Creative Journeys: Story | Sound | Success

01 From Corporate Careers to Entrepreneurial Success

• Jo Day / Lucy Rennie • Season 1 • Episode 1

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Hey up Folks! I’m Jo Day, and welcome to the very first episode of Creative Journeys, the podcast where we explore stories, strategies, and experiences that shape successful small businesses and entrepreneurs. Alongside me is my amazing co-host, Lucy Rennie. Together, we’ll be diving deep into how our diverse career paths, from corporate giants to solo ventures—have shaped who we are today and how they can inspire your journey too.

Episode Summary
In this premiere episode, Jo Day and Lucy Rennie share their personal and professional journeys, showcasing how their extensive corporate experiences shaped their entrepreneurial paths. Lucy recounts her rise through the ranks in multinational companies, handling multimillion-euro budgets, and her eventual pivot to helping SMEs build sustainable brands through communication strategies. Jo shares her story of managing large-scale energy sector projects, transitioning to consultancy, and starting her own business in Lanzarote.

This episode unpacks the lessons learned from high-pressure boardrooms to running small businesses, highlighting the importance of clear communication, authentic leadership, and the courage to embrace imperfection. Jo and Lucy also touch on balancing passion with practicality and how the core principles of large organisations can be adapted for solopreneurs and SMEs.

Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur, an SME owner, or simply curious about navigating creative careers, this episode is packed with insights, real-life stories, and actionable advice.

Key Takeaways

  • Bring Corporate Lessons to Small Business: Learn how to distil the structure and systems of corporate life into manageable, practical strategies for small businesses.
  • The Power of Communication: How clear messaging can build trust, enhance relationships, and create a strong brand foundation.
  • Embrace Your Authentic Self: Success doesn’t require perfection; staying true to yourself creates meaningful connections with your audience.
  • From Big Budgets to Small Startups: Leveraging past experiences to drive innovation, efficiency, and sustainable growth in smaller ventures.

Thanks so much for joining us on this exciting first episode of Creative Journeys! We’d love to hear your thoughts—leave a review, share the episode with a friend, or connect with us on social media. And don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode! Stay curious and keep creating.

We would love to hear from you, send us a text!

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[00:00:00] Jo Day: Hey up, folks. How are we all? Welcome to this very first episode of Creative Journeys, the podcast, and also YouTube channel. I'm Jo Day. 

[00:00:12] Lucy Rennie: And I'm Lucy Rennie, and I'm super excited to be here as well for this very first episode of our new podcast. 

[00:00:20] Jo Day: Luce, just to kick off, I wanted to start by sharing a little bit of our background and experience in the corporate world, in the online space, and bricks and mortar business.

[00:00:32] Jo Day: As this is a brand new show, Can you give us a quick whistle stop tour of what Creative Journeys means to you and why you were so interested in getting this podcast and YouTube channel up and running and basically sharing all your knowledge with everybody who's watching and listening? 

[00:00:54] Lucy Rennie: All of that in just 10 minutes, Jo, is that what I've got?

[00:00:57] Jo Day: Yeah, just the headlines. 

[00:01:00] Lucy Rennie: I'm genuinely dead excited. I think we've probably talked about this already in the trailer, but I'm dead excited about this podcast, especially to be collaborating with you. Because , for me, you're a breath of fresh air and I think there's something really special about just the conversations that we can have and the, different experiences and perspectives that we both bring to.

[00:01:23] Lucy Rennie: Business and to the world of, I suppose to the world of small, business and creativity. So who am I, why do I want to be part of this and why should people maybe want to listen to me a little bit? Quick overview of who I am. I am a business communications consultant, mentor, and coach.

[00:01:44] Lucy Rennie: I have spent pretty much all of my life working and being curious about business, whether that's starting in a small shop in, in, back when I was 12, 13, right through to when I moved to France in 2000, 2001 and started working with some of the large corporations.

[00:02:05] Lucy Rennie: Whether that's Airbus at the time when they were creating the A380, one of my first roles was to help the different nationalities, the different teams from the different countries actually communicate together and work together and break down the cultural barriers. I've always had a real passion for language, for communication, for people, for relationships.

[00:02:26] Lucy Rennie: And so everything there in terms of how we work together and how we can create magic has always intrigued me. From there I Also worked with other big organizations like Scania where, you know, seeing the production line of those trucks in Angers in France and just How clean it was that you could you would, you could literally eat off the floor in those workspaces.

[00:02:52] Lucy Rennie: It was so clean and tidy. And the sort of the, six Sigma approach and all those different things that they were doing really helped me to, really to create that. Passion I've got for manufacturing, for engineering, for real industry. And from then I went to work for Arcelor, which was the equivalent of British steel at the time, but European steel.

[00:03:17] Lucy Rennie: A amalgamation of all the different steel sites in Europe that came together to create one. And. Really, that's where my, journey in communication and real business started. I, I had the chance to become a VA to the, what they call in France, in French, the president of France, but it was basically the CEO of France.

[00:03:40] Lucy Rennie: And it was the time when we were just starting to, really speak English in Europe and things. And so I was there to, really to shadow him and help him to do what he did, but in English. So I learned so much and it was then that I got the opportunity to start to, to work on the internal communications, to create engagement, to understand, the, power, in looking after your people and creating a great culture.

[00:04:08] Lucy Rennie: It was the time when, we, really dived into a safety first culture. We, at that time, so back in sort of 2005, 2006, still was, It wasn't a safe place to be and so one of the big programs that we worked on was helping to move from a sort of a dependent culture into an interdependent culture where guys, we got the teams to actually wear their safety helmets because they wanted to and because they wanted each other to be safe rather than doing it because the boss was coming around the corner and he was you had to put it on quick.

[00:04:41] Lucy Rennie: And that was just life changing for me to move through that and be part of those discussions and those campaigns and that, those real behavioural changes and Yeah, I suppose working in that sense from, in, in France, moving up through the ranks for sort of 10 years, really, to a point where I became head of communications, looking after sort of 360 different sites all around the world in terms of internal comms, in terms of safety, in terms of marketing, PR, and all those different things was just incredible.

[00:05:14] Lucy Rennie: And the stories that I've got to share, which will come onto a no in different episodes are amazing. So I'm conscious of time. But to cut a long story short, 10 years, 12 years doing that, moved back then to to the UK, which again is another story for another day as an expat, but kept my office and my job in Luxembourg.

[00:05:33] Lucy Rennie: So I would commute every week. And then in 2015, when I was about to have my little girl, it was time to leave the corporate world because I just didn't want to be in a Hilton hotel every week and flying around all the time. And that's when I began LR comms, which was me thinking, do you know what? I could take what I was doing for the big steel industry, different sites and, bring that to support small businesses.

[00:06:00] Lucy Rennie: I knew there was lots of PR people. There was lots of marketing people, but there was no one really who was Helping businesses and business owners to embrace communication itself. And as I'm a massive believer in communication and how, if you can nail that, actually you can do everything.

[00:06:18] Lucy Rennie: And that's the ripple effect of, everything. You don't need marketing really, if you can get your comms right. It's going to be 10 years next year. I've been doing this. So yeah, it's been going and has grown really from strength to strength through word of mouth since then. And now that's what I do.

[00:06:35] Lucy Rennie: So I work with SMEs, engineering, manufacturing, and I help them audit, create strategies, become a non exec for their teams. But ultimately what I do really, and where my passion is I mentor their in house teams. So instead of outsourcing everything, I try and help them to create an inside out approach to building their brand, to creating a sustainable business.

[00:06:58] Lucy Rennie: And. It works. I know it works. I'm a massive believer in it and it's got to start with you at the top with the leader, but then eventually as you get through that, you've just become an incredible dynamic brand and business that's, that runs well into the future that people want to work with, that people want to buy from and people just want to shout about from the rooftop.

[00:07:17] Lucy Rennie: That's what it's all about. That's what I do today. I'm dead excited about it. I'm dead passionate about it. And as I, yeah I want to help more people do what they love and love what they do. So In a nutshell, 

[00:07:30] Lucy Rennie: that's it. 

[00:07:30] Jo Day: Do you know what I love, Luce, is we've got very similar backgrounds in terms of big corporate careers and then a point in life deciding don't want to live in a Hilton Hotel anymore.

[00:07:45] Jo Day: And, Setting up your own business. And for me, I ended up living in more in a hotel when I set mine up. But just, to cover off a few things, cause you're corks are ready pop. So for anyone listening, give an idea of the scale of budget that you've managed in terms of. Marketing or teams department.

[00:08:14] Jo Day: So it's not just comms you were responsible for you, were financially responsible for comms for 360 sites across Europe. What sort of level of financial responsibility was that? 

[00:08:29] Lucy Rennie: Gosh, so yeah, it's a really good question. I had a budget centrally to me. So for, my team and what we were doing, yeah, it was managed centrally that helped all the different sites.

[00:08:41] Lucy Rennie: It was up to 30, 30 million. We talked, about some of the events that we've organized with those leaders around the world, where we were talking Some of them, it was like a million pounds, million euros in that stage. So 1. 5 million conferences, but yeah, ultimately I was responsible for sort of anything between 20 and 30 million euros a year in terms of spend on, everything to do with internal teams, engagement, safety, but also then looking at marketing events, PR and all the collateral and everything that goes with it.

[00:09:17] Lucy Rennie: Yeah, I've sat in some big C suite, boardrooms and being part of those decisions and being part of that those teams that really have brought about change 

[00:09:28] Jo Day: The reason I start there with the size of the budget, 30 million, and you spending this money within the financial year, each spend is allocated somewhere, right? I want, what I want to get across to people is you then become responsible for projects and programs.

[00:09:49] Jo Day: So it's not just about, Lucy knows a lot about communication and PR and, messaging and all of that kind of thing. It's financial planning. It's project and program management. It becomes operational excellence. It's brand management. It's people management. It's all of the things and it's a lot of Pre self employed, a long career prior to that with big, huge responsibilities. So it's a lot of lived experience of going through all of the motions of running a business. Yeah. That's what I wanted to get across. It's not just, it's I'm a comms specialist or this is what I've done.

[00:10:30] Jo Day: It's hard to get your head around how much is involved in that from, a, it's touching every part of the business, every part, even health and safety. 

[00:10:42] Lucy Rennie: It's such a, it's such a really, valid point and I think that's the bit where it still blows my mind now sitting on my little hill in my office in Whaley Bridge.

[00:10:52] Lucy Rennie: Thinking back to the, the, experiences that I've had or those conversations or being part of that world where, like you say, especially communications, and I don't think people necessarily, like you say, understand the power of that because it does, it actually is part of every organization. So you're not just working with the site manager.

[00:11:16] Lucy Rennie: Thinking about the teams or thinking about the customers, but you're working with the finance team about how do we communicate those numbers? How do we make sure that people have understood that? You're working with the CEO to make sure that people have bought into the vision and you're having conversations or you're, supporting and it's, not easy.

[00:11:34] Lucy Rennie: The HSC or the The local site managers who've got to go and talk to the families of somebody who's just had an accident or a fatal accident even on a, on the in the site. So we're talking, it's incredible. I think it's almost probably the heartbeat of an organization and it impacts every different every, element of it.

[00:11:58] Lucy Rennie: So yeah, and I think that's the bit that people miss. I think if we can, that's what I want to bring really is actually if we can come with that approach. 

[00:12:08] Jo Day: For anybody watching or listening to the podcast, how do you translate that big corporate career down to somebody who say a solopreneur, self employed or micro business.

[00:12:23] Jo Day: How do you translate that information for them? Because I think there's an amazing structure that comes from corporate, that people tend to forget when they close the door on a corporate career, all of the structure that we learned in corporate that's really useful tends to fall by the wayside and people get a little bit lost.

[00:12:46] Jo Day: I think I've got an idea for myself of how we go from this huge corporate entity with all the really valid checkpoints that help you to think differently. That you may not have that challenge when you're working for yourself or if you're a very, small team.

[00:13:04] Jo Day: So how, do you translate that down from large corporate entity to supporting somebody who is, starting out a business? 

[00:13:15] Lucy Rennie: Such a good point. Cause I think, first of all, I think a lot of people who are just starting out. It's almost like this weird thing that happens when you start a business is that you you want to get rid of everything that you've, already done as if it doesn't count because you're, suddenly starting this new career as a business owner.

[00:13:32] Lucy Rennie: Whereas actually I think it's really important to bring that with you because actually that's the experience that you've had and whatever industry it is, I think there's, we're always learning, aren't we? So actually there's always something to bring. I think for me. I think the main thing I bring or the main way I look at it is it come, whether it's a corporate huge organization or whether it's a one man band, we're talking about people, it's all about relationships, connection, communication.

[00:14:01] Lucy Rennie: It's about being clear on who you are, about what you do, about why you're doing what you're doing. It's about telling those stories. And it's about making people feel something when you're interacting with them, whether that's customers or people that you partner with or that you want to work with you.

[00:14:14] Lucy Rennie: And I think. There's a really, I know that I've learned so much in my corporate career that of structure and ways of doing things that yes, we don't have to sometimes there's things that are heavy and we're quite pleased to leave behind in terms of maybe some of those things that become tedious and repetitive or we're doing it for the sake of it because it's such a big machine.

[00:14:38] Lucy Rennie: So I think it's more about being, bringing the lean side of things. So that lean is actually in the continuous improvement side of it. So there's a little 1 percent marginal, always looking to improve and how can you do better and never sitting still. And then just, I think the bit for me is just doing a good job, doing what you're here to do and enjoying it.

[00:14:59] Lucy Rennie: And, and sharing that. 

[00:15:02] Jo Day: That's the magic, isn't it? 

[00:15:05] Jo Day: People do the 9 to 5, and it's never a 9 to 5. People are always doing free stuff, but to the benefit of the company that they work for. Like checking emails after hours, because everything's accessible. They're not on the go now, it's constantly switched on.

[00:15:26] Jo Day: They want to shut the door on that and become self employed because they're dreaming of a different, better life. Whatever that looks like for them. Success is measured differently for different people. When you're first starting out, you are wearing 17 hats of, there is no line manager to go to anymore.

[00:15:47] Jo Day: There is no IT support line. Yeah, there is no but. No. You're doing all the jobs, all the things, until you've found your feet and you can actually bring in some support. Yeah. There's a lot that we can share with people, because both you and I have been on this journey. We've both had big corporate careers, and we've both become self employed.

[00:16:13] Jo Day: and have very similar backgrounds and experiences, although mine's not in communications. No, 

[00:16:21] Lucy Rennie: and I think that's where, I think everyone's going, come on Jo, tell us what did you do? So share a little bit then, because I think I, and I think this is where we are going to have really juicy conversations, because I think we've been there, got the t shirt, but at the same time come at it from different perspectives, don't we?

[00:16:37] Lucy Rennie: Yeah, go on, share a little bit then about where. Where you started and how it all, yeah, a little bit of your background so that people can see and they will, they'll be like, oh bloody hell, wow, that's and they'll want to listen to 

[00:16:50] Jo Day: you. Yeah. So when I first left school similar to you, like I've always known there was an entrepreneur in me and I've always had this innate way of making money.

[00:17:02] Jo Day: So from the age of 10, I used to find a way of making my own money. My first job was in retail and I worked for a hypermarket with the cooperative. And at the age of 15, I had straight from school, I'd go straight up to the co op and from four in the afternoon until eight, eight 30 at night, nine o'clock, and then Saturdays and Sunday, I'd be working in a huge hypermarket retail store on the tills and also in the hardware department or wherever I was needed, but predominantly in the hardware with the plates, the pots and pans, the plastics, the birthday cards and I really enjoyed it a lot.

[00:17:44] Jo Day: In fact, I loved it. I love retail so much that it was incredible. And then I went to college and that's where I then trained in retail management and distribution, and I went back to school. Cut a long story short, I flunked at school. I then, in my early 20s, went back to sixth form as an adult learner, and I went back and I re sat my exams and did business management and administration.

[00:18:09] Lucy Rennie: I think that's a conversation again for another day of School and how it's because I think you're like me just wanted to get on with it and do it and it changes Why are you doing it and stuff? So 

[00:18:21] Jo Day: yeah, 

[00:18:22] Jo Day: So I then moved into transport and that was not through choice. It was because I've got a young family.

[00:18:30] Jo Day: So I had three young children under the age of six and childcare was really expensive and I was single, I was a single parent. So I looked after the kids during the daytime and the schooling and whatever, and then I went and worked nights. So the kids didn't miss out on having a mum because I went and worked nights or at least in the early years.

[00:18:53] Jo Day: And then after doing that for four and a half, five years, working in transport, I then accidentally ended up with a job in electricity supply working for one of the big six energy suppliers in the UK at the time. And I say it was accidentally, it's because I was the transport manager for a large, organization in terms of, I was responsible for all the, HGV vehicles out on the road, but my eldest daughter ended up in hospital.

[00:19:25] Jo Day: Supposed to be for five days, it turned out it was actually for three months, and the hospital was in Birmingham, and where I worked was in Stoke on Trent, but I needed to be in Birmingham, so I had to I took voluntary redundancy essentially so I could be at the hospital with my daughter. And then she was then having to be homeschooled for a few months while she was recovering from a surgery that went wrong.

[00:19:50] Jo Day: And As soon as we got a tutor for it and I was able to go back work part time, I took a job part time six in the morning till nine in the morning, five days a week, working for npower, preparing operational reports for them, call reports and whatever for the contact centre. I'd never worked in that industry before.

[00:20:12] Jo Day: before knew nothing about it other than what I learned and from October and then in the December their HR, one of the HR managers came to me and said We'd like you to be a team manager. So they arranged for me to have a team manager assessment. And then that was in the January and go to the assessment center.

[00:20:33] Jo Day: I got the team manager job and I found it ridiculously easy and tediously boring. All in equal measured. So I do all the team management stuff. We were looking after all the billing of customers accounts and whatever, but then I trained in project management. I was training in Six Sigma and all the things whilst doing learning as well.

[00:21:00] Jo Day: So once I go into an industry, My brain has to know everything. So I was researching, reading all the things. So as a result of qualifying and project management, Agile, Six Sigma, I then became a troubleshooter for the operational business and got moved into different departments to go and fix things or find what was going wrong.

[00:21:23] Jo Day: Why was there a backlog appearing here? Or why was so many complaints happening over there? How do we get the debt down over here? So I became the operational. Then ended up running a department for change management, where we were dealing with reactive change to problems that came up in the IT departments, but then regulatory change that was coming in, highly regulated industry.

[00:21:49] Jo Day: And we, I was program managing things and project managing as well. How I became self employed was there were a lot of consultants coming in and being stuck to work with me who were paid four or five times more than I was. It was a financial thing, I'm not going to lie. I ended up becoming self employed because I begrudged working next to somebody who needed my help and support but they were being paid five times more.

[00:22:16] Jo Day: I 

[00:22:16] Lucy Rennie: so get it. Yeah, it's, and it's frustrating when they don't know the business, like you say, they needed you, didn't they? Yeah, they needed me. 

[00:22:26] Jo Day: I put my notice in, I was offered a company car and a 10 grand pay rise on the spot on submitting my notice, which I turned down, it was too little too late. And I set up a company called Smart Change Consulting, and I have never looked back, that was in 2010.

[00:22:44] Jo Day: And smart metering was coming out then, I worked on a huge smart metering program and what was happening, there was a change happening in the market, OVO Energy had just set up and a couple of other suppliers like Co op Energy as well and there were new entrants coming through but there was nobody that knew how to set energy companies up.

[00:23:04] Jo Day: Nobody that knew operations and back office and what you needed to do. So there was a massive gap there in the market and I just saw it and went for it. Set a consultancy business up. I went and worked with a consultancy in London for, I think, probably nearly two years. So I went round the big six and went round, just to prove, can I be a consultant?

[00:23:28] Jo Day: Can I do this? And that was the safety net. 

[00:23:30] Lucy Rennie: Isn't it? It's 

[00:23:31] Jo Day: a different, Leading away from home and hotels and yeah. Having to attend dinners of an evening, people think, wow, that must be amazing. It is, but it's still work. You're still in work mode all the time, constantly listening. And, and then just my reputation of setting up, I got my first energy company that I set up and once I've done one.

[00:24:00] Jo Day: I was in demand then. And I think in total, it was something like 14 energy suppliers in the UK. I helped to come to market. I helped them to get the licenses. I helped them to get through all of the codes and regulation. I helped them to set up their. offices, their back office systems, their billing systems, get metering contracts, metering agents, all the contracts, everything to do with creating this highly regulated energy company, I helped them to do.

[00:24:34] Jo Day: And in some cases, I was the head of the company, albeit still on a contracted basis. And then they'd appoint a new CEO, and then I'd step away from the company once the CEO was in place, or once the director or managing director was in place. And that's what I did. Up until 2021 when, The Ukraine and Russia war happened and the gas prices went through the roof and 33 energy suppliers went under.

[00:25:05] Jo Day: So my market pretty much disappeared over the course of the summer of 21. And that's when I took a good long hard look at what do I really want to do? So I still do bits of consulting in the energy industry. But at that time I'd also set up Audio Co. I was still doing business coaching. I was still formatting books and As now I've also got a bricks and mortar business, completely different industry.

[00:25:32] Jo Day: So bricks and mortar business in the hospitality industry, selling wine, spirits, and local gifts to holidaymakers here in Lanzarote, where I live. 

[00:25:43] Lucy Rennie: It's incredible to hear the story. And there's so much more, isn't there? I wouldn't think we could speak. Yeah, but I think it's really interesting because I think it comes from that curiosity, doesn't it?

[00:25:54] Lucy Rennie: And that hunger to, want to know more and learn. And it's, yeah, you've got, I think that's the bit I've always admired about you is you're analytical or critical as in the right way of, I don't mean critical as in criticizing, but critical brain that can see and understand really be able to see the bigger picture and understand what's going wrong or even just sometimes being able to ask that, that, the right question.

[00:26:21] Lucy Rennie: Yeah. And I, love that about you, and I think that's where we are similar, but again from different perspectives and different ways of being is that curiosity and wanting to understand how it works and why and what's going on with it. And I think you've pushed over the audio books and all the other bits and pieces, but that's how we met, wasn't it?

[00:26:39] Lucy Rennie: It was actually in your spare time because, yeah, 

[00:26:45] Jo Day: when we met, I was the CEO of an energy company. And as a sort of sense of unwinding of an evening and at the weekends, I used to format books. Yeah, so I formatted Lucy's book, Clarity, Communication and Connection. And I formatted hundreds of books and recorded books and podcast episodes.

[00:27:14] Jo Day: I've lost count now of how many podcast episodes I've recorded and edited and produced. 

[00:27:20] Lucy Rennie: It's amazing. I love that you do that in your spare time. It's so funny because I think, I look at what I do as well as I've realised, I do see it, not that it's a hobby as in I'm looking at it as a hobby, but I love it so much that it doesn't feel like work.

[00:27:33] Lucy Rennie: So for me, that's how I switch off or how I get my downtime is by just Deep diving into what I do and, that kind of thing. So I think it's really interesting that you do that. And then obviously we worked together on my podcast, didn't we, as well, which again is a story in itself because thank God you were there, but oh, what you must've thought of me going through all of that.

[00:27:53] Lucy Rennie: And, it's funny how now we're doing one together, but in the beginning, wow, what an experience that was as well to On. Yeah. And what we've talked about, I think already, but when it's you working for yourself and telling your story, it's a different thing, isn't it? To showing up for somebody else and somebody else's business.

[00:28:09] Lucy Rennie: So, yeah. So there's loads to one pick isn't there? And here we are, there's a awful lot author and you've got all it's incredible. , 

[00:28:16] Jo Day: I think we've both skipped that. So we've both written books, we've both hosted podcasts, been on podcast as guests, done various news outlets and all, sorts of things, spoken on many different stages, 

[00:28:30] Lucy Rennie: But I think, What we've just been saying as well, I think there's so much where it applies a lot of what we're going to be sharing applies at different levels, doesn't it?

[00:28:42] Lucy Rennie: Whether you're starting out and you're thinking about it and want to get excited or you want to get the basics in place, but also sometimes you might have been doing it like us for 10, 20 years and, reminding, having a reminder of certain things or concepts or things that you've forgotten about, or just getting that, just that joy again, that excitement and those ideas and that creative thinking, I think that thinking outside of the box or seeing it from a different perspective, or sometimes just going, Oh shit, yeah, I've not thought about that for a long time.

[00:29:11] Jo Day: The other thing is. And I hope this comes across as, I don't know what the word normal, excuse normal, I think I'm far from normal, but I want people to be able to see you don't have to be polished. You don't have to be all the things that the online space only shows you. The Instagrams, the Facebooks of this polished, finally done version that can be really overwhelming and put people off, off, it even stops them from getting on the starting blocks.

[00:29:42] Jo Day: Cause they can never imagine putting themselves there. Yeah. I am far from polished. I really am not polished. You can tell I'm not polished but Of Northern Birds. What I can tell you this unpolished, unperfect person, I've earned a shit load of money in my employed career and also my self-employed career.

[00:30:07] Jo Day: And I continue to do so now and know how to make money and, I know how to help you. You are the, viewer, the listener, they watcher how to do that too. And I think that's what we want to help people do, ultimately, is to help them to progress in their career, to become self employed, to set up a small business, a micro business, or to improve a SME, or corporate, whoever you are watching and listening.

[00:30:38] Jo Day: I think myself and Lucy have been there and worn the t shirt. Yeah, in company, I've done acquisitions and mergers. I've closed companies down. I've closed projects down. Big, brave, bold decisions. I've had to make people redundant. There's, I've been there. I want to say I've been there and worn the t shirt.

[00:31:00] Jo Day: There's not a lot in business that surprises me anymore because I've probably already been through that process at the 

[00:31:08] Lucy Rennie: level. I think that's really important what you're saying. Got an itchy eye. I think that's Leave it in because it goes with what I'm saying. What I was about to say. I think the first thing is exactly that.

[00:31:22] Lucy Rennie: You know how I'm saying it. It is all about people. And I genuinely want to really get this across. That, yeah, we're not polished, are we? And I, but I think that's the thing. It's there's so much pressure or so much out there to be shiny and perfect and all this this isn't about necessarily going and spending all your money in a Gucci shop.

[00:31:47] Lucy Rennie: This is about enjoying what you're doing, creating something that's amazing, that you'd love, that works for you, and that'll make you happy. working in around your lifestyle, whether it's you talked about having three kids and dogs and all sorts of things that we do, but it's, about doing what you love and being real.

[00:32:03] Lucy Rennie: And I genuinely think that the more we can actually be that imperfectly perfect and actually be our true selves and human and real and let people in to who you are, that's when the magic happens. It's, that's when people actually trust you more. People do want to be with you and people do, yeah, come with it.

[00:32:22] Lucy Rennie: So I think that's, really important. And then secondly, yeah, I think this is about, we've been there, done it, and if we haven't, we'll find someone who has. We're not going to grow limited around the world. Very, well selected. Yeah. And also, I think that's where you and me will be funny. For those listening, it's because we are going to disagree and that's okay too.

[00:32:45] Lucy Rennie: We will come at it from different perspectives and we're not going to pretend we know everything and there'll be things that like we'll say or advise on that people won't agree with or they've had a different lived experience and that's okay too but I think the key is that we're coming at it from what we've experienced not what we're not going oh you should be doing it like this we're coming at it going well it worked for us this way or it didn't that way or we've seen it happen in that sense and it's more about sharing.

[00:33:10] Jo Day: We're basically gonna share experiences and stories, and these will be real life examples of what's worked well, what's not worked so well, and. It's not, you have to do it this way. It's up to you.

[00:33:26] Lucy Rennie: And I think that's really important. So yeah, it's exciting. And of course we're going to have guests on as well, aren't we? So it's not just going to be us all the time. We are going to invite some amazing people on to come and share their insights and stories and experiences and, perspectives as well, isn't it?

[00:33:44] Jo Day: So because The, audience or who we're speaking to is quite a broad audience, but I think predominantly it is going to be SMEs down. So may not necessarily be the CEO of a SME company, but it might be the Ops Manager. We're speaking to you. It might be the Team Manager. So you may still be employed. It is for you.

[00:34:03] Jo Day: You'll learn a lot because you can still apply the skills and knowledge to what you're doing. Your operational teams, it will definitely be for business owners. It will definitely be for solo entrepreneurs or people, who are happy just to create if they want to. a side hustle from the nine to five.

[00:34:25] Jo Day: They might be retired and just want to start making some money from a hobby. We're going to help you and hopefully steer you away from some of the bumps in the road that we've already experienced. 

[00:34:38] Lucy Rennie: Yeah. And I think the bit is almost like who, are we wanting to reach?

[00:34:44] Lucy Rennie: I think Joe's kind of said, regardless of where you are in that journey, I think it's about being, it's for you who's curious, who gives, who actually cares about doing something that doing a good job or doing it adding value. wants to improve or wants to try new things or hear from different people.

[00:35:04] Lucy Rennie: So I think that's really what underlies it is come along. We're not going to give you quick fix magic pills that's going to make an overnight success and blag your way to whatever. It's about real stories and real life, 

[00:35:17] Lucy Rennie: isn't it Jo? 

[00:35:18] Jo Day: Exactly that. And I guess we're going to appeal to, I think from my point of view, say if we were running a masterclass.

[00:35:28] Jo Day: An in person event. You certainly will never see me worrying about have I got my nails done, my hair done and which three outfits do I need to pick out. You'll never ever see that from me. I want to be accessible to everybody. Unpolished, unperfect, real, authentic you. Because that's what people will buy into.

[00:35:51] Jo Day: People will buy into people being authentic, not people putting on frills and fancies just as a one off. You can't maintain that level of airs and graces and polished 24 7. You can't. Why try? You may as well just be authentically you. That's a fast track for me straight away.

[00:36:14] Jo Day: That's a hole in the road I'm going to tell you to steer away from. If you want to go networking, go as you. Don't worry about you've got, you need a new outfit or you need to get your nails and hair done. You don't. The important thing is you're in the room. That's the important thing. But more on that in another episode.

[00:36:32] Lucy Rennie: I think when you've got a Yeah, this is a whole conversation. 

[00:36:35] Jo Day: Can we leave it there for this one? 

[00:36:38] Lucy Rennie: Leave it there. Next time, come in your pyjamas is basically what Jo's saying. 

[00:36:43] Jo Day: Just finally before we go 

[00:36:46] Jo Day: I also dabbled in network marketing from 2015, just for a couple of years. Thought it was wonderful. Met a load of people.

[00:36:53] Jo Day: I didn't really grow a team. I love selling the products, right? And I love the camaraderie of it all and going to the events and supporting and cheering people on. And we used to do meetings at people's houses. And I've ordered Domino's pizza and sat on the floor and we'd all be chatting in pyjamas, eating pizza.

[00:37:13] Jo Day: Or, on a Tuesday night, 8 o'clock Tuesday night, we'd all dial in on Zoom and have a glass of wine. It was relaxed training. There was none of, it just seems to have gone a little bit batshit crazy just lately. And I want to wind it back and strip it back

[00:37:28] Jo Day: imagine, I'm going to use an analogy. Imagine a beautiful piece of oak wood. That's been varnished and varnished and varnished and varnished. I want to sand and strip all of that varnish right back and see the beautiful oak wood and the grain and the patterning that lies beneath, because that's the real piece of wood, not all the fake varnish that we've put on top.

[00:37:51] Lucy Rennie: It's like when you strip out the walls in a, house and you've, where there's been a gas fire, like a thing, and you pull it back and there's a beautiful old fireplace. 

[00:38:00] Jo Day: I'll strip everything back to people, back to basics, give you the fundamentals of business, of what you need, the building blocks, the foundations, and then we'll build from there, and you can dip in at any part.

[00:38:13] Jo Day: Dip in and dip out. 

[00:38:15] Lucy Rennie: And we might have a bit of fun along the way. 

[00:38:17] Jo Day: You never know, there might be a few in person events over here in Lanzarote or in Whaley Bridge. We'll see. We'll plan some big things. I think what people need to know is, if you come in here to Lanzarote it's hot. So all you'll need is your shorts and t shirt.

[00:38:35] Jo Day: So if you turn around and you come into Whaley Bridge it's freezing and snowing outside. Bye! That's it from me today. Luce. What are we talking about next time? 

[00:38:48] Lucy Rennie: Oh, 

[00:38:48] Lucy Rennie: I think we're gonna talk about the inside out approach, aren't 

[00:38:50] Lucy Rennie: we? 

[00:38:51] Lucy Rennie: So I'll be asking the questions. Lucy will be giving us all the juicy content from her experience, but building a business using the inside out approach. So see you next time. Bye for now. See you later. Bye.

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Jo Day

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Lucy Rennie

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