Steve Pickering is the CEO of Sussex Beds — a family business with 14 stores across Sussex, Kent and Surrey. But he doesn’t run it like most CEOs.

In this episode, Steve opens up about the messy, rewarding reality of running a growing family business. From navigating financial turmoil and coaching challenges to installing company-wide KPIs and learning how not to micromanage — Steve shares what makes him truly unorthodox in leadership. If you're building a business and feel like you’re making it up as you go, this one’s for you.

00:00 Clip: “Far more knocks than wins”
00:13 Intro – Why Steve is an unorthodox CEO
02:00 Growing up above the furniture shop
04:30 Joining the family business full-time
06:00 Restructuring after a rocky period
07:40 How working with a business coach changed everything
09:10 What makes Steve’s leadership style so different
11:25 Performance reviews with his wife
12:55 Allowing people to fail (and why that matters)
14:40 Hiring people better than you
16:15 Building a culture that outlives the founder
18:30 Why Sussex Beds turns away low-quality sales
22:00 The power of real-time data and KPIs
27:00 Becoming visible as a CEO on LinkedIn
29:30 Resilience: “Knock, knock, knock… win”
33:30 Performance reviews around the dinner table
36:00 The struggle to switch off (even on holiday)
39:00 Why amateur theatre helps Steve decompress
41:30 Final advice for new business owners