Adam Hugill spent 18 months riding his bike 20,000km through Asia and North America having been in the Army before that. When he returned he found it difficult to re-adjust to normal life and starting out on a new career. In this episode he talks us through how how he made that adjustment, the role cold water has played for him, the importance of finding a community you relate to and the five key lessons from his bike trip around the world.
Krishna Thapa grew up in mountains of Nepal, he applied to join the British Army's Royal Gurkha Rifles as a teenager and was successful. He spent 7 years in the Gurkhas before attempting SAS selection, becoming one of the first two Gurkhas to ever join the Regiment. Krishna spent 17 years in the SAS, deploying overseas 12 times. During one of his first deployments a team mate was killed right in front of him, a moment which he admits led to some dark times. He found sanctury in the Buddhist teachings of his childhood. He is now a mountaineer who has climed Everest several times and recently helped the first double above the knee amputee to summit the mountain. We talk about his journey and spiritual outlook, with the assistance of Magnus the dog.
Paul spent 35 years in the Army, reaching the rank of Major General, having completed his initial training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst he returned nearly 30 years later to run the Academy. During his career he also commanded an Armoured Brigade of 5,000 soldiers before latterly being responsible for Army recruiting, Army basic training and the centre for Army leadership.
In this episode we talk about the challenges of leaving the military, regardless of rank, the evolution of training even within the last few years and how to build a high performing culture in the workplace.
Paul is happy to connect with anyone who would like to on LinkedIn. Please leave a review for the podcast if you enjoy it!
Huw founded the Motivational Preparation College for Training 23 years ago after a long career in the military. Whilst working in Army recruitment he spotted a gap between the standards the military required vs how prepared some applicants were.
Huw started the MPCT with a handful of people, 23 years later their team is 180 strong, has 35 colleges across the UK and has trained over 20,000 learners.
Profit with purpose and responsible capitalism are two terms that we hear more now than ever before. The reason I was excited to talk to Hugh is that he and his team are achieving exactly that, helping people get a better start in life and find a more fulfilling job than they otherwise might have.
You can find out more about the MPCT at mpct.co.uk
This week's episode is with rugby player Toby Flood, Toby has played professional rugby for nearly 17 years, earning 60 England caps during that stime. He started his career at Newcastle, moved to Leicester Tigers where he captained the side and won 3 Premiership titles, then in France where he played with Toulouse and became fluent in French before returning to where it all began with Newcastle.
Toby is planning a big career change, his departure from rugby, in this episode we talk about what Covid has been like for a professional sportsman, how he has achieved longevity as an athlete in such a brutal sport and how he has developed as a person and leader during his career.
I recently completed a 493 mile bike ride in 5 days to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, like many people I was inspired by the rugby player Rob Burrow. I've raised just over £2,000. A disease we can't do much about at present, but hopefully with investment one day it will be curable.
The link to sponsor is here - Just Giving
Alex spent 10 years in the Army, six of which were with the Special Forces.
His journey into the Army was result of a childhood ambition but his career in Special Forces started as a result of a setback…
Alex left the Army in 2020 and now works for cyber security company Senseon as an Account Executive, he has also founded his own business called WILDNIS, which exists to provide bespoke adventures in exciting environments.
You can find out more about senseon at sension.io and wildnis at wildnis.co.uk
You can also find all episodes of the podcast on our website thewatchword.co.uk
There has been a lull in podcast related activity despite having some great guests in the pipeline. The delay has been caused by Covid related activity. Last year I spent several months working with the Army Reserve in support of the effort to counter Covid-19, spending time working on the testing programme before moving into a regional headquarters.
When I went back to running Watchword Security full time I was asked if I could help with Covid-19 testing. As a business we have subsequently put our experience to good use by helping colleges and businesses establish their testing plans.
As a result, this episode is completely different to what we normally do, I spent time talking to Penny Wycherley, the Principal and CEO of our first Covid testing client, Highbury College, and also the Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North Penny Mordaunt.
Penny Mordaunt is Paymaster General & Cabinet Office Minister, she has previous held roles in Government as International Development Secretary and as the Defence Secretary.
In this episode we talk about how the project came to be and how things have gone so far.
You can see more about what we have been doing in support of Covid-19 testing at watchwordsecurity.co.uk
Martin started mountain biking age eleven, and as you’ll hear, his passion for it is all consuming.
His journey reflects the why the podcast exists – his childhood passion, the deviation away from it due to the challenges of everyday life, but then a return to mountain biking and then the planning and delivery of a huge project in the most dramatic fashion.
Martin had an idea to build the first dedicated private mountain bike park in the UK. 4 years later Bike Park Wales opened their doors, 7 years later they are still going strong, despite huge setbacks from COVID.
Martin’s story is about realising a dream and having the determination to overcome every hurdle that comes your way in doing so.
This is the last episode before Christmas and I wanted to a say a huge thank you to everyone who’s listened to the podcast in 2020. It has been absolutely brilliant to start the podcast as it is something I have wanted to do for about six years. To realise an ambition that you have had for a long time is hugely rewarding. I have also recently received a few messages from people who are listening to the episodes from the beginning, as I have with my favourite podcasts, which is great to hear. In these podcasts we don’t talk much about current affairs, the focus is on the person and their journey, the idea being that they are relevant whenever you listen to them, so thanks again to those who have got in touch.
We have some awesome guests in the pipeline for 2021 including a couple of well known sports people, which is always exciting.
So back to this episode…check out bike park wales on facebook and Instagram, You can also find the Watchword podcast on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram – if you enjoy the podcast please leave a review on apple podcasts. Check out the Watchword podcast website!
This bonus episode is a short 8 minute breathing exercise with Clemmie. We hope you enjoy it.
You can find out more at her website Clemmie.london or on Instagram @clemmie.london
You can also find the Watchword podcast on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram – if you enjoy the podcast please leave a review on iTunes as it makes all the difference!
Clemmie worked in office-based jobs for about 10 years but gradually came to the realisation that it wasn’t for her, she became desperate to do something else and having discovered yoga she found the courage to leap from a safe career to running her own business teaching yoga, which she has subsequently taken all over the world.
The reason for doing this podcast is twofold – firstly to explore a big career change and understand how Clemmie made it happen, and secondly to talk about yoga and the huge benefits it can bring both physically and mentally.
Clemmie has also agreed to give listeners of the podcast a special price on an introductory yoga chat and online private yoga session. You can find out about yoga and get started with Clemmie for £40 instead of the usual price of £60. Go to Clemmie.london to get in touch with her and mention the podcast.
Also check out the short bonus episode in which Clemmie takes us through a breathing exercise...
You can find out more at her website Clemmie.london or on Instagram @clemmie.london
You can also find the Watchword podcast on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram – if you enjoy the podcast please leave a review on iTunes as it makes all the difference!
Scott started life as a talented all round sportsman without a particular plan. He followed his passion and studied Sports & Sports Science in great detail, eventually gaining a PHD and a PGCE.
As Scott explains, he didn’t have a plan, he kept studying because he was passionate about sport and performance.
People often say that we should follow our passions in life, whilst this is certainly true, it can be difficult to achieve when real life or pragmatism gets in the way, or perhaps you’ve never been told to follow your passion. As Scott says, he was lucky, the beginning of his career coincided with a revolution in UK Sport investment and development, he went on to spend 10 years with UK Sport working on the Olympic programme, two years at the English Rugby Football Union, three years at team Sky Cycling Performance Hub and he is now two years into his tenure as Director of Sport at Millfield School.
You can now listen to this episode and all other episodes of the podcast via our website which is https://thewatchword.co.uk, we are pleased with it, I made it with the assistance of my friend and guest number two on the podcast Paul Mather. We will be building it out further with more content over time, but for now it has every episode, a short biography of each guest and information on how and why the podcast started. So you can now listen to every episode via the website https://thewatchword.co.uk – all the links to Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts and Anchor are there already. Send us a message through the site if you have any feedback or ideas.
Marianna is an anthropologist who started her career in Marketing, she has forged a unique path combining the two disciplines leading her to her current role with Rainmaking Venture Studio.
So why anthropology? Well it’s largely because I came across Marianna's work which puts a modern spin on something that we automatically think of as ancient or traditional. The world of work fascinates me, the people, the environment, the dynamics, we are going through the latest iteration of human evolution and doing so through the internet, market trends, capitalism and COVID.
The dictionary defines anthropology as:
the study of human societies and cultures and their development.
And/or the study of human biological and physiological characteristics and their evolution.
Rainmaking Venture Studio partners with corporations to build startups to meet evolving consumer demands. It is a fascinating organisation and in Mariannas own words, she had no idea that the job she is doing now would exist two years ago.
It was great to talk to Mariannia, you can find her on LinkedIn and please do follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.
Sean changed tack from having a normal job to breaking endurance world records and writing books for a living. In this episode he tells us how.
When he was young Sean had an ambition to travel the world working as a photographer, he didn’t quite achieve his aim, and after 10 years and reaching the age of 30, he was working in the UK and specialising in school portraits. Whilst he was doing well professionally, there was something missing.
Sean made a huge career change, whilst trying to work out how to fund a life of travel, he decided he needed to break world records in order to get sponsored.
He set his sights on achieving a world’s first, worlds furthest and world’s fastest in various disciplines.
Worlds first – swam the length of Britain, World’s furthest – longest triathlon, world’s fastest – cycling across Europe from Portugal’s most westerly point in Portugal to the most easterly point in Russia.
This is a fantastic story about pursuing passion.
You can find out more about Sean via his website www.seanconway.com or via Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/seanconwayadventure
Please also do follow the podcast on Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/WatchwordPodcast
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/watchwordpodcast
or LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/65261174
Look out for the Watchword website which is coming soon!
* This episode contains detailed explanations of improvised explosive device detonation and the associated impact.
Kim joined the Army aged 16, he became an Ammunition Technician and then Bomb Disposal Operator.
He completed 10 operational tours during his career including three tours of Afghanistan. During his first tour of Afghanistan he neutralised 119 IEDs in six months and was awarded the George Cross for his actions on a particular day in Sangin. His actions that day were described as "the single most outstanding act of explosive ordnance disposal ever recorded in Afghanistan."
Kim left the Army just over a week ago and now runs Threat Reduction Limited, which provides a number of services but at the moment, during COVID, he has been producing bespoke carpentry in his workshop, you can see more at https://www.instagram.com/threat_reduction_ltd
Kim has written several books, the first of which was his autobiography ‘Painting in the Sand’ which is available on Amazon and other good bookstores. Look out for his other upcoming books Operation BLACK KEY and Operation CERTAIN DEATH.
You can find us on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/watchwordpodcast & LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/65261174
Kev spent most of his career working on the River Thames in a job with 400 years of history behind it. Watermen used to row the passengers to and from tall ships moored up in London and whilst the role has evolved the traditional skills of rope work, boat handling, navigation and knowing the tides are still required. Kev’s passion for the outdoors led to an encounter with one of the best-known adventurers in the UK and Skyrise Productions was born. The following years have included trips all over the world filming adventures, including Sean Conway’s world record speed cycling trip from Europe’s most westerly mainland point in Portugal to the most easterly in Russia.
This is a story about pursuing passion, perseverance and creativity.
You can keep up with Skyrise Productions at skyrise_ productions on Instagram or at their website skyriseproductions.co.uk
You can also find the Watchword Podcast on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Lulu is the sole founder of Clothes Doctor, a business she started in 2016 having made the leap from a successful career in the city of London.
We talk about the learning curve involved in starting a new business from scratch, the challenges of being a sole founder, fund raising via crowd funding platforms, how she plans on reinventing clothing repairs, the impact fast fashion is having on the planet and how she has had to pivot the business in 2020. A true start up story.
You can keep up with Lulu and her business via their website www.clothes-doctor.com or find them on Instagram.
Nick is the Director and Head Chef of The Patricia, the restaurant he founded in 2016 having worked at the Michelin starred River Café in London before that.
Nick talks us through how he became a chef, running his first pub and subsequent experience at top restaurants in London.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story for a number of reasons, but ultimately because it is one driven by Nick’s urge to start his own venture, his willingness to take risk when he was lacking the finances and his desire to follow his passion. Finally, it is a great story because it was enabled by his grandmother, Patricia, who he named the restaurant after.
Nick and his team have had to evolve to thrive during the COVID pandemic, a testament to the team and Nick’s ability as an entrepreneur.
You can find the The Patrica on Instagram, Facebook and at www.the-patrica.com
Also please do give the Watchword podcast a review!
Danny is the technology correspondent for The Sunday Times newspaper. He has worked at the paper since 2008 and launched his podcast 'Danny in the Valley in 2017', it is one of the best podcasts out there, highly recommend it if you are interested in technology, the world of silicon valley and even the future of humanity, because sometimes it gets pretty deep, as Danny explains.
In this episode we talk about how he got into journalism, the current situation with Tik Tok vs the US government, the impact social media is having on society, politics and children, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musks' shared objective of colonising outer space and Mark Zuckerberg announcing his plan to eradicate all disease.
Hope you enjoy the podcast and as ever find us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram @ The Watchword Podcast.
Musah grew up in rural Ghana, he had to work as a child to cover the cost of going to school. He struggled to do so and after making a shoe shine box he decided to leave home aged 14 to travel and make a living shining shoes, he made a treacherous 5000km journey from Ghana to Libya before seizing the opportunity to travel to the UK and eventually join the British Army. Now having been forced to leave the Army he has started a community-based project with the aim of changing the lives of those living in rural Ghana.
Having been introduced to Musah by a friend I found him an incredibly positive and inspirational person so it was great to talk to him. You can find him on LinkedIn and find out more about his project at www.helac.community
You can find the podcast on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/WatchwordPodcast
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/65261174
Or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/watchwordpodcast/
Jon spent 9 years as an officer in the Royal Marines, serving in Cyprus, the USA, Brazil and twice in Afghanistan. His military career came to an unexpected end and he transitioned into the corporate world, first working for Amazon.
Jon tried desperately to make it work but in his own words was dying inside. Married with 3 children he remained strong for his family but had lost his purpose. Things spiralled downwards for him and when driven to thoughts of suicide he knew that something had to change.
I find Jon’s story fascinating, partly because I relate to it having found myself in an office listening to the tapping of keyboards with similar thoughts, but also because I can’t help but think, whether service leavers or not, there are a lot of people in careers that ultimately don’t fulfil them.
Jon now runs his own business helping service leavers ignite their passion and you can find out more by visiting www.jonbeete.com
Please also do leave a review for the podcast on Apple podcasts if you can.