The Alternative Leader Podcast

Ken Okoroafar achieved financial freedom by 34, and alongside his wife Mary runs the Humble Penny. In this episode, Ken discusses his childhood, how his mother's entrepreneur spirit inspired him, and how he achieved financial independence and helps others achieve the same.   Find Ken Okoroafor here:   The Humble Penny: https://thehumblepenny.com/about/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-okoroafor/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehumblepenny/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHumblePenny 

Corey Gaidzionis Founder, Big Emotions Academy Corey is a passionate, heart-centred entrepreneur on a mission, and it's all about:  "Creating positive change using simple tools to teach Emotional Intelligence to equip our next generation of leaders to have their own motional superpowers."  With a background as a personal trainer and coach, Corey recognised the need for a personal development program that reached young people in a way that made sense to THEM, rather than the usual, more adult-like perspective. As a result, Corey has recently published his first book, "The Little Book of Big Emotions" and is in the process of getting it out to the world.   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigEmotionsAcademy Linkedin: https:/www.linkedin.com/in/corey-gaidzionis/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigemotionsacademy/   

John Spencer is an urban warfare and military expert, author, professor and scholar. He recently published the book Connected Soldiers: Life, Leadership, and Social Connections in Modern War.  John regularly consults for United States Army Forces Command units, Training and Doctrine Command, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the United Nations, and many others military and national security organisations.    Having served 25 years in the US Military, in this episode John talks about his time in the military, his role as a leader, what he has learned and what he would do differently. He talks candidly about his many experiences from his wife being deployed, the importance of staying connected to what matters to you most to why you shouldn't go for a run in a gas mask.    Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpencerGuard  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencerguard/  Website: https://www.johnspenceronline.com/  Book Understanding Modern Warfare: https://www.howgatepublishing.com/product-page  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnwspencer2018/ 

Content warning: Please note this episode discusses suicide   Joel Stone runs his own successful marketing agency Codebreak, and in 2022 launched Andy’s and Joel’s Growth Academy, marketing coaching for solopreneurs. He is also the author of Amazon best seller book, Stay Hungry, and hosts the Stay Hungry podcast, a marketing and mindset podcast for business owners.   Raised in rural Shropshire, Joel’s childhood was affected by his father's severe bipolar disorder. He then went on to university gaining a first-class degree in Graphic Design, graduating into the 2008 recession. Joel moved back to Shropshire and became an accountant, figuring it was recession proof. In this episode Joel speaks openly and honestly about his childhood, his own diagnosis with anxiety and clinical depression and reflects on how this has affected his life.   Where to find Joel: Done-for-you marketing: www.codebreak.co.uk Marketing coaching: www.andyandjoel.com Podcast: www.codebreak.co.uk/podcast-channels/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joelstone13 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joelstoneofficial LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelstone1/ 

Brendan Turner is a Personal Trainer and Human Biomechanics Specialist who coaches business owners and executives who are in pain to become pain free. Brendan runs workshops and 6/ 12 month 1-2-1 coaching programmes. He has a growing YouTube channel where he talks about his journey of losing 10 Stone (64 kilograms) in weight and recovering from Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome which is deemed to be incurable. You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiqR311F7yEwGW5EtiiNGHQ 

I met Emma when I was interviewing Calvin Niles several years ago. Emma ran a beautiful bookshop called, ‘Travelling Through’ -  now the name of her podcast. Emma worked talks about her experiences of working in the Balkans in post conflict cultural conservation. This work was about so much more than the conservation. She then began a journey driving through the Balkans to experience the land and she talks about this journey in her book, ‘Driving Tito’ – who is Tito you ask, I’ll leave you to find out!   At age 6 Emma’s lung collapsed and it put a new perspective on life and she launched into it with huge enthusiasm. Her father died when she was 20 which again pushed her forwards.   Emma reflects on how all of these experiences led her to realise that she was a leader and what sort of leader she was. You can find Emma:   Website: https://www.travellingthrough.co.uk/  - My book: Driving Tito - Through The Balkan Backroads With A Celebrity  - You can purchase / order a copy in all good bookshops across the world, on Amazon, or as an ebook here: https://books2read.com/u/bw2kBO  - Podcast: Travelling Through London, the World and Life on all the usual platforms and on my website at https://www.travellingthrough.co.uk/podcast-1  - Instagram: @travelling_through  - Facebook: Travelling-Through  - Twitter: @Trvllng_Thrgh 

Gareth joined the police at aged 15. Since then, his life has been profoundly shaped by his experiences in the force, with two near-death experiences leaving him to navigate PTSD. Now full-time dad and 'part-time grass cutter', Gareth reflects on the impacts of his work, the importance of mental health and his ability to heal with the love of his family, 'Team Squance'. Gareth's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/Irishpixel/... Gareth's Twitter: https://twitter.com/irishpixel?lang=en Gareth's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irishpixel/...

In this episode I am joined by Clare McDonald to share her story. It's a story rooted in her childhood from when her parents separated to her father dying when she was just 12. It's a story of loss and grief but also immense strength and resilience. Taking Clare from a life where she believed she was living small to one where she's acting on stage right out of in front of an audience. She went from feeling unloveable to and not good enough to feeling so good that she puts herself forward for the opportunities that life is bringing her. It's a story that you and I can all resonate with, it's that story of those times when we feel too afraid to be vulnerable or to take risks. Clare talks very candidly and beautifully about her story, her challenges, and how she changed her life and moved forward to be the version of herself that she wants to be now.  You can find Clare on:  LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/clare-mcdonald-280b8718/ Email: claremcdonaldcoaching@outlook.com

Anna McAfee is a LinkedIn Trainer, Community Strategist and Author. Anna’s work is focused on helping people and businesses alike to build better and more authentic connections, as well as empowering companies and brands to create and scale their own communities. She created #LinkedInLocal movement, an initiative to meet online connections offline at a local and human level, which spread to over 1000 cities in 96 countries. Anna has a unique background in social media and recruitment and is based in Coffs Harbour, Australia.  

In 2010 Nola applied for a leadership programme but was refused as she needs support to help with the extra learning and childcare around commuting. When she was going to the office it took so long that she didn’t see her kids.   She changed jobs so she had a VPN and could work 3 days from home – then she broke her leg…  So how do you leverage leadership when you aren’t leading a team? (It’s funny how we think of leadership always as leading others, a topic I cover in my book.)  Nola found that she didn’t actually enjoy remote working full time and found she hit burnout after working far too many hours. In the end, she became ill and crashed her car after passing out from a collapsed lung and pneumonia.   Nola has set up her own company when she advises organisations on remote hybrid working. She wants to help organisations find what is right for them and for each individual employee. Having seen all sides of remote working for 10 years, Nola knows her facts about remote working.   She also runs the Janus Oasis podcast, bringing the best of the past to create the future. 

Michelle grew up as an army kid travelling all over, she found this a struggle and asked to be sent to boarding school. She thrived at boarding school with structure and routine. However, she feels she fell into the good girl behaviour model, not speaking unless spoken to and not standing up for herself. As an adult and having gone through relationship breakdowns Michelle started to understand herself differently and realised that she may have ADHD. Having gone all, ‘Hermione Granger’ in gathering the information, she was diagnosed with combined ADHD.   Michelle wants to help others -especially women (as it’s much rarer for women to be diagnosed) to think about ADHD.  She also wants to stop women from being silent and is in the middle of writing a book, ‘Good Girl deprogramming’ which is out in the autumn. Michelle and James are also releasing their new podcast ‘How to unfu*k work in early summer.   Links:   Website - https://www.workpirates.com/  LinkedIn –  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mminnikin/   Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/workpirates/?hl=en   Michelle chatting about ADHD on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-you-ever-feel-like-youre-just-normal-michelle-minnikin/  

Terry is a senior leader who believes passionately that leaders need to be aware of the impact of their behaviour on others. He finds it hard to watch poor leadership. He feels that a leader needs to create psychological safety for their team so they are happy to be fully open with any problems or issues.  

Phil Jones is MD of Brother Ltd. Phil talks here about his journey from council house kid to MD, bypassing university on the way. Phil is passionate about leadership having learned that you have to look after yourself as a leader before you can meet the needs of your team. He shares his learnings around how to build strong relationships and how to view a non-academic route as a strength.   Phil Jones can be found on Linkedin:  www.linkedin.com/in/philjones40/  And on Twitter: @philjones40 

With a background in aeronautics, avionics and optoelectronics, Michelle Child has been choosing to challenge assumptions, stereotypes and boundaries her whole career.    After a 20-year career in the Royal Air Force as an Engineer Officer, and a 4-year stint in the Defence Electronics Industry, Michelle took on the challenge of moving to a completely different industry, Education.  Despite once having been told in basic training that she was “too small to command respect or authority”, she led a 200 strong team to the successful delivery of hundreds of thousands of qualifications for students around the world during the COVID 19 Pandemic.  Michelle chose to leave the world of high stakes assessment behind and is now the Operations Director in a medical devices company.  Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, crafting and writing articles on her experiences in leadership and management, as well as long walks with her husband and 3 dogs Rocky, Lily and Daisy 

Lucy Barkas founded 3WH, a leadership and team development consultancy in 2013 after working as a leader in the energy industry. She works with leaders and their teams to build organisations they are proud of. Author, Podcast host and regular BBC Radio contributor, her clients include private clients to international conglomerates. She was the archetypal good girl, and followed the traditional path – head girl, uni, job, married, kids, career – all ticked off the list by the time she was 30. She was living the dream, except it wasn’t bliss, nor a nightmare. She was coasting. By 35 she was divorced, left her job and sold her house and started again, and that’s when she started living. Since then, she has worked with hundreds of leaders to coach them to lead authentically, build high performing cultures and make an impact. Author of the bestselling book, LeaderX, she presents a rallying cry to the next generation of leaders to step up, take control and start leading with impact. Her initial curiosity was why do people behave the way they do and this led her to discover what shapes a leader, teams and high performance. You can find more from Lucy here:  Website: www.3wh.uk.com/  LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lucybarkas/ Podcast: www.3wh.uk.com/ Book: www.amazon.co.uk/LeaderX-steps-GenerationX-control-impact-ebook/dp/B0867V7Q1F/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=leaderx&qid=1596454477&s=books&sr=1-1

Tammy came out of an abusive childhood determined to enable others to do the same. Homeless at 15, she sought out education and turned her life around. A brilliant mother, partner and leader, she shines with passion about her mission to change training, so it is powerful, effective and creates lasting impact.  After working in a variety of roles from hostels to forensic psychology she was then the CEO of a charity. She is now the founder of Taye Training.   Listen to Tammy’s story of how she went from surviving to thriving whilst changing the world.   Warning: Themes of abuse and suicide (although no details) are included.   To connect with Tammy : Watch Tammy’s origin story in her TEDx talk here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_aXK-MfZDQ&t=1s Join her Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2319831878105722/  Linked in https://www.linkedin.com/in/tayetraining/  Twitter @tammybanksy  For more information visit  www.tayetraining.org.uk  www.training4influence.co.uk  

After a heart attack at 45, Esther reviews her workaholic personality. Did it start when her father died when she was 5 or does she just love her work?   Known as the ‘Impact Guru,’ Esther is a former “Live” BBC producer.  She’s worked with Hollywood stars and other ‘big’ personalities and knows exactly how to get the best performance out of talent.  She’s interviewed celebrities including Madonna and George Clooney and has produced shows with world-class authors, business leaders and politicians – including Boris Johnson.  She now uses her 28 years of ‘personal impact’ expertise to help firms and individuals from all over the world communicate better in business, win pitches, conferences, raise their profile, increase their presence and get promoted.  She’s also a busy mum of 2.   www.estherstanhope.com 

From California to London, Sophie is the Co-Founder of Roleshare, a company that matches skilled people to job roles and enables companies to build a sustainable diverse workforce. Sophie shares her career journey, and how she's has managed to balance parenting with professional life as a leader. We reflect on how COVID has impacted the way we work, the changes we hope to see and the future of remote working as well as the importance of staying connected even online.  

Ian talks us through his journey from emergency caesarean to leadership. How did the birth of his daughter who has a very rare chromosome deletion help Ian to evolve both personally and professionally? What is the connection between the Caribbean and Amsterdam and how does getting it wrong safely apply to both parenting and managing your team? Ian candidly opens up about how his dreams of parenting have affected the way he leads his teams. How his daughter’s birth put his career on hold for 7 years but also how these experiences makes him a better leader.  

Ian talks us through his journey from emergency caesarean to leadership. How did the birth of his daughter who has a very rare chromosome deletion help Ian to evolve both personally and professionally? What is the connection between the Caribbean and Amsterdam and how does getting it wrong safely apply to both parenting and managing your team? Ian candidly opens up about how his dreams of parenting have affected the way he leads his teams. How his daughter’s birth put his career on hold for 7 years but also how these experiences makes him a better leader.