Follow Clare, Leor, Laura, and Matt on LinkedIn

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Timestamps

01:21 - Meet the Contenders: Four Perspectives on Growth
07:04 - The Main Event: What Really Drives Growth?
10:02 - The Four Rs: Recognition, Reputation, Relationships & Revenue
12:13 - The Human Element: Why Relationships Still Matter
14:49 - Commoditized vs. Sophisticated: When Partners Matter Most
19:20 - The Future of Legal Services: Human Skills vs. AI
21:27 - Navigating Change: Rethinking How Legal Work Is Delivered
26:29 - The Bigger Picture: Recognising the Whole Growth Team
28:10 - Clare's Final Word: Are Partners Really the Primary Drivers?
28:33 - The Verdict: A Draw

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This week we tried unsuccessfully to put a bucket hat on a moose (three people were killed) all in order to create a Canadian/Manc symbol powerful enough to lure in Commonwealth comic queen, Allyson June Smith.

Hailing from the land of Mounties and saying ‘eh?’, Allyson now resides in Manchester, a base from which she has built one of the busiest and most eclectic careers in comedy.

As well as serving up scoopfuls of her nervelessly candid humour through her own stand-up shows, she’s also toured the country as a warm up act (laugh lubricant?) for some of the biggest names in the funny business.

She’s also all over the media landscape like bear on hiker, appearing regularly on tv, radio and her two own excellent podcasts - Women Talking Bollocks (funny) and Horror Motel (terrifying).

In a chat where Giles struggles to conceal the fact that the only Canadian he truly trusts is Celine Dion, we skate through everything from the pressures of comedy content creation to the subtleties of winning over different kinds of audience - all before she disappears back on the road for Allyson Wonderland, her current UK tour.

Follow Allyson on Instagram

This episode is proudly dedicated to Joan Rivers.

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Timestamps

03:35 - From Acting Dreams to Stand-Up Comedy
06:42 - Glasses On or Off?
14:02 - The Secret Society of Stand-Up
20:58 - Cultural Influences: Growing Up Canadian
24:24 - North vs South: Finding Your Comedy Audience
26:20 - What Actually Makes Something Funny?
31:01 - The Power of Humour in Dark Times
36:06 - Two Very Different Podcasts
41:07 - Horror Films and Comedy: More in Common Than You Think

Allyson’s book recommendations are:

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

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This week we spent all our time pressing the flesh (until finding out we’d misunderstood what that means and getting very firmly asked to leave Subway) all in order to win the approval of this week’s guest, the master networker Oli Barrett MBE.

Blessed with the ability to bring together the right people with the right ideas at the right time, Oli has built a reputation for being the nation’s ultimate connector. But, being a fine fellow as well as a canny-business operator, he has used his powers for good – forming remarkable social change initiatives like ‘Tenner’, the UK’s largest schools entrepreneurship competition and ‘Turn On The Subtitles’, a global children’s literacy campaign.

Deftly uniting the worlds of entrepreneurship, innovation, education and social impact, Oli has been rightly lauded and awarded for his considerable efforts – bagging, among other accolades, the title of ‘Most Connected Man in Britain’ from Wired and a place in GQs ‘Top 100 connected figures’. Plus there’s the small matter of being awarded an actual MBE from the actual Queen who, we assume, Oli was able to successfully introduce to an off-the-grid artisan driving-goggle manufacturer based in the Peak District.

In a chat where Oli reveals the magic behind all his connective conjury, we ponder everything from the value of active learning to the magnetic powers of a well-built network.

Follow Oli on LinkedIn

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Timestamps

02:27 – Quick Fire Questions
05:18 – The Zigzag Journey: Dropping Out and Moving On
11:04 – Disney World vs. Lecture Halls: The Awakening
12:01 – Networking: Chance Encounters vs Intentional Connections
14:40 – The First Business: Amazing You
18:05 – The £10 Challenge That Took Off
24:22 – The Power of Defaults: Small Changes, Big Impact
26:04 – Permission to Create: The Entrepreneurial Mindset
30:08 – Connecting the Dots: How to Build Real Networks
35:45 – The Art of Introduction: What Actually Makes It Work

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Oli’s book recommendations are:

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Reflections on Success by Martyn Lewis
The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger

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