Ever wondered where the canvas tote bags, which we’ve become so reliant on for everyday errands, come from? In the episode, we hear from Smruti Sriram from Supreme Creations, the world’s largest ethical manufacturer of reusable bags with 50,000 clients across Europe. Originally a business set up by her father, she was the pioneer behind shifting perceptions of these sustainable bags by partnering his fashion labels to make them somewhat of a fashion icon in their own right.
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In this episode, we’re joined by Harry Stebbings- the 20 yr old who has become somewhat of a star in the Venture Capital industry. He set out to make his mark on it after watching Peter Thiel invest in Facebook in the The Social Network movie as a teen. Harry is the host of the 20 Minute VC podcast where he has interviewed over 600 investors and thought-leaders, he’s amassed over 100k subscribers and has sponsors queuing up to put their services in front of his audience.
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“At the most basic level, the thing that makes movies at Pixar unique is its dedication to story.”
In this episode, we’re joined by Danielle Feinberg, the Director of Photography at Pixar who has created stories with heart, soul and wonder for 12 Pixar movies and counting! We go behind the scenes of Pixar classics including A Bug’s Life, Wall-E, Brave, Finding Nemo (and Dory) to discuss its infamous creative process and the edge between believable and fantastical. Like all of us and Pixar’s lovable characters, she’s on this adventure called life and we delve into her passions of weaving maths, code and art together to make enchanted worlds that truly turn imagination into a reality. Talk about impact – who hasn’t been tear-jerked by a Pixar classic?!
Available as podcast in iTunes (Apple) and Stitcher (Android)
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“Kids are born scientists, born explorers, born tinkerers! They touch, they feel, they ask questions – that’s how they learn.”
Sahar Meghani is one of many girls who enjoyed science growing up. She was bored of the lack of sophisticated toys on offer for her nieces and couldn’t understand why houses in the UK aren’t full of craft kits, like the US. She’s on a mission to teach kids with Trunkaroo– a subscription box with hands-on DIY arts and science maker kits for the home which both entertain and educate the little ones. In today’s episode we’ll hear about:
- Making that painful switch from a stable career in finance to tech startups
- Why hands-on learning is back on the rise in the age of instant gratification as the iPad becomes the modern babysitter
- The need to instill a maker mindset in kids through gender neutral toys
- The key factors in nailing a subscription model as every e-commerce business aspires to become the next Dollar Shave Club!
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“I used to watch young men and pigs fight for the same resources on a rubbish dump- just being moved by it was a totally inadequate response.”
Rocco Falconer is in my serial entrepreneur category with a handful of agricultural companies across West Africa. He founded Planting Promise a farm which feeds profits back into schools in Sierra Leone, educating over 1500 kids and is just at the start of bringing Ghanaian coconut water to shelves in the UK, US and South Africa. Not even 30 yet, he had a quintessentially British upbringing in London, attended Cambridge, spent a short stint in the army with a thirst for adventure and a north star to solve social global issues.
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“We like misfits here! There’s a big streak of anti- authoritarianism in British comedy… people who are a bit flawed and not that self aware”.
Fancy yourself a bit of a comedian? Join Shane Allen who heads up Comedy at the BBC- the UK’s public service broadcaster. He’s sourced and collaborated with mavericks such as Ricky Gervais, James Cordon and Sacha Baron Cohen and is the mastermind behind some of your best loved shows with a hand in Ali G, Peep Show, The Inbetweeners to more recently People Just Do Nothing. We’ll journey behind the scenes through his escapades in the media industry to understand what makes something funny!
The post #14 Ali G, The Inbetweeners and People Just Do Nothing- the mastermind behind British comedy w/ Shane Allen BBC appeared first on Samira Stalks.
“I was spat at, abused and told I would never work in this town again… but it made sense to me and the women I wanted to help.”
We discuss fashion, business and social impact with my guest – Leah Rodrigues- the founder of Holi, a premium outerwear fashion line for women.
She was one of four raised by a single mother who instilled what I call graft! Born in New Zealand and turning up in London with a bag and a couple of hundred pounds, she worked literally any job to the pay the bills to be able to start her own designer coat line, Holi.
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“We experienced the frustration of being a small startup so went back to the vision of it’s about the people and stories can help us transcend cultural barriers”
Hear Franco’s story of DreamAfrica – it curates stories from local African communities, animates them and whips them together in a digital subscription service reaching kids, families and schools across smartphones, tablets and laptops. It wants kids to grow up with a more diverse selection of stories, more relevant to them and importantly shedding a new light on Africa.
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“At the same time I started meditating at 14, I built a prototype in 2005 for the Calm app but never launched it.”
Join Alex Tew – a serial entrepreneur- the founder of the Calm mindfulness app and one of those who made his $1m in his bedroom, whilst in his teens, with a marketing viral hit called the Million Dollar Homepage.
A meditator since the age of 14, he’s bringing mindfulness to the masses through the app- the latest craze in the wellbeing space for happier, healthier living. It’s taken the western world by storm, starting with just 10 minutes a day- its no wonder it has over 5m downloads and is in the top 150 of the Apple’s highest grossing apps!
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“I had a hard time selling my first company to Groupon… I always wonder what could have been.”
Join Sheel Mohnot- a serial entrepreneur from Silicon Valley- who has not one but two startup exits under his belt. His first venture was structuring one of the highest stakes auction of our time where the likes of Amazon, Google and others went head to head in a battle over internet domain names! Currently a Partner at 500 startups and an angel investor focussed on FinTech, we will journey through his mission of bringing “finance to the rest of us”.
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“Whilst running, I had the chance to reject my own shame whilst free-bleeding but millions don’t- only 12% of women in India have access to sanitary pads…” Shake s&!t up!
We hear from another crazy, badass lady on the show- Kiran Gandhi- a drummer, activist and music artist. Still under 30, she ran the marathon free-bleeding, after being on tour with M.I.A as her drummer, whilst at Harvard Business School.
We’ll hear her story of:
- what touring the world with MIA was like whilst studying for an MBA at Harvard;
- as a rising activist, we’ll get into what drove her to run the London marathon last year free-bleeding -
- whilst on her period- she ran with blood dripping down her leggings to raise awareness of menstruation issues in the developing world… Eyebrows raised? Me too- we’ll hear how she dealt with the media aftermath;
- lastly, we touch on her her four-step formula for promoting any social justice cause as she continues to move forward the ‘future is female’ campaign, inspiring young women across the world through her own solo music career as MADAME GANDHI
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“The allure of the unknown is far more comfortable than the known – go further. More important than leaving a legacy is that my ideas will remain behind in the minds of people. Let’s be proudly human – let’s do things that makes us a proud species”
In this episode, we hear from aspiring martian Adriana Marais, one of the last one hundred finalist’s of the Mars 1 mission, hoping to jet off to Mars on a one way ticket in 2026. Born and raised on Earth in South Africa, she is one of the many who had hopes of becoming an astronaut but one of the few who carried through with it. Currently an academic researcher with scientific pursuits in the emerging field of quantum astrobiology, she read about the mission to send humans, on a one way ticket, to Mars at breakfast one morning…Her body shivered as she knew at that moment, she was going to attempt to leave Earth and dedicate her own life to the advancement of human knowledge.
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The podcast that brings you interviews with reckless dreamers and their stories of entrepreneurship, innovation and impact. Each week, we’ll talk to dreamers from an eclectic mix of fields- the arts, sciences, education, digital, social enterprise, sport, retail- you name it! We’ll weave through their professional and personal journey to uncover the secrets to their success but sure to talk about failure too! You’ll pick up the business education you need, from funding, strategy, and operations to marketing. It’s all to help you follow your own reckless dream so if you’re curious, creative and ready to make an impact on this world then this is for you!
Inspired by StartUp, TED and Desert Island Discs.
www.samirastalks.com
"In the UK we find failure harder to accept than in the US".
We hear from Taymoor Atighetchi- a serial entrepreneur- on building a digital brand in personalised goods, Papier which is looking to disrupt the cards gifts and stationary space in the UK.
We’ll hear his commitment to being a serial entrepreneur, starting from selling art as a child, building a media company, The Tab, at university to the launch of Papier itself.
We discuss how he bucked the Silicon Valley trend of being a sole founder without a co-founder partner in crime and lastly his views on the new school wave of the more risk averse entrepreneurs that are bubbling up.
"Love is proportional to will power..."
Stemming from a throwaway Instagram photo of strangers on a plane talking about what love means, Chrissie - a change-making fashionista- has created the LOVE IS bracelet. It follows a Toms' type model- produced by Maasai tribes and distributed on mass scale by American Eagle and Whole Foods.
We’ll hear her story of how her passion for concept design, a sabbatical and how she was keen to create jobs rather than charity through this work.
"The language in which we interact with machines is only going to become more relevant – robotics, AI, machine learning… the next generation needs to be prepared."
I’m joined by Yonatan Raz Fridman from Kano. If any of you have been around toddlers or kids recently, you’ll be flabbergasted at the speed at which they can use digital devices! Some can’t even talk yet but can play a Youtube video of their favourite sing along!
Kano is on a mission to make the world a place where anyone can make, learn and play with technology. It’s right at the forefront of disrupting the education landscape by empowering kids to make their first physical computer- it’s claimed to be as easy as Lego – on top of that it’s teaching them to code in a fun and playful way.
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"One of the ways we approached this… we always said it is worth it even if it’s a complete flop as we’re making a product that we think is a good one! It doesn’t matter if it fails!"
In this episode, we hear from with Mark Jenner, an ardent cyclist who’s created Beeline- a new navigation product for urban cyclists for greener, cleaner living. It helps them find those quiet nugget routes in cities that they otherwise wouldn’t find using Google Maps.
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"Early on I took one job as an art consultant but it was a total disaster, it was a complete scam… but out of it, at least I found my future gallery partner."
I was joined by Alexander Warder who runs a contemporary art gallery Bosse and Baum with another young lady in Peckham, London- a mecca for young businesses.
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"There is a huge grassroots entrepreneurial spirit in Uganda but the bureaucracy is miles behind."
I was joined by Henry Blanchard earlier this week who launched the first international marathon in Uganda – now in its second year. He’s starting a meaningful travel movement with a week long immersive experience including community outreach and a festival-marathon mashup in the district of Massaka, west of Lake Victoria, in central Uganda.
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