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Not My First Guess
Hattie Willis
62 episodes
8 months ago
Join me, Hattie Willis, as I chat with the incredible Thea Brook, a seasoned entrepreneur and CFO-turned-founder, about her remarkable journey from finance to founding her own businesses. We dive into Thea's unconventional background, from training as a dancer to opening a dance school at 20, and how she eventually found her way into finance and entrepreneurship. Thea shares valuable insights on mental health, personal branding, and her approach to social media as a founder. Get ready for a c...
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Entrepreneurship
Technology,
Business,
Investing
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All content for Not My First Guess is the property of Hattie Willis and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Join me, Hattie Willis, as I chat with the incredible Thea Brook, a seasoned entrepreneur and CFO-turned-founder, about her remarkable journey from finance to founding her own businesses. We dive into Thea's unconventional background, from training as a dancer to opening a dance school at 20, and how she eventually found her way into finance and entrepreneurship. Thea shares valuable insights on mental health, personal branding, and her approach to social media as a founder. Get ready for a c...
Show more...
Entrepreneurship
Technology,
Business,
Investing
Episodes (20/62)
Not My First Guess
Building a Business From Joy Not Fear: Featuring Thea Brook
Join me, Hattie Willis, as I chat with the incredible Thea Brook, a seasoned entrepreneur and CFO-turned-founder, about her remarkable journey from finance to founding her own businesses. We dive into Thea's unconventional background, from training as a dancer to opening a dance school at 20, and how she eventually found her way into finance and entrepreneurship. Thea shares valuable insights on mental health, personal branding, and her approach to social media as a founder. Get ready for a c...
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8 months ago
1 hour

Not My First Guess
The Power of Calling it Quits: When to Step Away: Featuring Joy Mpofu and Cameron Orcutt
Ever felt the pressure to keep your startup afloat, even when it's not working out? In this episode, we dive into the tough topic of shutting down your business with Joy Mpofu and Cameron Orcutt, two founders who have been there, done that, and lived to tell the tale. They share their honest experiences of closing their companies, and how they supported each other through the process. We explore the stigma of failure in the UK, the importance of having a support system, and the lessons learne...
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9 months ago
55 minutes

Not My First Guess
How to Find the Right Funding For You: Featuring Daniel Sawko
Are you tired of the painful process of finding investors for your startup? Today, I'm joined by Daniel Sawko, co-founder of ShipShapeVC, who's on a mission to make fundraising easier for founders. In this episode, Daniel shares his journey from consulting to entrepreneurship, and how he's helping founders navigate the complex world of investments. We dive into the importance of empathy in sales strategy, how to reduce the time to accessing capital, and the reasons why founders should focus o...
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9 months ago
53 minutes

Not My First Guess
Growth vs Scale: Building Teams That Last: Featuring Neda Sahebelm
Join us as we dive into the inspiring story of Neda, founder of Keshty, as she shares her journey of overcoming rejection, building a successful business, and investing in others. From her experiences as an only child to navigating the world of entrepreneurship, Neda opens up about the lessons she's learned along the way. Don't miss this episode as we explore the importance of org design, rejecting transactional relationships, and building a strong support network. Neda shares her story ...
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9 months ago
58 minutes

Not My First Guess
Innovators not Imposters: Featuring Cecil Adjalo
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Cecil Adjalo, founder of Foundervine, one of the UK's largest and most vibrant accelerators, having designed a high-impact training program that provides ambitious entrepreneurs with the skills, tools, and support they need to confidently scale their ventures. Cecil has a passion for operational efficiency, automation, and creating data-driven organisations which led him into the field of Data and Analytics. He began his career by troubleshooting iss...
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11 months ago
1 hour 4 minutes

Not My First Guess
Designing for Neuro Inclusivity: Practical Tips for Founders with Autism and ADHD: Featuring Sascha Evans
Did you know that 20% of your employees, customers, and friends are likely to be neurodivergent? In today's episode, we're diving into the importance of neuro inclusivity in entrepreneurship, with Sasha Evans, a brilliant entrepreneur and expert in experience design and neurodiversity. Join me, Hattie Willis, as I chat with Sasha about her journey into entrepreneurship, from theatre to startups, and how she's helping founders design for neuro inclusivity. We'll cover practical tips for founde...
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11 months ago
55 minutes

Not My First Guess
Building Bridges: Supporting Founders and Breaking Myths: Featuring Marcus Exall
Joining us this episode is Marcus Exall, serial founder, angel investor, and investor in residence at Virgin Startup. In this episode, Marcus shares his journey from building and exiting a digital advertising company to supporting countless founders along the way. We dive into his early days as an entrepreneur, from running a paper round as a kid to selling tickets at a nightclub, and how those experiences shaped his approach to business. Plus, we debunk some common myths around investment an...
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12 months ago
54 minutes

Not My First Guess
Pitch Perfect: Unlocking Your Inner Storyteller: Featuring Pascalle Bergmans
Storytelling is one of the most underrated founder skills! It’s critical for motivating your team, selling to customers, and of course, raising investment. It can also position you as a thought leader, which yes, helps all those things too. But it’s one of the things that trips sooo many founders up. From pitches that make it obvious they were created to follow a formula, to LinkedIn posts that show zero personality, to team talks that end with glazed eyes, it’s so easy to get it wrong.  ...
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1 year ago
1 hour 1 minute

Not My First Guess
Toks on Tech Stacks: Building a Following Alongside Your Product: Featuring Ghita El Haitmy
Have you ever wondered how to stay on top of the hottest new tech tools and trends as a founder? Curious how you can leverage platforms like TikTok and Instagram to market your B2B startup in a fun, engaging way? Get ready to learn because in this episode I'm joined by Ghita El Haitmy, the smart and sassy founder of Tech Bible, which empowers professionals to gain a competitive edge by keeping them up-to-date on the latest tech through bite-sized social media content. Ghita has an amazing ent...
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1 year ago
50 minutes

Not My First Guess
From Pitch to Payday, The Hidden Costs of Fundraising: Featuring Sam Simpson
Have you ever found yourself drowning in fundraising legals and language? This is the interview you’ve been waiting for… In this episode, we're joined by the brilliant Sam Simpson, Co-founder of FounderCatalyst, who's on a mission to simplify and accelerate the early-stage investment legal journey. Sam's not just talking the talk; he's walked the walk, having co-founded and exited several tech start-ups, including the 17th fastest growing company in Europe in 2017. Oh, and did we mentio...
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1 year ago
1 hour

Not My First Guess
From Entrepreneur to Employee: Lessons From Coconut Founder: Featuring Adam Goodall
🚀 What’s it like to go Corporate Employee> Founder > Founder > Corporate Employee? At Not My First Guess we love a squiggly career path! 🏁 That’s why we’re so excited to have serial founder, and once again corporate employee, Adam Goodall share his journey and lessons learned, from taking the first leap into full-time entrepreneurship, to deciding when to sell, to why he's enjoying being back in someone else's company. 🌐💡 Adam is a serial founder with two startups under his belt - Pr...
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1 year ago
44 minutes

Not My First Guess
How Every Founder Can Use AI: Featuring Cien Solon
Are you worried you’re not using enough AI as a founder? I promise you’re not alone. In fact, after interviewing our incredible guest today, I went away and automated a LOAD of my own processes - sometimes you just need to understand the art of the possible! This episode is a GREAT start - we’re joined by AI advocate Cien Solon, who is on a mission to make “AI for All” with her latest startups Launch Lemonade and Scale that Thing! Cien is a Product-Led Growth expert, a start-up consultant and...
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1 year ago
45 minutes

Not My First Guess
Becoming Business Barbie and Making Accounting Accessible for Founders: Featuring Rachel Harris
As well as being “Business Barbie” to her followers on instagram, Rachel Harris, is an award-winning content creator, author, speaker, business owner, and most importantly, an accountant extraordinaire. Named as one to watch on the 35 under 35 list and recently crowned as the First Intuition Apprenticeship Mentor of the Year for 2023, Rachel is a true breakout star in the accounting world. Rachel's passion for empowering accountants and small business owners shines through in her remarkable j...
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1 year ago
59 minutes

Not My First Guess
Transforming Management With AI Innovation: Featuring Sarah Touzani
Ever wonder what it takes to transform from a passionate leader into a successful startup founder? In this episode, we'll uncover the secrets to building an innovative, AI-powered solution that's revolutionising the way managers drive team performance. Joining us today is Sarah Touzani, the brilliant mind behind Waggle, an AI co-pilot empowering managers with the tools and insights to excel. Building on Sarah’s 15+ years experience in finance and tech, Waggle has already caught the atte...
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1 year ago
58 minutes

Not My First Guess
Parenting Pioneers: Building Babbu Featuring Charlie Rosier
Joining us in this episode is Charlie Rosier, a seasoned entrepreneur and fourth-time founder. Her latest venture, Babbu, disrupts the early childhood education space with an innovative online platform tailored for children aged 0-5. Driven by personal experience and insights gained during lockdown conversations with fellow parents, Charlie recognized the overwhelming pressure parents face—spending 37 hours weekly on childcare concerns alone. Determined to alleviate this stress, she birthed B...
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1 year ago
43 minutes

Not My First Guess
The Beauty of AI For Good: Featuring Simi Lindgren, Founder of Yuty
This episode we are joined by Simi Lindgren Founder of Yuty. Some of you may recognise Simi from our special episode on fundraising as an underrepresented founder, where she was joined by two other incredible guests. But we wanted to take the time to dive deeper into Simi’s story and insights building an AI startup. Simi initially went to med school thinking that she would become a doctor. However, she soon realised that she wasn’t there for the right reasons. This led her to drop...
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1 year ago
56 minutes

Not My First Guess
Strands of Success: From Instagram Community to Industry Game Changer: Featuring Kate Berski
This episode we are joined by Kate Berski, Co-Founder of Curlsmith, a high performance, inclusive haircare brand which she started with her husband in 2018. It soon became one of the fastest growing textured hair brands and would go on to retail at Ulta Beauty, Target, Boots and many more. The idea for Curlsmith was formed out of a family struggle to find suitable haircare products for Kate’s nieces’ curly hair. Kate and her husband Michal soon realised that there was a gap in the mar...
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1 year ago
1 hour

Not My First Guess
Fertile Ground for Founders: Changing Lives and Welcoming New Ones: Featuring Tess Cosad
This episode, we are joined by Tess Cosad, the CEO and Co-Founder of Béa Fertility. As someone who takes much of her inspiration from injustice, Tess saw the pain and difficulties that many people were going through in their attempts to build a family, with access and affordability making the journey even more stressful and heartbreaking for many. In comes Béa Fertility, a company that provides clinical-grade fertility treatment that can be shipped straight to your door, and costs 1/20th of w...
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1 year ago
55 minutes

Not My First Guess
Rethinking Start-up Funding for more Equitable Entrepreneurship: Featuring Andy Ayim MBE
This episode, we are joined by Andy Ayim MBE, a serial founder and Angel Investor who is known for his human centered approach to business. Over a decade ago, Andy cofounded Mixtape Madness, a proudly bootstrapped 7 figure business. When he left day to day operations there, he dove into Product Management with high growth startups such as WorldFirst, acquired for $700m by Ant Financial; and Series C startup Zilch where he was Head of Product Management. In 2018 he took his next leap, to...
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1 year ago
1 hour 3 minutes

Not My First Guess
Baking in Loyalty: Cakedrop's Recipe for Startup Success - Featuring Nicola Ward, Co-Founder of Cake Drop
This episode we are joined by Nicola Ward, Co-Founder of CakeDrop. Having both worked in the City, Nicola and her sister Anna had a conversation about how awkward office birthdays can be. Often forgetting to buy a cake and having to resort to a cheap last minute one from the shop around the corner. They felt that something needed to be done to improve the employee experience in the office and uplevel celebrations at work. This gave way to the idea for CakeDrop. CakeDrop began by delivering ar...
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1 year ago
49 minutes

Not My First Guess
Join me, Hattie Willis, as I chat with the incredible Thea Brook, a seasoned entrepreneur and CFO-turned-founder, about her remarkable journey from finance to founding her own businesses. We dive into Thea's unconventional background, from training as a dancer to opening a dance school at 20, and how she eventually found her way into finance and entrepreneurship. Thea shares valuable insights on mental health, personal branding, and her approach to social media as a founder. Get ready for a c...