#30: Opportunity In Sussex Starts With Being Seen

The Sussex And The City Podcast

– Episode 30:

Opportunity In Sussex Starts With Being Seen

Host: Richard Freeman
Guest: Donna O’Toole — founder of August Recognition; co-founder of Rewards App

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🔍 Episode summary

In this week’s episode, Richard meets Donna O’Toole - multi-award-winning entrepreneur, awards strategist and lifelong Sussex resident - whose journey from Arundel Castle to global business owner is as remarkable as it is rooted in place.

Donna grew up in the grounds of Arundel Castle, where her family worked as part of the staff, before entering care at aged 15 and being given an unusual, life-shaping choice: foster care, a children’s home, or what she recalls as “a home for girls with potential”.   She took the third option, kickstarting a life defined by resilience, ambition and a razor-sharp instinct for spotting opportunity.

By 19 she had founded Sussex’s first dental nurse agency; in her 30s she returned to education, graduating in English Linguistics from the University of Sussex; and today she runs an international recognition consultancy from the tiny village of Chailey — proving, quite happily, that world-class businesses don’t need glass towers.

Richard and Donna explore Sussex’s confidence problem, the county’s quietly world-class business ecosystem, and why a future Mayor must pay attention to the overlooked arts of storytelling and narrative. Donna argues that too many Sussex businesses stay small not for lack of potential, but for lack of visibility, and that giving people the courage to “pitch up, not shrink down” could change the shape of our local economy.

This episode is a generous, grounded and surprisingly emotional reminder that recognition isn’t always vanity, it can be fuel for bigger things.

 

This episode is brought to you in partnership with:

YMCA Downslink Group -

For over a century, the YMCA has been supporting young people across Sussex and Surrey. Every night, they provide safe housing for more than 650 young individuals facing homelessness, offering not just shelter but also the support needed to rebuild their lives.

Beyond housing, this charity delivers a range of services including mental health counselling through YMCA Dialogue, family mediation, and youth advice centres in Brighton & Hove and Crawley. Their e-wellbeing platform offers digital mental health resources tailored for young people. 

They reach over 7,000 children, young people, and families each year, helping them navigate challenges and achieve their potential.

To learn more or support their mission, visit ymcadlg.org.

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🎯 Why this matters

Sussex will soon elect its first ever Mayor; someone expected to champion the county, raise its national profile, and create space for ambition, growth and innovation across places that haven’t always been encouraged to think big.

Donna argues that starts with confidence:

“You can achieve anything that you want to achieve, just so long as you believe in yourself and you set some goals and you work at it.”

And with visibility:

“Aim high and pitch up. You don't need to always think local… you’re serving your clients nationally. So why are you not getting national recognition?”

Sussex isn’t short of creativity, entrepreneurship or grit. But we are short of a shared narrative about success, and as Donna wants devolution to support a new strategy, confidence and culture change.

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🧠 Topics covered include:

• Growing up in Arundel Castle, and how early instability shaped Donna’s resilience
• The extraordinary “home for girls with potential” and its lifelong impact
• Starting Sussex’s first dental nurse agency as a teenager
• Why awards can matter for business growth, leadership confidence and community impact
• How Sussex founders underplay their achievements
• The barriers holding back small businesses from competing nationally
• What the King’s Awards for Enterprise tell us about real economic trends
• How the pandemic shifted recognition from financial metrics to people-first stories
• Why a Sussex Mayor must understand the power of storytelling, ambition and visibility
• How she thinks her new business will make recognition more inclusive
• The need for county-wide consistency in employer support
• Why success for Sussex must be defined by more than GDP or headcount

“It’s hard to read the label when you're sitting inside the jam jar.”

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📚 Further reading and references

• Donna's website
• August Recognition – awards & recognition consultancy
• The King’s Awards for Enterprise
• Dent Global / Key Person of Influence

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🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman
Guest: Donna O'Toole
Sound design / editing / original music: Chris Thorpe-Tracey
Production management: Letitia McConalogue
Recorded: At Projects The Lanes, Brighton

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📣 Get involved

Want a joined-up Sussex story? Want to help shape devolution so it actually works for people and places? 👉 https://sussexandthecity.info — episodes, resources and events.