Episode #478 - Marketing That Puts Rural Businesses on the Map - with Liz Graney
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Liz Graney, founder of Escape the Village, a marketing business born out of her own career pivot from corporate life. Based in rural Britain, Liz has a passion for helping small, often-overlooked rural businesses overcome unique challenges to thrive in a digital-first world. Founded in October 2023, Escape the Village specialises in marketing support for what Liz describes as “well-kept secrets” – rural businesses that struggle with infrastructure limitations, visibility issues, and digital accessibility. From building websites...
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Episode #477 - Creating Joyful, Sustainable Business for Neurodivergent Entrepreneurs - with Nikki Butler
ScaleUp Radio
In this enlightening episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Nikki Butler, the dynamic founder behind The Autistic Joyologist. Nikki shares her powerful journey from corporate burnout to creating a thriving, purposeful business that supports neurodivergent entrepreneurs in finding joy, balance and authenticity. Nikki was diagnosed with autism and ADHD at the age of 36, and what followed was a profound transformation. Through her personal experiences and professional insights, she now empowers others through coaching, mentoring and her innovative RADIATE model – a framework for...
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Episode #476 - Redefining Education From the Ground Up - with Hayley Peacock
ScaleUp Radio
In this inspiring episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent sits down with Hayley Peacock, a pioneering educator and entrepreneur who is reshaping the way we think about learning, leadership, and scaling purpose-driven businesses. From a single mother navigating life on benefits to building multi-million pound education ventures, Hayley's story is as powerful as it is practical. She is the founder of Little Barn Owls Nursery Group, with five thriving settings across West Sussex, and the trailblazing Atelia 21 Future School, offering inquiry-based education for children aged 4 to 16. Her approach...
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Episode #475 - Scaling, Exiting, and the Private Equity Playbook - with Alexis Sikorsky
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, I sit down with Alexis Sikorsky, an experienced entrepreneur, coach, and author of the bestselling book Cashing Out. Alexis co-founded New Access in 2000, growing it into a €45-50 million business with 500 employees before successfully exiting to private equity between 2015 and 2019. Now, through Knight Scale, he provides coaching and advisory services to help fellow entrepreneurs navigate the challenges of scaling and exiting their businesses. This conversation is packed with hard-won lessons on what it takes to build, scale, and ultimately sell a business...
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Episode #474 - Building an Aligned Business - with Megan Stachini
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, we’re joined by Megan Stachini, the founder of Intrinsic, a business dedicated to helping entrepreneurs create fulfilling, values-driven businesses—without sacrificing their well-being or personal lives. Megan’s approach is all about authenticity and self-discovery, ensuring that business owners align their work with their core values to prevent burnout, build strong teams, and create sustainable success. She shares her insights on flexible work environments, balancing business and family, and why success should be measured by impact and contentment...
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Episode #473 - Habits & Strategies to Drive Great Team Engagement - with Paddy White
ScaleUp Radio
In this special Q&A episode, we welcome back Paddy White, founder of Virtual Diamond, to discuss the habits and strategies that drive great team engagement. Recorded as part of our monthly ScaleUp Club session, this episode features insightful discussions led by Granger, with audience participation bringing real-world challenges and experiences into the mix. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: 🔹 Building a Strong Virtual Team Culture – The power of regular communication (weekly, monthly, and annual check-ins) and showing appreciation through personal gestures. 🔹 Creating Buy-in...
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Episode #472 - How Embracing Change Within Your Business Makes You A Better Leader - with Simon Phillips
ScaleUp Radio
On this episode of ScaleUp Radio, we’re diving deep into change management, leadership, and scaling impact with Simon Phillips—a seasoned expert in orchestrating change for both organisations and individuals. With 25+ years of experience, including time at Accenture and over two decades running his own consultancy, Simon has developed powerful frameworks like the Delta Model for Change and the LACE Way for Human-Centric Leadership. His mission? To develop a million changemakers—people who can support others in making positive transformations. What We Cover in This Episode: 🔹 The...
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Episode #471 - How A Business Can Benefit From Writing A Book - with Danielle Hutchinson
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, we dive into the power of writing a book as an entrepreneur with Danielle Hutchinson, Chief Creative Officer at Authors on Mission. Authors on Mission is a done-for-you book writing service that helps business leaders and entrepreneurs turn their ideas into published books—without the hassle of writing themselves. With a team of over 30 core members, 750+ ghostwriters, and 50+ editors, they guarantee a seamless process, even promising Amazon bestseller status. Danielle shares how a book can serve as the ultimate business card, build credibility, and create a...
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Episode #470 - Growing People, Growing Business, Celebrating 100 Episodes Of ScaleUp Wisdom - with Granger Forson
ScaleUp Radio
Hey, I’m Granger Forson – find me at or connect with me on LinkedIn! In this special episode, we’re looking inward on my own business journey, from the days of engineering beer taps to embracing the power of continuous improvement. I’ll be sharing the highs and lows of ditching the corporate path in favour of scaling up my own adventure. You’ll hear my learning from 100 recoding’s of ScaleUp Radio podcast and growing my own business, and how nurturing a culture of experimentation built a strong foundation for BizSmart Gloucestershire. Listen in as I...
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Episode #469 - Grow A Mighty Business Rooted In Purpose And Impact - with Catherine Frankpitt
ScaleUp Radio
Hello, I’m Granger Forson – you can find me at or look me up on LinkedIn. In today’s episode, we shine a spotlight on the entrepreneurial journey of the remarkable Catherine Frankpitt, founder and Managing Director of Strike Communications. Catherine has built a “small but mighty” PR agency dedicated to “comms for good.” What does that mean? It’s her creative way of describing how she elevates charities and not-for-profits by telling their stories authentically and powerfully, ensuring that important causes reach the right audiences. From...
info_outlineAll the best ideas start over coffee at a coffee shop or maybe over a beer in the pub. And this is no exception.
Today I talk with Jane James who is the founder of Little Voices and they're a national award winning, franchised organisation that helps children to be the very best that they can and bring out the best in them through drama and singing.
In this conversation you won’t fail to notice how passionate the Jane is about her business. But like us all she's been through various ups and downs along the way.
Little Voices is all about empowering children to find their voice to succeed in life. So it's through music and drama, but it's much more than just about the music and drama itself.
We discuss all sorts of aspects around franchising why it might be a good thing to consider as a route to scaling, but we also discuss some of the challenges that Jane has had along her way - including the fact that Jane originally co founded the business with a partner, and they had a business divorce later on.
So lots of great learnings throughout this regardless of whether you're thinking about franchising or not. So let's go across to Jane and hear the rest of her story.
We spoke about franchising being a consideration in strategic planning for scaling up. If you’d like some tangible actions around developing a scalable business model, you might like to take our free 20 question strategy checker https://strategicthinking.scoreapp.com
Jane can be found here:
Resources:
Diary of a CEO - https://stevenbartlett.com/the-diary-of-a-ceo-podcast/
The Mid-Point with Gabby Logan - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-mid-point-with-gabby-logan/id1527545442
The School Run with Jane & Liv - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theschoolrun
Gmail - https://mail.google.com/
Google Tasks - https://support.google.com/tasks/answer/7675772?hl=en&ref_topic=7675628&sjid=5643080918397018839-EU
Google Drive - https://www.google.com/drive/
Xero - https://login.xero.com/
Trello - https://trello.com/