CAREER-VIEW MIRROR - biographies of colleagues in the automotive and mobility industries. (Andy Follows)

Ed is a leading global expert in professional management, sales strategy, and performance management. He is a former principal consultant for the Table Group, a Patrick Lencioni Company, and operates The Eppley Group. He has worked with executive teams at multinational companies across the U.S., Europe, China, Japan, and Australia. His clients include a “Who’s Who” of business category leaders such as BMW, DSW, Sara Lee, Bloomberg, Battelle, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Speedway, Steamboat Ski & Resort Company, Value City Furniture, PSA Airlines, Emerson Electric, NECCO, Safelite Auto Glass, and others. 

A life-long entrepreneur, Ed started an advertising agency and a manufacturer’s rep firm selling to the industrial and construction markets before creating Tyson Eppley Management, ProspeX, and The Eppley Group. 

If you want to benefit more from Ed’s wisdom, clarity and straight talking professional management advice you can get his book, “Let’s Be Clear” from Amazon and you can listen to his podcast, The Ed Eppley Experience wherever you listen to your podcasts. 

This is the 50th episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR and I wanted to celebrate this milestone by introducing you to a guest who is very special to me and who has had a significant impact on my own development, career and life journey. I first met Ed in 2006 in South Africa when he was facilitating an international leadership development programme that I was attending as part of my integration into my new region at BMW. Ever since meeting him he has been challenging me in his inimitable way to become the best version of myself. For that I am hugely grateful. It is an honour, a privilege and a huge pleasure to be able to introduce Ed to you in this way and to invite him to share his inspiring story. 

As always, I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 
 

You can contact Ed via LinkedIn or via email: ed@theeppleygroup.com 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

To help you navigate the content we've separated it into chapters which work on Apple Podcasts and certain other streaming platforms. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae is a boutique consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We offer our Expertise as a Service to help you design and deliver projects that develop your business and the people within it. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk if you’d like to know more. 

If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback helps us grow. 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Twitter: @andyfollows 

Episode recorded on 17 January 2022 

Jason started his automotive career at the entry level as an apprentice mechanic and has worked his way up to the extent that he’s experienced success in multiple international Managing Director positions working with premium brands including Rolls Royce, Porsche, Ferrari, Bentley, Lamborghini and BMW.  

In our conversation, you'll hear how his curiosity, competitive nature and openness to learn new skills and adapt to change have enabled him to lead teams to success in multiple countries across the globe. 

I hope you enjoy meeting Jason in this way and I look forward to hearing which elements of his story resonate with you.  

You can contact Jason via LinkedIn and you can follow him on Instagram.

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

To help you navigate the content we've separated it into chapters which work on Apple Podcasts and certain other streaming platforms. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae is a boutique consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We offer our Expertise as a Service to help you design and deliver projects that develop your business and the people within it. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk if you’d like to know more. 

If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback helps us grow. 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Twitter: @andyfollows 

Episode recorded on  24 January 2022 

Amira is an Executive leader in Automotive and Financial Services with a focus on the luxury and ultra luxury segment, serving OEMs such as Lucid Motors, Aston Martin and Jaguar Land Rover. She’s an expert in business operations and planning, financial products, branding, marketing and remarketing. She’s known for launching automotive startups and new partnerships and building impactful sales, credit and operation teams. Amira is a collaborator, a disrupter and an empathic leader. 

In our conversation we talk about Amira’s childhood in Egypt and her having to take on responsibility at an early age, her sudden move to the US and having to finding her feet in a new country and the unfolding story of her career, starting in premium retail before moving into banking and then into automotive finance.  

I loved listening to Amira’s story and I am delighted to be able to introduce you to her in this way. I look forward to hearing which elements resonate with you. 

You can contact Amira via LinkedIn 

 
Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

To help you navigate the content we've separated it into chapters which work on Apple Podcasts and certain other streaming platforms. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae is a boutique consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We offer our Expertise as a Service to help you design and deliver projects that develop your business and the people within it. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk if you’d like to know more. 

If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback helps us grow. 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Twitter: @andyfollows 

Episode recorded on  28 January 2022

We published our first weekly episode on Monday 1 March 2021 and published episode 52 on 21 February 2022.  We thought we’d take advantage of the additional “bonus” Monday available to us before our first anniversary to reflect on our journey and share some of our memories.

Our 52 episodes have reached listeners in 62 countries and over a thousand cities around the globe. When we first started, I remember notching up 15 countries and thinking it’s going to get hard to keep adding new countries from here…

We quickly settled into a format for the podcast, we find out where my guest is coming to us from, we go back to their birthplace and we accompany them on a reflective journey from their earliest memories until the present day.

We pay attention to their early years experiences; their family situation, their memories of school, the roles they had visibility of whilst growing up, and the level of clarity they had about the direction they wanted to take. 

We dive into the choices they made, the influencers, the lucky breaks and the mistakes. We sit alongside them as they revisit the more challenging phases of their journeys. We respect them, we appreciate them for sharing their stories and we celebrate their careers to date. 

We don’t ask them to teach us, we give them space to tell it as it was from their perspective and we let the elements that resonate with us do just that. Learning from experience is powerful. Learning from others experience is a gift.

Some of my guests have achieved the job titles, the pay grades, the staff count and the airmiles that easily mark them out as successful in one widely accepted corporate sense of the word. Others have gained deep sector expertise and progressed as technical specialists. Some have been launched onto their trajectory off the back of a privileged upbringing others have navigated their way out of more challenging environments. All of them have a story to tell and all their stories contain golden nuggets of transferable experience that we can reflect on and learn from.

One of our listeners, Mike W in Japan described Career-view Mirror as an automotive podcast that's about humans not machines. I am grateful for the humanity and humility demonstrated by my guests. The openness they bring to our conversations is what makes them engaging to listen to. Their humility enables us to receive what they are sharing with us and potentially learn from it.

We hope you enjoy revisiting some of our guests from our first year in this episode and are inspired to listen to their individual episodes and those of our other guests.

Thank you for coming on our journey with us.

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed.

To help you navigate the content we've separated it into chapters which work on Apple Podcasts and certain other streaming platforms.

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae. 

Aquilae is a boutique consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We offer our Expertise as a Service to help you design and deliver projects that develop your business and the people within it. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk if you’d like to know more.

If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback helps us grow.

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Twitter: @andyfollows

Episode recorded on 25.02.22

Jon has 30 years’ experience in the UK leasing and fleet finance industry, having previously worked for such major leasing companies as Alphabet GB Ltd and GE Capital Fleet Services. His 15 year career with Alphabet incorporated roles as Account Manager, Head of Account Management, Head of Consulting Services and Head of Product Management as well as leading the consultancy division to add key value differentiation and technical innovation. 

Client relationships that Jon had direct responsibility for included McDonald’s, Shell, Oracle, Royal and Sun Alliance, Royal London Mutual Assurance and the BBC. By managing such large vehicle fleets, he has gained extensive knowledge in all aspects of fleet management, including vehicle acquisition methods, cost control, driver risk, and vehicle choice list analysis. 

A subject matter expert in the adoption of electric vehicles into company fleets, Jon also has deep levels of knowledge in the tax efficient alternatives to company vehicle funding and Grey Fleet Management.  

Jon has run his own fleet consultancy business since January 2019 with the aim of helping businesses manage their vehicle fleets more effectively and futureproofing the fleet by implementing the transition to 100% electric by 2030 

I’ve known Jon for many years and had the pleasure to work with him at Alphabet. I’ve seen him in action. He is exceptional at being the voice of the customer in the business and practises what he preaches when it comes to preparation and professional account management. I’m pleased to be able to introduce Jon to you in this episode and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

You can contact Jon via LinkedIn or email: jon@jbfleetconsulting.co.uk 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

To help you navigate the content we've separated it into chapters which work on Apple Podcasts and certain other streaming platforms. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae is a boutique consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We offer our Expertise as a Service to help you design and deliver projects that develop your business and the people within it. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk if you’d like to know more. 

If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback helps us grow. 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Twitter: @andyfollows 

Episode recorded on  18 February 2022 

Greg is the CEO of Turners Auto Retail Division in New Zealand. 

 Turners is an iconic New Zealand brand that’s been proudly helping Kiwis buy & sell vehicles and equipment since 1967.  With over 30 branches nationwide, Turners Group NZ Ltd is the largest seller of cars, trucks & machinery in NZ. 

Greg has over 15 years experience in agency and corporate environments gained in roles in New Zealand, UK and USA. He has successfully operated across a number of industry categories including Automotive, Media, FMCG, Travel, and Financial Services.  He has a proven track record in strategic brand development, development of high performing teams, and delivering positive bottom line results. 

As you'll hear in our conversation, he is passionate about driving staff engagement and enhanced customer experience. We talk about the fun he had  getting the travel bug out of his system before he settled down to a career in advertising, how that was such a good fit for him before he transitioned into automotive where he has remained ever since, I hope you enjoy listening to Greg's story and that you identify elements that resonate with you. 

 You can contact Greg via LinkedIn  

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae is a boutique consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We offer our Expertise as a Service to help you design and deliver projects that develop your business and the people within it. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk if you’d like to know more. 

If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback helps us grow. 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Twitter: @andyfollows 

Episode recorded on  7 March 2022 

Declan started his automotive career on the graduate scheme with BMW UK working in training, marketing and sales before leaving to form the training company MFG in 2007. MFG specialised in helping OEMs and dealers in over 30 Global markets to drive footfall and sales through the generation of professional customer appointments via the telephone.  

In our conversation Declan shares how he navigated his way into and then out of BMW U.K. and lays bare the ups and downs he experienced building an international business.  

You’ll hear how all was going very nicely until COVID and the semi-conductor crises hit… 

All my guests bring unique stories. I’m particular grateful to Declan for giving me this opportunity to share his story and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.  

You can contact Declan via LinkedIn or email: declangaule@icloud.com 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae is a boutique consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We offer our Expertise as a Service to help you design and deliver projects that develop your business and the people within it. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk if you’d like to know more. 

If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback helps us grow. 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Twitter: @andyfollows 

Episode recorded on  11 March 2022 

Karl is leading on External and Government Affairs for Compleo Charging Solutions UK, and is also the Managing Director of EV consultancy Defcon27 Limited. 

Karl was the CEO, board director and founder of innogy eMobility UK, the E.ON owned subsidiary that specialized in supplying advanced electric vehicle charging hardware and software technology from 2018 up until the company was purchased by Compleo in December 2021 and renamed.  

Karl joined innogy eMobility from Nissan GB, where he held the role of National EV Manager – Corporate Sales. He has previously held positions with the Energy Saving Trust and General Motors and has been in the automotive industry for 30 years in the UK and overseas. 

In our conversation we talk about his entry into and progression through the automotive industry, his relatively early exposure to Electric vehicles and how they became a focus for him and in one role at least provided a differentiator and a key sense of purpose for the team he was leading. 

 I'm pleased to be able to introduce you to Karl as one of the early champions of our transition to electrification and look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

 You can contact Karl via LinkedIn  

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae is a boutique consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We offer our Expertise as a Service to help you design and deliver projects that develop your business and the people within it. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk if you’d like to know more. 

If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback helps us grow. 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Twitter: @andyfollows 

Episode recorded on  14 March 2022 

James has worked for over 40 years in the people performance area of organisations. He has lectured on University Masters Programs, facilitated workshops, delivered skills training and carried out senior executive coaching. He has held senior corporate roles and worked as a consultant in Australia, Asia, Europe and the Middle East 

In our conversation we talk about his childhood and education in Hong Kong and Indiana, the evolution of his professional career, the stresses that almost brought him down and how, he navigated his way through a prolonged difficult period and with help emerged into an exciting new international phase of his career. 

As you'll hear, James has had a fascinating journey and he shares his story openly and authentically. It is my pleasure to introduce him to you in this way. I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

You can contact James via LinkedIn or email:  james@jharper.com.au 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

To help you navigate the content we've separated it into chapters which work on Apple Podcasts and certain other streaming platforms. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae is a boutique consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We offer our Expertise as a Service to help you design and deliver projects that develop your business and the people within it. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk if you’d like to know more. 

If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback helps us grow. 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Twitter: @andyfollows 

Episode recorded on  16 March 2022 

Ian has 40 years experience in the automotive industry in retail and corporate sales working across mainstream and premium brands. In the last decade he's made a name for himself in the super luxury segment taking care of Rolls Royce and McLaren private clients around the world. His network of High Net Worth contacts have encouraged him to expand his reach across other luxury goods and now as the owner of luxury goods consultancy Carsmith, he will happily help you find the luxury, car, watch, plane or yacht of your dreams! 

In our conversation we track his journey from occasionally sleeping in the footwell of one of his dad's haulage lorries to spending three months in Porto Cervo, Sardinia on the superyacht superhighway connecting with yacht owners and introducing them to Rolls Royce. 

I am pleased to be able to introduce you to Ian via this conversation and hope that you enjoy getting to know his story. I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

You can contact Ian via email: ian@carsmith.co.uk 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

To help you navigate the content we've separated it into chapters which work on Apple Podcasts and certain other streaming platforms. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae is a boutique consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We offer our Expertise as a Service to help you design and deliver projects that develop your business and the people within it. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk if you’d like to know more. 

If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback helps us grow. 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Twitter: @andyfollows 

Episode recorded on  25 March 2022 

This episode focuses on the origin story of Aquilae's vision of Fulfilling Performance. I share where the idea came from and how it informs Aquilae's mission of Enabling Fulfilling Performance. 

I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae. Aquilae is a Performance Management consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We use our proprietary Performance Management diagnostic to help you identify what steps you need to take to realise Fulfilling Performance in your business.  Contact me directly if you’d like to know more.  

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on  14 April 2022 

This episode is part of a series of Side Mirrors focusing on the origin story of Aquilae's vision of Fulfilling Performance. I share where the idea came from and how it informs Aquilae's mission of Enabling Fulfilling Performance. 

I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae is a Performance Management consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We use our proprietary performance management diagnostic to help you identify what steps you need to take to realise Fulfilling Performance in your business.  Contact me directly if you’d like to know more.   

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

 
Episode recorded on  23 April 2022 

This episode is part of a series of Side Mirrors focusing on the origin story of Aquilae's vision of Fulfilling Performance. I share where the idea came from and how it informs Aquilae's mission of Enabling Fulfilling Performance. 

I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry. We use our Fulfilling Performance framework to help you identify what steps you need to take to realise Fulfilling Performance in your business.  Contact me directly if you’d like to know more.  

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on  30 April 2022 

This episode follows on from our three Side Mirrors on Fulfilling Performance and explains some of the thinking behind the changes I had to make to get myself into a position from which I could focus on my mission to Enable Fulfilling Performance through Aquilae.

I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

 This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae. 

Aquilae's mission is to Enable Fullfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry. We use our proprietary Fulfilling Performance Paradigm to help you identify what steps you need to take to Enable Fulfilling Performance in your business.  Contact me directly if you’d like to know more. My email is Andy@Aquilae.co.uk

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Episode recorded on  7 May 2022

Michael is an automotive industry veteran with over 35 years’ experience at manufacturer, distributor and dealer level in a number of different markets including the UK, Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand and the Kingdom of Bahrain. His brand exposure covers BMW, MINI, Toyota, Lexus and more recently multi-franchise service centres. Currently he is Senior General Manager, Aftersales for Ebrahim Khalil Kanoo in Bahrain with a multi-cultural workforce of nearly 700 members operating in 10 different locations with an annual turnover in excess of 45,000,000 pounds. A passionate advocate for customer service and a champion of developing people, his team have won multiple awards from Toyota and external parties for their work in talent management, skills development, quality standards and customer satisfaction. 

In our conversation we cover Michael’s global career journey and discuss the motivation behind each move and the associated decisions. I am pleased to have this chance to introduce you to Michael in this way and look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

You can contact Michael via LinkedIn 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  Aquilae's mission is to Enable Fullfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. We use our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm to help you identify what steps you need to take to Enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 12 May 2022 

Anthony is the Managing Director and Founder of Ecosmart Group in Melbourne Australia. Since launching in 1991, Ecosmart Plumbing & Drainage has developed a strong reputation for consistent delivery of reliable, quality plumbing and drainage services. 

Ecosmart's strength is its highly skilled staff who are committed to the success of their clients projects, backed by the highest quality procedures developed across 1,000’s of successful jobs. 

As well as Plumbing Services, Ecosmart are Builders and Developers who pride themselves on their comprehensive understanding of volume building processes and are committed to growing their partners businesses. 

Anthony is an entrepreneur with an incredible passion for nurturing and growing people. I have been working with Anthony and his team for a while now and I was so struck by the way they operate that I asked him to join me to talk about his career journey and the business he has developed.  

Our conversation covers his early years growing up and his ambitions to become a professional cyclist which ended abruptly and prematurely. We talk about the very tough early years of building the business and the point when he almost gave up. Anthony shares the focus on people, purpose and values that make Ecosmart what it is and make me very proud to introduce you to him and his approach. I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

You can contact Anthony via email: anthony@ecosmartgroup.com.au 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fullfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. We use our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm to help you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 16 May 2022 

Ivor Johnson is the multi award winning Global Fleet Services Senior Director for Pfizer. 

He is responsible for above market policy, governance, strategy development and execution for 76 markets operating 14,000 cars and around 800 electric bikes  

He manages a global team of fleet professionals and is also responsible for the General Management of two captive leasing entities, one in the UK and one in Ireland. 

Prior to joining Pfizer, he co-founded and ultimately sold Fleet Logistics UK before moving into the role of Operations  Director at Leasedrive Velo. His first fleet industry role was with Bristol Myers Squibb where he spent seven years ending up as the Associate Director, Global Strategic Sourcing. 

From double glazing to car sales is how Ivor describes his career journey. Whilst factually accurate, this summary does not do justice to the contribution he has made to the fleet management industry. In our conversation we go into more detail about the steps he took and the significant and highly transferable lessons he learned along the way. I am pleased to be able to introduce you to Ivor in this episode and look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

You can contact Ivor via LinkedIn 

 Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to Enable Fullfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. We use our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm to help you identify what steps you need to take to Enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 27 May 2022 

Simon has spent most of his life in the corporate world. He worked for Aviva for 30 years, leaving in February 2022 to set up his own pricing and data science consultancy business, Brightfathom. 

In his Aviva career, he spent the vast majority of his time pricing life insurance and general insurance business. 

His career breakthrough was introducing full credit score into the car insurance pricing journey. This ultimately led to him being the Chief Underwriting Officer for Personal Lines business and the Chair of Aviva Insurance Services Limited. 

Simon gets a huge sense of fulfillment from coaching, and wants to be remembered for helping people to achieve their life goals. 

Simon lives with his wife, two (young) adult children and three dogs. He spends a lot of his spare time maintaining, and occasionally managing to sail, his boat. 

His biggest claim to fame is turning down an invitation to have dinner with Elon Musk… 

Our conversation we talk about how he found his way into the insurance business, what he took out of his long career within it and his desire to give back. From his experience of retirement planning he shares some fascinating insights about what people aspire to when looking forward to retirement versus what people who have been retired a while tend to end up doing. Simon brings a lot of warmth and humanity to the topic of being an actuary and I am delighted to be able to introduce you to him in this way. I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

You can contact Simon via LinkedIn or via www.brightfathom.com 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to Enable Fullfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. We use our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm to help you identify what steps you need to take to Enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 30 May 2022 

When he felt his career was on a plateau David took himself to Australia to maintain momentum and after several years finally returned home to the UK when the timing was right. On his journey, he experienced corporate and personal success, significant challenge in his home life and a shock redundancy, all of which he shares openly during our conversation. I am pleased to be able to introduce you to David in this episode and look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

David is a globally experienced executive across the premium & luxury consumer goods and automotive industries in the UK, EU, Australia and New Zealand. He holds tertiary qualifications in both engineering (B.Eng, Bath) business management (ADP, London Business School) & (Adv Dip. Bus, Deakin University, Melbourne). He's a passionate advocate of organisational & team development, strategic & operational rigor, continual change and programs to optimise the consumer experience. He's fluent in German, a Member of the UK Institute of Directors (IOD), Board Member of AMDEA, and a British and Australian citizen. 

And he's the founder of a concept not-for-profit called SaddleUp! supporting people recently made redundant. 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

You can contact David via Linked In 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fullfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. Adopting our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm helps you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 13 June 2022 

Anirudh takes us on an international journey that sees him starting his own garment business in Mumbai, India before transitioning into a successful corporate career with BMW and then Centric Consulting. He shares the steps he took and the challenges he overcame on the way. 

Anirudh is an experienced professional having 25 years of experience in Automotive Finance and Consulting. He has vast international experience, having lived, and worked in 5 countries - USA, Malaysia, South Korea, Germany, and India over the last 20 years. He has extensive experience in IT services, project management, process improvement, sales and marketing, and strategy in the banking and finance, and insurance industries. 

Currently he is a Partner at Centric Consulting, an international management consulting firm with more than 1,400 experts in digital, technology and business consulting. He is responsible for the offshore development center in India. 

I'm grateful to him for joining me to create this episode and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

You can contact Anirudh via LinkedIn 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fullfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. Adopting our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm helps you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 20 and 21 June 2022 

Steve has a proven track record within the automotive industry in the UK.   

The youngest ever production manager with Land Rover – managing over 100 personnel at the age of 21, he made the jump from manufacturing to corporate sales for Rover Group in 1997 managing the leasing and independent rental sector in the North of the UK. 

In 2000, he made the move to Volvo Car UK Ltd as Southern Area Leasing and Rental Development Manager before a 2 year spell as National Sales Manager for an independent leasing company saw exponential growth with the business being ranked the 27thfastest growing company in the UK. 

Steve later moved to RAC heading up its Fleet & Commercial sector where he delivered a significant turnaround in profits and growth before founding Multifleet Vehicle Management in 2011 which trades as runyourfleet. 

Runyourfleet is now a multi award-winning company managing 30,000 vehicles across the UK on behalf of more than 1,200 businesses. It has its own unique customer platform developed in-house and is seeing significant growth across all services. 

In our conversation we talk about Steve's engineering apprenticeship at Rover Group his early success in the production environment and his transition to the commercial side of the business. He describes some very happy times along with some challenging times in a number of corporate roles with household name brands like Volvo and the RAC before sharing his story of another transition, this time into starting a fleet management company from scratch. Steve is a such a warm and friendly human being and I am delighted to be able to introduce him to you in this episode. I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

If you enjoy listening to my guests' career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

You can contact Steve via LinkedIn

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed.

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae. 

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fullfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. Adopting our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm helps you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation.

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Episode recorded on 22 June 2022

Alan has enjoyed an international career with premium automotive brands, holding senior positions spanning 5 continents. Most recently he has embraced his passion of leadership development through his own successful coaching and consulting company.  

In our conversation Alan describes his childhood experiences growing up on a dairy farm where he first came across the machinery that would ignite a curiosity that led to him starting out as an apprentice car mechanic. He reveals how that curiosity combined with ambition eventually saw him agreeing to put down the spanners and embark on a geographical and career journey spanning the globe and leading to senior positions across the spectrum of an OEM's commercial functions. Alan shares with me the thinking behind the moves he made as he navigated his way around the world and through corporate life. 

Alan is a warm and approachable leader with a wealth of experience to offer us and his clients. I'm delighted to be able to introduce him to you in this episode and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

You can contact Alan via LinkedIn or at Remarkables Coaching. 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fullfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. Adopting our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm helps you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation.  

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 23 June 2022 

Ashley loves a challenge - it’s the intrinsic motivation for everything he takes on. From the physical and mental effort of ice climbing in the Himalayas as part of his Outdoor Leadership Degree, to his five years at Tesla working his way up to a position dealing directly with Elon Musk and ultimately leading Tesla’s European Delivery and Logistics Team in the launch of Model 3. 

Behind it all he has developed a passion for Operations in various guises in order to meet these challenges, enabling him to streamline organisations by optimising people, processes and systems. 

 This passion is being put to good use in his current role as Operations Director at Clearview Imaging, an exciting globally expanding company of Machine Vision Experts looking to revolutionise automation over a wide range of industries. 

 In our conversation he shares how failing to grasp the step up required to succeed at A level derailed his initial plans for further education and how it was almost by chance that he ended up at Enterprise rent a car where he picked up the knowledge and experience that would make him a valuable addition to the team at Tesla. We discuss his rapid progression through that business and Ashley describes some of the challenges he faced and the course corrections he made on the way. He also shares how he was motivated by the need to prove himself and relays the phone call that helped him to realise that he had finally done enough. 

 Ashley is a wonderfully genuine and inspiring human being and I'm delighted to know him and to be able to introduce him to you in this episode. I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

 If you enjoy listening to my guests' career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

 You can contact Ashley via LinkedIn. 

 Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

 This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

 Aquilae's mission is to enable Fullfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. Adopting our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm helps you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 27 June 2022 

This episode urges some caution in adopting wholesale hybrid and remote working practices and encourages you to be intentional in your leadership and management decisions to enable Fulfilling Performance for all team members. 

I hope that you can use it to provoke a discussion about the transformation that is taking place and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae. Aquilae's mission is to Enable Fullfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry. We use our very own Fulfilling Performance Paradigm to help you identify what steps you need to take to Enable Fulfilling Performance in your business.  Contact me directly if you’d like to know more. My email is Andy@Aquilae.co.uk 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on  23 July 2022 

This episode explains how with the help of an inspiring mentor, we created the Aquilae Academy and how it's possible to forge strong connection between people in a virtual environment as long as you are intentional about doing that.

I hope that it encourages you to keep going and push boundaries in your own projects and reminds you how given the opportunity and the right environment, people love to help each other. 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae. Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry. We use our very own Fulfilling Performance Paradigm to help you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance in your business.  Contact me directly if you’d like to know more. My email is Andy@Aquilae.co.uk 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on  27 July 2022 

Julian is co-founder and CEO of MOTOM, a new technology company servicing the vehicle remarketing sector in the UK.  MOTOM is a joint venture with Flipacar of Australia and with support from three close colleagues, Julian successfully launched the business earlier this year. 

He has a proven track record in the automotive, automotive finance and asset finance sectors, both in the UK and Europe but, as a school leaver, he decided to start his career in baking. 

At the age of 18 he began a 3-year spell learning professional b2b sales in the office equipment sector before his interest in cars led him to join Cowie Interleasing.  

He found early success in both new business and account management roles before becoming the youngest sales manager in the business at the age of 28 and building a high performing team. In 1999 the business was sold to GMAC where Julian enjoyed success in growing the business as head of sales to then take on the role of Managing Director, private label operations in 2005. In 2007 he complemented the MD role with the role of European sales development director.  

He left GM 2009, when they filed for bankruptcy protection and closed a number of businesses across Europe. 

He started an advisory business in 2010 and worked with a number of the world’s leading automotive brands. 

In 2013, Julian and a number of ex-colleagues co-founded Maxxia, an asset and vehicle finance business as a joint venture with MMS of Australia. For a time, Maxxia was the fastest growing asset finance business in the UK, scaling from zero originations to £600m per annum in 5 years. In December 2020, he and his co-founding colleagues sold their 50% shareholding to MMS and finally left the business in March 2021.  

In our conversation we talk about his preference for learning by doing, those 3am starts at the bakery and the gradual discovery of his career path during those early years leading to a successful corporate career with GM and successful exit from the startup he co founded. We discuss the impact of professional sales training on his skills development, confidence and business results and how he made the transition from high performing contributor to leading a team of his peers. 

I found Julian easy to talk to and had fun exploring his story. I’m pleased to be able to share it with you and hope that you find it inspiring.  

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

You can contact Julian via LinkedIn or at MOTOM 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. Adopting our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm helps you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 29 July 2022 

Stefan is the VP for New Markets for the Norwegian EV Charging start-up Easee. After spending the last 2,5 years setting up the Benelux market and building the foundations he is now part of a small team duplicating that effort and helping Easee expand further into Europe and beyond. Easee has two missions, Shaping the future of electricity and shaping the future of business culture.  

Growing up, Stefan always had the desire to explore and move outside the comfort of his small home town. After a few years figuring out what he wanted to do, his passion for cars lead him to working at Tesla. He was there in the early days of trying to explain why a car manufacturer had a showroom in a fancy shopping street in Amsterdam to delivering the first Model S in the UK. He took what started out as a frustration, how to deal with customer trade in vehicles and built it into a successful Used car & Remarketing program for the UK, combining the traditional car industry with the new ‘Tesla’ way of doing things. 

In our conversation we go into more detail about his journey so far, how he obtained the roles he's held, how he missed out on some others and how with the benefit of hindsight that was not necessarily a bad thing at all. 

Stefan is open and fun and shares his story with energy and passion. I'm grateful to him for creating his episode with me and I’m pleased to have this opportunity to introduce him to you in this way. As always, I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

You can contact Stefan via LinkedIn 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed. 

 
This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. Adopting our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm helps you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 8 August 2022

With lots of people leaving roles, this episode covers how you might approach such a decision. I encourage people thinking of leaving a job to take a broad and measured view of the components that go to make up your current situation. Before you bet everything on a completely new set of circumstances, have a look at how you could keep all the best bits of your existing role whilst seeking to improve on the weaker components. 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae. Aquilae's mission is to Enable Fulfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry. We use our very own Fulfilling Performance Paradigm to help you identify what steps you need to take to Enable Fulfilling Performance in your business.  Contact me directly if you’d like to know more. My email is Andy@Aquilae.co.uk 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 10 August 2022 

After working in the corporate sector for nearly 30 years (in varying sales and marketing roles), Shona decided to take a completely different career path and step into the world of yoga.  It took her a little while to navigate the transitions, but after 8 years of teaching yoga full time, she tells me that it feels completely natural to have taken that step change that combines a vocation with a passion.

She teaches a variety of different yoga styles, including: bikram, vinyasa, yin, pilates and HIIT.

She says, "We all have to start somewhere and there is never any ending to where Yoga can take you… I've come to believe that everything we do in our lives is some form of Yoga. There are always ways to grow and develop and this practice allows us to see ourselves as we truly are. It transcends the physical and marries together emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing."

In our conversation we also talk about her corporate career journey that included a period with Rover Corporate Finance and Alphabet when that business was in its infancy. We talk about her time working for Alan Pascoe, the elite athlete, and other high flying international roles in sports marketing  and, with this episode recorded in the week that the world mourns the passing of Mikhail Gorbachev, we hear a first hand account of Shona's personal encounter with the great man.

Shona is a beautiful soul who has had a quite extraordinary career journey filled with experiences that can offer insights to us all. I am extremely proud and excited to be able to introduce her to you in this episode.

And if, after getting to know Shona through our conversation, you want to do some yoga with her you can contact her at www.ShonaLangridge.yoga

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

You can also contact Shona via LinkedIn

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed?

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae. 

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. Adopting our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm helps you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation.

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Episode recorded on 1 September 2022

My guests are incredibly gracious in sharing their stories and demonstrating vulnerability in our conversations. I owe it to them to do the same. I shouldn’t ask them to share if I wouldn’t be prepared to share myself. 

At the same time, I wanted to talk about crucible moments and how they forge our character and influence our behaviour often subconsciously and sometimes indefinitely unless we seek to identify them. I wanted to prompt you to reflect on your own life journey and consider whether that’s been the case for you.  

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry. We use our very own Fulfilling Performance Paradigm to help you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance in your business.   

I explain what we mean by Fulfilling Performance in Episode 60 of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR which is a short Side Mirror episode like this one. 

Contact me directly if you’d like to know more. My email is Andy@Aquilae.co.uk 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 29 August 2022 

Jon has spent all his working life in sales, most of it in the automotive sector. He was with the Audi network for 17 years. He started as a trainee sales exec and spent the last 10 years of his time there as a General Sales Manager for dealerships in and around Manchester in the North West of England.

In 2015 he took a gamble and went to work for what was at that time a pretty much unknown, American electric car company called Tesla. Jon was initially hired to manage the new Manchester store. After 10 months he was promoted to Regional Sales Manager looking after North UK and Ireland.   

His role expanded as the business grew until he was ultimately responsible for the in-store sales operation in the UK/IE which consisted of 25 stores. 

In 2021 he decided to try to even the scales on his work/life balance and he bought a franchise from ‘Sales Geek’. He now provides a part-time sales director service and sales training to businesses predominately in Cheshire and North Staffordshire which he finds immensely rewarding. 

In our conversation we cover his sales journey from selling flowers on a market stall to selling £100k Teslas and running multiple stores. We talk about some of the differences between the approaches of traditional automotive brands and Tesla and how having a compelling mission affects the behaviour of people with an organisation. 

Jon is open and straight talking. He has had an interesting career journey that traverses the old and new worlds of automotive. I am pleased to be able to share his experiences with you in this episode. 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

You can contact Jon via LinkedIn or email: jonathan.whitby@salesgeek.co.uk 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed? 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. Adopting our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm helps you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 9 September 2022 

Nicolas is an expert in the rapidly emerging field of car subscription and connected car retailing.

After spending his work life in big corporations working internationally, Nicolas moved into entrepreneurship 18 months ago.  

This was initially intended to be a temporary situation but it extended beyond his expectations, in terms of duration but mostly in terms of personal discovery and growth.  

A husband and father of two, Nicolas is widely enjoying his new lifestyle and discovering as he goes along what it means making the journey from employment to self employment. 

We discuss how young love played a part in him finding his way into the automotive industry, the incredible experiences he had as a result of connecting with locals in South Africa and the challenges he faced moving back to his home country of France. We also talk about his journey in recent years to be at the forefront of vehicle subscription and the current transformation that OEM, dealerships and car finance companies are going through.

I'm delighted to be able to introduce Nicolas to you in this episode and look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

You can contact Nicolas via LinkedIn 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed? 

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the auto finance and mobility industry, internationally. Adopting our Fulfilling Performance Paradigm helps you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 23 September 2022 

Erich is an assertive and result-oriented leader. He has a history of building high performance management teams combined with in-depth understanding of the Financial Services, IT Services and Automotive industries. He has held positions with global leadership responsibility for over 8,000 employees spanning 40+ countries. 

In our conversation we discuss Erich's journey from bank apprentice to Global Head of Financial Services and then Aftersales for BMW. We talk about his time on Wall Street, what it was like heading up BMW's treasury function during the Global Financial Crisis and the successful integration of ING Car Leasing and Alphabet. Erich shares his early leadership experiences during his period of military service and his later strategy to develop a global culture by leveraging young talent. 

I know Erich as a driven and innovative leader with a focus on growing people and developing positive and progressive organisational culture. It is my pleasure to share his career story in this episode. 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

You can contact Erich at: erichebner@t-online.de

The Business Model Canvas that Erich refers to can be downloaded here. 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed?

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the mobility industry, internationally. Adopting our Fulfilling Performance paradigm helps you identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance for yourself, your team and your business. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk for a no obligation conversation about your situation. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 26 September 2022 

Over the years, I've invested personal time and money to develop my own career and I've amassed a good amount of experience. In the 1:1s I have with clients and young people I mentor, I share some of the paradigms and methods that have proven effective for me and I work with them to help them take ownership of their own careers. 

A little while ago I wrote down a list of the main ideas that underpin my approach. They form a sort of 13 step guide and I thought that sharing them would make a good Side Mirror episode. It's very high level and no substitute for working with me 1:1, but I think you'll still be able to derive value from it. You'll also notice quite a few references to people and resources that have shaped my thinking and you'll find details and links for some of those below. 

I hope you find it useful and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

Resources and links: 

How to make hard choices - Ruth Chang 

Developing a Growth Mindset with Carol Dweck 

CliftonStrengths 34 

Thinking Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahnemann 

Go put your strengths to work - Marcus Buckingham 

Steve Siebold 

Mike Dooley 

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the mobility industry.  

We use our very own Fulfilling Performance paradigm to identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance in your business.  

We leverage our Aquilae Consulting arm for business topics and the Aquilae Academy for people topics. 

And once we're agreed on the way forward, we work alongside you and your teams to enable Fulfilling Performance and achieve your goals. 

I explain Fulfilling Performance in more detail in Episode 60 of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR which is a short Side Mirror episode like this one. 

Contact me directly if you’d like to know more. My email is Andy@Aquilae.co.uk 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 8 October 2022 

Peter has traversed a career in the Automotive Financial Services industry for over 18 years with BMW Group in Australia from the early beginnings in an intern program through to senior leadership roles across Finance, Operations, Risk and Sales functions culminating in C level roles as Chief Risk Officer and GM Sales & Marketing.  
Peter holds a bachelors degree in Applied Science from Deakin University Melbourne a Masters in Commerce also from Deakin a diploma in Financial Planning from the Financial Planning Association of Australia and his professional accounting qualifications from CPA Australia.  

He has experience across diverse functions, and he is passionate about leading and developing individuals and teams, Peter has gained deep experience leading through significant periods of organisational and regulatory change. 

In our conversation we talk about his earliest work experience in the family business his initial wish to have a career in sport and the subsequent need to pivot, go back to the drawing board and embark on a corporate career. We discuss his progression during 18 years with BMW in Australia which culminated in a difficult decision and change of course for him. Without spoiling the surprise for you, I will share that there is a satisfying plot twist at the end! 

I first met Peter a dozen or more years ago and I was immediately struck by his attitude to learning and leadership. It is my pleasure to introduce him to you and to share his career story in this episode. 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

You can contact Peter via LinkedIn. 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed? 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the mobility industry.  

We use our very own Fulfilling Performance paradigm to identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance in your business.  

We leverage our Aquilae Consulting arm for business topics and the Aquilae Academy for people topics. 

And, once we're agreed on the way forward, we work alongside you and your teams to enable Fulfilling Performance and achieve your goals. 

I explain Fulfilling Performance in more detail in Episode 60 of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR which is a short Side Mirror episode. 

If you enjoy CAREER-VIEW MIRROR, please follow us in your podcast app. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 7 October, 2022 

Kevin has spent his entire career to date in the automotive industry in a variety of increasingly senior roles with OEMs, service providers and the automotive practices of major consulting firms.  

We talk about why, following graduation, he chose to join Austin Rover and why he ultimately chose to leave, his experiences in professional services with KPMG and the incredible customer service ethos at the RAC. He shares moments of good and bad luck that shaped his career.  

Kevin is the leader who first took a chance on me and accepted me into our industry at the age of 28, when I had no previous automotive experience. You'll hear how I may have given him cause to question his decision on my very first day. I'll always be grateful for his open minded attitude to hiring and the opportunities that his decision opened up for me. I'm pleased to be able to celebrate his career and to introduce him to you in this episode and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

You can contact Kevin via LinkedIn. 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed? 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the mobility industry.  

We use our very own Fulfilling Performance paradigm to identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance in your business.  

We leverage our Aquilae Consulting arm for business topics and the Aquilae Academy for people topics. 

And, once we're agreed on the way forward, we work alongside you and your teams to enable Fulfilling Performance and achieve your goals. 

I explain Fulfilling Performance in more detail in Episode 60 of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR which is a short Side Mirror episode. 

If you enjoy CAREER-VIEW MIRROR, please follow us in your podcast app. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 13 October 2022 

Matt has always had a passion for the BMW Group products and through optimism, hard work and a sprinkle of luck, defined a formula for success that guided him throughout his journey; enabling him to progress quite quickly throughout the wider group and ensure he was match fit for any opportunities that arose. 

Starting his automotive career with North Shore BMW in Sydney, Australia, Matt moved to BMW Australia in 2013, to become a sales and product trainer. It was here he met his wife Lauren, who he admits is his biggest inspiration and the catalyst for his career taking off. Matt eventually rose to lead the strategic sales function for the MINI Brand in Australia and in 2019, relocated to NYC with Lauren to take on the Vice President of Sales role for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars largest region, the Americas. 

After more than 13 years with the BMW Group, Matt has recently relocated from New York City to Laguna Beach to take on a new role as Vice President of Sales and Strategy for Virgin Galactic, the world's first commercial space line. 

I am grateful to Brett Waudby for recommending Matt as a potential guest and for introducing us. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Matt in our conversation. Listening to it, I’m sure you’ll get a sense of Matt’s energy levels and the highly intentional way he has gone about managing his career. He also shares the three ingredients that have helped him on his journey. I am delighted to be able to introduce Matt to you in this episode and look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed? 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the mobility industry.  

We use our very own Fulfilling Performance paradigm to identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance in your business.  

We leverage our Aquilae Consulting arm for business topics and the Aquilae Academy for people topics. 

And, once we're agreed on the way forward, we work alongside you and your teams to enable Fulfilling Performance and achieve your goals. 

I explain Fulfilling Performance in more detail in Episode 60 of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR which is a short Side Mirror episode. 

If you enjoy CAREER-VIEW MIRROR, please follow us in your podcast app. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 14 October, 2022 

In this Side Mirror episode I've shared a personal story about a role I went for and didn't get and what happened next. 

It's deliberately quite detailed as I want to take you behind the scenes and share what I was thinking and what actions I was taking at that time in case it is helpful for your own decision making. 

I hope you find it useful and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae. 

Could you use some additional experienced resources who can work alongside you and your team on a flexible basis to help you achieve your priorities? 

 I started Aquilae in 2016 and since then we have worked internationally with established automotive OEMs, EV start ups, FinTechs and insurance companies to achieve their unique mobility goals. 

Aquilae team members are highly experienced senior leaders with complementary areas of expertise who have run businesses and divisions internationally in our industry. Because we have all had many years experience of operating in the industry ourselves, we don't just advise our clients on what to do. Instead, we tend to work alongside them, delivering their specific projects. We are happy to help develop strategy and we're equally happy to then get involved delivering the plan. 

Mobility businesses are all about people, processes and technology. We leverage our Aquilae Academy for people development and Aquilae Consulting for those wider business topics. 

If you're looking for some help with people or business topics and you like the idea of having some additional very experienced, resources who can work flexibly alongside you. Please get in touch with me for a conversation. You can email me directly at Andy @Aquilae.co.uk 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 27 October 2022 

John is the Founder & Managing Director of jte Consulting, the global management consulting firm that serves clients in the world where transportation, consumer, connectivity, and software intersect. 

As a former executive at Motorola and Global Technologist at Ford Motor Company, John led or participated in teams that built many of the innovations we see today in connected vehicles on the ground and in the air. Since then, he has helped cities and organizations understand how technology is affecting the way our streets, sidewalks, and curbs operate, now and into the future. 

John is the best-selling author of The Zero Dollar Car, a former adjunct professor at University of Notre Dame, as well as a former translator in the 1992 Summer Olympics.

In our conversation we talk about John’s childhood experience, the value of learning a language, how he maximised his opportunities at university, and his international career. While John insists he’s a software guy and not a car guy, his experience and worldview only seem to get more relevant to our mobility industry each year. I was lucky enough to be in the audience when John first delivered his Zero Dollar Car speech that spawned his book and his professional speaking career and I’m delighted and proud to be able to introduce him to you in this episode. 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

You can contact John via LinkedIn or email: John@jte-consulting.com  

Buy his book The Zero Dollar Car at www.johntellis.com 

Why not follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror where you can see a directory of all our episodes and comment on those you have enjoyed? 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae's mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance in the mobility industry.  
We use our very own Fulfilling Performance paradigm to identify what steps you need to take to enable Fulfilling Performance in your business.  

We leverage our Aquilae Consulting arm for business topics and the Aquilae Academy for people topics. 

And, once we're agreed on the way forward, we work alongside you and your teams to enable Fulfilling Performance and achieve your goals. 

I explain Fulfilling Performance in more detail in Episode 60 of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR which is a short Side Mirror episode. 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 17 October, 2022 

James has spent his last 23 years in the automotive industry in a variety of increasingly senior roles with OEMs, and a global Leasing company, both in the UK and European roles, moving overseas with his family twice. For the last 6 years he has been with Constellation Automotive Group, in a variety of MD roles, running the Fleet Solutions and Retail Operations businesses. His last 3 years have been focused on online used car retailing, supporting both cinch & Cazoo in the physical operational delivery of the online consumer experience. 

In our conversation, as well as covering his professional journey, we talk about how his career choices have impacted on his family and relationships. It's clear that taking opportunities outside of his comfort zone has helped him develop a wide experience base and skillset across the entire automotive supply chain. 

Without spoiling it for you, I will say that James's story features some dramatic plot twists and I'm grateful to him for sharing his experiences so openly. I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

You can contact James via LinkedIn or email: kendalloneltd@outlook.com 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

Instagram @careerviewmirror  

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 11 and 17 November, 2022

Since 2017, Steve has been the Managing Director of Financial Services for Aston Martin Lagonda. Prior to that he set up the global financial services structure for McLaren Financial Services and before that he held the role of Managing Director of Porsche Financial Services GB. 

In our conversation we talk about how Steve found his way into the automotive finance industry from banking and his approach to leadership and partnership which very much resonates with me. I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

You can contact Steve via LinkedIn 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

Instagram @careerviewmirror  

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 21 November, 2022 

In this Side Mirror episode I've reflected on why our adoption of new skills and behaviours might slow down once we get into the workplace and how we owe it to ourselves to take ownership of our development so that we remain valuable in our rapidly changing world.  

I hope you find it useful and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae. 

Could you use some additional experienced resources who can work alongside you and your team on a flexible basis to help you achieve your priorities? 

I started Aquilae in 2016 and since then we have worked internationally with established automotive OEMs, EV start ups, FinTechs and insurance companies to achieve their unique mobility goals. 

Aquilae team members are highly experienced senior leaders with complementary areas of expertise who have run businesses and divisions internationally in our industry. Because we have all had many years experience of operating in the industry ourselves, we don't just advise our clients on what to do. Instead, we tend to work alongside them, delivering their specific projects. We are happy to help develop strategy and we're equally happy to then get involved delivering the plan. 

Mobility businesses are all about people, processes and technology. We leverage our Aquilae Academy for people development and Aquilae Consulting for those wider business topics. 

If you're looking for some help with people or business topics and you like the idea of having some additional very experienced, resources who can work flexibly alongside you. Please get in touch with me for a conversation. You can email me directly at andy@aquilae.co.uk 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 26 November 2022 

In this Side Mirror episode I’ve introduced you to a good friend of mind, Mark Slater and we’ve discussed some of the challenges that he’s been dealing with in his IT environment, things like coping with a maturing team, integrating young talent, to some extent putting old heads on young shoulders but also taking advantage of their different approach to learning on the go. We also talked about the importance of trust, giving team members space to fail fast and iterate and creating an environment in which they feel safe to share what they are doing, especially if it’s a bit unusual and help each other.  

I hope you found some ideas to reflect on in this episode and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae. 

Could you use some additional experienced resources who can work alongside you and your team on a flexible basis to help you achieve your priorities? 

I started Aquilae in 2016 and since then we have worked internationally with established automotive OEMs, EV start ups, FinTechs and insurance companies to achieve their unique mobility goals. 

Aquilae team members are highly experienced senior leaders with complementary areas of expertise who have run businesses and divisions internationally in our industry. Because we have all had many years experience of operating in the industry ourselves, we don't just advise our clients on what to do. Instead, we tend to work alongside them, delivering their specific projects. We are happy to help develop strategy and we're equally happy to then get involved delivering the plan. 

Mobility businesses are all about people, processes and technology. We leverage our Aquilae Academy for people development and Aquilae Consulting for those wider business topics. 

If you're looking for some help with people or business topics and you like the idea of having some additional very experienced, resources who can work flexibly alongside you. Please get in touch with me for a conversation. You can email me directly at andy@aquilae.co.uk 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 22 November 2022 

Tom is the owner of Ecurie Esprit Car Storage, a business he established ten years ago in Stratford upon Avon in the UK to provide superlative car storage, movement and improvement for investors, collectors and enthusiasts.

Before founding Ecurie Esprit he spent time as a corporate employee and as a consultant. 

In our conversation, we discuss Tom's childhood exposure to all things automotive and how that gave him a sense of direction that informed his early life choices. He then openly shares the challenges, opportunities and realisations that caused him to adjust his course along the way. 

Some golden nuggets in Tom's story include examples of: 

The benefits of knowing the direction you want to go in. 

Differentiating yourself from the competition or avoiding them altogether. 

Sales based on genuine solutions, not charisma. 

Gaining credibility at a young age with senior B2B decision makers. 

Responding to external events. 

Finding yourself in what feels like exactly the right place. 

You can contact Tom via Instagram or email: tom@ecurieesprit.co.uk 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

Instagram @careerviewmirror  

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on  9 December, 2022 

In this episode Alex Case and I explore the topic of people development from the unique perspective of the elite world of the Royal Marines Commandos including: 

• The impact of changing roles every two years
• Why you don't have to shout
• Keeping people engaged when most of their time is spent preparing for operations
• Mission command leadership and the importance of trust
• Holding your peers accountable

I think you'll agree that it's a fascinating comparison to make and one which will stimulate ideas that you can adopt in your own environment.

You can contact Alex via email: ac@cordillera-apps.com 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae. 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk
 

Episode recorded on 20 December 2022 

Clive is the owner of Torq Consulting Services.   

As many traditional automotive OEMs transition to becoming completely digitalised and selling directly to the customer, TORQ Consulting Services was established to provide input to OEMs and financial services entities converting to that "agency" model as it's often called. 

Prior to establishing Torq, Clive had a successful international career in automotive financial services including roles as CEO of BMW Financial Services in South Africa, Australia and Japan. 

In our conversation we discuss how Clive was inspired by entrepreneurs and noticed at an early age the impact that Chartered Accountants can have in a business.  

Having qualified as a CA, he wanted to test his ability in Sales and Marketing and he shares how he got himself into a position to do just that.  

We also talk about: 

• how he experienced diversity in different markets,  
• the point when he realised he really couldn't do everything himself and  
• an interesting conversation he had with a former employee he'd had to let go 

Clive is a highly experienced professional in our industry whom I've had the pleasure to work and socialise with in different countries since 2006. I'm pleased to be able to introduce him to you in this episode and look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

You can contact Clive via: 

email: cp@torq.co.za 

website: www.torq.co.za 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

Instagram @careerviewmirror  

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on  19 December, 2022 

One book (and it’s not a religious text) has had an increasingly significant impact throughout my career. In this Side Mirror I want to talk about that book, my relationship with it and the lessons that I take from that relationship.

 I’ll explain the role it has played in me finding my purpose and how it ultimately contributed to me leaving behind my corporate career and starting my business. 

 I’m sharing this story because there are a few aspects that I hope may help you when designing your own life and / or help you to develop or grow the people you lead, parent or mentor. 

 If you’ve taken ownership of designing your life and living intentionally, reflect on the paradigms or beliefs that you have about your situation. Are they helping you to move towards the life you want or stopping you from doing that?

• If you’re asking yourself, “How can I create a job I love without throwing away everything I’ve already got?”, this is how I started to go about that
• Bill Gates is credited with the saying “people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in 10 years.” I’m going to share how long I’ve been working towards being in the position I am now.
• The other learning that I've taken from this part of my own journey that I feel strongly about sharing is that knowing stuff isn’t enough. You have to use your knowledge, you have to apply it, you have to practise it, you have to live through those really uncomfortable early phases of being rubbish at things before you can start to get better and eventually benefit from your new skill
• Finally I’d like to ask you to think about your role as a leader and try seeing yourself for a portion of that role as a facilitator guiding your people to experience insights that will help them grow and become more effective

Those are the points that stand out as learnings for me from my relationship with this book and from the part it has played in my life so far.

There may be other thoughts that come to mind for you as you listen to this story and that is absolutely perfect. 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae.

Mobility businesses are all about people, processes and technology. We leverage our Aquilae Academy for people development and Aquilae Consulting for those wider business topics.

If you're looking for some help with people or business topics and you like the idea of having some additional very experienced, resources who can work flexibly alongside you. Please get in touch with me for a conversation. You can email me directly at andy@aquilae.co.uk

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Episode recorded on 5 January, 2023

In this episode I share some concepts and experiences that have been absolutely huge to me during the last 10 years or so.  

I talk about the concepts of flow and purpose and give you an example of how a skilful leader can use them to foster engagement and grow people. 

I hope that you find some useful points to reflect on that can help you with your own journey or that of those you lead parent and mentor. 

I’d love to hear what resonates with you. 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae. 

Mobility businesses are all about people, processes and technology. We leverage our Aquilae Academy for people development and Aquilae Consulting for those wider business topics. 

If you're looking for some help with people or business topics and you like the idea of having some additional very experienced, resources who can work flexibly alongside you. Please get in touch with me for a conversation. You can email me directly at andy@aquilae.co.uk 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 14 January, 2023 

In this episode Clare shares some of the brain science behind our reaction to change and learning that informs her work in the field of neuroleadership. Clare also shares some of her personal career transitions which saw her move from the world of hospitality into IT and ultimately led to her starting her own people development business, BrainSmart.  

I hope you find some helpful points to reflect on and more importantly act on in your own environment. 

You can contact Clare via LinkedIn and here is a link to the BrainSmart website. 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae. 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 19 January 2023 

In this episode Mary blends sharing some of her own successful international career journey with multiple golden nuggets of advice and resources to help you master your self and own your future. 

I hope you found some helpful points to reflect on and more importantly act on. As Mary says, quoting Susan Jeffers, "Feel the fear and do it anyway!" 

Contact Mary: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-barrett/ 

Email: mary@marybarrett.global 

Website: https://marybarrett.global 

Listen to the launch episode of A Cup of Tea with Mary B. 

Spotify: #1 The Launch Episode 

Apple Podcasts 

Mary Barrett Global 

This episode of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR is brought to you by Aquilae. 

For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on 20 January 2023 

Oxana is an engineer by education and a change maker by vocation. She has spent the past 22 years bringing positive change to automotive businesses through identifying new business and profit opportunities; creating and implementing strategies and futureproofing against risks and uncertainties. 

She left her home country at the age of 23 and joined Fiat Group in Italy. Since then she's lived in 3 European countries, and visited 27 countries and over 70 cities across the world.  

In Fiat-Chrysler, Oxana worked on innovative projects related to the Future of Automotive retail. In Jaguar Land Rover, she led the development of the go to market strategy for the first Jaguar electric vehicle as well as the  design of the Digital Customer experience Vision and its delivery roadmap and other projects. 

Recently, Oxana joined one of the most innovative automotive companies, Hyundai Motor UK, where she delivers the digital transformation programmes within the dealer network and leads the innovative mobility service, Mocean car subscription. 

Oxana is a very busy mum, raising two tri-lingual kids, juggling a very demanding job, studying an Executive MBA at Warwick Business School and volunteering as a Trustee for the Community Transport Association in the UK. 

Listening to our conversation you will pick up on some of the key ingredients that enable Oxana to manage all these potentially conflicting commitments; her passion and energy, her ability to focus and plan her time and her level of comfort with asking for help from those around her when she needs to. 

We talk about her time growing up during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, her passion for adventure stories as a young girl and how she is navigating her own international automotive career. I loved getting to know Oxana through this conversation and I am delighted to be able to introduce her to you now. 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

Instagram @careerviewmirror  

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on  27 January, 2023 

Olly Bridge is a Health and Wellbeing expert who originally trained at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) and proceeded to work with elite athletes like Jenson Button and Mark Webber at Benetton/Renault Formula One and the British Olympic Gymnastics Team.  

Having served as an Executive Director of the Workplace Health Association of Australia (WHAA), Head of Health and Wellbeing at Australia’s largest health insurer and COO of Advanced Health Intelligence, Olly also runs his own consultancy practice called “Build a Bridge” and uses his eclectic 25 years of experience to coach ‘Corporate Athletes’, and their teams, to perform at their peak. 
 

Ollie’s career journey really has been one of self discovery and continuous growth. He has worked in elite sport, for big corporates and for small start ups and he talks openly about the benefits and challenges of each and how he arrived at decisions to move from one type of environment to another and sometimes back again. 

I love the authenticity of Olly’s story. He shines a light on the more challenging reality of a successful career in a way that illustrates very clearly what an iterative process life can be, especially if you pay attention to your gut and are prepared to make changes when you’ve outgrown your current role. 

He realised that the world of elite sport, that he’d worked so hard to become a part of was not going to work long term for him and so he made a move. 

After landing a great position with BMW, getting his own flat and a company car in his early 20s he realised he was living the life of a 45 year old when he felt he should be having more fun. 

An international opportunity sounded like the perfect way to inject fun but was a test of his relationship.  

With his passion for sport, health and fitness bubbling away under the surface, it was only a matter of time before he had to get back into that world. 

Olly’s purpose is to impact health at scale which you’ll hear derives from an impulse to help others that showed up as early as his junior school days. I’m delighted to have this opportunity to introduce him to you and look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

You can contact Olly via: 

LinkedIn: Olly Bridge 

Email: bridgeolly@gmail.com 

Website: Build A Bridge 

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

Instagram @careerviewmirror  

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on  24 January, 2023 

Iain is currently the CEO at The Upper Room a charity working with the socially disadvantaged based in West London. 

At the age of 17, he left school and home  and moved to London, confident that his ability to get up in the morning would allow him to earn a living.  

He enjoyed working hard at a variety of manual labour jobs. He drove 7.5 tonne trucks, worked in warehouses and timber-yards, was a hod-carrier on building sites and before and after work, he taught and coached swimming.  

His approach to always being in work was quite simple, turn up, get stuck in, go home, repeat.  

After he met his wife Caroline he transferred that initiative and work-ethic into a sales environment. He learned quickly through a mix of successes and mistakes and he progressed into management.  

In 2001, Iain and Caroline decided to start the Callidus Consulting business as a way to see more of the their two children.  

When Iain exited the business in 2021 to focus his working time on the charity sector, they had built a search, consultancy and program management business with offices in Hampshire and Dublin, delivering on assignments with clients in 10 time zones.  

He brings all his experience and capability together in his role at The Upper Room to support some of the most vulnerable people in our society, enabling them to put one foot in front of another and gain whatever level of independence they can. 

In our conversation, we discuss Iain's life and career from labouring on those building sites through to owning a successful consultancy that would become well known in the UK Automotive industry and help countless people secure their next career move. 

We finish up talking about his move into the charity sector to spend the remainder of his career doing, as he describes it, "the good that is in front of him". 

Iain's is an inspiring story of what can happen when after a bumpy school ride, someone finally finds themselves in an environment where their capabilities and work ethic enable them to gain traction and achieve their goals.  

I'm very pleased to be able to introduce you to Iain and share his story in this episode and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iaincooper/

Email: iain.cooper@theupperroom.org.uk

Website www.theupperroom.org.uk

If you enjoy listening to my guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

Instagram @careerviewmirror  

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Episode recorded on  3 February, 2023 

David is Director of Behaviour Change and Sustainability at SKIM, a global decision-behaviour consultancy. He has over a decade of experience in customer-centric research and data analytics, and has also worked on sustainability as a campaigner, in policy, communications and as a startup founder. 

David is currently focused on accelerating EV adoption by better understanding the issue from a human perspective. In this period of rapid transformation, he takes the view that the automotive industry is now selling behaviour change, not simply new models. 

David has an MA in Legal and Political Theory from UCL and an MSc in Demography & Public Health from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

In our conversation, we talk about how growing up in two very different households  prevented him getting stuck in a single way of thinking. He shares how one particular text he read flicked a switch during his teens turning him into a much more engaged student. 

We also discuss how recognising his purpose to do something for the greater good served both as a compass steering his direction and a ticking clock encouraging him to move on when a role was no longer fulfilling that need. 

Two months before his daughter was born, David left the security of a corporate role and embarked on a start up journey and we reflect on his rationale for that and how that played out. 

Finally we turn our attention to the work he is doing now at SKIM, the need for us to accelerate our response to the climate crisis and the role that EV adoption plays in that.  

David is a thoughtful, reflective individual with an interesting background engaged in work designed to benefit all of us. I am pleased to be able to introduce you to him and his work and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Links:

Achieving Zero Emissions with More Mobility and Less Mining

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidvoxlin

Email: dvoxlin@skimgroup.com

Website: https://skimgroup.com/

Episode Directory on Instagram: @careerviewmirror  

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on  10 February, 2023

On 1 March 2023 CAREER-VIEW MIRROR turned 2 years old. 

During our second year of podcasting we have had yet more wonderful rising stars and senior leaders from the world of automotive joining us to share their stories. Thanks to the generosity of all our guests, we are creating an incredible resource library of valuable content. 

Each guest brings their own unique experiences and every episode is peppered with original stories and golden nuggets of wisdom derived from their experiences and from which we all can learn.

To celebrate our anniversary we’ve put together a tiny collection of stories from just a few of our guests who’ve generously joined us during the last 12 months. 

I hope you'll enjoy it and be mindful that this represents less than 2 percent of the content we created during our second year alone.

I introduce my guests briefly and provide the number of their episode so that you can easily find them to help you listen in full to those that capture your interest.

Please also check out our instagram @careerviewmirror where you will find details of every episode and a soundbite to whet your appetite and help you choose where to dive in next.

Preston moved to Lloyds Banking Group in 2022 to lead their OEM Captive Finance Partnership, Jaguar and Land Rover Financial Services. 

The vast majority of Preston’s career has been in Sales & Marketing roles in the OEM Financial Services space where he’s tried to get as close to the promotion and sales process as possible. 

His career has been roughly split between South Africa and the UK, where he’s now permanently based. 

Preston spent almost 20 years with the BMW Group and since 2010 has been in various General Sales Management and Director positions across South Africa & the UK. 

In our conversation we talk about his childhood in South Africa, his early love of all things automotive and how he found his way into the industry. 

Some of the key takeaways for me in this conversation include: 

• how he found school relatively easy academically until what’s known in South Africa as standard 8 when he needed to apply himself more 
• the impact of subjects that interest us and the ability of a good teacher to make a subject engaging 
• that he was an all rounder into sport, academic subjects and got involved in the plays too 
• his awareness of being too far away from the decision makers from his earliest job when he was filling shelves for Glaxo Smith Kline 
• how a conversation with a mother of two girls at his school had a contact in BMW, that led to an almost 20 year career with that brand 
• his experience being on the phones to customers in his early days at BMW FS SA where the size of the organisation made for a highly effective customer feedback loop 
• a recurring theme of Preston noticing the level of challenge reduce after time in any role 
• the story about bringing together four disparate teams during COVID and them becoming a strong team 
• his realisation that upward progress would require international mobility and preferring to opt for some stability for his children 
• and the vital role played by his wife to enable him to follow this career 

I have known Preston since 2006 and am delighted to be able to introduce him to you in this episode. As always, I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

LinkedIn: Preston Rogers 

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  

Episode recorded on 13 February, 2023 

Dave is the owner of Perfect Getaways Travel Agents. 

Perfect Getaways operates a chain of independent travel agents in the North West of England in the UK with stores in Little Sutton, Neston, Birkenhead, Liverpool and St Helens.  

At a time when many businesses have migrated away from the high street and onto the internet, Perfect Getaways takes a different approach. 

As Dave puts it, "We believe that booking a holiday should be a fun experience. Our concept is that 'Your Holiday Starts Here' when you walk into one of our stores. We provide a fresh and fun environment with complementary bars, beer gardens, relaxed seating areas and large screen TV's to view your preferred holiday destination. If you have children we have complementary sweet shops in every store and children's areas including cinema room, children's TV, Xbox, drawing and colouring. 

In addition, our Travel Consultants are trained to be experts in their field to give advice on all types of travel and holidays. 

In our conversation, we talk about how he left school at 16 with 1 O level at Grade A (maths) and no other qualifications, how he'd had it instilled in him that you have to work every day, how he started working in the mail room at Shell and how he found his way from there into the automotive leasing industry.

As well as sharing the steps that he took he shares the paradigms and thoughts that lay behind the actions that he took that helped him to develop himself and progress in the industry  

Those paradigms, thoughts and actions are filled with transferable value for all of us. 

And he talks openly about the fascinating entrepreneurial journey he and his wife Nicola have been on since leaving their corporate jobs. 

I'm particularly excited to introduce you to Dave. His story is a truly engaging one and he is such a humble and hardworking guy, I'm sure you'll enjoy hearing him tell it. 

LinkedIn: David Palmer 

Website: https://www.perfectgetaways.co.uk 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/perfectgetaways 

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

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Episode recorded on 17 February, 2023 

Rhys is the currently the Director of Strategy and Sales Operations at Brilliance-BEA Auto Finance Company in China, based in Shanghai where he was previously Sales Director for the Jaguar Land Rover brand within BBEA. 

Rhys has over 25 years’ experience in Asset Finance across markets in China, Europe, and South Africa. His expertise extends to OEM and Dealer Relationship Management, as well as the strategic alignment and product positioning that is required to successfully enter new business markets and grow share in a sustainable way. 

In our conversation, Rhys paints a very positive picture of his time at boarding school in South Africa. I would describe him as stoical about his experience in military service. He suggests that at boarding school he'd learned to make the most of opportunities whatever they might be. 

He shares how an introduction from a friend started him on his career journey in finance and he explains how he learned a lot from being in a smaller town where he was exposed to different customer types and financing requirements. 

He tells the tale of how he put his hand up to grow the Alphera business in South Africa once he recognised that it was never going to happen unless someone had it as their priority. 

And he talks about how he recognised the need to do an international move and had the great support of his wife Michelle when it came to considering a move to Shanghai. 

I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Rhys's career to date with him and I'm pleased to be able to give you this opportunity to get to know him too. 

LinkedIn: Rhys Long 

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Episode recorded on 17 February, 2023 

Rachel has spent 20 years in various Automotive OEM roles across Australia and New Zealand.  

Her career to date has included roles with Volvo, Holden, Jeep, Ford and MG. She has often been the first and only female in her department. 

Most recently, Rachel was New Zealand Country Manager at MG. She was literally stopped in her tracks when she shattered her ankle and lower leg. This injury has led to her taking a career break while undergoing a full year of intensive rehabilitation.  

During her recent enforced downtime, she’s reflected on what is important from her next career step - and concluded that it’s all about being transparent in how she works, especially with regard to the skills we often don’t talk about in interviews, yet which can be career-defining.  

Rachel is self aware and she’s used that self-awareness to develop a personal operating manual.  

She finds that sharing it with managers helps them to get the best out of her.  

This realisation prompted her recent social media post “Dear Future Boss" which is an open letter to potential future managers highlighting certain elements from her personal operating manual. 

I saw Rachel’s post on LinkedIn and it resonated with me so I invited her to join me to create this episode.  

In our conversation we touch on many interesting topics including her desire to be independent and put her career first, her love of automotive and a curiosity to try different parts of the industry and get as broad an understanding as possible and the reminder that even someone who is self motivated and takes ownership of their career can't control everything.  

We wish Rachel all the best in her search for her next automotive position. 

LinkedIn: Rachel Johnson 

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Episode recorded on 13 March, 2023 

Karen is the owner of Easton RNA in Melbourne, Australia. Easton RNA is a recruitment business that she founded some years ago and to which she has recently returned full time.

Karen was a member of our first Aquilae Academy peer mentoring team back in 2020 and I've been looking forward very much to having the opportunity to introduce her to you and share her story.

I'm sure that you'll agree that she is a very likeable lady with a wonderful attitude to work and life and people. That attitude shines through in our conversation. 

Karen was six years old when she arrived in Australia from South Africa. Her description of how she was at school, looking after other kids who felt side-lined and being the first to volunteer for tasks in the classroom fitted very well with the woman I know and helped to explain the success she has had in a variety of endeavours during her career. 

I use the word unlimited to describe Karen based on hearing her career story. Her mindset and approach has enabled her to transition from corporate roles to entrepreneurial ventures and back again and back again!

In our conversation you'll hear how she started her own recruitment business with very little relevant experience and how she built that up until they were serving multiple automotive OEMs in Australia and providing 500 staff at a time for the Formula One Grand Prix and Moto GP. 

She shares how one particular opportunity came along that tempted her back into the corporate world and led to a string of further corporate roles with household name brands in retail. 

We talk about how she fulfilled another long term dream by setting up a wine bar on Phillip Island and we end by discussing her most recent move back into the business that she founded and her main reason for returning.

I found Karen's story inspiring and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

LinkedIn: Karen Easton

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 Episode recorded on 30 March, 2023

Ed is the Vice President Strategic Automotive Initiatives at Siemens Digital Industries Software.

His responsibilities include strategic planning and business development for mobility and motorsports. 

He leads mobility thought leadership and hosts the Future Car Podcast. 

He was the founder of VISTAGY, acquired by Siemens, that developed composite engineering software for the automotive and aerospace industry. 

Previously he directed the Automation Technology Group at Draper. 

He has a Masters in Mechanical engineering from MIT, a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue and an MBA from Butler.

I had a lot of fun talking with Ed about his career journey. He has such energy and enthusiasm and shared some great experiences. In our conversation we talk about his childhood growing up in an Italian community in Indianapolis, his early exposure to heavy plant in the mining and fracking industries, how his girlfriend persuaded him to go back to school and how he managed to get a foot in the door at MIT.

With a baby on the way he left a secure job, gave up 90% of his income and started a software company.

Ed and his colleagues had gained expertise automating the manufacture of blue jeans and suit sleeves. The value of their expertise had a ceiling because of the low margins in that industry and the shift to overseas production. They turned their attention from clothing to composites and to applications that have a much higher manufacturing cost per pound or kilo like fast jets and Formula One cars. And they built a business over 15 years that they then sold to Siemens.

Ed's story is fascinating and he tells it with such passion and good humour. I really enjoyed our conversation and am proud to be able to share it with you in this episode.

LinkedIn: Ed Bernardon

Future Car Podcast with Ed Bernardon

Life lessons from Mario Andretti

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Episode recorded on 31 March, 2023

Kit is the Chief Operating Officer of Tusker, the UK's largest salary sacrifice scheme provider and part of the Lloyds Banking Group.

Kit has been with Tusker for almost five years and prior to joining he held a number of mobility and operational roles during a seven year tenure at Alphabet.

He began his automotive career with three years at Enterprise Rent-A-Car in a variety of roles that culminated in him becoming UK Implementation manager.

In our conversation we talk about his entry into the industry and his progress through it driven by his own internal need to maintain a level of challenge.

We talk about jobs he really wanted and one that he really didn't want but found he actually loved and Kit shares his reflections on some of the best leadership traits he's been fortunate to experience.

Kit is a very calm and considered automotive leader who has progressed from washing cars on the Enterprise Graduate programme to being COO of a well respected player in the UK industry. 

I am pleased to be able to introduce him to you in this episode and look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Reach out to Kit:

LinkedIn: Kit Wisdom

Thank you to our episode sponsors:

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Aquilae

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

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Episode recorded on 14 April, 2023

Mike is Head of UK Sales at McLaren Automotive. 

He is navigating a fascinating career journey that’s seen him progress  from selling Fiats for DC Cook in Manchester through multiple countries, automotive brands and levels of seniority to arrive at his current position. 

In our conversation Mike shares the personal stories behind many of the job moves he’s made. Like most of us he’s had some good fortune but I found myself noticing that he has often taken decisive action to increase his chances of success. 

His approach has seen him secure roles in Bahrain, Dubai and the Caribbean and he’s traveled extensively as a consultant. 

His international background proved to be more of a curse than a blessing when he was looking to return to the UK. He talks openly about those times, how they made him feel and the proactive steps he took to cope with what was going on and finally find a role. 

I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated having this opportunity to talk with Mike. In listening to his stories there are lessons we can learn and examples of proactive behaviour that I find inspiring. There are clear reasons and demonstrable actions that reveal how he has been able to do what he’s done.

I first had the pleasure and good fortune to meet Mike in 2008. I’m excited to introduce him to you in this episode and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

Reach out to Mike:

LinkedIn: Michael Ellenthorpe

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting

Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

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Episode recorded on 13 April, 2023

Florian is a Principal at Boston Consulting Group in Munich, Germany. He's a core member of the Automotive, Industrial Goods, and Marketing & Sales practice areas.

Prior to joining BCG, Florian was a Principal at Roland Berger in Munich, a member of the automotive management team and lead for sales and marketing for the EMEA region.

His automotive career began with a twenty year tenure in various roles in strategy, planning and operations in BMW AG, Panama City, Beijing and Sao Paulo.

Florian was brought up in South Africa and moved to Germany with his family as a teenager. 

He holds a Masters degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from LMU in Munich as well as qualifications in business and he completed an Industrial Manager Apprenticeship at the start of his career.

In our conversation we talk first about his early years in South Africa and the family's move to Germany before diving into his twenty years in industry. 

During that time, he enjoyed many highlights, including the distinction of being the youngest Marketing Director at BMW Latin America, at the age of only 28. 

He explains how that was a key inflection point for him. It brought his first department responsibility and made him a member of the regional office management team. 

He had to learn to balance the expectations of the headquarters with those of the dealers and customers in a highly volatile and very interesting region.

And finally, Florian shares how, in 2020, he made the move from industry to consulting, which fits very well with his desire to experience a wider overview.

I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Florian. I am delighted to be able to introduce him to you in this episode and as always I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Reach out to Florian:

LinkedIn: Florian Gorzitzke

The publication Florian refers to: brand eins

Thank you to our sponsors:

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Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

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Episode recorded on 13 April, 2023

Kevin spent five years in the aeronautical and defence industry at the nexus of machine learning, image processing and analysis and ceramics engineering before realising that his mission in life was to create delightful consumer experiences.

In the mid 1990s, Kevin joined Gillette as an ‘Innovative Scientist’ and found great reward by applying his love of science to challenges associated with cutting human beard hair with atomically sharp razor blades, whilst leaving the skin undamaged.

Following an expatriate assignment in Boston, Mass., Kevin began a series of increasingly senior management roles culminating with the position of Laboratory Director for Gillette’s global upstream R&D laboratory based in Reading, U.K.. Kevin led the teams that created multi-billion dollar shaving systems including Gillette Guard, Fusion and Venus.
 
Following the $57bn acquisition of Gillette by P&G, Kevin and his wife Ruth moved with their family to Cincinnati, Ohio where he led global R&D for Head & Shoulders, Pantene and Herbal Essences.

A desire to broaden his responsibilities led Kevin to join Mondelez International in East Hanover NJ, where he had global R&D responsibility for Gum, Candy and Biscuits with 800 colleagues in Tech Centres across the world.

In his time at Mondelez, Kevin led consumer-centric new product launches and quality improvements across brands including Oreo, Ritz, belVita, Trident, Sour Patch Kids and Lu.

After 12 years of expatriate life in the US, Kevin and Ruth returned to the UK to live near Cambridge. Kevin is enjoying a life of semi-retirement where he is focussed on giving back, guided by his purpose of helping improve the lives of others. He is an advisor to the Carbon 13 accelerator and coaches companies in the realms of consumer-centric innovation, innovation strategy and sustainability. Kevin is also realising a decades-old promise to himself of becoming a Reader in the Church of England.

I’m confident that you’ll find his story and his insights about consumer focus gleaned at the cutting edge (literally) of another global industry fascinating. I’ve had the privilege to call Kevin a friend for over 20 years and I’m delighted to introduce you to him in this episode. I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Reach out to Kevin:

LinkedIn: Kevin Powell

Thank you to our sponsors:

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Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

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Episode recorded on 18 April, 2023

Elisa is a People and Culture Expert and Organisational Psychologist with more than 15 years of Talent Management experience at companies like early days Uber, Tesla, and the leading executive search firms Korn Ferry and Spencer Stuart.

She helps Executives with career strategy, promotion preparation, transitions from corporate to entrepreneurial roles, relocation, and adapting to a new industry, function or geography.

Elisa was born in Ukraine, raised in France, has worked with companies based in the US and EMEA. She is now based in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

In our conversation we talk about her childhood growing up for the first 20 or so years of her life in what is now Ukraine.

Elisa explains how the collapse of the Soviet Union had a significant impact on her personal family situation and how she gradually found her own independence.

Elisa talks openly about realising that she needed to disappear and how she moved to Angers in France with her husband.

She shares how she became interested in psychology at an early age but realised that she needed to get some life experience before she could realistically hope to become a psychologist. Starting a career in HR seemed to be the best place to get that experience and she took an internship with one of the top five executive search firms.

Fast forward a little while and we find her working for UBER in Amsterdam until she suffered a burnout in her late twenties. Again Elisa tells the story of these challenging times with her characteristic openness and vulnerability.

Undeterred she enters another fast paced mission driven organisation, Tesla, and she explains the differences between the corporate cultures that she experienced.

Following a spell contracting at the EV startup, Arrival Elisa achieved her aspiration to set up her own consultancy. We talk about that move out of corporate and how she is about to launch a third pillar to her business, providing relationship counselling.

It was a wonderful experience to spend some time in Elisa’s company and to hear the incredible life and career journey that she has had to date. I am proud to share her story with you and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Reach out to Elisa:

LinkedIn: Elisa Viaud

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting

Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

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Episode recorded on 12 May, 2023

When we take more ownership of our life and career journey we give interviews a level of significance that is more measured and proportional.

My mission is to enable Fulfilling Performance. I talk about that in episodes 60, 61 and 62.

I'm passionate about helping people to take ownership of their life and career journeys. Yes I want you to go out there and smash your next interview. I also want you to keep that interview in perspective and make sure the decisions that you make are guided by your own compass.

It's easy to get caught up in someone else's story and harder to spend time reflecting and writing your own.

Episodes referenced in this Side Mirror:

#60 Side Mirror: Fulfilling Performance 1 - The origin story of Aquilae's vision and mission.
#61 Side Mirror: Fulfilling Performance 2 - Reflecting on your experience of Fulfilling Performance in your own career.
#62 Side Mirror: Fulfilling Performance 3 - How to apply the Fulfilling Performance Framework
#79 Side Mirror: Don’t quit your job until you’ve done this.
#85 Side Mirror: Owning your career journey - 13 steps to help you take charge.
#89 Side Mirror: When one door closes, push on some more.

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting

Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on 21 May, 2023

Ever wondered how a company can revolutionise transportation and achieve a 95% market share? Join us as we sit down with Alastair Sussock, co-founder of Safe Boda, the ride-sharing company that has taken Uganda by storm. We'll uncover Alastair's incredible journey from his childhood in Glasgow, Scotland, to his career in economics and development across countries like India, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and San Francisco, ultimately leading him to co-found Safe Boda, which now boasts over 1.5 million users and 95% market share.

Take a deep dive into Alastair's diverse experiences, including his time as an ODI Fellow in Rwanda, working with the Rwandan government, the World Bank, and the OECD in Paris. Discover his insights on building a successful business, overcoming challenges in entrepreneurship, and the importance of taking risks. Alastair's fascinating career journey is filled with valuable lessons and inspiration for those looking to make their mark in the world.

Don't miss out on our captivating conversation with Alastair Sussock as he shares his unique perspective on the world, the power of connections, and the importance of embracing diverse experiences. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, interested in development economics, or simply intrigued by the story of Safe Boda, this episode is sure to inspire and motivate you to dream big and take action.

Reach out to Alastair:
LinkedIn: Alastair Sussock

Thank you to our sponsors:
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Aquilae
Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

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Episode recorded on 30 May, 2023

Have you ever considered the immense influence that paradigms have on our thoughts, actions, and results? By understanding and working with the power of paradigms, we can make meaningful and lasting changes in our lives. In this captivating Side Mirror episode, we explore the ins and outs of paradigms, drawing inspiration from Stephen Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," and discuss how to harness their power for personal and professional growth.

Listen in as we share examples of how paradigms have impacted our own lives and the lives of others, including adopting Richard Branson's belief that taking care of employees is good for business. We also delve into the concept of flow and how adopting paradigms from it can create a highly beneficial state of fulfillment and productivity. Don't miss this opportunity to learn how to identify, analyse, and utilize your own paradigms for a more successful and fulfilling life.

Thank you to our sponsors:

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Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

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What if I told you that a simple, affordable, and efficient washing machine could transform the lives of thousands of people? Join me, as I sit down with Navjot Sawhney, the brilliant founder of the Washing Machine Project, and explore his life journey and the incredible impact of his invention on over 30,000 lives across 8 countries. Learn how Navjot's upbringing in London with an Indian heritage, his parents' sacrifices, and his commitment to women's empowerment have shaped his passion to help those affected by displacement.

We'll uncover Navjot's academic and career path, from failing his first year of university to landing a job at Dyson without internships, and how his transformative experience volunteering in India ignited his desire to make a difference. Navjot will also share valuable insights on making informed decisions about one's career and the importance of focusing on learning and passion. Together, we'll dive into the Washing Machine Project's journey, partnering with prominent international NGOs, and their plans to fulfill orders for over 3,000 washing machines in 2023.

As we explore Navjot's inspiring story, we'll discuss powerful stories of individuals touched by the Washing Machine Project, and Navjot's own experiences in bringing his innovative idea to life. Hear about Kausak, a Syrian refugee who regained precious time with her family thanks to the project, and Navjot's special moment at the King's Coronation with his mother and Rishi Sunak. Don't miss this engaging conversation that will leave you inspired by Navjot's passion, determination, and the life-changing impact of his work.

Reach out to Navjot:

LinkedIn: Navjot Sawhney

Email: nav@thewashingmachineproject.org

Website: The Washing Machine Project

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting

Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on 12 June, 2023

Imagine having the chance to make television at a young age and being on a trajectory for a media career, only to experience a pivotal event that leads you to public service. That's the story of Nick Gicinto, a seasoned professional whose career spans from media to the CIA, and eventually to the private sector. Join us for a fascinating conversation with Nick as he shares his journey and the inspiring role his mother played in shaping his path.

From elementary school involvement in media programs to discovering debate and forensics in high school, Nick's early experiences helped shape his direction towards a public service career. However, it wasn't until he attended his mom's alma mater, William Jewell College, and connected with department chair Dr. Gary Armstrong, that he began to seriously consider a path in pre-law and intelligence. Delve into the hidden aptitudes and creative problem-solving skills that made Nick stand out in his academic journey and ultimately led to his recruitment by the CIA.

As Nick Gicinto transitioned from a decade at the CIA to the corporate world, he faced numerous challenges along the way. Learn about his experiences at Uber Technologies and Tesla, where he built insider threat and intelligence programs from scratch. Finally, explore Nick's current role as Executive Vice President at Red Five Security, and how his family continues to guide his career decisions. Don't miss this insightful episode as we unravel the captivating story of Nick Gicinto's career journey and the valuable lessons he's learned along the way.

Reach out to Nick:

LinkedIn: Nick Gicinto

Website: Red Five Security

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting

Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

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Episode recorded on 13 June, 2023

Are you feeling stuck in your comfort zone and looking for encouragement to take steps towards growth? Join me as I share my journey of embracing discomfort on multiple occasions during my transition from the UK to New Zealand via Singapore and from BMW to forming my own venture, Aquilae, via Tesla. I will let you in on how stepping into the outer ring of discomfort has been a game-changer in my career and personal growth.

This episode also shares advice from the insightful Morgan W McCall from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business who exhorts us to thrust ourselves into unfamiliar territories where learning is non-negotiable and seeking help becomes necessity and from Monty Python’s John Cleese on how embracing discomfort can lead to better decision making.

We delve into how the concept of the outer ring, a zone of discomfort, is a vital passage to realise our visions. If you're aiming at acquiring a new skill or nurturing a relationship, stay tuned for tips on turning discomfort into stepping stones towards your success.

We wrap things up by emphasizing control of your destiny. You will discover that growth is about intentionally stepping out of your comfort zone, embracing risks, and acknowledging the potential of failure. A journey to our goals is never a walk in the park, it's a path strewn with challenges we must conquer. So, let's redefine discomfort and expand your horizons together!

Thank you to our sponsors:

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Aquilae

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

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Episode recorded on 30 June 2023.

In this episode I want to go deeper into some of the complexities of embracing discomfort to realise our dreams but, as talking about realising our dreams might be seen as a bit too "New Age woo woo" for the corporate environment, I'll also talk about actualising our desired outcomes. 

I’ll also go into more detail about:

• how to keep going when you’re finding it hard
• Carol Dweck’s work on Mindset
• how to measure your progress according to Sullivan and Hardy
• Jim Carrey’s speech from the Golden Globes in 2016 and 
• embracing discomfort to develop a team as recommended by Patrick Lencioni

I’ll talk about how sometimes it’s not only okay but advisable to stop and get out of certain situations altogether and how to frame endeavours that we have chosen to no longer pursue.

I’ll end by reminding us that this is simply a model and a paradigm to help us conceptualise one mindset or approach for personal growth and, as such, it has flaws and weaknesses and a tendency to break when we stretch it too far. 

For example, do we really want to get all the way across an outer ring when the journey may turn out to be better than the destination?

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting

Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

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Episode recorded on 7 July 2023.

Get set for a roller-coaster ride through the captivating career of Gary Brotman, CEO of Secondmind. Prepare to be hooked as we journey from the dancefloor to the driver's seat, mapping how this former professional DJ and PR whizz now uses his skills to help automotive engineers make cars smarter and faster. It’s a story of art and architecture, of music, tech and machines, and ultimately, of mastering the art of storytelling in a rapidly digitizing world.

Gary spills the beans on his teenage love affair with a Datsun 280ZX, his battle with imposter syndrome, and how a passion for storytelling played a pivotal role in his transition from PR to product. Listen closely as we wind our way through the digital music ecosystem, with pitstops at Qualcomm, Yahoo, and Musicmatch. You'll hear tales of pitching digital jukeboxes, the launch of the Neural Processing Unit (NPU), and how a knack for telling stories helped Gary to shape the narrative around AI and mobile technology.

Finally, we park up at Secondmind, where Gary uses his wealth of experiences to revolutionize the automotive industry. You'll learn how this cloud-based optimization engine is helping engineers to design better cars, faster, and how Gary's unique approach to team-building - rooted in authenticity and diversity - is driving success. So buckle up and join us for an unforgettable ride through the intersection of tech, music, and the automotive world. Be prepared, we're going to change gears and accelerate swiftly into the future!

Reach out to Gary:

LinkedIn: Gary Brotman

Website: Secondmind

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting

Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  

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Episode recorded on 29 June, 2023

Sabrina is the Founder and CEO of Avanti Search in Sydney, Australia.

She brings an impressive background in recruitment and diversity and inclusion to the table. Having spent the majority of her career leading talent acquisition functions across APAC, Sabrina launched Avanti Search in 2022 to provide clients with what many agencies cannot - strategic advice built from the perspective of an internal recruitment function.

Sabrina also approaches recruitment with an inclusive lens, honed over years of D&I consulting work - Sabrina chairs the City of Sydney’s Disability Inclusion Advisory Panel, and consults on disability inclusion for the Australian Museum. She is passionate about creating ongoing equity for people in the workplace.

Sabrina is a published author, a member of Mensa, a former Miss World Australia, and a former contestant on the reality TV show, 'The Apprentice'. 

In our conversation we talk about her childhood in Australia with her Lebanese father and Indian mother who were first generation immigrants. Sabrina shares the struggles her mother had and how this required her to grow up fast and take on more responsibility in the family.

We talk about her experiences in beauty pageants that saw her achieve the title of Miss World Australia and be a runner up in the overall Miss World pageant and how she used this platform to help raise millions of dollars for children's charities. 

We also cover her career journey which includes time spent in talent acquisition and HR roles internally within organisations and externally with recruitment agencies. She's worked in the corporate sector and in government and is now running her own business and enjoying the lifestyle benefits that brings.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Sabrina and am pleased to be able to introduce her to you in this episode. As always, I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Reach out to Sabrina:

LinkedIn: Sabrina Houssami
Website: Avanti Search
Email: sabrina@avantisearch.com.au

Thank you to our sponsors:
ASKE Consulting
Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae
Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror

If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app. 

Episode recorded on 17 July, 2023

Ever wondered why your conversations, while well-intentioned, often end with the other person feeling unheard? It's time to turn the tables. On today's episode, we peel back the layers of empathic listening - the silent superhero of effective communication. I'll take you on a journey through my personal experiences and the lessons learned, revealing the power of lending an ear over a voice. We delve into the nuances of why listening is an overlooked yet crucial skill with potential to significantly enrich your relationships.

Brace yourselves, because we're going to pull back the veil on empathic listening: its transformative power, and the practical tips to master it. We discuss the importance of demonstrating understanding, how to resist that itch to offer solutions, and the sheer power of simply making the other person feel heard.  Join me in this journey to discover how effective communication can be a catalyst for personal and professional growth. Remember, the art of listening is one that everyone can learn, and this episode could be your first step towards mastering it.

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Aquilae 

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Episode recorded on 27 July 2023.

I don’t imagine you come to CAREER-VIEW MIRROR for dating tips but if you do then this episode is probably going to quickly become your most valuable one yet. You may also find it helpful if you’re in a role where you’re required to develop relationships with people you see as more senior and you’re not sure how to get them engaged or if you dread going to social or corporate events because you can’t bear small talk or, and this is a biggie, if you want to increase your ability to make deeper connections with others to form successful interdependent relationships and achieve your goals.

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Episode recorded on 5 August 2023.

In this episode I talk about making the transition into our first leadership role, share some leadership paradigms that have been effective for me and point out some pitfalls that may hold us back or catch us out.  

And here's a little teaser: it involves a transformative encounter with a group of children that reshaped my approach to leadership.

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Episode recorded on 11 August 2023.

Rhett is Managing Director of JLR in Saudi Arabia.

His impressive automotive career path spans the UK, the U.A.E., Oman, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. 

Throughout his career he has worked extensively with premium brands including JLR, Audi, Mercedes Benz, BMW and Alfa Romeo. 

Additionally he’s had experience with Volkswagen, Honda, Stellantis brands, Great Wall, Peugeot and Nissan as well as used cars, motorcycles and marine products. 

In our conversation we talk about his childhood in South Africa and some of the circumstances that have contributed to providing the drive he has demonstrated during his journey so far. 

We follow Rhett’s progression from trainee car salesman through to a host of  senior international positions. He shares openly how the opportunities came about and the rationale behind each of his decisions to move including factoring in the potential impact on his family. 

Rhett reveals how the behaviours that served him well with his classmates had the potential to stymie his car sales potential and the wake up call that allowed him to see the bigger picture and adopt a more mature approach. 

Reviewing his most recent move, we learn how the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix of 2021 was even more eventful than we already thought. A phone call during that race weekend led to him to break with his final approach plan and return to Saudi Arabia to complete what he saw as “unfinished business”. 

I found Rhett’s story authentic and inspiring and I trust you will too. I look forward to hearing what resonates with you. 

Reach out to Rhett

LinkedIn: Rhett Maxwell

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Episode recorded on 14 August, 2023

For this Side Mirror episode I am joined by Emma Weber. Emma is the CEO and Founder of Lever – Transfer of Learning.

Emma is an authority on the subject of learning transfer and she's made it her mission in life to make a difference to learning transfer worldwide. She found herself frustrated by the amount of learning which is wasted when it fails to make it across the knowing – doing gap and so Emma created the Turning Learning into Action™ methodology to solve that problem. 

This methodology is now deployed throughout 20 countries and in 12 languages by a talented team and Coach M, a conversational intelligence chatbot. Coach M is challenging the industry's thinking about what’s possible in learning transfer. 

Emma shares her passion and expertise through her writing – her first book 'Turning Learning into Action: a proven methodology for effective transfer of learning' was published by Kogan Page in 2014 and she is excited to have her 1st co-written ATD press book launching this spring ‘Designing Virtual Learning for Application & Impact.’

In our conversation we talk about Emma's career journey, how she transitioned into running her own business and how she is now leveraging technology to facilitate learning transfer and make coaching accessible to more employees in the workplace.

Connect with Emma: 

LinkedIn: Emma Weber

Email: emma@leverlearning.com

Website: https://transferoflearning.com

Further listening: Episode 58 James Harper

If, like me you are passionate about growing yourself and the people you lead, parent and mentor I'm sure you will find her experiences and methods thought provoking. As always, I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

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Episode recorded on 21 August 2023.

We published an episode recently called "Leading from Behind" and I thought it would be helpful to follow that up with a few words on delegating which is a fundamental skill for leaders to master. This is part one of a two part Side Mirror about delegation.

Once I started jotting down my thoughts things kind of snowballed and I realised I have more to share on this than is reasonable to expect you to listen to in one sitting. Even with two parts this is a big topic so please forgive me if I've not covered something you're interested in or a technique that you like to use yourself and feel free to contact me if you'd like to discuss that.

In this first episode on delegation I'll share some paradigms to encourage us to delegate more and in Part 2 I'll share with you how to apply the Guiding Principles of Fulfilling Performance to help you delegate effectively and in a way that is constructive in growing your people.

Supporting resources:

Book:
Let's Be Clear - Ed Eppley

Podcast Episodes:
Episode 50: Ed Eppley
Episode 99: Flow, Purpose and Growing People
Episode 120: The Power of Paradigms
Episode 129: Leading from Behind

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Episode recorded on 25 August 2023.

You know you "should" delegate more, but that doesn't make it any easier.

This is the second of a two part Side Mirror on delegating. The first part (Episode 132) addresses the Purpose and Paradigms of Effective Delegation and in this part I'm going to walk you through the Guiding Principles of Fulfilling Performance and how we can use them to delegate effectively.

At Aquilae we approach delivering results and growing the people through our mission of enabling Fulfilling Performance. I explain this concept of Fulfilling Performance and how to enable it in episodes 60-62.

In short we want to see people performing at a high level and feeling fulfilled by using as much of their talent, intelligence, creativity and capability as possible. We want their underlying capability to be increasing over time and we wish for them to be energised and fulfilled, or literally made whole, by the meaningful work that they are doing so that they are also great partners, parents and all round human beings.

To help us enable Fulfilling Performance, we have our four Guiding Principles: Know why. Be Clear. Equip yourself. And Support others. Those principles each address needs that are so fundamental to how humans perform I’m confident that they can help guide you on your mission too.

Supporting Episodes:
Episode 60: Side Mirror: Fulfilling Performance 1 - The origin story of Aquilae’s vision and mission.
Episode 61: Side Mirror: Fulfilling Performance 2 - Reflecting on your experience of Fulfilling Performance in your own career.
Episode 62: Side Mirror: Fulfilling Performance 3 - How to apply the Fulfilling Performance Framework.
Episode 99: Flow, Purpose and Growing People
Episode 120: The Power of Paradigms
Episode 129: Leading from Behind

Thank you to our sponsors: 

When I was about 30 years old and working at Rover Group I went on my first coaching course. We spent three days learning about and practising coaching in a business context and specifically how to use the GROW model devised by John Whitmore, now Sir John Whitmore.

I explain the GROW model later in this episode and you can read more about it in Sir John’s book which is called Coaching for Performance.

In this episode I talk about coaching as a manager and guide you through a fascinating exercise using that model that had a significant impact on my appreciation of coaching and helped me to grasp its relevance and value for developing the people I lead parent and mentor. 

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Episode recorded on 13 September 2023.

I’ve talked about getting out of my comfort zone before in these Side Mirrors and moving from BMW to Tesla was a clear example of doing this. I was immersed for two years in an organisation that was finding its feet in the UK and Europe.

In this episode I want to share some of the behaviours that I observed in play during my time at Tesla and I want to let you in on some of the paradigms that I strongly suspect led to those behaviours.

I'll share some of my observations, I'll illustrate them with stories taken from earlier interviews with Tesla friends and former colleagues and at the end I'll give you my interpretation of the paradigms that played a part in Tesla achieving what many considered to be impossible.

When it comes to companies, we talk about culture, we talk about purpose, we talk about mission and we talk about values. We don't talk as much about paradigms.

I'd like this episode to serve to illustrate how paradigms work in real life. I'd like to get you thinking about how instilling a shared set of paradigms allows individuals across an organisation to behave consistently and cohesively at pace when making countless decisions with low levels of experience and with above average autonomy.

Links to other Tesla related episodes:

Annie Wechter
Leopold Visser
David Bowles
Peter Jackson
Brett Mangel
Ross Forder
Ashley Harris
Stefan Dekker
Jonathan Whitby
Elisa Viaud
Nick Gicinto

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Episode recorded on 21 September 2023.

Debra Corey is a highly experienced and award-winning HR consultant, world-class speaker, and five-time best-selling author who has been named as one of the top 101 global employee engagement influencers. After over 20 years working for global companies, she now ‘pays it forward’ by inspiring and helping others develop and deliver people and culture strategies and initiatives, and helps leaders and managers support their people to truly drive employee engagement. 

Her most recent book is all about helping managers to leverage the benefits that come from recognising our people. It's called See it, Say it, Appreciate it!", and Debra and I met virtually recently to discuss it.

Buy Debra's Book: See it. Say it. Appreciate it!
Connect with Debra on LinkedIn: Debra Corey
Website: Debcohr.com

I'm delighted to have this opportunity to introduce Debra to you and to give you a flavour of what's included in her highly persuasive and practical book. As always, I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Thank you to our sponsors: 

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Episode recorded on 25 September 2023.

Karen is an Executive Coach with a depth of business experience from over 30 years in the professional services industry, including 23 years as a Partner of Deloitte. After 16 years as a Tax Partner and following completion of her Master of Science in Coaching Psychology, she commenced her second career designing and implementing the Coaching Program for Women Partners at Deloitte.

With over 2,000 coaching hours and as a Professional Certified Coach (ICF), Karen currently provides executive coaching to evolving senior leaders, supporting them with
achieving their professional goals. She also regularly volunteers with Dress for Success and the Bambuddha Group, providing coaching support for their clients.

Karen most recently published her first book, Be your own leadership coach (self coaching strategies to lead your way) with Major Street Publishing. Her hope is that this will provide more equity to coaching by sharing evidence-based self coaching practices, which can be used by you, in the moment, when your coach is not on hand. Through building your self coaching strategies you will be better equipped to lead as your best self, improving your wellbeing and that of your teams, organisation, and our communities.

I recently caught up with Karen virtually and I thoroughly enjoyed talking with her about her book and I'm delighted to introduce her to you in this episode.

Connect with Karen on LinkedIn: Karen Stein
Buy her book: Be Your Own Leadership Coach

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Episode recorded on 27 September 2023.

Vitória is the EV Public Charging Network Manager at Last Mile Solutions, a SaaS EV Charging & smart energy management platform. She was born and raised in Brazil. She was educated in the US where she started her career and she is now based in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, 

Vitória’s work has centred on expanding and continuing to build a seamless and intuitive experience for EV drivers across Europe.
 
In our conversation we talk about her roots, childhood, and the experiences that fuelled her international career, first in New York and now in Amsterdam. 
 
When Vitória thought she had her life and career figured out in NYC, working for an ad agency on Madison Avenue, life showed her otherwise. 
 
Before embarking on the unstoppable world of eMobility, Vitória worked in client services/brand management for WPP and IPG brand agencies in New York City.
 
But Vitória's impact extends beyond her professional endeavours – it’s about giving back and empowering others.

She founded a vibrant community of Brazilian women, a support system designed to help them relaunch their new life and regain their confidence in a new and foreign land. It's a validation of her commitment to not only succeed herself but to lift others up along the way.

I'm delighted to have met Vitória and excited to share her story with you in this episode. As always, I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Connect with Vitória on LinkedIn: Vitória Lorenzetti

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Episode recorded on 29 September 2023.

From beekeeper to hospitality to premium automotive retail, Ingo is now just doing the things he likes doing without the responsibility of employing staff, reaching targets and turning a profit.

Whilst he enjoyed building a very successful business, he's also loving the fact that he has time for most things he rarely found the time before; time for family and friends, time to go for a bike ride or a read a book and time to earn a little bit of pocket money along the way.

In our conversation we talk about his background and his family's roots in Germany. He explains his reasons for emigrating to Australia in 1983 and we explore his early job roles including his entry into the automotive world.

A family connection provided a very warm introduction into BMW Australia and from there he never looked back as he pursued a career firstly working for the manufacturer and then as a business owner.

You'll hear how it was Ingo's vision and appetite for business growth that caught the attention of his business partner and how that vision and ability to execute bold plans coupled with attention to detail enabled him to build and ultimately sell a successful business.

I found talking to Ingo fun and inspiring and I am excited to share his story with you.

Connect with Ingo on LinkedIn: Ingo Reisch

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Episode recorded on 2 October, 2023.

Caroline has coached hundreds of experienced leaders, founders and creators to build a career on their own terms and secure opportunities they believed were 3-5 years away.

In every high stakes arena that her career has taken her (from tackling health inequality to 10 Downing Street to co-founder to coach), she's witnessed the career trajectories of countless brilliant humans stagnate or burn out. Caroline is committed to helping clients say goodbye to toxic careers and say hello to more impact and fulfilment in work and life.

Caroline and I caught up recently to discuss her coaching practice and the topic of how we can attract and secure career & life opportunities we thought were 5 or more years away. Caroline also shared some of the context of her own fascinating career story, her personal experience of burnout and the exciting lifestyle experiment that she and her husband are currently doing.

We had a fun conversation with lots of practical tips and helpful paradigms. I'm pleased to share it here and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

LinkedIn: Caroline Rae 

Website: Fiorlo

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Episode recorded on 4 October, 2023.

Kevin recently established Esprit de Corps Consulting having retired from BMW after 32 years, during which he held a number of interesting roles that culminated with him being the Managing Director of BMW Group Ireland.

His focus for this next phase of his career will be on non-executive directorships, consulting in the automotive sector and coaching.

In our conversation we talk about his early years in Scotland. He was born in Edinburgh and spent his first 21 years in Stirling with his family. Kevin shares how he started his career on a Graduate programme with the Bank of Scotland before joining Lloyds Bowmaker to move into automotive finance. When BMW acquired the share capital, Kevin chose to move south and join BMW Financial Services marking the beginning of a very rewarding journey with the brand.

We explore the moves he made and the experiences that he collected along the way which along with his all important network ultimately equipped him to run the business in Ireland during some particularly challenging years.

I enjoyed getting to know Kevin through his story. I'm pleased to share it with you and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn

Website: Esprit de Corps Consulting

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Episode recorded on 3 October, 2023.

In this episode we are celebrating the career to date of Derren Young.

With almost three decades working in the field of HR, Derren has worked with some of the biggest media & entertainment brands, such as EA Games, Universal Music and England Rugby, across all aspects of people management globally. 

He describes himself as an engineer and a fixer first with an ability to help define and manage critical processes and complex challenges; whether difficult negotiations, employee relations or re-organisations.  But he's also an HR leader who wants to help individuals, leaders and organisations find great outcomes.

More recently he has held senior roles in private equity backed businesses, broadening his portfolio to include handling Environment, Social and Governance (or ESG) compliance and initiatives.  Recently impacted by AI, he has been taking time to research and understand the practical and ethical impact new technologies could have on both HR and on businesses more broadly.

In our conversation we talk about how he managed to navigate his way through a tough school environment in the North East of England and his early aspirations towards a military career which sadly didn't go to plan. Derren shares how it was a chance invitation to join an HR team that set him off on his amazing career.

Along the journey, not every move was for the best and we discuss how he encountered organisations with very different approaches to developing people.

And we end with his current exploration into AI with MIT in order to understand and leverage for good its likely impact on the world of Human Resources.

I enjoyed learning about Derren's life and career so far and am pleased to be able to share his story with you.

Connect with Derren on LinkedIn: Derren Young

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Episode recorded on 29 September 2023.

Margie Oleson is a dynamic executive coach and leadership virtuoso armed with a doctorate in Organization Development.

With a strategic blend of expertise and innovation, Margie empowers leaders and their teams to forge robust foundations for collaboration and productivity.

Navigating diverse industries from aeronautics to fintech, Margie’s client roster reads like a global who’s who. Her pioneering approach has redefined sectors including Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Nonprofits.

At the heart of her legacy lies the Top Team Accelerator, a transformative force driving senior leaders and their teams to master change and drive enduring advancements.

Margie thrives on sculpting unified, high-performing teams. Her unique methodology turns leadership squads into cohesive forces, translating to elevated performance across the board.

I love working with teams myself and was excited to talk with Margie and learn more about her approach. I'm pleased to share our conversation here and I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

LinkedIn: Margie Oleson

Website: Oleson Consulting

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Aquilae
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Episode recorded on 16 October, 2023.

Sejal is on a mission to educate and empower people to create a world where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

Sejal is a former employment law attorney, a 2X TEDx speaker, and the Founder and Chief Civility Officer at TrainXtra, a woman/minority- owned training consulting firm, where she helps leaders create positive, safe, and respectful workplaces through customized training and coaching.

Sejal is also the Chief Culture Officer of Nobody Studios, a venture capital firm that aims to create 100 compelling companies, guiding them from ideation to full-scale company validation. She is responsible for cultivating a people-first culture at Nobody Studios.

I knew a little of Sejal's story and mission from her TEDx talks and was keen to introduce her you to you. I hope that you find her as inspiring as I do.

Connect with Sejal:
LinkedIn: Sejal Thakkar
Website: TrainXtra
Email: sejal@trainxtra.com

Watch Sejal's TEDx talks:
The Pain, Power and Paradox of Bias
Go from Longing to Belonging

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Episode recorded on 30 October, 2023.

In this episode we are celebrating the career to date of Christopher Hope.

Chris is the Brand Manager for Rolls Royce Motor Cars in Melbourne, Australia.

It took Chris a little while to identify his calling in the car industry but from his earliest years he demonstrated curiosity, a fascination with cars and design and an ability to connect with people.

With over thirty years in the industry behind him he continues to leverage his talent, intelligence, creativity and capability to configure beautiful bespoke motor cars and experiences for, as he says, friends of the Rolls Royce family.

In our conversation we talk about his childhood, a family connection to Captain James Cook, learning from the mindsets and behaviours of his immigrant neighbours and his challenging academic performance at school.

Through his stories, Chris shares numerous examples of how his curiosity and approach helped him to develop extraordinary connections with individuals from all walks of life leading many to comment that "There's something about you…"

Occasionally his way of being led to job offers and exposure to guides and mentors. Countless people enriched his life, allowed him to be authentic and paved the way for him to now excel at what some call the pinnacle of the industry.

I loved getting to know Chris in this episode and hearing how he developed from being the boy with something about him to become a talented, generous and caring expert in his field.

Please enjoy his story and I invite you as always to reach out and share what resonates with you.

Connect with Christopher on LinkedIn: Christopher Hope

Thank you to our sponsors:

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Aquilae
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Episode recorded on 14 November 2023.

For this episode I am joined by Dr Lucy Ryan who has a well-earned reputation as a wise, vibrant leadership coach and a voice that leaders take seriously.

Lucy is a senior lecturer at the University of East London and a visiting research fellow at the University of Liverpool.

With a master's in Positive Psychology and a PhD in Leadership, she has developed over 10,000 global leaders, blending psychology with practical, accessible guidance, encapsulated in her 2021 book, Lunchtime Learning for Leaders.

Lucy’s latest book “Revolting Women” offers a fresh and informed take on why professional women over 50 leave their jobs at the top of their game - and what business leaders can do about it.

In this book she draws on her PhD research and extensive experience of working with female leaders to challenge assumptions of women over 50 in the workplace and promote their strengths.

Revolting Women shows that assumptions about declining midlife motivation and energy just aren’t true for women and reveals how you can retain and develop this invaluable talent pool with a better understanding of their challenges and a few simple changes.

LinkedIn: Lucy Ryan

Website: www.lucyryan.co.uk

Buy Revolting Women

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Episode recorded on 20 November, 2023.

In this episode we are celebrating the career to date of Pieter Demaeght.

Pieter is director of mobility at the consultancy DDX, building products and services while serving global customers.

He has a rich international management background and specialises in automotive sales, financial services and customer loyalty.

Pieter's experience spans leading automotive digital transformation at DDX, roles in Sales, Marketing, Finance and Operations at BMW Group Financial Services, and transformation projects for international banks.

He also works as a mentor and coach for young professionals around the world, sharing his international network, experience and growth mindset.

Our conversation covers his challenging childhood dealing with a rare medical condition, his early consulting career, his international experiences with BMW and his recent move back into consulting and back to Europe where he has settled in Portugal.

Enjoy Pieter's story and I invite you as always to reach out and share what resonates with you.

Connect with Pieter on LinkedIn: Pieter Demaeght

Email: Pieter@ddxtransformation.com

Website: DDX

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Aquilae
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Episode recorded on 22 November 2023.

In this episode we are celebrating the career to date of Gurpreet Singh.

Gurpreet is the Founder at 3rd Eye Consulting in Dubai in the U.A.E.

Born in India, he started his career in consumer electronics with LG before spending ten years in the Indian automotive market, first with Maruti Suzuki and then BMW. He seized an international opportunity to join Jaguar Land Rover in the UAE where he spent a further 7 and a half years until he left to start 3rd Eye.

3rd Eye aims to be the MENA region's Agency of choice when it comes to Data Analytics, Business Intelligence, Media and CRO Services. They uncover insights that help clients take the meaningful decisions that matter most for their businesses. Their Tech partnerships with industry leading OEMs put them in the driving seat to bring cutting edge solutions and solve problems with the utmost efficiency. All this is done by a highly skilled, experienced and accomplished team who are on a mission to help their clients unlock the tremendous growth opportunities hidden beneath reams of data.

I had the pleasure to first meet Gurpreet when I was in India around 10 years ago and we have kept in touch.

I am grateful to him for sharing his life and career journey with me and look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Connect with Gurpreet on LinkedIn: Gurpreet Singh

Email: gurpreet@3rdeye.ae
Website: 3rd Eye Consulting

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Episode recorded on 23 November 2023.

This is Episode 150 of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR. We are celebrating this milestone with a very special guest, Annie Wechter.

Annie helped us to get the podcast started and was our guest for Episode 1.

When we last spoke to Annie, she was in lockdown mode, fresh out of a world tour and taking a career break from the EV world while launching a sustainable swimwear company. She didn't sit out of the game for long. Annie joined the exciting British start-up Arrival at the end of 2020 to launch their innovative electric delivery Vans and city Buses, powered by local microfactories. After an exciting ride at Arrival, which witnessed the highest-valued IPO in UK history, followed by many twists and turns, Annie left to join a Cambridge-based battery tech company called Nyobolt this year, leading their Investor Relations activities while also pursuing a Master's degree in International Development, Social Justice and Sustainability.

In our conversation we talk about Annie's experiences and learnings from 2.5 years at Arrival, she gives us an update on the 4 months she spent this past summer in Uganda and Brazil supporting her personal social projects, we talk about her appreciation and passion for renewable energies and green tech and how she has now joined Nyobolt and enrolled on a Masters programme at Bath University in the UK.

I am proud to call Annie a friend and privileged to be able to share this latest phase of her career and life journey. As always, I look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

Connect with Annie on LinkedIn: Annie Wechter

Thank you to our sponsors:

ASKE Consulting
Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae
Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

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Episode recorded on 16 November 2023.