge funds, trading psychology and why optimism can be dangerous in investing. If you want to improve your money habits, understand modern wealth challenges, or learn what it takes to build a fintech startup, this episode is packed with practical insights and real-life lessons. Richard also writes a free weekly newsletter about business, investing and entrepreneurship. You can read it here: https://richardfarleigh.substack.com. 📲 Follow Richard Farleigh: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/richardfarleigh/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-farleigh-7a0a1616/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@richardfarleighhq 🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship, investing, strategy, and the real side of business. Chapters: 00:00 – Debt, Money Obsession & The Wake-Up Moment 01:00 – Chess, Discipline & Mindset 02:30 – Spending Beyond Means & Escaping Debt Fast 05:10 – Turning Financial Mistakes into a Business Idea 06:20 – Building “Up The Gains” & Teaching Financial Literacy 07:45 – The #1 Money Mistake People Make 09:10 – Impulse Spending & Smart Buying Hacks 10:30 – Cashback Strategy & How the Gains App Works 13:15 – Cost of Living Crisis & Helping Consumers Save 14:10 – Housing Affordability & Wealth Inequality Debate 19:50 – Investing vs Owning Property 20:30 – Hedge Funds, Markets & Trading Psychology 25:40 – Personal Finance Advice Everyone Needs 26:40 – Social Media, Status & Conspicuous Consumption 27:30 – Final Lessons & Future of Gains Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does stand-up comedy teach us about business, risk, and success? In this episode of The Boardroom, I sit down with comedian Andrew Maxwell to explore the surprising overlap between comedy, entrepreneurship, and performance psychology. With 35 years in stand-up, Andrew reveals how comedians develop “gold” material, read audiences instantly, and climb the comedy circuit from unpaid five-minute sets to headlining shows. The conversation also dives into how the internet, podcasts, YouTube, and TikTok have completely transformed the comedy industry. If you’re an entrepreneur, creator, or performer, this episode reveals the mindset behind success on stage and in business. 🎧 Watch the full Boardroom podcast episodes here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfmbTQbt_fhnjH2kzrWiKf5uwQV2MPkY- 📲 Follow Richard Farleigh: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/richardfarleigh/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-farleigh-7a0a1616/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@richardfarleighhq 🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship, investing, strategy, and the real side of business. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:40 Meeting Andrew Maxwell 01:25 Why comedians must stay intellectually curious 03:00 The “alchemy” of what makes someone funny 04:30 Nerves and performing on stage 05:10 What comedians call “gold” material 06:00 Reading the room before a performance 08:00 Climbing the comedy circuit 09:10 Andrew Maxwell’s early career 11:20 The truth about cancel culture in comedy 12:30 Social media algorithms and outrage 14:00 How technology changed the comedy industry 15:40 From comedy circuit to creator economy 17:00 The personal cost of pursuing comedy 19:10 The “sad clown” myth 20:40 Why execution beats ideas in business 22:30 What makes a great comedian 23:50 American vs British comedy styles 25:40 Where to see Andrew Maxwell live Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Entrepreneurship is often glamorised, but the reality is far tougher. In this episode of "The Boardroom", I sit down with portfolio entrepreneur and founder of No Bullshit (NOBS), Sabrina Shivanes-Denman, to break down what it really takes to succeed in business. We cut through startup myths, fake gurus, and hustle culture to explore the real drivers of long-term business success, from risk management and hard work to positioning, marketing fundamentals, and why there are no lazy successful entrepreneurs. We discuss why most entrepreneurs fail, the truth about first-mover advantage, why marketing can’t fix bad positioning, how email marketing still outperforms social media, and what actually builds sustainable businesses. This episode is essential listening for founders, business owners, investors, and anyone thinking about starting a business. 🎧 Watch the full Boardroom podcast episodes here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfmbTQbt_fhnjH2kzrWiKf5uwQV2MPkY- 📲 Follow Richard Farleigh: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/richardfarleigh/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-farleigh-7a0a1616/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@richardfarleighhq 🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship, investing, strategy, and the real side of business. Chapters 00:00 Entrepreneurship Has Been Romanticised 01:10 There Are No Lazy Successful Entrepreneurs 02:55 First Mover Advantage vs Second Mover Advantage 04:45 Business Lessons from Chess & Strategy 06:00 Why Marketing Can’t Fix Bad Positioning 07:30 How Marketing Has Changed Over Time 09:05 Why Email Marketing Beats Social Media 10:40 Building an Email List That Actually Converts 12:10 Event Marketing & Hidden Growth Opportunities 14:15 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs 15:30 The Dark Reality of Startup Life 17:55 Intuition vs Calculation in Business 18:45 Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made? 20:00 Risk, Failure & Learning the Hard Way 22:30 Portfolio Entrepreneurship Explained 24:15 Productivity, Systems & Saying No 25:00 The Biggest Lies in Entrepreneurship Culture 26:35 Final Thoughts & Lessons Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of The Boardroom, I sit down with Jinesh Vohra, co-founder and CEO of Sprive, the app helping homeowners pay off their mortgages faster, just by doing their everyday shopping. Jinesh shares the full story behind his recent Dragons’ Den appearance, including how he handled tough questioning from the Dragons' Steven Bartlett and Gary Neville and why trust and branding matter more than aggressive growth. We also explore: • Leaving Goldman Sachs to build a fintech startup • How Sprive reached 20,000 users before appearing on TV • Why the Dragons' missed key questions around defence and scalability • The real economics of customer acquisition in fintech • What it takes to raise capital in today’s tougher funding environment If you’re a founder, entrepreneur, or investor, or simply curious about what it really takes to build a financial services business, this conversation is for you. 00:00 – Introduction 01:25 – What Sprive does (simply explained) 03:30 – Breaking down the Dragons’ Den pitch 05:10 – Cost per customer & tough questioning 06:40 – Why some Dragons walked away 08:15 – Handling nerves on national TV 10:05 – The answer that didn’t make the edit 12:00 – Infinite startups vs UK founders 14:55 – Leaving Goldman Sachs to build Sprive 17:10 – Growing to 20,000 users pre-TV 19:30 – Can big fintechs copy the model? 21:50 – Burn rate, team size & scalability 22:55 – Fundraising advice for founders 24:00 – Why trust and brand matter most 28:00 – Final reflections on Dragons’ Den Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens after you get rejected on Dragons' Den? In this episode of The Boardroom, we sit down with Rob Law, the creator of Trunki, the iconic children’s ride-on suitcase now seen in airports around the world. Rob shares the real story behind his 2006 Dragons' Den rejection, including the infamous moment his prototype was ripped apart on TV, and how he went on to build one of the UK’s most recognisable children’s brands. Rob also opens up about living with cystic fibrosis, losing his twin sister, and how perspective, gratitude, and grit shaped his approach to business and life. If you’re a founder, entrepreneur, designer, or startup operator, this episode is packed with practical lessons you won’t hear in pitch decks. Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction 01:44 – Pitching Trunki with no retailers 02:40 – The infamous strap-ripping moment 03:36 – Why brand matters more than product 04:08 – Valuation mistakes early founders make 05:11 – Seeing Trunki explode worldwide 05:50 – Creating a brand-new product category 07:14 – Retail pricing & the “x5 rule” 08:09 – Manufacturing in China vs the UK 09:45 – Cashflow, stock, and scaling pain 11:12 – UK manufacturing & the Olympics effect 12:35 – Selling Trunki after COVID 13:32 – Legacy, exits & founder identity 13:34 – Starting Zeepy: lessons second time round 14:31 – Fixing children’s sleep with science 16:21 – Do you still need a business plan? 17:47 – Resilience & what all entrepreneurs share 19:40 – When luck nearly kills your business 20:26 – Pivoting through impossible challenges 20:32 – Living with cystic fibrosis 22:39 – Why setbacks become superpowers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to "The Boardroom" In this episode we sit down with Akash Mehta, British entrepreneur, CEO & Co-Founder of Fable & Mane, and founder of the Fable Fund. Akash shares his unconventional journey from engineering at Imperial College to becoming the youngest-ever manager at Estée Lauder, before launching an hair wellness brand that went viral at Sephora. We explore: How a viral singing career led to mastery in digital marketing Pitching Sephora via LinkedIn with zero sales Why Akash committed to deploying $100M into wildlife conservation by 2030 Chapters 00:00 Introduction01:20 Chess, Strategy & Business Principles02:25 Failing Engineering at Imperial & Life Lessons03:50 Busking, Singing & Going Viral on Social Media05:20 Learning Digital Marketing Before It Was Cool06:30 Becoming Estée Lauder’s Youngest Manager at 2108:10 Data, Creativity & Measuring Marketing ROI09:45 Why Planning Beats Luck in Business11:15 Leaving Dior & The Birth of Fable & Mane12:45 Ayurveda vs Science — Building Trust in Beauty13:35 Pitching Sephora on LinkedIn (No Sales, No Funding)16:10 Going Viral at Sephora During COVID17:10 Global Expansion & Retail Strategy18:45 Launching the Fable Fund & Conservation Mission20:30 How to Measure Real Impact in Business22:10 Leadership, Jobs & Changing Lives23:10 Final Chess Checkmate & Closing Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Business is often framed as numbers, decks and strategy… But the real game? People. In The Boardroom, I sit down with founders and entrepreneurs for unscripted conversations about: • owning your narrative • building something that actually fulfils you • what really happens behind the success stories No formal interviews. No polished PR answers. Just real conversations that reveal what’s usually left unsaid. If you’re building a business, a career, or your own way of thinking, this is for you. 🎙 The Boardroom - Launching 09.02.26 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices