Millionaire-making tech start-ups are most often associated with Silicon Valley. But this software revolution begins on a woman’s kitchen table in rural Britain in the 1960s. Steve Shirley faced extraordinary odds. After escaping Nazi Germany as a child, she later encountered workplace discrimination and endured deep personal tragedy. But she persevered to build a business decades ahead of its time, creating opportunities for hundreds of women.

Tim Harford is joined by Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business and host of The Unshakeables podcast, to explore the life, legacy and lessons of an overlooked titan of tech.

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Everyone's talking about AI. In boardrooms, in government and around the kitchen tables — it's everywhere. But what does it actually mean for small businesses, and how are they using it to get ahead?

Recorded live at South by Southwest, Ben and Kathleen are joined onstage by Oz Woloshyn — journalist, CEO of Kaleidoscope tech podcast network and a small business owner himself — to cut through the noise and focus on what AI actually means for the people running businesses day to day. Kathleen also shares how several past guests are already putting AI to work. You’ll hear real examples with real impact, and learn whether this moment finally tips the scales in favor of small business owners.

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Nubia Perez had a plan for her life — marry abroad, raise trilingual kids and build something global. But when her father fell ill, Gretna Machine Shop needed her more than her plans did. The family business was suddenly without direction, and Nubia stepped in to put out fires. But the business didn’t need a firefighter — it needed a leader. For a decade, both Nubia and the company muddled through what she calls the "dark ages," until one day, a children's movie gave her the answer she'd been looking for.

Join Ben Walter and Kathleen Griffith as they talk to Nubia about stepping up unexpectedly, building an oil and gas business in Houston (it’s a good place for it!), and why flat leadership doesn’t mean leaderless. These are The Unshakeables.

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