In this podcast we bring together Galahad Clark and Mahira Kalim, two entrepreneurs passionate about regenerative business. Vivobarefoot, founded by Galahad, and Spruce, founded by Mahira, have both recently been accredited as B Corps, a certification demonstrating that a business is a force for good. 

The certification is only attained when a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.

Galahad and Mahira discuss the importance of B Corp and why businesses should pursue this accreditation; the challenges of the process from the perspective of different sized businesses; and advice to founders looking to become accredited.

About the Speakers

Galahad Clark, CEO and co-founder of Vivobarefoot

Galahad is a seventh-generation cobbler. His ancestors founded Clarks shoes, and he is now the driving force behind Vivobarefoot, which makes shoes that allow the wearer to enjoy the same range of movement and sensation as if they were barefoot.

Mahira Kalim, founder of Spruce and graduate of the Hatch Launchpad programme

Mahira is the founder of Spruce, an ethical and sustainable brand of cleaning products designed to do no harm to your body, or the health of the planet. She is on a mission to spread more education about how our convenience-led lifestyles and especially air pollution from harmful chemicals and plastics affect our fertility and overall wellbeing. 

How do you create a strong digital presence for your business?  Join experts Brian Kofi Hollingsworth and Timi Merriman-Johnson to learn key insights into creating courageous digital brand presence and stories. 

Do you need help building a strong digital presence that helps you to achieve your sales and marketing goals?  

We can learn from hearing other people’s stories and journeys, so hear from two remarkable entrepreneurs who are fearless in their creativity and in building a strong digital blueprint for their business.  

Listeners will gain insights in:

- how to build a personal brand presence 
- how to create a creative and innovative digital brand story 
- how to construct a unique and consistent brand identity to achieve your goals 

Who is this podcast is for:

• Founders wanting to gain clarity in their brand
• Founders who are struggling to build a digital brand
• Founders who want inspiration and creativity 
• Founders who want to gain key insights into brand innovation 

In this talk with Emilie Bellet, founder of Vestpod, and Timi Merriman-Johnson, founder of Mr MoneyJar, we discussed how our mindset around money influences our business direction and planning. In striving towards a healthy approach to money across both business and personal matters we must first address our financial habits - once we master this we can then align our core business values and purpose with a financial strategy that reflects our approach.  

Saeeda Ahmed, founding director of Education Partnerships UK Ltd (EPUK), talks to Eleanor Mills, journalist and Founder of Noon on why and how you can build bridges between communities and networks to create fundamental change, plus the role you can play in projects that help in the transfer of power that support the economy and society.

In this Founders Talk, Timi talks to Andy, founder of The Angel Investing School, about the key principles of growing your business and how to secure investment from angel investors.  Just how do you go about finding and approaching angel investors? Why is having a  clear vision and direction so important when starting your  entrepreneurial journey in order to get investment at the right time? 

Through this talk, Andy will explain why he believes first time founders should be building a community around them that is diverse and reflects the society they live in.  Your community matters and this ranges from your customers who love your business to investors who understand your business model and vision. 

Andy has built a school of diverse investors that understand the businesses of underrepresented entrepreneurs and has changed the start-up world forever

In this talk we were joined by  founders Anne Boden and Eleanor Mills for an open talk on how Anne built Starling, the UK's most successful challenger bank.

Anne founded Starling Bank in 2014 after a distinguished global career in financial services. Her previous roles include  Chief Operating Officer of Allied Irish Banks (2012 – 2013), Head of EMEA, Global Transaction Banking, for RBS (2009 to 2011) and Executive Vice President Europe, Transaction Banking, for ABN AMRO (2006-2009). A computer scientist by training, she is a Fellow of the Royal Chartered Institute of IT and a member of the FinTech Strategy Group, created by Innovate Finance and the City of London Corporation. She was awarded an MBE for services to financial technology in 2018.

Our host for this talk ,  Eleanor Mills, CEO of Noon, talks to Anne about how she started her entrepreneurial journey in her forties, the challenges she has faced, and what it's like to be a disruptor in the financial sector despite not being the likely face of a new challenger bank.  

In this talk we were joined by Timi Merriman-Johnson and Raphael Sofoluke who, despite the challenges they have faced, have risen to the top in their industries.

Timi Merriman-Johnson is an award-winning financial content creator, podcaster, author and founder of Mr MoneyJar, a UK-based financial education company, who has been featured on the BBC, LadBible and Sky News.

Raphael Sofoluke is the Visionary Founder and CEO behind The UK Black Business Show & UK Black Business Week, the first dedicated week in the UK for Black entrepreneurs, professionals and allies in the UK. Raphael has been instrumental in changing the landscape for Black entrepreneurs.

Timi interviewed Raphael on why he created the Black Business show in 2017 and its importance and relevance in promoting and highlighting Black entrepreneurs in the tech and the entrepreneurial space which has typically been dominated by white privilege. 

This talk  explored the challenges of building an event of this magnitude and what his vision for the future is. They also spoke about the obstacles and hurdles that have been placed in their way and how to overcome these in a society that is still inherently racist. 

Join this uplifting and high energy conversation with Eleanor Mills, founder of Noon, and a journalist who has interviewed everyone from David Cameron to Sheryl Sandberg, and Rose Marley CEO of Co-operatives UK, and co-founder of social enterprise Sharp Futures.

Rose has been a pioneer in leading initiatives that help everyone get a chance to build a business that they love. Having started her career in the creative industries, during the “Madchester” era, working in the music industry, she then went into the social enterprise sector and has supported many young entrepreneurs through her time at SharpFutures. She has been the Social Enterprise Advisor to the Manchester City Council and has ensured that everyone who wants to start a social enterprise has the opportunity to. She is a progressive leader with a passion for inclusion. 

What will you learn?

• How to build a social enterprise and coop and how to make it stand out from competitors
• The importance of creativity in the entrepreneurship world 
• The important role of diversity and inclusion in entrepreneurship
•  An understanding into why supporting young entrepreneurs is so important and why we should ensure that all voices are represented.
• Community action and how to spark passion 

Who is this for?

All entrepreneurs and business owners, especially social entrepreneurs and impact businesses, who want to learn about building a purpose-driven business.