5th Anniversary Special: Brave, Bold, Brilliant - The Documentary

0:01Every great journey begins with just a single step. Now five years ago I hit record for the very first time not knowing where it would absolutely lead. So today we pull back the curtain on the brave, bold, brilliant journey. The doubts, the breakthroughs, the people, the purpose and importantly the ripple effect that we never saw coming. This is our story. Hi there, it's Jeanette Linfoot here. Welcome to the very first episode of the Brave Bold Brilliant podcast.

0:41It started with a feeling, a calling to create something powerful, something meaningful, but I'd be lying if I said it was easy. Sometimes you have to start before you're ready, and sometimes you have to make waves, even though you haven't got those solid foundations, because I'm a believer that sometimes opportunity comes when you're not quite ready, but you need to be ready. Start now, get perfect later. Beg for forgiveness, don't ask for permission. Being disruptive, which I think are all important values if you want to make waves and make things happen. If the foundations are really rocky to start off with.

1:19So I think that data point you made is really, really valid, Rob. If you ever find yourself bitching a moment about social media, it's you that's got to change. People on social media bitching and moaning about social media. And instead of scrolling and debating and complaining and arguing and defending and justifying, start putting content out there in your niche and start building your audience. Starting a new business and getting in there and getting it launched.

1:45There were moments that absolutely shifted everything. Times that I knew we were building something truly special that was bigger than ourselves. And of course, each powerful conversation, conversation. You know, it's opened new doors for our guests and our listeners, attracting partnerships, speaking invitations, media opportunities that have expanded our influence way beyond the microphone. And this podcast is more than stories. It's a platform for thought leadership and real business impact. Take us through your journey, you know, where you started life and sort of where you are today, really, and then we'll go from there.

2:22Great. Okay. Well, first I want to say when you introduced me and said it's not about sex, a business, it's about sex. Actually, a lot of my motivation and what I've tried to do in my research is to show that sex in today's world is a business. And so I hope that's what we'll be talking about a little bit as we go on. And how I got started in this, I like to say that my mother would turn over in her grave if she knew I was talking about sex so much. I came from a nice, I was pretty privileged, white middle class family. My mom was an immigrant from the West Indies. The first thing we did was we held a public forum on sex work where we had three nights, one night of workers, one night of managers, and then the next night of police to talk about it.

3:21The other thing is that many individuals who sell direct sexual services also do other things. Sex workers are the original gig workers. And they put together a wide variety of skills and jobs to survive, just like any one of us do. And there's a wide range from entrepreneurs. Kate Houseback Corrigan, my co-author on one of our books, is doing a really interesting project on erotic entrepreneurs. Luxury is limited by definition. I think that's where it comes into me. Luxury is limited. It's personalized and it's changed fundamentally from, you know, from 10 years ago to what is luxury now, you know.

4:15So during those times when you have those sleepless nights and you have them, you have those sleepless nights, what is going right? And remind yourself of that because that's important. And then, you know, you also have to become ultra clear on what you're trying to achieve and really focus on that. And then, you know, you have to breathe, always breathe, never stop breathing at every time. breathe, take a break, breathe, take. And when you take action, take it firmly in a very directive way. And, and, you know, you'll come through this. It's also because of our clients, Janet, our clients are also diverse.

4:54And so we have, we, you know, we embrace everything and, and, and, and everything because we think it's important. Pretty good is not good enough, Duncan. And then we, and then we went into a long detailed conversation about that. And I never forgot that I never forgot that that pretty good is not good enough and always do the absolute best you can to make it do whatever I do in terms make it absolute the best possible thing that we can not lose not lose not deep dive and lose sight you know always stay with the big picture but that that advice has always served me well

5:37There are moments when life just doesn't ask you to slow down, it demands it. When even pressing record feels impossible. And that's exactly what happened to me. We're often sprinting toward the next goal, the next meeting, the next milestone. And we don't notice that our body is whispering or screaming that something is off. And for me, it all came to a halt with unexpected gallbladder surgery. And in that silence, everything shifted.

6:25You know, it was really scary. I had to stop completely. But that pause, it really became a turning point and I finally had space, real space, to think about my life. And it wasn't all to do with business, it was about my health, my soul, my people that are important to me, about presence over performance.

6:54and I've learned brutally and arguably beautifully that health is everything you know I was so lucky and in the end it wasn't life-threatening and there are so many others going through far worse so I feel immensely grateful however getting sick had a disproportionate impact on me in terms of making me stop and just reassess everything. You know, you can't chase dreams if your body is breaking. And I'm so incredibly grateful to be here. I really am healing, breathing, and held up by the most incredible people around me. So a number of you may not know, but I've been quite poorly recently, to the point that I ended up being rushed to hospital.

7:39I've had surgery. It's nothing serious. It's not cancer or anything like that, but I have been very unwell for quite a few weeks, couple of months, and I have been so fortunate in so many ways to get everything sorted out, to have surgery. Long story short, I had to have my gallbladder removed, my liver wasn't working properly due to a number of complications and what have you, but it's all sorted now and I am very much on the road to recovery but as a result of that it's given me the chance to reflect the chance to stop I don't believe at any point in my entire life have I ever had a forced stop of a length of time quite significantly to really take the time to just reflect and think about my life think about what's important to me and all of that.

8:38Sometimes we're so busy, we're on this, you know, journey, and that can be breakneck speed, especially for me. You know, my natural style is to run a million miles an hour, always want to do more, be more, be a better person, be a better friend, you know, drive the business, etc, etc. And that's great. That is great. However, It's rarely that we really stop or are forced to stop in this case, which gives us a chance to reflect and refocus.

9:20So when I started the podcast during COVID, everything changed overnight. You know, my advisory work with clients, it literally dried up. One day we had significant projects and income. the next zero. And that wake up call meant digging deep and getting creative. You know, behind every brand is a team and people by your side. Behind me is my incredible partner, Chris, who's been my absolute rock and is now my husband. But honestly, people are so important. So here's what we did. We built a significant property investment business, You know, focusing on residential properties and short-term lets in London, Manchester and in Cambridgeshire.

10:10What else did we do? Well, we also set up my advisory practice working with CEOs, boards and leadership teams on strategy, growth, mergers and acquisitions. with notable clients like Virgin Atlantic, Nationwide Building Society, Accor Hotels, just to name a few, which is so exciting. I also created my mentoring business, where I work one-to-one with business leaders, with entrepreneurs and senior executives in the corporate world. And I've become a sought-after public speaker at business conferences and leadership events. You know, we relocated three times to be where we needed to be to grow our businesses.

10:55And we also invested in other businesses, most recently Daddy Bear Grills with my business partner Wayne Smith. But most exciting of all, turning Brave Bold Brilliant into a brand and a business in its own right. Now I say none of this to brag because alongside growing our brand, we're also laying the groundwork for future growth so that we can serve more people and help our listeners even more. You know, exploring sponsorship, branded content and premium offerings. And what's the goal? Well, to ensure Brave Bold Brilliant thrives sustainably, but really to help as many people as possible unlock their brilliant and true potential in business and life.

11:43To ensure that Brave Bold Brilliant thrives and goes forward. So we're currently ranked in the top 1.5 % of global podcasts in entrepreneurship and business. Now our ambition is to keep climbing and continually raising the bar so you can do the same. Now I say none of this to brag because it's so important that when the chips are down, like they were for us five years ago, there's always a way to rebuild. And that's what Brave Bold Brilliant is all about.

12:22and the podcast three three b's three big three big words brave bold brilliant and you've given some really fabulous examples of bravery and particularly referencing your your grand grandmothers on both sides of the family and your grandparents but for you when you hear that as a phrase what does it mean to you so podcast brave bold brilliant and this is a framework that we've been using for the last two years with you and your lovely team and with the broader division. What does that mean to you, Kerry? I've got one last question because this podcast called Brave Bold Brilliant, and I think you've given loads of examples of where you've done exactly that.

13:01What does that mean to you when you think about that phrase or those three words? What springs to mind for you? What does Brave Bold Brilliant mean to you, Emma? What does Brave Bold Brilliant mean to you? What does Brave Bold Brilliant mean to you? Brave, bold, brilliant. It means believing in yourself and having the confidence to go for it and making your dream happen. Brave, bold, brilliant. Well, I think you encapsulate it right there. I think you bringing people together, sharing stories of being brave, celebrating brilliance and being beautiful and elegant in everything that we do. So I think for me, it's very powerful.

13:45and a good mission statement forward. I mean, look, I love the three B's. If I could just live my life being brave, bold, and brilliant, that would just be amazing. Maybe I do, but I don't realise it. You know, to me bravery is, I never think of myself as being brave, because those two women were brave. And that was more about the situations they were in and what they did. And that was bravery in its utmost, you know. And bold and brilliant, you know, I suppose being bold is being strong in yourself that you know you're making the right decisions and sometimes they don't maybe not might not be quite right but being bold that you know what I'm going to go to cop on my own and I'm going to go and do it I can do this and that's just building your confidence and I feel like you know I went there and I did a brilliant job I did take a lot of energy and positivity but I felt really I had to a strong message to get out there so you know I mean I always like to do everything brilliant but that's exhausting too because it's perfection but again I was talking about progress over perfection because you know what not everything can be perfect so just keep moving the dial it moving the dark but i i love i love the name of it the title of it i think it's a very positive um and empowering time to land it means so many things but i'm gonna i'm gonna i'm just gonna do off the cuff here because you know we can do this and you can do it as a leader as a person an individual but i'm just gonna say what comes to mind exactly You know, brave for me is doing exactly what I said before.

15:36It is asking for what you want. It is putting yourself in uncomfortable situations. It is believing in yourself. And it is conquering any of that self-doubt or that imposter syndrome or the fear, the fear that comes with changing a country, the fear that comes with changing a job, the fear that comes with having that conversation you don't want to have, the fear of saying no. That's brave.

16:00bold is linked to that is is doing the things that other people don't want to do making those uncomfortable decisions and and and genuinely putting everything into it and thinking outside the box and and finding a way making bold decisions to to to to get to the outcome and brilliant and we and i've been doing this for a while is a combination of the two right that's the outcome of being brave and bold. And I'd like to think that brilliant is sprinkled with a lot of fascinating moments. Oh, man, it means it means winning. That's exactly what it means. And winning is absolutely everything. I mean, I am a competitor, I most definitely am.

16:47And I don't know, what's the point in doing any of this stuff unless you're going to try to win? What's the point of keeping score? What's the point in having a stock price? What's the point in having and tracking revenue and profits and, you know, seeing your kids go away to an amazing musical theater school, you know, or looking after their dreams? If you're not keeping track of how you're doing, there's no way to potentially win. Yeah. So being bold, brave and brilliant. Absolutely. It means winning to me. It's all right to say, I'm good at this. I know how to do this as opposed to letting the self-doubt creep in and allow other people to make the decisions for you.

17:24And I think that maybe that characterized a lot of my early career was that maybe I didn't tread my own path enough until I got into my stride and then I did. And I think actually I could have done this a couple of years back. So I was probably, you know, in my kind of mid-20s to mid-30s, I was probably running kind of 24 36 months behind where my potential probably could have been because of that and and and and then i then i i built it later on and i think that just came from self-confidence well i think if you're brave you have to take a risk now i don't want to knock the public sector but they don't they're not in the risk business the private sector is in the risk business and And just like when I went in the betting shop instead of going to school and put all my money on a horse and it came last or got beaten at the post when a photo finished, there's something unbelievably exciting.

18:24There is nothing more exciting in life than taking a risk and then it coming off you get a great feeling. It's gambling. But you know, like with the health club, I make sure the odds are in my favour. When I do things, I like to succeed. So, but you're not guaranteed that. So, Brave is taking risks and business is all about risks. And these people that are train drivers and stuff like that, who are going on strike, they're not actually taking a lot of risk. They're driving their train and they're getting their salary and they're going home and to me that isn't business business is is being innovative and being bold which is your other catchphrase because you're not going to be you're not going to achieve anything by being a wallflower and just doing the same thing every day you have to be out there what was the other word brilliant and brilliant well I do think that a lot of people say well what how did you achieve what you did

19:44and they and a lot of people's answer is well I work very hard Well, I don't work very hard, but I like to make smart decisions when I am working. I don't think it is about working shoe leather and getting up at 6 o 'clock in the morning, all that sort of stuff, because you can make all the wrong decisions. So you do have to be a bit brilliant. When you are working, you have to make smart decisions rather than wrong decisions. When we went to America, we were accused of being impulsive, in decent haste, the Financial Times described it as when we went and bought the business on the first day. Yet other businesses have spent a year opening up one shop, a mock shop, to see what America was like.

20:28There were nodes of analysis, you know, spending a huge amount of time. It's not about that, it's about making the right decision. I think you have to be brave and you have to be bold and sometimes you know if you do those two things you are brilliant but you can't sit in your shell and think oh what if what if because you know this if's the biggest word in the English diction isn't it i think yeah so yeah i i can go i can actually say that you know i've done most things something not good something brilliant but as long as i've enjoyed it people around me are happy and you know you given fond memories to people who have watched you.

21:11So, you know, that's what I'm going to ask for you, isn't it? So, what began as a podcast has become a movement. And that's because of you, you know, our listeners and our incredible guests. So as we look ahead, our mission, it really is to create compelling content for a diverse global audience. You know, attracting even more guests and partnerships that bring fresh insights. and growth. So together we're going to continue capitalising on thought leadership, you know, to really shape the future of business.

22:02and we're not done yet the next five years even bolder and then this is where a podcast is so powerful that it also becomes a global community and that's what we have with brave bold brilliant We're absolutely delighted that in addition to Brave Bold Brilliant as a podcast, it's now also the proud brand of our business. And we couldn't have done that without you. So Brave Bold Brilliant is where business leaders, entrepreneurs and their teams come to be inspired, challenged and equipped with the tools for success and growth. And our mission really is to unlock the brilliant in people, teams and businesses with our values of passion, inspiration, integrity and authenticity at the absolute heart of everything we do.

22:55So whether your team is maybe taking their first steps into leadership, you know, or you might be just wanting to sharpen your executive edge at the top of your game. You know, our programmes are absolutely designed to push you and your team beyond your comfort zone to deliver real impact. act. So regardless of the size of the business or sector that you're in, you know, we've absolutely come to know from 30 plus years in business that there are always three aspects to leadership. Number one, leading yourself. Number two, leading your teams. And of course, then leading the business. And all our programmes incorporate these three pillars to ensure a holistic approach to reaching that next level.

23:47Now we're here to help through our RISE Academy, our Leadership Mastermind, Executive Edge and Business Mentoring. So let's go through each one. So firstly our RISE Academy, this empowers junior to middle managers to really lead with confidence. You know it's beyond business basics, we provide the tools, skills and the mindset to make bold decisions, stay motivated and create impact and it's all through an easy to use adaptable online portal you know that really gives you everything you need to step up. Next leadership masterminds now these really equip middle managers and high potential employees to go to that next level you know and this is through inspiring group mastermind sessions which are live over a six month period and then our Executive Edge.

24:42It's all about empowering directors, executives and boards to really lead fearlessly and create lasting impact. You know, it's a deep, immersive three days in-person programme that really gets to the true nub of leading businesses. And it really focuses on driving significant business transformation and growth strategies, which ultimately are there to achieve superior results. And then one-to-one mentoring. You know, leadership at the top can be isolating. And that's where our one-to-one business mentorship comes in. And this is tailored to your individual needs to really provide clarity, confidence, and strategic advice to make bold decisions.

25:27And we are there 100 % by your side for a full 12 months. So just head to www.brave-bold-brilliant.com to come and join us on this exciting journey of development and growth. So to every guest who trusted us with their truth and of course to every listener who ever pressed play, a huge thank you. This really is just the beginning. And of course, you've been here on the Brave Bold Brilliant journey. So if this podcast, you know, if it's ever inspired you, then tell us your story. Use hashtag Brave Bold Brilliant so that we can really put a spotlight on you. And of course, please do subscribe, share this episode with a friend and join the Brave Bold Brilliant community as we build the next chapter together.

26:22I really hope you've enjoyed this episode of Brave Bold Brilliant. remember check out our new website www.brave-bold-brilliant.com you're going to find loads of resources on there that's going to help you with your leadership journey and with the businesses that you're trying to scale up and grow so take care everyone and remember there are no limits to your growth but it is by being brave and bold that you're going to unlock your brilliant