DO Lectures podcast with Gav Thompson

Living your best life.  I want to talk to people who live amazing lives, in essence, living their best life. And importantly get them to talk about the hurdles that they have overcome to live their best life now - big and small, public or private, physical or mental, failures or small curve balls. I hope to inspire and encourage people through hearing stories from amazing people. We are particularly interested in helping people achieve better mental health through the inspiration and stories from our guests. In episode 5 I talk to Lou Featherstone. Lou is an “accidental” social media influencer who has found her niche a little later in life than some of her influencer peers. She helps women, particularly middle-aged women, to live their best life through a unique combination of honesty, self-expression, clothing…and self-love. Lou is a one-of-a-kind. She is full of energy and enthusiasm for life and love (both self and outer-directed). And she has one of the greatest wardrobes I have ever seen in my life (sorry, this is rather hard to demonstrate on a podcast). She continues to inspire and help thousands of women through her very special combination of wisdom, advice and an attitude to life that hinges a lot on not really giving a $hit.  We talk about her life story (some of it was rather tricky) and how she came to be driving a bus called Susie around the US encouraging menopausal women to get on board and discover the power of masturbation. Needless to say, the language and content of this episode does get a little fruity and listener discretion is advised. However, if you want to learn about a woman who is loudly and proudly Living Her Best Life, then you need look no further than the simply fabulous Lou Featherstone. You can see and hear more from Lou on her Insta @luinluland Please do leave us a review, a like and please DO subscribe. Thank you Gav www.thedolectures.com

Living your best life.  I want to talk to people who live amazing lives, in essence, living their best life. And importantly get them to talk about the hurdles that they have overcome to live their best life now - big and small, public or private, physical or mental, failures or small curve balls. Ihope to inspire and encourage people through hearing stories from amazing people. We are particularly interested in helping people achieve better mental health through the inspiration and stories from our guests. In episode 3 I talk to the founder of The Knackered Mothers Wine Club, novelist and TV wine guru, Helen McGinn. Helen is another poster child for Living Your Best Life. Her career, her writing, and her TV fame all found her - it is usually the other way round - and that was in spite of dealing with the most horrific personal tragedy early on in her professional life. Helen & I have a rather light-hearted and meandering chat about how she has managed to achieve all this. Please do enjoy and please do leave us a review, a like and DO subscribe. Warning - There are unnecessary references to both Rolf Harris and Take That, and I did consume more than my fair share of wine (founder member of the Knackered Podcasters Wine Club) during the podcast which does lead to me getting a little bit loose-tongued and sweary. https://thedolectures.com Thank you Gav

Living your best life.  I want to talk to people who live amazing lives, in essence, living their best life. And importantly get them to talk about the hurdles that they have overcome to live their best life now - big and small, public or private, physical or mental, failures or small curve balls. Ihope to inspire and encourage people through hearing stories from amazing people. We are particularly interested in helping people achieve better mental health through the inspiration and stories from our guests. In episode 2, I chat to Patrick Hutchinson, a real-life hero. A real-life hero against racism. Patrick's story is both simple and intense. He made a snap decision in June 2020 to rescue another human being at a Black Lives Matter protest, and that decision, enacted within less than 2 minutes led to a life being saved, and a hero being made. Patrick's snap decision (and a brilliant powerful photo of him doing it) resulted in him, within hours, becoming a global icon for the anti-racism movement, a GQ Man of the Year, an inspiration to Prince Harry and thousands of others. It is a crazy, and lovely, story. How to live your best life in less than 2 minutes. Please do enjoy and please do leave us a review, a like and DO subscribe. ⁠https://iampatrickhutchinson.com/⁠ https://thedolectures.com Thank you Gav

Living your best life. I want to talk to people who live amazing lives, in essence, living their best life. And importantly get them to talk about the hurdles that they have overcome to live their best life now - big and small, public or private, physical or mental, failures or small curve balls. Ihope to inspire and encourage people through hearing stories from amazing people. We are particularly interested in helping people achieve better mental health through the inspiration and stories from our guests. In episode 1 we talk to Radio 2 DJ legend, 'Between the Covers' TV host, author and all round National Treasure Sara Cox. Sara is an ambassador for Living Your Best Life. She seems to embody this spirit in everything she does, and manages to radiate it daily to 6.2 million listeners. Gav & Sara have a very honest conversation about how she manages to do this, about some times in her life when everything wasn't quite so rosy, and she has some solid advice for those of us on the journey. Sara's debut novel 'Thrown' has just been published https://amzn.eu/d/fEBQ53x Please do enjoy and please do leave us a review, a like and DO subscribe. https://thedolectures.com Thank you Gav

Gav gives an outline of the exciting episodes in store for Season 4 of The DO Lectures Podcast - "Living your best life" starting on Friday 26th May with a lovely chat with one of the poster girls of living your best life, Radio 2 legend, Sara Cox.

In this final episode of Season 3, Gav Thompson talks to Ben Edmonds, the founder of Blok Knives. Ben has an incredible and slightly bonkers story. Ben was a successful graphic designer who whilst experimenting with pipe smoking (not that kind of pipe), he stumbled across a YouTube video of a pipe smoker in Canada who was also a knife maker. This started a journey of discovery of Ben teaching himself to make kitchen knives, building his own brand, and in very short order became one of the most in demand artisan knife craftsman in the UK, leading to waiting lists of over 2 years for his beautiful handmade knives, with Michelin starred chefs also queuing for what is now considered one of the best knives in the business. We chat about the secret to his success, doing one thing well, and how The DO lectures changed his life. A humble, yet very focused and successful man doing something he loves and being absolutely bloody amazing at it. Please do have a listen, leave a review and subscribe. Thank you. See you soon for Season 4 "Living Your Best Life". Please check out Ben's weekly knife sale at 1pm every Friday at www.blok-knives.co.uk

In 2015, Joshua Coombes was walking home from his hairdressing salon in London when he stopped to talk to a homeless man and ended up giving him a haircut on the street that would change Joshua's life. Joshua has since gone on to take that very simple idea of giving a homeless person a little bit of free help and turned it into a movement #DoSomethingForNothing and has recently written a book about how this little act of selfless generosity can help change lives. Gav & Joshua have a (rather sweary) chat about the simplicity and power of this idea, the complex issue of homelessness and how we are just a few poor choices from ending up on the receiving end of one of his haircuts. This is a powerful story told by a passionate and charismatic maverick hairdresser and activist.  Please do have a listen, leave a review and subscribe. Thank you Please buy and read Joshua's book "Do Something for Nothing" and join the movement

Ling Ling Phung was a 1 year old in Vietnam when her parents chose to escape the regime and become refugees as one of the many Vietnamese Boat people who landed in Hong Kong after an unbelievably risky 3 day boat trip across the South China Sea. Gav & Ling Ling have a very honest conversation about her life as an immigrant in the US and the UK and talk about the (sadly extremely topical) issue of immigrants, refugees and immigration. And love. They talk a lot about love and how love can overcome probabilities. Ling Ling is currently practicing Zen & The Art of Social Innovation. She combines social innovation tools + mindfulness practices to help people and organisations become more effective innovators. She has recently launched an online course https://zen-the-art-of-social-innovation.teachable.com/ where we have a 20% discount code for listeners that will be good till the end of 2021: GAVISGREAT (she chose this code, not me…) Her Zen & The Art of Social Innovation newsletter is here  https://www.twolings.com/newsletter Please have a listen, leave a review and subscribe. Thank you.

Gav chats to Andy about his wide-ranging career that spans innovation, education, adventure, consulting, activism, sustainability, being a bin man and inventing a new sport. Andy is the founder and director of The TYF Group, an innovative and visionary social enterprise in St Davids, Pembrokeshire whose mission is to train revolutionaries by helping people fall so deeply in love with nature that it changes the way that they live. Andy is a connector, a story teller, an idea generator, a problem solver and a pioneer in helping Wales become the world's test lab for sustainability. Please have a listen and please do leave a review, rating and subscribe. Thank you. Learn more about TYF at www.tyf.com

Kris has a chat with Gav that reveals an inspirational & moving story about one young woman's unbelievable bravery in a fight against cancer and the low awareness of breast cancer amongst young people. Kris is a remarkable woman. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer at aged 23. This diagnosis came as a real shock to her, as she had no idea that women of her age could get breast cancer. What came as a bigger shock was the realisation that she had been diagnosed late and if she had known what to look for herself then this very aggressive cancer could have been caught earlier. So Kris started fighting the cancer and fighting the lack of knowledge that young people have about how to spot the early signs of breast cancer. She started a charity 'CoppaFeel' to educate and encourage men and women to know the signs of breast cancer and to check themselves regularly. "CoppaFeel' has grown into a huge national movement and has been extremely successful in its mission, undoubtedly saving thousands of lives. Kris has won a Pride of Britain award and a Woman of the Year award, though 12 years later, she is still fighting her own cancer. She had 57 brain tumours treated in 2018. Please have a listen and please do leave a review, rating and subscribe. Thank you. Learn more about Kris & CoppaFeel at https://coppafeel.org

The DO Lectures is an ideas sharing event started in 2007 and run out of an old cowshed in Cardigan Bay, Wales. In Season 3 of the DO podcasts, entitled 'Dot Dot Dot', Gav Thompson chats to old DO Lectures speakers about how their story has changed or grown and evolved since they gave their original DO Lecture. In the fifth episode of 'Dot Dot Dot' Gav talks to Anna Jones. Anna's life changed when she applied for, and won, a place at Jamie Oliver's prestigious Fifteen Restaurant & Training Academy. She went on to work very close with Jamie for 7 years, where she helped him with his cookbooks and his campaigns. Since then she has branched out on her own, and has 4 amazing award-winning cookery books to her name. She also has a food column in The Guardian. Her latest book, One - Pot, Pan, Planet makes a very strong case for why eating super-tasty veg based meals can not only help you make extremely delicious healthy meals, but also help save the planet. She is a fantastic guest with a very powerful message. Please have a listen and please do leave a review, rating and subscribe. Thank you. Learn more about Anna at www.annajones.co.uk

The DO Lectures is an ideas sharing event started in 2007 and run out of an old cowshed in Cardigan Bay, Wales. In Season 3 of the DO podcasts, entitled 'Dot Dot Dot', Gav Thompson chats to old DO Lectures speakers about how their story has changed or grown and evolved since they gave their original DO Lecture. In the fourth episode of 'Dot Dot Dot' Gav talks to Kasim Ali. Kasim used to be a pharmacist. And then one day he decided to take over a recently closed community butcher's shop and turn it into a Teahouse. And within a year, this teahouse had won the award for being the best cafe in the UK. Not long after, Kasim set up Waterloo Tea. They now have 5 teahouses in the UK and are wholesalers for some of the best tea in the world. Kasim chats to Gav about his philosophy, which is tea-centred and focuses on being tailored, individual and exceptional. He has an amazing story about running a business being humble, clear and local. Please have a listen and please do leave a review, rating and subscribe. Thank you. Learn more about Waterloo Tea at www.waterlootea.com

The DO Lectures is an ideas sharing event started in 2007 and run out of an old cowshed in Cardigan Bay, Wales. In Season 3 of the DO podcasts, entitled 'Dot Dot Dot', Gav Thompson chats to old DO Lectures speakers about how their story has changed or grown and evolved since they gave their original DO Lecture. In the third episode of 'Dot Dot Dot' Gav talks to Claire Elsdon. Claire was a stockbroker in London. And then one day she packed it all in, climbed on her motorbike and started riding from London to Cape Town. On her own.  Along the way she had many adventures, but also saw first hand some of the problems, and opportunities, of motorbikes in Africa. She ended up setting up her own social enterprise in Tanzania, Pikilily, which trains women how to safely ride and maintain motorbikes, thus opening up a whole range of possibilities for the women and their communities. Please have a listen and please do leave a review, rating and subscribe. Thank you. Learn more about Pikilily at www.pikilily.com

The DO Lectures is an ideas sharing event started in 2007 and run out of an old cowshed in Cardigan Bay, Wales. In Season 3 of the DO podcasts, entitled 'Dot Dot Dot', Gav Thompson chats to old DO Lectures speakers about how their story has changed or grown and evolved since they gave their original DO Lecture. In the second episode of 'Dot Dot Dot' Gav talks to CJ Bowry, the founder of the charity Sal's Shoes. CJ literally stumbled across the idea to find new feet to wear her son's old shoes that he had outgrown but not outworn. Sal's Shoes now collects outgrown children's shoes and matches them up with children around the world who may not have access to their own pair of shoes - and in most countries, having no shoes means you aren't allowed to go to school. To date they have found new feet for over 2.5 million pairs of shoes in 49 countries around the world. It is a really powerful story of how one mum has made a massive difference to the world. Please have a listen and please do leave a review, rating and subscribe. Thank you. Learn more about Sal's Shoes at www.salsshoes.com

The DO Lectures is an ideas sharing event started in 2007 and run out of an old cowshed in Cardigan Bay, Wales. In Season 3 of the DO podcasts, entitled 'Dot Dot Dot', Gav Thompson chats to old DO Lectures speakers about how their story has changed or grown and evolved since they gave their original DO Lecture. In this first episode of 'Dot Dot Dot' Gav talks to Tessa Clarke, the co-founder of the UK's largest sharing app OLIO. Tessa and her partner Saasha Celestial-One have taken it upon themselves to try and help eradicate food waste by promoting neighbourly sharing via their app OLIO. Food waste is a HUGE problem facing all of us and is having a very negative effect on the planet. For example. over 1/3 of all food produced globally goes to waste. An area larger than China is used to grow food every year that is never eaten. Over 25% of the world's fresh water supply is used to grown food that is never eaten. Tessa is on a mission to change all this and you can help. Please have a listen and please do leave a review, rating and subscribe. Thank you. Learn more about OLIO at https://olioex.com

The DO Lectures is an ideas sharing event run out of an old cowshed in Cardigan Bay, Wales. In this series of DO podcasts, Gav Thompson chats to people about how they have achieved their amazing levels of success, as well as uncovering some of the despites that they have had to overcome to get there. In Episode 13 of Being Amazing Despite...Gav chats to Chris Lovett. Chris is a minimalist. He had a busy life, full of stuff and stress. And then one day he started getting rid of his stuff and noticed his stress levels decreasing and his happiness levels increasing in proportion to his lack of clutter and possessions. These days he has pretty much got rid of all his stuff and lives a much happier nomadic life owning very few possessions. Given Gav is a fully signed up 'maximalist', they have an interesting debate on Gav's need to own and collect unnecessary possessions and why he fills his life with clutter.  Chris has a new book out on this fascinating subject "Discovery of Less". Please do leave a review, rating and subscribe. Thank you.

The DO Lectures is an ideas sharing event run out of an old cowshed in Cardigan Bay, Wales. In this series of DO podcasts, Gav Thompson chats to people about how they have achieved their amazing levels of success, as well as uncovering some of the despites that they have had to overcome to get there. In Episode 12 of Being Amazing Despite... Gav chats to Roz Savage. Roz is the only woman to have ever rowed single-handedly "around the world". On her own she has rowed 15,000 miles across the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian Oceans, earning herself 4 Guinness World Records in the process. She is now an accomplished speaker, writer and environmental campaigner and is an ambassador for the new SEEDS financial ecosystem. This story is about how Roz actually became to be one of the most accomplished ocean rowers in the world. She claims to have only ever been quite good at sport and she says she is by no means a natural rower. Roz's story is one of amazing accomplishment, courage and resilience and how she found happiness and meaning being alone on the oceans. As the world comes out of lockdown, Roz has an interesting perspective on being alone and on solitude. Please do leave a review, rating and subscribe. Thank you. www.rozsavage.com www.joinseeds.com

The DO Lectures is an ideas sharing event run out of an old cowshed in Cardigan Bay, Wales. In this series of DO podcasts, Gav Thompson chats to people about how they have achieved their amazing levels of success, as well as uncovering some of the despites that they have had to overcome to get there. Dan Brown is the founder of The Positive Transformation Initiative. He has set himself the (not insignificant) challenge of positively influencing 1 billion peoples' lives. Dan believes that DOING GOOD IS GOOD BUSINESS. However Dan's life started off very differently. Dan and Gav have a searingly honest chat about Dan's upbringing and early life. Dan was surrounded by drugs, alcohol and gangsters. His life nearly came off the rails on a number of occasions. Gritty, brave and truly inspirational. (Warning - Men cried during the making of this podcast) Please have a listen, enjoy, subscribe and review. Thank you

The DO Lectures is an ideas sharing event run out of an old cowshed in Cardigan Bay, Wales. In this series of DO podcasts, Gav Thompson chats to people about how they have achieved their amazing levels of success, as well as uncovering some of the despites that they have had to overcome to get there.  In this episode, Gav chats to Tom McGillycuddy & Matt Latham, the founders of tickr. tickr is an impact investing app that allows novice investors to easily invest in businesses that are going to change the world for good, particularly those which will have a positive impact on social and environmental change. Gav talks to Tom and Matt about how they were both outsiders who broke into the world of investing and how they quickly realised that together they believed there was a better way to both help anyone become an investor and using those investments to make the world a better place. Despite both of them only being in their twenties, they quit their jobs in the established investment world and set about building a new way to invest. Please do have a listen, leave a review, rating and subscribe. Thank you. More info at www.tickr.co.uk

The DO Lectures is an ideas sharing event run out of an old cowshed in Cardigan Bay, Wales. In this series of DO podcasts, Gav Thompson chats to people about how they have achieved their amazing levels of success, as well as uncovering some of the despites that they have had to overcome to get there. In this episode, Gav chats to Penny Mallory, the first woman to ever compete in the World Rally Championship, despite claiming she was only a mediocre driver. As a child she saw alcoholism and mental illness destroy her family. Fleeing home at 14, homeless and fending for herself on London streets, her life couldn’t have been more dangerous or bleak, yet somehow she turned things around, became a champion rally driver and went on to have a very successful career as a TV presenter, stunt driver, author and speaker. Penny is a qualified Coach, a licensed and accredited Mental Toughness Coach and Trainer, and Master Practitioner in CBT. She now helps people and companies with Mental Toughness. Please do have a listen, leave a review, rating and subscribe. Thank you.