Today Ian is joined on the Wild Side by organisational psychologist John Amaechi. When John takes us on his career journey, we quickly feel his sporting entrepreneurial spirit coming through. Simply being told “you can’t” inspired one kid from Stockport to be the first Brit to make it in the NBA and the other, Ian Millner to co-found one of the world’s best advertising agencies, Iris.

After a decorated NBA career, John got back in tune with one of his lifelong passions - psychology. Pursuing this formally at Penn State, John then formed his consultancy, APS Intelligence.

Things get really interesting when Ian and John delve into the psychological aspects of the workplace and the biases we may have in place when we picture certain roles. Together they unpack the misconceptions around the ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ and the associations the term ‘entrepreneur’ brings to mind. John then shares his view on the traits he thinks should be celebrated versus the ones that are currently held in high regard.

They then move on to call out some of the business terms that may actually be detrimental to the entrepreneur, ultimately attracting the wrong following.

John brings his unique view on work to the table and how he thinks, balanced with our own self-awareness, we can find that harmony between our job and our lives.

Having lived and worked in both the UK and US, John shares his views on the differences between those two cultures - from perception of failure to even the very definition of work and the unrealistic expectations that are often set.

When it comes to “talent”, it’s never been more important to know the skills we’re looking for.

Especially with the nature of the jobs we do always in flux.

Regardless of market, John then talks about “the cascade of consequences” we can create if businesses jump on trends too quickly.

We then hear John’s insightful definition of what “being on a team” actually means.

Many of us may think we’re in teams - but drawing analogies from his NBA career, John suggests we might need to adjust our definition or what teamwork really is.

John leaves us with his two cents - if you want to succeed, there’s a level of mundanity that comes with it.

John Amaechi

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amaechi/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/entrepreneurs_inthewild/

TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@entrepreneursinthewild

X: https://twitter.com/EitW_podcast

Executive Producer Addi: https://addi.london/

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/addi-merrill/

Iris Worldwide: https://www.iris-worldwide.com/

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iris/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/irisworldwide/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the pivotal producer behind British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN showspace since 2016, an initiative central to London Fashion Weeks, Sara Blonstein extends a far-reaching cultural impact over the industry. The founder of Blonstein Creative Productions, Sara has helped launch the careers of Gareth Pugh, Henry Holland, Richard Quinn, Saul Nash, and LABRUM (the latter three all winners of The Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design) and catwalk producer for designers Molly Goddard, Roksanda, and has taken over Harlem for Ozwald Boateng OBE. For British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN, she excels at nurturing young designers, including 2022 LVMH Prize winner S.S. Daley.

Sara challenges expectations, collaborates with new talent, and brings her passion for repurposing derelict spaces to deliver events that leave guests feeling blown away. Her 30-year career has flourished with immersive and experiential events for brands like MAC Cosmetics, TikTok, and Netflix.

In this Entrepreneurs In The Wild episode, Sara shares extraordinary tales from her fashion industry experiences with host Ian Millner. Her stories range from her early days as a stylist for Bros to the groundbreaking post-feminist Pussy Posse party with exclusively female staff.

Discover why Davina McCall credits Sara with landing her first big break at MTV, how she gave Graham Norton his first paid commercial job, and what happened when she took Ozwald Boateng and a 90-strong cast to Harlem for a fashion spectacle at the Apollo Theater.

Sara also recounts her experiences with the late Queen Elizabeth II, involving Richard Quinn’s first major show, Anna Wintour, gimp masks, motorbike helmets, and thrash metal, nearly missing a career highlight.

Sara hails Gen Z’s versatility and dogged determination, and praises influencers for bringing something fresh to the entrepreneurial spirit. She shares her truths, seeing fashion as a fusion of culture, art, and history that evolves and provides an escape from our existence. Entrepreneurship, she says, is about following passions and desires, with expertise unlocked by trial-and-error. Her philosophy is simple: “I hate anything boring!”

Sara Blonstein:

LI: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sara-blonstein-15a357

IG: https://www.instagram.com/blonners_sarablonstein/

Ian Millner:

IG: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianmillner/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/entrepreneurs_inthewild/

TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@entrepreneursinthewild

X: https://twitter.com/EitW_podcast

Executive Producer Addi: https://addi.london/

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/addi-merrill/

Iris Worldwide: https://www.iris-worldwide.com/

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iris/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/irisworldwide/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Should the entrepreneur wait for the perfect opportunity, or create their own?

Andy Day, founder and CEO of Capital A & agencies.co joins Ian on the Wild Side today. As a serial entrepreneur, let Andy take you on a rollercoaster journey from aspiring 90s band member to moving to London with nothing to disrupting the M&A industry today.

Andy’s entrepreneurial spirit has always been there - perhaps without always knowing it himself. We hear about Andy starting out at MTV new music sourcing, and getting a flavour for the music business. That led to Andy founding Gigwise.com - the first online music media hub of its kind. Being an out and out entrepreneur, it grew into a leading UK online magazine for fourteen years. Alongside this, Andy founded Giant Digital, a media and marketing company with over 9 million monthly users. At one point, Giant powered the entertainment news for AOL, MSN and Yahoo!

In the studio, Andy shares how he cut his teeth in M&A scenario, successfully exiting from big businesses. Now having experience growing big business and navigating M&A, this led to Andy becoming an advisor to others on how it can be done; his message being it’s more accessible than we think.

Ian and Andy then move on to talk about one of the most important aspects of the entrepreneur: drive. Having both been there and done it, drive combined with “bounce-back-ability” is what you need during the inevitable ups and downs of entrepreneurship.

There’s definitely a difference between an idea in your head and turning it into business. We see how greatly Andy believes in just starting, instead of waiting for the perfectly formed thing or the perfect moment. Even in his own podcast, we see his entrepreneurial trait of “just trying it” shine through again.

Where Andy is most entrepreneurial today is in his approach to M&A. There’s certainly an advantage to not coming from a conventional “super serious” background. Backed by his team of expert investment bankers and ex-agency founders, we see how his focus is the initial relationship and protection of creativity above all else.

We then hear Andy’s views on the importance of kindness as an entrepreneur. Kindness will only create more opportunity. When this philosophy is combined with Andy’s infectious approach of “give it a go and see what happens”, we’re left with a killer cocktail.

Finally, being the disruptor that he is, we hear about Andy’s other company Agencies.co…and how he’s on a mission to not only transform the M&A space for marketing companies, but level the playing field too.

Andy Day

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andydday/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/entrepreneurs_inthewild/

TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@entrepreneursinthewild

X: https://twitter.com/EitW_podcast

Executive Producer Addi: https://addi.london/

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/addi-merrill/

Iris Worldwide: https://www.iris-worldwide.com/

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iris/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/irisworldwide/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.