Outward Bound and Me

Dylan Carroll sits down with trailblazing entrepreneur and football club chairman Spencer Gore, in the latest inspiring episode of Outward Bound and Me. Long before founding the European and American Medical Journals, earning a Queen’s Award for running one of the UK's fastest-growing businesses, and becoming owner and chairman of his hometown club, Chelmsford City Football Club, Spencer Gore attended a life-changing three-week Outward Bound course in 1994, to discover firsthand that nothing great is ever achieved in your comfort zone. In this advice-fuelled and reflective conversation, Gore breaks down the relentless mindset that drove him to become a multi-award-winning business leader. He reflects on his dyslexia as a superpower, setting ‘big, hairy, audacious goals’, and believing that to achieve extraordinary success, you must be prepared to do what 99% of people won't. Gore explains how the wilderness taught him humility, teamwork, and the crucial habit of celebrating mistakes rather than fearing them. These foundational Outward Bound lessons directly shaped his career and the culture of the successful teams he builds and leads. Will we see Chelmsford City lift the Premiership title before 2038? With Spencer encouraging others to take every opportunity by creating gold-medal-winning team environments, anything is possible.

Host Dylan Carroll sits down with music industry executive Jeremy Marsh for a captivating episode of Outward Bound and Me. Before launching a stellar 40-year career leading major record labels like RCA, Virgin, and Warner Music Group, where he produced superstars like Take That and Annie Lennox, guided stars like Madonna, Prince and REM, as well as giving a certain Simon Cowell his first break, Jeremy attended Outward Bound Aberdyfi as a 13 year old, in 1973.  Jeremy’s connection to Outward Bound was founded through his father, Ted ‘Direct Action’ Marsh, a Royal Marine veteran who helped establish Outward Bound Malaysia in 1954, before joining OBT UK as a Board member who oversaw the organisation’s property expansion. Jeremy reflects on being sent to the Welsh coast, experiencing the solo expedition in woodland, and learning to navigate team dynamics as an only child. He explains how the resilience, self-awareness, and emotional toolkit gained during his days in Aberdyfi provided a lifelong anchor throughout a fast-paced and influential career in the music industry. From steering renown artist’s careers, to co-founding his latest venture ‘Breaking Wave Group’, Jeremy reflects on how early Outward Bound experiences built a foundation of adaptability, which formed a soundtrack for an incredible lifetime journey of music and creativity.

In this episode of Outward Bound and Me, Dylan sits down with academic trailblazer Professor Phil Harris to explore his journey before and after his life-changing Outward Bound course. Phil reflects on his upbringing in Middlesex and Birkenhead, leaving school at 16 for jobs at Radio Luxembourg and a bustling flour mill on the docks, before his employer, the non-conformist Joseph Rank, sponsored him to attend his Outward Bound course at the Moray Sea School in 1970. Phil describes the conditions in Morayshire in November that year, learning to swim at Gordonstoun, and the adrenaline of helping man an auxiliary lifeboat to rescue a stranded fishing vessel, all of which took him out of his shell. He credits this intense experience as key to unlocking his leadership potential, which after Outward Bound drove him to organise a local trade union branch, serve as student union president at York University, and eventually transition from corporate industry to a highly distinguished international career in academia. Now a Professor Emeritus and leading authority on political marketing, lobbying, and Machiavellian marketing, Phil discusses how Outward Bound’s core values of resilience, self-reliance, and public service, shaped his lifelong passion for enabling others, and mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs.Considering Phil’s extensive career, it was a joy to hear how Outward Bound played a part in driving his career, his values, and the desire to encourage and develop others: “Outward Bound inspires others, and it enables. It's the enablement that I'm really passionate about. It's like you give people depth to do something else, and at different times you don't know that you need that depth. I think we're all looking for things that motivate us or allow us to put back, and I think the Outward Bound is one of those organisations, and it was set up on those sorts of values”.

Step back in time with guest host Nat Jackson, for a profoundly nostalgic and historic episode of Outward Bound and Me. 2026 celebrates a monumental milestone: 75 years since the first Outward Bound course exclusively for girls took place. To mark this special occasion, Nat sits down with Biddy Brown and Joan Clark, two extraordinary nonagenarian icons who were there in Eskdale in 1951, when history was made. Their pioneering month in the mountains paved the way, and altered the trajectory, for many other young woman who followed in their footsteps. At a time of rationing, where strict gender stereotypes were deep rooted, two intrepid teenagers were packing up home-knitted gloves and borrowed boots to face the rugged Lake District. Biddy recalls a sheltered farm life where she had never even seen a mountain, and Joan shares vivid memories of growing up during the London Blitz, watching doodlebugs from her playground. Together with Nat, they re-live the sheer magic of that four-week course, the legendary mountain breakfasts, the freezing nights (and frozen boots) in doorless bivvies, and the lifelong confidence, resilience, careers, families, fun and adventure that followed. The ladies of Eskdale share stories of scaling Napes Needle, carrying fragile logbooks through life, and staying in touch with fellow pioneers for decades. Joan reflected on the seminal course: “It's a competition against yourself at Outward Bound. It was up to you whether you improved or not. It's a good foundation for life”. This special episode is a beautiful reminder that the wilderness doesn't care about gender; it only asks you to discover who you are.

In this thought provoking episode of Outward Bound and Me, Dylan Carroll sits down with alumnus Matt Gupwell to explore the lasting impact of a three-week Outward Bound residential course in Aberdyfi back in 1989. Matt explains how, after 35 jobs (of which he was dismissed from 30 of them), a late diagnosis of neurodiversity led to a better understanding of self, and a career as a neurodiversity speaker, trainer and mentor with blue-chip companies and the NHS. Matt shares vivid memories of his time at Aberdyfi, where instructors recognised strengths in him that he couldn’t yet see in himself. Years later, after navigating anxiety and insecurity, Matt now understands how those early experiences outdoors laid the foundations for his future career in education, coaching, and neurodiversity advocacy: “I think it was the first time that I remember feeling safe. We use the term psychologically safe. I felt like I could go to my instructor on that course at any point and say, ‘I’m struggling. This isn't fair. I don't understand’, and I was never made to feel small or stupid. That was the first time I felt ‘I'm being treated like an adult here’”. Matt reflects on growing up in the Midlands, discovering climbing as a teenager, and how the outdoors became a vital source of regulation and belonging long before his later-life ADHD diagnosis. Together, Dylan and Matt discuss masking, mental health, identity, and why outdoor education can change and offer young people something traditional systems often cannot. This is a powerful episode about self-discovery, compassion, and the life-changing value of feeling truly seen.