This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m joined by the brilliant Steve Ramona, host of Doing Business with a Servant’s Heart podcast. Steve is all about the network – he describes himself as a “super connector” specialising in impactful partnerships through personalised introductions. That doesn’t really cover it though. He specialises in the energy industry and is involved in $5bn dollar worth of projects and $125 million in partner deals. From his early days at his family’s health clu...

This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m delighted to be joined by Charles Skinner – CEO of Restore plc. I first met Charles 30 years ago and I have a lot to thank him for. He was the man who gave me my first job in journalism at Management Today magazine. Charles’s own career and entrepreneur journey is as fascinating as it is varied. From an early career in investment banking and private equity, then magazine editor, then CEO of several quoted companies before returning to Restore as CEO in t...

This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m joined by the fantastic Jenny Garrett OBE – an award-winning Author, Speaker, Thought Leader and Founder of Jenny Garrett Global. Jenny’s entrepreneurial journey didn’t begin with a grand plan. It started cautiously, carving out one day a week to test her new coaching path. Now, it’s a thriving business that is 20 years strong. Along the way, Jenny has become a leading voice in inclusive leadership and empowerment, helping women and underrepresente...

This week on The Merri-Cast podcast, we had the pleasure of speaking with Mindy Gibbins-Klein – Founder of The Book Midwife and Giving 1%. Mindy describes herself as an “accidental entrepreneur”, but what an accident it turned out to be! Redundancy pushed her into building a career that’s empowered thousands of authors, leaders and entrepreneurs to share their stories with the world. In our conversation, Mindy shares powerful insights that will inspire anyone thinking about writin...

This week on The Merri-Cast podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Richard Barkey – Founder and CEO of Imparta. I first met Richard almost 20 years ago, when his sharp questions about PR effectiveness left a lasting impression on me. Since then, he’s gone on to build and scale a business in a sector that is notoriously difficult to grow. How has he done it? With curiosity, resilience and innovation at every turn. In our conversation, Richard shared his journey and valu...

After a short Summer break, we’re back with a very special episode of The Merri-Cast. We depart from our usual format to pay tribute to the late, great Charles Handy – social philosopher, visionary thinker and one of the most influential voices in leadership and management. Charles’s insights heavily shaped my own journalistic and entrepreneurial journey. And his books including The Age of Unreason, The Elephant and The Flea, and The Second Curve, continue to inspire entrepreneurs, lead...

What do you do when the career you worked so hard for no longer feels right? And how do you build something new that’s driven by purpose, not pressure? This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m joined by Emily Gill – Co-Founder of human skills platform Levra and a qualified coach. In this episode, Emily shares her fascinating career journey from lawyer to Oxford MBA student, to entrepreneurs. It’s full of insight, humility and real-world lessons. Other key highlights include: • Her fat...

We love guests who challenge the status quo – and our latest one does exactly that. This week, I’m joined by Dani Dufresne – Emmy Award Winning Executive Producer and Founder of The Auxiliary. Dani’s journey from film school in LA to reinventing how creative production works is inspiring and refreshingly honest. With over 20 years’ production experience across Film, TV, Commercials and Events, Dani’s built an incredible reputation for turning her client’s visions into reality. ...

This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m joined by Melitta Campbell, otherwise known as ‘The Value Whisperer’. She is a business and leadership coach, TEDx Speaker, best-selling author and an unapologetic introvert. In this episode, Melitta shares how she went from being a shy child, who believed that no one wanted to hear her voice, to coaching female founders to sell themselves and their services with clarity and confidence. Her journey is impressive to say the least. Key insights that Melitta ...

This week on The Merri-Cast, we pick up where we left off with part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Zareen Roohi Ahmed. In this episode, Zareen shares how she launched Gift Wellness without any business background, but with a powerful mission and drive. In part 2 of our conversation, Zareen also discusses: • Realising that period poverty wasn’t just abroad, but everywhere, including on her doorstep. • Building eco-friendly products before "sustainable" was a trend. • Facin...

This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m joined by Zareen Roohi, Founder & CEO of Gift Wellness, an inspiring voice in purpose-led entrepreneurship. In the first of a powerful two-parter, Zareen shares her remarkable life and career journey – from growing up as the daughter of Pakistani immigrants in the West Midlands to navigating early life challenges, building a remarkable and diverse career and then, tragically, losing her daughter Halimah in 2007. Out of this unimaginable loss came inc...

This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m joined by the brilliant Karl Pontau – entrepreneur and host of The Human Connection Podcast. Karl’s journey is nothing short of inspiring - from teenage brain tumour survivor to a purpose-driven entrepreneur, podcast host and soon-to-be author. In this episode, Karl dives into the importance of having a network and forging real human connections, especially in a world increasingly obsessed by data, metrics and AI. Key insights that Karl sha...

In this episode, I discuss a topic frequently misunderstood and undervalued: creativity. The everyday creativity that fuels problem-solving, drives innovation and unlocks confidence. I explore three common barriers that hold people back in their creativity: ⏳ “I don’t have time to be creative” – Time constraints aren’t a barrier. It’s what can light your creativity in the first place. 🤔 “I’m not a creative person” – Despite popular belief, creativity isn’t a talent you’re born with; i...

Joining me on The Merri-Cast this week is the fantastic Liz Sebag-Montefiore – co-founder of career and talent management consultancy 10Eighty. Along with current CEO Michael Moran, the pair have steered the growth of the business for over 13 years now. And in June, Liz takes over as CEO, so it seemed like a great moment to talk to her about her entrepreneurial past, present and future. In this episode Liz shares stories about her early employment including the two people who i...

Joining me on The Merri-Cast this week is the wonderful Katharine Plunkett. I first met Katharine around 25 years ago when we both worked for Haymarket Media Group. She made a big impression on me then - and continues to do so in this episode. Katharine is an entrepreneur and commercial business leader with extensive international experience in global business growth. And today, she runs two businesses plus an extensive network of founders in the travel industry. In this episo...

Joining me this week is the fantastic Assim Ishaque. He is the Founder & Director of Envirup and Simbrix Ltd as well as being a Business Coach, Speaker, Inventor, Investor and NED. Assim’s career journey is truly fascinating. From early redundancies, dyslexia and industry barriers to building multiple, successful business ventures, his story is one of true resilience, adaptability and innovation. He also highlights the importance of giving back. Throughout his career, Assi...

What is the best possible question you can ask, when you're curious about someone or something? The #MerriCast is the podcast show that puts you on the fast track to business confidence. And this week I'm taking a more personal look on the role that curiosity played in building my confidence. When I was younger I lacked a lot of personal confidence. I developed it through asking lots of questions about the world around me. And I (very) slowly came to realise that real confidence came through ...

For our latest episode of The Merri-Cast podcast, we had the pleasure of speaking with Sandra Healy, Co-Founder and CEO of inclusio. For 20 years, Sandra excelled in engineering and leadership roles in the global tech sector. She eventually took a leap and started inclusio, alongside her co-founders Deborah Murphy and Arthur Lubambo in 2020…just as the pandemic hit. At one point, Sandra pitched the business over 40 times before getting a positive response. Despite these and other ...

Do you love what you do enough to do it for free? Most would probably say no. But our latest guest sees life differently… For our first episode of 2025, I’m delighted to be joined by the fantastic Bobby Dutton – Entrepreneur, Keynote Speaker, Performer and Philanthropist. Bobby’s entrepreneurial adventures are rooted in his purpose and passion. His first business GBM6 stems from his passion for music and is all about “making people happy, through legendary events”. In 2024, he set up...

Our final episode of The Merri-Cast podcast this year is now live! 😊 We’ve had some fantastic guests over the last 12 months, all with unique stories to tell and valuable advice on what it takes to be an entrepreneur. In this episode, we look back at a few of my favourite guest moments. A huge thank all our guests this year for your brilliant contributions, stories and insights: Adam Twidell & Carol Cork, Mark Goyder, Kelly Gilmour-Grassam, Solomon Thimothy, Karina Murray, Matthew Phel...