Screw It, Just Do It | Alex Chisnall Chats With Ray Kelvin, Richard Reed, Steven Bartlett & Others Every Week. Alex Chisnall:

"It was a big risk financially. I was solely responsible for my daughter, I had a big mortgage, I had lots of commitments. The #Screwitjustdoit moment came when I was sat at a breakfast meeting with my clients after 9 months of Ed and I discussing this new business we wanted to set up. He'd just had enough of my delays and my "yes when, yes when, yes when" and he just picked up the phone and said "Look, Lucy, give me a decision by Friday or otherwise let's just move on"... On today's show, Lucy and I talk about life-changing events that can lead to your #Screwitjustdoit moment, following your dreams and not somebody else's and also women conforming to what's expected of them. Lucy's a passionate advocate of female entrepreneurship, a respected innovator and leader with over 20 years in her industry and as a single parent to her daughter she has powerful insights into authenticity and leadership. Let's StartUp!

"I truly believe that I and Graze would not have been as successful without what I learnt at Innocent. I think it was a good quality start-up and I think it was a good quality scale up and I learnt a lot. I learnt a lot of good things, you know, also some things didn't work which you take a different set of lessons from." So, cast your mind and can you remember a key moment that transformed your life? Maybe it hasn't happened yet but I'm sure it will. Well, that's what happened to Anthony Fletcher back in 2009 when at work one day he happened to try some nuts, seeds and dried fruit that had been delivered in the post by a new company called Graze. Now, Graze had been set up a year earlier by some friends as an internet-based business that posted healthy snacks in cardboard boxes small enough to fit through people's letterboxes. Then, aged 27, and working for drinks company, Anthony said he was blown away by the idea of it so much so he immediately found out where Graze was based, drove across London to knock

"This is an amazing opportunity. Women who are mothers are worth trillions of dollars per year to the economy. Women who are earning who are monthers, 90% of their earnings goes back into the family, versus 45% of men's income". Welcome to episode #105 of #Screwitjustdoit. On today's show I welcome entrepreneur Michelle Kennedy, Founder of Peanut, dubbed 'Tinder for lonely mums' by the New York Times. Michelle is very much a veteran of the dating app industry, having spent 5 years at Badoo and eventually became Deputy CEO. She also held a postiion on the board of the dating app Bumble which went on to revolutionise the online dating industry. She started Peanut after struggling to meet other mums that she could relate to whilst also working. She found herself trawling through blogs for baby advice at 2am while her friends were still hanging out in clubs (or falling out of clubs..). She then decided to create a product to make being a mother a little less lonely.  And in a little less than two years her startu

" Probably one of the greatest pleasures that I get is taking my mum and dad and walking down a supermarket aisle and seeing my dad's face when he see's a picture of his father and his father's name on a shelf in a supermarket. That is a massive plus and a massive pleasure for me. And to think that I made this happen." On today's show I welcome Paul Turner - butcher turned brand building entrepreneur.  Paul comes from a really traditional business - a butchers that was his grandfathers that was passed on to his father and then on to his brothers and himself.  Paul decided that he wanted to develop a product range which he has turned into a nationwide business with Alf Turner prodcuts in every supermarket nationwide. How did he do this? He managed to get on to Dragons Den and he pitched to the Dragons, wanting to get Peter Jones - and getting Peter Jones's support and investment. And to think Paul didn't even have a mobile phone before he went into the den! In the true bootlegging spirit of entrepreneurship Pa

"At the time that I realised PlanSnap was the thing that I wanted to do  - to build the fastest way to get friends together it's very hard if you're tachnically-minded but not from a technical background to find a technical partner to bring on to the team. I realised that was going to be a struggle, and raising investment was going to be a struggle. Not least because women get less than 2% of Venture Capital worldwide. But also because I wasn't ex-Google or something. I knew I could do it, but I still had to prove it to other people." Welcome to Episode #103 with Louise Doherty, founder and CEO of PlanSnap - an app that lets you make social plans with friends in a snap. Some entrepreneurs decide to #Screwitjustdoit, quit their jobs and start a business in an instant. For Louise it took eight years from the moment she knew that she wanted to run her own tech startup, to her finally quitting her job to launch her social planning app, PlanSnap. Louise cites a lack of role models and funding are two of the bigges

"And he pushed me, saying 'Don't be such an idiot', slightly harder than I think he intended...and I fell off my chair. It was one of those moments in time, drunk as I was, but that conversation haunted me. And I kept coming back to 'Yeah, why not? Why can't we get law into a space where there isn't a premium on information and people do understand how everything fits together and can access that really easily. I never set out to replace lawyers. I'm still very proud to be a lawyer myself, and I showcase amazing lawyers. But it was just that 'how do we plug the gap so that everyone who needs to know can know and then decide what they do with that information." Merlie Calvert launched legal tech startup Farillio in 2017 after leaving her job as a lawyer after 20+ years and burning her legal license! Her mission is to open up legal support for freelancers, microbusinesses and SME's so that law becomes quicker and easier and that the entrepreneur can focus on growing their business.  Merlie has already raised fu

"So I phoned them up and said that I would like to buy some razors. He said the minimum order was 100,000 units. I thought "This is the end of the business, I can't do it, I can't get the money."   But then I said 'How's this as a concept..I come to your front door tomorrow with 5,000 Euros in unmarked bills in a bag, would you go for it? "I was just joking...   But he said "if you're crazy enough to come from London to East Germany overnight to give me 5,000 Euros you're on. I'll see you tomorrow morning." I phoned my dad and said "What are you doing tonight"? He said "Nothing" so I said "Get the car we're going to Dover".   We stopped at Barclays UK on the way down and got 5,000 Euros in cash, drove through the night to East Germany, got there with ten minutes to spare and this guy nearly fell over when he saw us in the morning. It was incredible. He was true to his word and gave us the stock. He gave us a couple of thousand razors and said 'Now that we've supplied you, we might as well

Well here it is..no - not Merry Christmas - that's another week away folks. It is in fact #Episode 100 of my #Screwitjustdoit podcast! Something I'm super-proud of and will be celebrating this important milestone on my journey. Something I never envisaged actually getting to! I thought I would use the opportunity presented to record only my third ever solo round since I started by deciding to #Screwitjustdoit - and launch my own podcast. With a week to go until Christmas, and two weeks still 2019 is upon us, I wanted to present you with a roadmap to YOUR Best Year Yet. This is the exact same process/exercise that I have been doing now for years to help me create success both personally and professionally. I credit an old mentor from the fitness industry for this - Todd Durkin - and believe that if you follow this process it will help you crystallise your vision, success, and significance for 2019. PREPARATION & hard-work are the keys to success and these questions will certainly help PREPARE you to be you

"Managing the team and managing the workload is a huge challenge that I'm battling with all the time but the team are absolutely amazing. I couldn't ask for a better, hardworking team. They really love what we're doing, which I believe is quite hard to find". On today's show I welcome Charlotte Sweet, Founder of Sewn Right. Charlotte left a job in luxury fashion to set up her own business in early 2015. She was inspired by her grandmother, a lifelong seamstress. Driven by a love of fashion and a lack of innovation in her industry, Charlotte set out to change the way the world view sewing. She was working three different jobs when setting out on her entrepreneurial journey and she spotted a gap in the market. Alterations were either being done by high-end Saville Row tailors or being done by local dry cleaners but, no-one was offering a modern alterations service. Sewn Right was born and she's now the owner of a thriving business. Let's StartUp.

"When my grandparents passed away who I spent a lot of time with I'd been thinking why I didn't record their life stores which is something I had in mind but never did, and realised how quickly their stories faded. And I've had that regret for a long time and been thinking since then about solutions... and why this problem exists if a lot of people want to capture the stories of their loved ones. Rutger Bruining's grandfather was a member of the Dutch resistance during World War II but died before Rutger had a chance to record his memories. The experience left him wondering “why we don’t capture the stories of the people we care about the most”. Before I dive inot my interview with Rutger, I'd like to mark last week which saw us finish up our 'live' #screwitjustdoit events. Twenty plus events throughout the UK in 2018 and a massive thank you if you lived in the UK and were able to attend. Given this podcast is now listened to in 96 countries we're only scratching the surface with our events in the UK. I'd lov

"I have so many different passions: fitness, fashion and food - the three "F's" - plus music of course. So it was a natural progression once I came off the x-factor...to get into fashion and release my own clothing line. And as soon as the W8 Gym came along... it's funny how timing works out, as when Nick approached me I was actually thinking of venturing into fitness. So as soon as I saw the product I just jumped on it..quite literally. This is what I was looking for. This was amazing. You may know Fleur East from 'I'm a celebrity get me out of here', from the X-Factor, her Top 3 album, her number one single 'Sax' ...but what you may not know... is that she is a female entrepreneur and business woman with her own clothing brand and now a fitness startup too. Fleur is related to Nick Meaney..who's related to Clive Payne..who first came up with the idea that became W8 Gym. Having first met me at Jim Cregan's 'Jimmys Iced Coffee' HQ for the first Virgin StartUp meetup outside London in July 2016, they are now t

"He and my my mum used to wear a necklace with five little charms. Each charm was a stone that represented each of us. I was a pearl and my brothers had their own stones. They used to wear it around their neck and we used to carry our own as well in a little gold chain so for me jewellry is about this special meaning, occasion, something that you carry with you, like. talisman." Adriana creates jewellery, she's originally from Brazil, but trained in Italy - and now lives in London. She comes from an entrepreneurial background, her father and four brothers are all entrepreneurs. This is very much a story taking inspiration from travel, from everything around her. Adrian has tested everything to get to wear she is now launching her Urban Jewellry collection. We talk about getting testing everything when starting out, and getting out from behind your laptops and meeting people if you haven't got the support of close family and friends like Adriana has. Let's StartUp!

"The great thing is a good mentor will always get you to answer your own questions. They'll ask you the right questions, you'll just have to go away and work on it and come back with an answer. They'll either give you a tick or a cross. That's the scret of a great mentor. They don't tell you what to do, you have to learn for yourself what you should be doing with the information and advice that they give you." On today's show I welcome candle chandler Rachel Vosper. Now, not many visitors to Barbados end up buying a local candle factory. But after a chance encounter on a beach in 1994, Rachel Vosper did just that. As she built the business up making candles fo Bill Clinton, Pavarotti and Bollinger, Rachel's new-found interest developed into a passion. In 2011 she opened her first store in Belgravia, London, selling candles to a mix of retail, corporate and private clients.  Fast forward to 2018 and Rachel has an amazing opportunity with pop-ups in the Hamptons, LA, Dubai and Hong Kong on the horizon and havin

"I was doing a paperbound and I thought it was a mug's game. So I cut the local newsagent out of the equation. No-one was delivering papers on a Sunday so my dad said "you go and get my paper I don't want to get out of bed, i'll give you 50p". My neighbour said the same and I eventually built a paper round that made four times as much on Sunday than I had made on the whole weeks work. That was my first introduction to business and finding a niche, monetising it in a very small way - and hard work." Piers Linney is an entrepreneur and investor who has experience across a whole range of different sectors focusing on technology, telecommunications as well as health, fitness and well-being. He's also the non-executive director of the British Business Bank and he's also a trustee for Nesta, the £450 million innovation fund. He's also been recognised in the Top 100 most influential black Britons, Entrepreneur of the year and sat on the cabinet office SMe panel and the board of TechUK. Piers is now using his experie

"The realisation happened when I lost twenty million dollars. It took me losing everything in my life and starting over and asking a different question. The question is what is true? Looking at what I had done over twenty years and saying that was very hedonistic, that was very me, that was all about consumption. And then losing it all, I think the universe was saying ok, here's the opportunity." Damion Lupo has shown time and again that the human spirit is only limited by the scale of one’s imagination. From overcoming bankruptcy and debt, to building Total Control Financial, an innovative Fintech startup, Damion has seen it all and done it all. However, he maintains that without having a strong “Why” success in business can be meaningless if it is not channeled towards serving a higher purpose. Damion’s entrepreneurial journey started when he was barely 11 years old. Like many other entrepreneurs, he started a business trying to solve his problem. The venture proved to be quite successful, and pretty soon h

"We're not getting any younger. So you may as well get cracking. That's my main advice: get cracking, get selling, get making and get spending." On today's show I chat to Anglo-Italian entrepreneur and Pasta Evangelists founder Alessandro Savelli.  Pasta Evangelists are trying to do for fresh pasta delivery what fever tree did for tonic. They deliver artisinal restaurant-quality pasta to your front door whilst you work and they'll even deliver it through your letterbox. They're backed by some of the biggest names in British food including Great British Bakoff star Prue Leith CBE, Sunday Times food critic Giles Coren and Masterchef critic William Sitwell.  They're now one of the fastest-growing food startups in the UK, two years into their journey. They recently appeared on Dragon's Den and whilst they didnlt walk away with the investment they were looking for, it was a great marketing experience for them. Their appearance led to a spike in website visitors, doubling their orders. I chat to Alessandro and find

"I find working, doing a startup, and trying to manage a family life and keep all the balls in the air extremely difficult - and I mess up all the time. My children are incredibly patient and understanding. I'm always the mother who's not at the football match at the school, or that I get the date wrong for the cake sale. Then I get really guilty. But the good thing about working for yourself like when they have the nativity play or concerts then you do have the time to take that time out of your day and do those things. That's the advantage, even if you're working til midnight later." Inspired by chinese medicine the Hayo'u Method offers effective methods to combat stress. Over the years as a practitioner Katie has become convinced that stress was the underlying cause of all the ailments she was diagnosing and treating herself. A car accident put to Katie's hopes of becoming an opera singer. So she embraced Yang Sheng which is an approach to self-care to overcome complications around fertility, weight, stres

"The initial feedback we got from people was that it was worth us exploring. So we got started, and I guess at each stage there were sufficiently encouraging signs that it was worth carrying on. So we quit our jobs, put in our savings and went out to try and raise money to enable us to start marketing and to start building a team. And it went from there." How do you fit a Christmas tree through a letterbox? It might sound like a bad cracker joke, or the premise for a festive TV film. But it’s the real life problem of Aron Gelbard, founder of Bloom & Wild, a startup that arranges flowers in boxes to be delivered through the standard UK letterbox. Since launching in 2013, Bloom & Wild has mastered letterbox flowers. They have tried a letterbox orchid plant, which turned out to be less popular. In 2016 they trialled letterbox wreaths that came in two semi-circles and they sold a few hundred, then they hit on Christmas trees which have proven hugely popular. “We’re always coming up with new ideas with wha

"I think that if you feel like you're learning everyday, bringing in more and more amazing people, then I really do believe that if you get amazing people together, and you can create an environment where they can be really high-performing, I really do believe that you can achieve anything." I met up with Callum Negus-Fancey from Verve who dropped out of school at 16 to set up his first business, 'Let's Go Crazy' - a dance events company for teenagers. After his younger brother  also dropped out of school they joined forces to set up Verve.  Today Verve now has over 250 staff, with offices in London, LA, Vegas, Austin, Texas. It's raised $35million in venture capital funding and they've just acquired a student venture capital company for $25million. Rapid Growth!! Lets StartUp!

"Make sure you're building the business for the right reasons. If you're building a business in the hope that you'll make a lot of money, that is not the right reason. That is a side-effect of when you build a successful business. You're not going to do the right thing if you're building it to make a lot of money. For your customers or your employees. So think about building it for the right reasons." Thousand Eyes is one fo those hot, successful startups that you've probably never heard of with an unusual and not very Silicon-Valley like history.  Mohit and his co-founder Ricardo Oliveira founded Thousand Eyes in 2010 and built a $300 million startup from discarded computers and an almost secret source of seed money. Mohit originally started his journey in India where he began his studies, before moving to the US where he met up with Ricardo at UCLA. He never had an intention to start his own business, but life has a habit of taking you on unexpected journeys, and before long he and Ricardo set up Thousand E