How do you lead well when the world feels increasingly unpredictable? In this bonus episode, journalist and author Sally Percy joins Paul Bulpitt to explore how leaders can stay grounded through uncertainty, and why nuance, empathy, and authenticity matter now more than ever.

From fairytale pricing to AI anxiety, corporate resilience to career reality checks, this is a wide-ranging conversation with one of the UK’s leading commentators on leadership and modern business.

Sally Percy is a business journalist, Forbes contributor, and author of The Disruptors and 21st Century Business Icons. She specialises in leadership, strategy, and the big forces shaping the future of business. Her work explores what today’s leaders need to thrive, not just in growth cycles, but through crisis, complexity and change.

💼 How to lead through turbulent times: uncertainty, AI disruption, resilience and preparing for worst-case scenarios

🧭 Nuance in leadership: why leaders need to stay curious, open-minded, and emotionally intelligent - especially when the world is polarised

📈 Purpose & performance: why successful businesses exist to solve real problems - and how staying close to your values builds loyalty

💬 How to retain your soul while growing a company: challenges of scaling culture and staying people-first as businesses grow

🌍 The ripple effects of global instability: leadership in the context of war, underinvestment, and political fragmentation

👩‍💼 C-suite reality check: the pressure, scrutiny, and stamina required to lead at scale - and why some executives are more vulnerable than they seem

📚 From Elon Musk to Goldilocks pricing: leadership lessons from icons, disruptors, and fairy tales

🔗 Sally on LinkedIn

📝 Sally's Blog on Forbes

📘 The Disruptors – Buy the book

📗 21st Century Business Icons – Buy the book

💬We’d Love Your Feedback

Share your thoughts and help shape what’s next for the podcast:

👉 wowco.uk/beautiful-business-podcast-listener-survey

In this special wrap-up episode, hosts Chloe Bannister and Paul Bulpitt share six golden rules for building a beautiful business in 2026.

Alongside their own reflections, Chloe and Paul revisit standout moments from past guests, including Olympic athletes, agency founders and leadership coaches, bringing each golden rule to life through stories, habits and bold decisions.



Whether you’re closing the year full of momentum or just making it to the finish line, these rules offer a framework to reset, refocus, and reimagine the way you work. As Amelia Wrighton put it, “If you can be there in the boring, you can be there in the beautiful.”

This Episode Covers

✨ Focus on What You Can Control

Chloe and Paul revisit Ben Hunt-Davis’s Olympic mindset and the game-changing question: Will it make the boat go faster?

🚀 Get Excited About the Year Ahead

Drawing on advice from Kate Waterfall-Hill, the hosts explore how reflection tools like the “evidence wall” can energise you for the year ahead, even during the in-between days.

🤝 Bring Your Team on the Journey

They reflect on Peter Docker’s story of team alignment in high-stakes environments, and Lord Mark Price’s reminder that happiness drives performance.

💥 Make a Bold Move

Jo Hunter’s decision to step away from her role as CEO inspires a discussion on creative courage and what it means to make space for what’s next.

🔁 Check Your Habits

From brain-state management to realistic micro-changes, Chloe and Paul reflect on Dr. Jon Finn’s advice on building the kind of habits that future-proof your leadership.

💸 Know Your Numbers

A conversation about lighthouses, dashboards and why financial visibility helps your whole team steer in the same direction.

Links

🌟 WoW's Golden Rules - https://www.thewowcompany.com/the-golden-rules-for-2026

🎧 Ben Hunt-Davis - https://youtu.be/fvGiN3RVFAQ

🎧 Kate Waterfall-Hill – https://youtu.be/3N4Y3DUXr7s

🎧 Peter Docker – https://youtu.be/KIqsybSbe4Q

🎧 Jo Hunter – https://youtu.be/kziD5Gi4Cvk

🎧 Dr Jon Finn – https://youtu.be/Kctj3Y-iVQE

🎧 Lord Mark Price – https://youtu.be/QoYLY2el9Xg

💬We’d Love Your Feedback

Share your thoughts and help shape what’s next for the podcast:

👉 wowco.uk/beautiful-business-podcast-listener-survey

What if a single question could transform how your team works? Olympic gold medallist Ben Hunt-Davis shares how the philosophy behind “Will it Make the Boat Go Faster?” can help leaders and teams align, focus, and perform at their best, in sport, business, and beyond.

About the Guest

Ben Hunt-Davis MBE is an Olympic gold medal-winning rower from Sydney 2000 and co-author of the bestselling book Will it Make the Boat Go Faster?. Following his sporting career, Ben co-founded a leadership performance consultancy that helps organisations build clarity, alignment, and high-performing cultures. In this conversation, he shares lessons from his rowing turnaround story, how to foster a people-first performance mindset, and why being kind and high-challenge are not mutually exclusive.

This Episode Covers

• The turning point: how a painful 7th-place finish led to radical change and team transformation
• Performance vs. results: why you should focus on what’s within your control
• Alignment over assumption: building shared goals and buy-in across teams
• Culture that counts: a high-performance environment means high challenge and high support
• Kindness ≠ softness: how tough conversations and feedback build trust and progress
• From sport to business: translating elite habits into sustainable leadership practices
• Lessons in accountability: learning to own outcomes and support others in change
• The danger of boiling it down: why “Will it Make the Boat Go Faster?” isn’t about working faster — it’s about working smarter
• Planning for the next season: why now is the time to reset goals and rally your team

Links

Website: https://willitmaketheboatgofaster.com/

Programmes: https://willitmaketheboatgofaster.com/programmes/

Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/will-it-make-the-boat-go-faster-ltd/

Ben’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benhuntdavis/

When leadership feels hard, it’s often because we’ve inherited broken models. In this episode, coach and author Kate Waterfall Hill shares how we can lead with more clarity, courage and joy, and how to build feedback and reflection habits that truly help people grow. From calling out “Linda the Bad Manager” to helping real-life leaders step up with empathy, this conversation is a toolkit for anyone managing humans.

About the Guest

Kate Waterfall Hill is a leadership coach, consultant and creator of How to Lead – a practical book and podcast that helps people become the leader their team deserves. With a background as an agency MD and, now, as a leadership coach, Kate brings sharp commercial insight and deep human understanding to her work. She’s known by many for her viral TikTok alter ego Linda the Bad Manager, a satirical take on toxic leadership that’s earned her a global following. In this episode, she shares why feedback fails, how to have better conversations, and why brave, compassionate leadership is more urgent than ever.

This Episode Covers

• Accidental managers: why most people aren’t trained to lead, and what they really need
• Making feedback normal: why the annual appraisal is broken and what to do instead
• The SOEROC model: a simple framework for clear, kind conversations
• How to “take a beat”: the power of pause in emotionally charged moments
• Trust, consistency, safety: building cultures that don’t rely on hero leaders
• From satire to systems: how Linda the Bad Manager sparked deeper coaching work
• Scaling a business with values at the core, and why alignment beats strategy
• The rituals and questions that help leaders reflect, recalibrate and recharge

Links

Kate’s Website: https://www.waterfallhill.co.uk/

Kate’s Feedback Masterclass: https://www.waterfallhill.co.uk/masterclass

Reflect & Plan 2026 Workbook: https://www.waterfallhill.co.uk/2026-plan

Kate on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-waterfall-hill/

Small shifts. Big wins. This week we pull five practical, no-fluff tips from standout guests across the season - the habits that stick, the models that scale, the posture that sells, and the creative courage that sets brands apart.

A highlights reel of our most actionable moments featuring perspectives from:

• Dr Jon Finn - habits, brain-state management, AI readiness.
• John Readman - SaaS mindset and recurring value.
• Sabrina Chevannes - agency leadership and sustainable growth.
• Blair Enns - expert-led selling.
• Nils Leonard - creativity, culture, and brand bravery.

• Start smaller than you think - Micro habits beat grand plans. Build simple, daily behaviours that create focus, recharge, and long-term momentum. (Clip: Dr Jon Finn)
• Think like SaaS, not just services - Solve real problems, validate the value, and productise what works - unlocking recurring revenue and predictable growth. (Clip: John Readman)
• Slow down to scale well - Growth without process creates chaos. Rebuild the basics: roles, workflow, communication, and the pace of your scaling. (Clip: Sabrina Chevannes)
• Sell like an expert, not a salesperson - Lead with diagnosis and clarity. Drop the pitch persona and show up as the trusted advisor you already are. (Clip: Blair Enns)
• Stand for something real - Tools are abundant, originality is scarce. Root your brand in cultural truth and choose courage over convention. (Clip: Nils Leonard)

• Dr Jon Finn - https://youtu.be/Kctj3Y-iVQE?si=RTEUTAIF9KmYGV0T
• John Readman - https://youtu.be/5Yh7Zmv_EE4?si=1pf50UnkR7U-Ldpk
• Sabrina Chevannes - https://youtu.be/nnaLBIOh8-0?si=R_jgBBzRu_sD02Nc
• Blair Enns - https://youtu.be/KXLOJmmUvdo?si=QIY5rnlAl7KtCNWn
• Nils Leonard - https://youtu.be/3vLFLcx9Now?si=C_wQdwIBEID715iu

If you've enjoyed Season 3 so far, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share your favourite moments with us - we’d love to hear from you.

When creativity becomes a daily practice, teams get braver, kinder, and more effective. In this episode, Jo Hunter shares how 64 Million Artists grew from a simple set of prompts into a national movement and why she’s now stepping aside to keep her own creative fire alive.

Jo Hunter founded 64 Million Artists in 2014 with the ambition to unlock everyone’s creativity across the UK. The organisation runs large-scale participation campaigns (including the January Challenge, which reached around 360,000 people last year) and works with clients to use creativity for leadership, co-creation, and building inclusive, people-centred cultures. Jo discusses announcing her decision to step down as CEO, the team’s choice to close the public programme while leaving a rich resource bank, and her next chapter focused on facilitation and a book on creative courage.

• Losing and finding creativity: how daily creative prompts helped Jo reconnect with herself during a tough period
• From project to practice: the origin and growth of the January Challenge and what happens next
• Creativity for wellbeing: why small, low-stakes acts build confidence, connection, and resilience
• Culture by design: highlights from the Manifesto for Transformative Workplace Culture — everyday creativity, rest as a strategic lever (four-day week, August off), idea-sharing, and fun that includes everyone
• Remote & hybrid reality: short prompts to warm up meetings and build connection online
• Trust → creativity (and back again): creating safe, people-centred environments that invite risk-taking and better ideas
• Leadership transition: stepping away with courage, closing with integrity, and making space for what’s next
• AI & nuance: why creative, curious teams are essential for complex conversations (not polarised hot takes)
• A tiny challenge you can try: set a timer today; when it goes off, stop and look at the sky — notice what shifts

• 64 Million Artists — https://64millionartists.com/
• The January Challenge — https://64millionartists.com/thejanuarychallenge/
• Manifesto for Transformative Workplace Culture — https://64millionartists.com/manifesto-transformative-workplace-culture/

Cemal Ezel is the founder of Change Please, an award winning social enterprise that helps people experiencing homelessness rebuild their lives through work, housing, and wrap around support. A former commodities broker, Cemal’s turning point came during travels in Vietnam, where a silent tea house showed him business and social good can coexist. Since 2015 he has built a job first pathway that combines professional barista training, London Living Wage roles, fast tracked housing, and in house therapy then partners with major employers for onward careers. Operating across the UK and internationally, Cemal’s mission is to use trade (not aid) so capitalism becomes a force for good.

This Episode Covers

Origin Story & The Rocking Chair Test: How a 29 year old “midlife crisis” and a Vietnam epiphany led to Change Please.

Job First Model: Why work, skills, and a living wage (~£31k) are the fastest route off the streets paired with therapy, bank accounts, and onward jobs after ~6 months.

Housing Without Friction: How Change Please removes barriers by paying deposits, underwriting rent, and paying landlords directly while people get established.

Quality First, Then Impact: Only ~4% of customers go out of their way for “good.” The strategy is to win the other 96% with uncompromised coffee and service.

Scale & Partnerships: ~370 partner/concession sites in the UK, 11 owned sites in London, and operations in 8 countries plus hiring pathways with global brands.

Beyond Coffee: Mobile service buses (with partners like Colgate, HSBC, David Lloyd) and a new AI prevention platform with Southwark Council and the Centre for Homelessness Impact.

Culture That Cares: “Outcomes over targets,” fitting the model to the person (not the other way around), and using surplus (not profit) to fund impact.

Seeing the Whole Spectrum: What homelessness really looks like from redundancy and sofa surfing to abusive situations and long term rough sleeping and why connection matters.

How Businesses Can Help (Today): Hire trainees, offer work experience, buy from social enterprises, and start small but do it with authenticity.

The Future of Work: Why AI will reshape purpose and employment and how Change Please is preparing to adapt.

Links

Website: changeplease.org

LinkedIn: Cemal Ezel