Part of my series: ‘Real-life Personal Brand Examples’.

I introduce you to Penny Hopkinson, the UK’s go-to expert on planning and developing ENGAGING Operations Manuals. Her specialism is in the franchise sector which is where I met her back in the early 2000s.

She has written an Amazon No 1 Bestseller called: “Manual Magic: Create the Operations Manual Your Franchisees Need to Succeed.” It is the definitive work of its type, endorsed by the British Franchise Association.

Never to let her 70s stop her, she also founded Manual Magic AI in 2025, which turns her Manual Magic 3-step process into a "Done with You, Done by You' SaaS product, which you can hear more about on the show.

Penny is a treasure trove of stories and she even shares how she was the first woman to get a rare Saudi visa to cross the Saudi Arabian Pipeline route from Muscat to Stuttgart in a rare racing green Chevrolet Camaro, in the late '70s.

Working on your personal brand strategy means digging into the stories that have made you who you are today. Come hear Penny’s.

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𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

After training as a trade and tech journalist and international editor in her early working years, and a brief flirtation with public relations, Penny Hopkinson spent over a decade as a socio-economics correspondent and travel writer reporting on the emerging Arabian Gulf States and Saudi Arabia. Here, she interviewed ministers, merchants, and members of the ruling families.

For almost four decades however her professional specialism has been in the world of franchising and licensing - she is the UK’s go-to expert on planning and developing engaging Operations Manuals. She has written an Amazon No 1 Bestseller, “Manual Magic: Create the Operations Manual Your Franchisees Need to Succeed.”

In 2025 she founded Manual Magic AI as a follow-up to her book. This tool turns her Manual Magic 3-step process into a "Done with You, Done by You' SaaS product.

Penny lives with her husband, Steven, in Warwickshire in the UK.

𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗥𝗢̈𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

Shelley is a systems-led personal brand strategist working with knowledge experts… those who teach, educate, consult, advise or mentor others. Her specialism is in helping her clients to uncover their genius gifts which the world needs and translate that into something that can be marketed and communicated in a way that’s comfortable for them.

South African born and British-grown, Shelley has worked with 150+ brands across 30+ industries through her consultancy and agency work. She runs her specialist marketing agency Harbour 32, with her magically gifted friends, where they focus on personal brand strategy and podcast show positioning.

==================

All episodes are video recorded and can be watched in the website show notes at shelleyrostlund.com/podcast, or on YouTube. (Click here for the full audio transcribed version).

I share what I’ve learnt from my conversation with Jake Moore, a Global Cybersecurity Advisor and ITV’s This Morning’s go-to cyber security expert. As well my discussion with Matthew Attfield, a strategic specialist working in the UK healthcare training space.

These two conversations, much like the others in this series will hopefully inspire you to shape a version of yourself that you feel happy sharing with the outside world.

In this episode I share three things that came up for me after reflecting on both Jake and Matthew’s episodes, and those centre around these thoughts:

#1 Openness and curiosity can shape your path

#2 Ideas grow from disparate pieces of information & experiences

#3 Your brain wiring can be an indicator your special talents

Both conversations have urged me to re-think my definition of a subject matter expert, as well as take on board some of the tips they’ve inadvertently shared about how they navigate their work worlds.

Would you do me a favour? Could you let me know what’s swirling around in your head when you listen to this one and the conversations in this series. I’d love to know if they are hitting home or are useful for you. I respond to everyone.

Instagram : @shelleyrostlund Or LinkedIn: /shelleyrostlund

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𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗥𝗢̈𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

Shelley is a systems-led personal brand strategist working with knowledge experts… those who teach, educate, consult, advise or mentor others. Her specialism is in helping her clients to uncover their genius gifts which the world needs and translate that into something that can be marketed and communicated in a way that’s comfortable for them.

South African born and British-grown, Shelley has worked with 150+ brands across 30+ industries through her consultancy and agency work. She runs her specialist marketing agency Harbour 32, with her magically gifted friends, where they focus on personal brand strategy and podcast show positioning.

==================

All episodes are video recorded and can be watched in the website show notes at shelleyrostlund.com/podcast, or on YouTube. (Click here for the full audio transcribed version).

Part of my series: ‘Real life Personal Brand Examples’.

I introduce you to Matthew Attfield, Founder and MD of Ashfield Services, a specialist healthcare training provider.

I invited Matthew to come and share his career journey so far, and how he has navigated getting to know himself, what lights him up and how to bring that into his every day.

You’ll get to hear how a chance meeting late at night, while he was on holiday spurred what has now become his thriving business.

Matthew is an absolute joy to talk and listen to. He is enthusiastic, open to the questions I ask him, and he was up for us working on his strengths LIVE on the episode. This gives you a working LIVE example of what it’s like to learn what your strengths are that show up in your everyday and is what other people value about you.

This is at the heart of doing the marketable value and positioning work I do in personal brand strategy.

Come listen!

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𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

Matthew Attfield is the founder and managing director of Ashfield Services, a training provider dedicated to working in the healthcare sector and focussed on mandatory, clinical and specialist areas that mostly impact nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals.

He is essentially a strategic systemic generalist who is passionate about making things better for people, so they can be healthy, happy and thrive.

He co-founded The Good Slice of Pizza, a community food-based pop-up monthly charity fund raising campaign with his best friend Adam Cherry after being inspired from a trip India.

Outside of work he loves the cultural, tactile experiences he gets through travelling, trying new food, as well as going to the theatre and meeting new people.

𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗥𝗢̈𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

Shelley is a systems-led personal brand strategist working with knowledge experts… those who teach, educate, consult, advise or mentor others. Her specialism is in helping her clients to uncover their genius gifts which the world needs and translate that into something that can be marketed and communicated in a way that’s comfortable for them.

South African born and British-grown, Shelley has worked with 150+ brands across 30+ industries through her consultancy and agency work. She runs her specialist marketing agency Harbour 32, with her magically gifted friends, where they focus on personal brand strategy and podcast show positioning.

==================

All episodes are video recorded and can be watched in the website show notes at shelleyrostlund.com/podcast, or on YouTube. (Click here for the full audio transcribed version).

The phrase “thought leader” is bandied about, A LOT. Perhaps even more than “personal brand”. It’s kind of losing its glow. Am I right?

I share where I sit on this thought leader topic, and why I think that it’s valuable to be recognised as a thought leader (if it turns out that you are one - because not everyone is thought-leading.)

I hope this will give you some more meat and bones to the concept of thought leadership and will spur you to evaluate where you sit in this topic.

Do you have the ingredients of a thought leader, but you just haven’t really nurtured this idea enough to see where it could lead you? Maybe this will give you some sparks to light the flame brighter.

If you are curious to know what I think a thought leader looks like and how they seem to rise to the top of the expert pile – come listen.

I also will share the four main benefits I see in making the effort to being recognised as a thought leader in your field.

Let me know what you think after you’ve listened. Find me on Instagram and LinkedIn - @shelleyrostlund.

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𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗥𝗢̈𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

Shelley is a systems-led personal brand strategist working with knowledge experts… those who teach, educate, consult, advise or mentor others. Her specialism is in helping her clients to uncover their genius gifts which the world needs and translate that into something that can be marketed and communicated in a way that’s comfortable for them.

South African born and British-grown, Shelley has worked with 150+ brands across 30+ industries through her consultancy and agency work. She runs her specialist marketing agency Harbour 32, with her magically gifted friends, where they focus on personal brand strategy and podcast show positioning.

==================

All episodes are video recorded and can be watched in the website show notes at shelleyrostlund.com/podcast, or on YouTube. (Click here for the full audio transcribed version).

Part of my series: ‘Real life Personal Brand Examples’.

I introduce you to Jake Moore, a Global Cybersecurity Advisor and Crime Enthusiast.

I invited Jake to come and share his journey to becoming a go-to cybersecurity specialist and commentator for media outlets like the BBC, ITV, Sky News and CNN.

You’ll get to hear how Jake has carved his career purely by having this driving curiosity to get to know people and how things work. He studied Maths and Statistics at university, and served 14 years in the police force in the Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime Unit, before going to work in the private sector for ESET, a global online and cyber security software business.

Jake is down to earth, upbeat and genuinely enthusiastic about his work and feels like he hit the jackpot in being able to do what he does every day.

Come listen!

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𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

Jake Moore is a crime enthusiast and Global Cybersecurity Advisor for ESET, a global online and cyber security software business.

In his 14 years in the police force’s Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime Unit, he has investigated 100s of crimes and spent much of his time in Crown Court producing digital evidence for an abundance of different offences ranging from fraud to murder.

He spends a chunk of his time conducting research and analysis into the latest cybersecurity threats, he also regularly comments on a range of cybersecurity and AI stories in the press and has appeared on BBC, ITV, Sky News and CNN.

With his real-world experience, and positive, upbeat nature he now guides and advises private businesses in bolstering their cybersecurity to combat evolving cyber threats.

He has been asked to speak on stages for thousands of attendees for businesses like Barclays, Meta and IBM.

𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗥𝗢̈𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

Shelley is a systems-led personal brand strategist working with knowledge experts… those who teach, educate, consult, advise or mentor others. Her specialism is in helping her clients to uncover their genius gifts which the world needs and translate that into something that can be marketed and communicated in a way that’s comfortable for them.

South African born and British-grown, Shelley has worked with 150+ brands across 30+ industries through her consultancy and agency work. She runs her specialist marketing agency Harbour 32, with her magically gifted friends, where they focus on personal brand strategy and podcast show positioning.

==================

All episodes are video recorded and can be watched in the website show notes at shelleyrostlund.com/podcast, or on YouTube. (Click here for the full audio transcribed version).

Ever wondered what goes through other people’s heads when they are listening to podcasts? Well in this episode – I share 8 different listener’s feedback on what they have been getting from listening to my series talking to subject matter experts who are out shaping a version of themselves that they are happy to share with the outside world.

Come join me as you’ll hear from Mark Masters, Gordon Fong, Felicity Hodkinson, Claire Hersant, Justin Cohen, Finola Howard, Caroline Millington and Jane Whitfield.

They are from all around the UK and Ireland and each got something different from the episodes that they listened to.

Their words may well snap something inside of you. Come listen and see.

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𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗥𝗢̈𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

Shelley is a systems-led personal brand strategist working with knowledge experts…those who teach, educate, consult, advise or mentor others. Her specialism is in helping her clients to uncover their genius gifts which the world needs and translate that into something that can be marketed and communicated in a way that’s comfortable for them.

South African born and British-grown, Shelley has worked with 150+ brands across 30+ industries through her consultancy and agency work. She runs her specialist marketing agency Harbour 32, with her magically gifted friends, where they focus on personal brand strategy and podcast show positioning.

==================

All episodes are video recorded and can be watched in the website show notes at shelleyrostlund.com/podcast, or on YouTube. (Click here for the full audio transcribed version).

If you are podcast host or thinking of starting a podcast – then this episode is for you.

I invite my work colleague and friend Imogen Jones, to come join me as we share some personal branding tips we find particularly useful for podcast hosts.

Some of what we talk about will help with the moments where you may:

…hit a creativity brick wall

…run out of energy

…lose sight of why you’re doing what you’re doing

…fear that you don’t have enough authority

Come join us - it’s a relaxed conversation, but purposeful.

- - -

𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

Imogen Jones is a Podcast Specialist who works with subject matter experts to develop and launch a podcast show which is truly theirs, is powerful for their listeners, fun to deliver, and excites them to reach more of their ideal people.

She uses our Compass Method™, to carefully draw out the viable, long-lasting idea of their show, as well as giving them the confidence of set up, format, structure and the space for creative freedom.

With two decades of human-centered work, she is highly tuned to supporting clients to embrace their unique gifts and, on the flip side, she’s naturally empathetic to understanding the position of the listener, which clients definitely benefit from.

𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗥𝗢̈𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

Shelley is a systems-led personal brand strategist working with knowledge experts… those who teach, educate, consult, advise or mentor others. Her specialism is in helping her clients to uncover their genius gifts which the world needs and translate that into something that can be marketed and communicated in a way that’s comfortable for them.

South African born and British-grown, Shelley has worked with 150+ brands across 30+ industries through her consultancy and agency work. She runs her specialist marketing agency Harbour 32, with her magically gifted friends, where they focus on personal brand strategy and podcast show positioning.

==================

All episodes are video recorded and can be watched in the website show notes at shelleyrostlund.com/podcast, or on YouTube. (Click here for the full audio transcribed version).

I share what I’ve learnt from my conversations with Darryn Eggleton, a South African Wildlife Artist based in Suffolk and Steph Lee-Vae, an inclusive, creative educator based in Northamptonshire.

These two conversations, much like the others in this series will hopefully inspire you to shape a version of yourself that you feel happy sharing with the outside world.

In this episode I share three things that came up for me after reflecting on both Darryn and Steph’s episodes, and those centre around these thoughts:

#1 Early encouragement helps sow seeds for genius strengths

#2 Passion is a strong long-term driver

#3 Find your Goldilocks Zone as soon as possible

They make more sense when you hear me out – so come join me. They have taught me some more depths for my own personal branding journey.

Do me a favour, would you? Could you let me know what’s swirling around in your head when you listen to this one and the conversations in this series. I’d love to know if they are hitting home or are useful for you. I respond to everyone.

Instagram : @shelleyrostlund.

Or LinkedIn: /shelleyrostlund

- - -

𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗥𝗢̈𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

Shelley is a systems-led personal brand strategist working with knowledge experts…those who teach, educate, consult, advise or mentor others. Her specialism is in helping her clients to uncover their genius gifts which the world needs and translate that into something that can be marketed and communicated in a way that’s comfortable for them.

South African born and British-grown, Shelley has worked with 150+ brands across 30+ industries through her consultancy and agency work. She runs her specialist marketing agency Harbour 32, with her magically gifted friends, where they focus on personal brand strategy and podcast show positioning.

==================

All episodes are video recorded and can be watched in the website show notes at shelleyrostlund.com/podcast, or on YouTube. (Click here for the full audio transcribed version).