Interesting People Podcast

Jackie Jarvis is a business coach and author of two seemingly contradictory books - quick wins or life in the slow lane? Listen to her talk about her career in sales and marketing, her philosophy of life and the trip that changed her viewpoint.

Tracey Osborne has been an online virtual assistant for 10 years, so you can imagine the chances she has seen in online business in that time. She also coaches virtual assistants who want to see success and focuses on mindset issues, as well as running challenging obstacle courses in her spare time. These Spartan events help her to see that she can achieve anything she likes, which in turn inspires her in her work.

Jill Holtz has grown the website MyKidsTime to have a massive 600,000+ social followers and fans. In this episode, she talks about how she achieved this, and the ups and downs of running an online business. She also now helps other businesses to market to parents.

Sarah Williams worked in the finance industry for 8 years before hitting a crisis point and realising she needed dramatic change. This led to her travelling through South America, climbing Kilimanjaro and setting up Tough Girl Challenges to inspire and motivate young women to have positive goals.

Nicola Noble wasn't sure how her adult life was going to play out, but having children - two of whom are autistic - led her to homeschooling, which she supplements with writing books and running craft businesses online. She is also a prepper - get rid of your image of Texan men with massive guns, her prepping style is far more accessible and, actually, tasty.

Dee Miller has worked in the States, Canada and Scotland before moving to Nottingham, England, and opening a bricks-and-mortar business: a co-working and events space. Listen to her talk about the risks she took, the joys of co-working, and what she has in store for the project. Also, micro breweries and gin.

RJ Bayley explored a range of jobs from those related to the environment to working for an energy supplier. But his diagnosis of diabetes came with a double whammy of a massive worsening of his depression. Find out how that was partially what led him to a significant new career as a voice artist and how he got into narrating audiobooks and video games.

Linda calls herself a 'reformed interrupter', and her theories about thinking and how we can put ourselves in a position where we can get the most benefit from our thoughts are fascinating. We could all learn a lot from these ideas. A former therapist, she now works with corporations, charities and other organisations to help to create more suitable Thinking Environments.

In this fascinating first episode, I talk with Cathy O'Dowd, the first South African to climb Everest and the first woman to climb Everest from both sides. But, as you'll find out when you listen, her approach to her sport, and how she has turned it into a long-term opportunity to create a business running corporate training events, will show you that it's that's far from the only thing she is capable of.