The power of presence with Kathryn Finney, founder of The Budget Fashionista and author of Build The Damn Thing

In the final episode of Series 5 of the Bet On Yourself podcast, I speak to global HR consultant Paul Falcone. He has worked at some of Hollywood's leading companies, including Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon, and is now setting about writing and publishing a five-book series on workplace leadership. His HR career started by chance at an executive search firm, and while it wasn't his first calling, his attitude and outlook took him to the top. Paul has some incredible stories to tell from his time in Hollywood, as well as some valuable lessons to pass on.

In this week's episode of the Bet On Yourself podcast I am joined by Sun Yi, the founder of award-winning web agency Night Owls. Sun has done it all – from 9-to-5 jobs to starting and leaving his own companies – and is now looking to create a community by way of mentorship, sharing what he has learned with the world in a scalable way. Sun's self-confessed biggest weakness might have stopped anybody else from pursuing a creative career, but he soon realized it was in fact his biggest strength. Since then, he has used his scientific, analytical approach to build successful teams and take budding creators to the next level, helped along by his experience working in a whole host of different roles throughout his career.

In this week's episode of the Bet On Yourself podcast, I am once again joined by two guests as I speak to Dr Randal Pinkett and Dr Jeffrey Robisnon, the authors of Black Faces in High Places. Published a decade after their first book, Black Faces in White Places, their latest work look at how people must not only fight for their place at the table, but use it to the benefit of others once they are there. Drawing on the examples of Carol Dweck and Barack Obama, among others, the authors talk to me about their experiences of academia, their careers and how they went about writing their newest book.

On this week's episode of the Bet On Yourself podcast, I speak to Sage Ke'alohilani Quiamno, Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Amazon Prime Video and Studios. Having wanted to be a lawyer as a child, Sage has always sought justice in the world and has since dedicated her career to ensuring that businesses – both brand-new startups and large, global corporates – are representative of the communities they serve. She is also now using her platform to give back to the people of Hawaii through trust-based philanthropy, as a board member of the Hawaii People's Fund. Sage's story from international canoe paddling competitions to boardrooms across America is as colourful as it is moving, and I can't wait to share it with you today.

On this week's episode of the Bet On Yourself podcast, I am joined by not one, but two amazing guests in Liane Katz and Rumbi Pfende of MAMA.Codes, a coding school for toddlers and children in the UK. Their business was born out of frustration – children were not getting the digital education they needed to survive in tomorrow's world. That frustration aligned with passions and interests in STEM subjects to create the perfect storm, and MAMA.Codes was born. Having had the foresight to take things online just before the pandemic hit, business boomed as parents were stuck at home with their children and now they've got their sights set on the next chapter of their story.

On this week's episode of the Bet On Yourself podcast, I speak to Rick Pastoor. Having mastered his own time management, Rick wrote an internal guide for employees at his start-up, Blendle, on how to be more efficient with their own. After making it public, GRIP became an overnight best-seller in the Netherlands, which saw it go on to be published internationally. Rick admits that his principles are nothing new, but the way in which he presents the ideas in GRIP has meant they have landed with people in a way that has completely transformed their lives – personally and professionally. 

This week on the Bet On Yourself podcast I'm speaking to Maria Brito, author of How Creativity Rules The World. I have been itching to sit down with Maria because she is the ultimate example of betting on yourself, having left behind a successful legal career to pursue her passion – art. Now she is a Curator, a Collector and a Consultant to a long list of impressive names, from chart-topping singers to Fortune 500 companies. But how did she step out on to Wall Street one day and leave it all behind, before finding her new path? And how can you channel your creativity to enable success in the world of business? Well, she's here to tell us.

I speak to Joe Haslam in this week's episode of the Bet On Yourself podcast, who has spent his entire career starting and building businesses and is now passing his wisdom on to the next generation of business leaders. Joe has seen several businesses scale from their infancy to having multi-million dollar balance sheets, and has an unrivalled insight into what it takes to overcome the inevitable imposter syndrome and create win-win situations for you and your bosses. Returning to his roots in academia, Joe is now leading the Owners' Scaleup Program at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain, teaching students how to not only find, but to create success.

In the latest episode of the Bet On Yourself podcast, I spoke to former CNN, CNBC and Bloomberg news anchor Nicole Lapin to talk about how she flipped her career on its head, leaving the news desk behind to become a best-selling author. Despite not coming from a background in finance, Nicole has overcome her sense of imposter syndrome to master the money conversation, making finance a more accessible and transparent topic for her readers. Already a four-time published author, Nicole now has a seven-book deal in the pipeline as she continues sharing her incredible stories and insight with the world.

This episode with Kathryn Finney, the Budget Fashionista turned entrepreneur, investor and author, examines how identifying opportunity can lead to untold success – but this isn't just Kathryn's story. Her own father's career change gave her a "lesson on living", and from there she has gone on to make a hugely positive impact on the world, and as a result has a beautiful, compelling and engaging story to tell.