We’ve been in business for over 16 years and over that time we’ve been very fortunate and privileged to have met a diverse range of inspiring founders, business owners and entrepreneurs.On their journeys, they’ve all been in the trenches, as we have, and experienced both the highs and lows that running a business throws at you.
Adam Asks is a podcast series designed to share their valuable lessons and if like us, you want to know what’s around the corner in a world of uncertainty, we’re here to ask them the questions and share their insights.
YouTube Series: The Future of Work
Back in June 2020, we released our first Future of Work report. When the pandemic arrived on our doorstep many businesses had to find a new way to work ... and fast. We are now over 6 months into our new world and it is becoming abundantly clear that we will never return to the way things were before.
Join us as we collaborate with experts from across the UK (via Zoom of course), exploring the options available to us, both as individuals and as organisations. We'll be discussing everything from the financial, environmental and mental wellbeing impacts, to how a business threatened with closure could pivot in order to survive.
Episode 26 - The Future of Work 2020 with my2be & We Are Adam
We Are Adam CEO Richard Gahagan is joined by my2be co-Founder Adam Mitcheson, We Are Adam Operations Manager Leanne Scaletta, and copywriter Kimi Wright for a virtual Roundtable discussion about our Whitepaper report, The Future of Work 2020.
The Future of Work 2020 was a partnership between We Are Adam and my2be to investigate the remote working revolution which was accelerated when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived on our doorsteps, the long-term effects that we believe will shape our working lives, and what this means for businesses and their people.
Covering all the topics discussed within the report, the key contributors expand on the research they uncovered whilst creating it, as well as insight and opinions from their own personal experiences. Some of the topics touched on include:
The positive effects mentoring can have on all parts of a business, from diversity to progression
Company culture, and the challenges of keeping it alive and well whilst working remotely
The effects a remote or flexible working policy can have on a business and its employees
What does a significant shift to remote work mean for the future of the office?
Employee mental health and wellbeing whilst working remotely
Episode 13 - Steven Bartlett, entrepreneur & investor
Steven Bartlett needs little introduction, but if you need one, his LinkedIn profile describes his inspiring background perfectly:
"Steven is the 27-year-old CEO Founder of Social Chain which uses owned media, marketing and technology to build Social Brands. In the last few years, he has become an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker and investor, and now leads a company of 700+ individuals across 5 countries, who are quickly disrupting the ever-changing social world. Social Chain now operates through six locations: Manchester, London, Berlin, Munich, New York and Bangkok.
Along the way, Steve has amassed a large following online (Almost 2 Million people across Instagram, Facebook, Snap chat, Linkedin and his podcast), due to his informative and inspirational videos covering topics from entrepreneurship, business, social media and marketing. This has lead to a number of profiles in the world's leading publications where he has been dubbed "The most influential individual in Social Media Marketing" and has been voted the "most influential individual in marketing in 2017/18" by 100 agency leaders."
We were honoured to have Steven take time out of his hectic schedule to sit down with Leon for the next episode of #AdamAsks, the day Social Chain officially went public, another landmark step in their business journey. Steven joined us to tell us about his background, what it's taken to grow Social Chain in such as short time, his thoughts on education, the future of marketing and why he puts his and Social Chains success down to focussing on more than just money.
Richard Hayes is Co-Founder and CEO of Mojo the UK’s #1 mortgage broker.Mojo is an exciting and disruptive fintech company with a fascinating journey.The business is focused on giving customers a better platform to compare and buy financial products and offers advice and expertise to ensure the customer gets the right option for them, so they can buy with confidence.
Having worked in the financial services sector for over a decade, Richard realised the system was broken and that the customer was being let down. With a passion for technology, he realised there had to be better way, which led to the creation of Mojo.
Richard joined Leon for a fascinating interview where he opened up about the challenges of building a tech busines from start-up to a multimillion-pound company, the challenges he has overcome when pitching for investment and Mojo’s strategy to attract and retain top tech talent.
Mentor and consultant Robert Craven has helped more than 1,000 companies to revolutionise the way they work. An international keynote speaker and business coach, Robert heads up the team at The Directors’ Centre. He has written over ten books on business strategy and specialises in helping Digital Agency owners grow their businesses.
Robert joined us to share his experience and advice to agencies looking to drive real growth in their agencies. He reveals numerous pearls of wisdom on topics such as profitability, building a culture of excellence and how the agency market is changing.
EJ Flynn is Managing Director of the Supper Club, an organisation for high growth entrepreneurs post-startup with typical turnovers from £1m £250m. She works with business owners at all stages of their business journey. From those running their first business and just reached the £1m turnover mark to those with private equity-backed £40m plus turnover businesses and everything in between. EJ joined us to tell us about the challenges many of The Supper Club's members face and shares insight into what some of the highest performing businesses are doing differently. In this fascinating discussion with Adam Founder, Leon Milns, EJ shares the importance of having a solid 'vision' and a plan on how you're going to achieve it, why culture and values are imperative to profitable growth and what business leaders can learn from the new generation of superstars. She also reveals how the best performing business leaders are continually improving their leadership skills, how they are building high-performance leadership teams and the importance of systemising.
Atheer Al-Salimis Head of Social at The Marketing Store and Founder at Headstock Festival. Ath joined us to share his experiences of mental health and tell us why he is launching a brand new festival in Manchester in 2020, specifically focussed around the core theme of mental health. Headstock will be the UK’s biggest ever mental health music festival, launched in partnership with Help Musicians & Manchester Mind. Across 7 days and 9 iconic venues, the festival will bring the biggest music artists from Manchester, the North West and beyond. In this candid and thought provoking interview Ath explained how the North West is falling behind the capital when it comes to mental health awareness, why it could be at crisis point and why he decided to take on the stress of organising a festival to help tackle the problem.
Can't get enough of John Shinnick? In part two John discusses how business leaders can identify a crises in confidence in their teams and help empower them to make decisions. He also covers topics such as the importance of ethics and values in business, the difference between coaching and mentoring and how to read people's real intentions. Don't miss another inspiring and thought provoking episode of Adam Asks.
John Shinnick is a Portfolio Non-Exec Director, supporting business owners through coaching, mentoring and advising. A former partner at Grant Thornton for 21 years, John spent his career working with dynamic people to help make their businesses great; 12 years of which also involved leading Grant Thornton locations.
John holds two Board Adviser roles and also Coach-Mentors 4 or 5 CEO's or Managing Partners at any one time. Current assignments range from FTSE 100 to professional services firms. Additionally, he's an NLP Practitioner and a Coach-Mentor qualified under the European Mentoring and Coaching Council.
With a background like that it's no surprise this podcast was packed full of fascinating conversation. So much so that we had to split it into two parts.
In part one John discusses his background, his "sniff test" and how he helps business owners progress both personally and professionally by helping them free up head space to tackle transformative projects in their businesses.
Matt Farrar is a serial entrepreneur, advisor and NED with vast experience in the tech industry. Having grown and sold Product and Service Design Agency: Great Fridays for a eight figure sum in October 2014, Matt joined EPAM systems as Vice President of Service Design.
Three years later he took stock of his professional purpose after a traumatic 12 months caring for his son who suffers with Type 1 Diabetes. This experience inspired a change of course in his career.
Matt joined us to tell us about his journey, the ups and downs of agency ownership and how his new start-up, LovedBy could provide the answer to helping those suffering with the disease.
Acclaimed BBC Presenter and host of the chart-topping podcast, You, Me and The Big C, Rachael Bland, sadly passed away in 2018. Her husband, journalist Steve Bland has become an authentic and honest voice for those suffering with grief and has followed in her footsteps by joining the multi award winning podcast team. He’s also run a marathon, raised thousands of pounds for charity and become a founding member of Cancer Research Initiative, Manchester Beats Cancer. We’re honoured to share this touching podcast where Steve told us about how life has changed since losing Rachael, how it’s changed his perspective on what’s important and advice for others going through a time of loss.
Josh Bolland is Founder and CEO of JB Cole, a transformational digital technology agency focused on using the latest in tech to solve complex business problems. Josh founded JB Cole at the tender age of 18, joined by his technically-minded brother Ollie. Josh joins us to discuss the challenges of being a Millennial CEO, of relocating a business from London to join the thriving Manchester tech scene and how he harnessed the power of networking to ensure the continued success of his business. Josh is also the Manchester Chair of BIMA, a national digital community driven by excellence and innovation.
Ruth Naylor, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2017 and doctors were unsure if she would survive. She documented the following year of treatment daily through instagram to help others dealing with the disease, growing over 20k followers. Ruth took the time to share her inspirational journey with us, how her life has changed since she was given the all clear earlier this year and what her new role as Chair of Cancer Research initiative, Manchester Beats Cancer, has in store.
Jon Woodall is founder and Managing Director of Space 48, an award winning agency specialising in eCommerce consultancy, design, build and strategy. Space 48 have just celebrated their 10 year anniversary, a monumental achievement. Jon shared with us his story of how the business developed, relocated to manchester, grew through acquisition and the challenges he experienced throughout that time. He also talked about the fantastic Manchester tech community and why he launched the international conference for Magento developers, Mage Titans.
Martin Murphy is a former special forces soldier, international adviser and coach to leaders and teams. He’s also a speaker and author with vast experience in forming and leading high performing teams, both in the special forces and in the commercial sector where he trained special project teams worldwide to effectively combat terrorism and narcotics smuggling. Martin joined us to discuss the key challenges faced by his clients, leaders of fast growth businesses, and give us an insight into his new book 'From Mercenaries to Missionaries'.
