Charting New Waters: How a Startup Disrupted Superyacht Navigation
Release Date: 07/21/2025
The Japanese Secrets to Healthier, Happier Businesses, with Barbara Cox-Lovesy
Evolve to Succeed
On this episode of the Evolve to Succeed Podcast, Warren Munson welcomes back award-winning nutritionist, wellbeing expert and author, Barbara Cox-Lovesy. Returning more than six years after her first appearance, Barbara shares how attitudes towards health, wellbeing and workplace culture have evolved and why business leaders can no longer afford to ignore them. Drawing on lessons from her new book, Land of the Rising Lifespan, Barbara explains how Japanese culture has shaped her approach to leadership, productivity and longevity. From preventing burnout and creating healthier workplaces to...
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From Teacher to Charity CEO: Krista Cartlidge's Leadership Journey
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On this episode of the Evolve to Succeed Podcast, Warren Munson is joined by Krista Cartlidge, CEO of MYTIME Young Carers, to explore her journey from secondary school teacher to leading a nationally recognised organisation supporting young carers. Krista shares how frustrations within the education system led her to discover the hidden challenges faced by young carers, and why that discovery completely changed the direction of her career. Since joining MYTIME, she has helped grow the charity into a nationally respected voice, influencing policy, collecting groundbreaking data, and helping...
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Selling Your Business | Lessons From Those Who've Done It
Evolve to Succeed
On this special episode, we bring together real conversations with founders and leaders who have built, scaled, and successfully exited their businesses. From early-stage ambition to the final signature, this episode explores what the journey actually looks like behind the scenes. You’ll hear honest reflections on the realities of selling, from the pressure of due diligence and deal fatigue, to the emotional weight of stepping away from something you’ve spent years building. These are stories of resilience, tough decisions, timing, and the often-overlooked question: What comes next?...
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From Accountant to Creative Founder, with Joe Hayes at Kindful
Evolve to Succeed
What happens when someone trained to analyse spreadsheets decides to follow their creative passion? In this episode of The Evolve to Succeed Podcast, Warren Munson sits down with Joe Hayes, founder of Kindful Creative, to explore his journey from trainee accountant to running a growing video production agency built on the values of kindness, relationships, and human connection. Joe shares how his early career in accountancy gave him a powerful understanding of business fundamentals, but ultimately left him feeling stuck in a routine that lacked passion. What started as a hobby with a camera...
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Culture by Design: Unlocking Alignment, Growth and Impact with Niall Cluley
Evolve to Succeed
On this episode of The Evolve to Succeed Podcast, Warren sits down with Niall Cluley, Managing Director and shareholder at Dragonfish, a culture and performance consultancy helping ambitious brands unlock alignment, growth and long-term impact. Niall shares his journey from corporate leadership roles at global brands including Fitness First and Vodafone, to becoming Dragonfish’s founding client before stepping into ownership. The conversation explores what culture really is beyond posters on the wall, why values alone are not enough, and how leaders can intentionally shape the...
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From School Shoes to Exit | With Lincoln New
Evolve to Succeed
On this episode of The Evolve to Succeed Podcast, we’re joined by Lincoln New, co-founder of Term Footwear, who shares the full story behind launching, pivoting, scaling and eventually exiting a school footwear brand in one of the UK’s toughest retail sectors. Lincoln takes us back to the early days of starting the business with little more than industry experience, belief and £700 worth of stock in a garage. He talks candidly about naivety, self-belief, dealing with doubters, managing supply chains across continents and the emotional toll of constant pivots. From distributor to brand...
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How An Employee Became The Boss (And Then Exited), with Brian Parker
Evolve to Succeed
What does it really take to grow from a junior role into Managing Director, earn equity, scale a business through major change, and successfully exit? In this episode of The Evolve to Succeed Podcast, host Warren sits down with Brian Parker, former Managing Director and shareholder of Britannia Parking. Brian shares an honest, behind-the-scenes account of his 20-year journey, starting in a junior finance role and progressing to board level, equity ownership and ultimately leading the business through a successful exit. Brian talks openly...
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James Croker on Leadership, Belonging and the Power of Sport
Evolve to Succeed
On this episode of The Evolve to Succeed Podcast, Warren Munson sits down with James Croker, Commercial Director at Bournemouth Rugby Club. Many know James as the energetic, passionate force behind the club’s growth in recent years, but few know the full story that shaped him. James takes us from his early sporting childhood, through a 15-year career in the Royal Air Force, to the devastating series of heart attacks in his early thirties that abruptly ended both his military career and his playing days. He speaks openly about the mental health battle that followed, the loss, the darkness and...
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The Start-Up Reality: Inside the First 12 Months of Building a Business, with Josh Williams
Evolve to Succeed
What does it really take to build a startup from scratch? In this episode of the Evolve to Succeed Podcast, host Warren Munson speaks with Josh Williams, co-founder of Town, a new community platform on a mission to help people rediscover and support their local independent businesses. Founded less than a year ago, Town is already building momentum by rewarding shoppers for buying local and connecting communities through tech. Josh opens up about his journey from a series of side hustles to launching a tech startup with purpose. He talks candidly about the challenges of bootstrapping, managing...
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From Dysfunctional to High Performance: Lessons in Teamwork, with Nick Fewings
Evolve to Succeed
What makes a truly high-performing team, and why do so many fail to reach that level? In this episode of The Evolve to Succeed Podcast, Warren Munson sits down with Nick Fewings, founder of Ngagement Works and author of Team Lead Succeed. Known as a “Teamologist,” Nick shares insights from over three decades of experience helping leaders and teams reach their potential. From his early leadership struggles at Barclays to coaching global organisations, Nick explores the psychology of teamwork, covering trust, purpose, accountability and the fine balance between empathy and strategy. He...
info_outlineDave and Alicia Store, co-founders of DSNM, join the Evolve to Succeed podcast to trace their 25-year journey from a one-man, paper-based chart-correction service to an award-winning super-yacht-navigation technology company with 27 employees and 620 vessels under subscription. Dave candidly recounts the scrappy early years - dot-matrix printers, Pritt Stick, and fax machines - while Alicia explains how joining the firm (initially to cover maternity leave) professionalised its finances, people processes and long-term vision.
The couple unpack the pivotal moments that reshaped the business: realising captains would pay for a fully managed service; raising prices to signal quality; surviving the 2008 crash, COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine shock; and, most dramatically, self-funding and launching their proprietary software, Compass. Their complementary personalities - Dave the risk-taking visionary, Alicia the detail-driven operator - emerge as the engine behind DSNM’s culture of obsessive customer service and constant product iteration.
They also share the realities of running a high-pressure, family-run company in a glamorous, yet unforgiving industry. Topics range from work-life integration with their young son Louis, to tight recruitment standards, to the pride (and responsibility) of winning two Queen’s Awards and employing a close-knit team.
This episode of the Evolve to Succeed Podcast covers…
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Find a pain-killer, not a vitamin. Early success came from doing the tedious chart-correction work crews hated.
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Price can signal value. Raising rates—rather than undercutting incumbents—attracted more super-yacht clients.
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Service DNA first, tech layer next. DSNM’s core white-glove support never changed; software (Compass) scaled it.
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Complementary co-founders matter. Visionary risk (Dave) + operational diligence (Alicia) created balanced growth.
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Crisis = clarity. COVID and the Ukraine conflict forced the team to reassess purpose, costs and future bets.
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Culture of “no passengers.” Every hire must be a self-starting problem-solver; weak links show instantly in a small team.
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Bootstrapping builds resilience. Funding software internally preserved speed and ownership—crucial in a niche market.
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Work-life “blend” beats balance. Shared purpose, clear role boundaries, and intentional family time keep burnout at bay.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to DSNM and Its Founders
06:50 The Evolution of Services and Software Development
12:04 Navigating Business Challenges and Financial Lessons
20:39 Balancing Growth with Company Culture
30:04 The Impact of COVID-19 on Business Strategy
38:18 Reflections on Success and Personal Growth
42:50 Family Dynamics and Work-Life Balance
48:53 Quickfire Questions and Final Thoughts