Sound familiar?

After rebranding to The Unremarkable Entrepreneur, I stopped the events I was running. The podcast recordings dried up. The content and client pipeline went quiet.

Not because I don’t know what to do - I’ve built audiences, closed clients, generated revenue doing this exact work. But because I needed to spend some time behind the scenes, reimagining the structure behind the business you all get to see. Creating space for what works, and closing off energy sink holes.

But over the last few weeks I’ve grown restless.

I’m making energetic down payments in my future, but I’ve felt increasingly stuck in planning mode. Stuck thinking about the work, instead of doing it.

And that’s the trap, isn’t it? Because planning can feel enough like progress without actually moving anything forward.

So, writing this article is an act of rebellion.

It’s my attempt to stop spinning around my ideas and do something with them. Even if that doing is simply an act of open reflection.

In short, I need to remind myself that no structure will bring momentum. I cannot plan my way to clarity. There’s no ecosystem I can shape that brings life if I don’t fill it with life.

And that goes for you too.

The Messy Middle

When a peer asked me what was going on, I had to be honest: “I think I just need to lock in a weekly starter cadence so it feels like I’m living the work instead of feeling stuck planning it.”

They didn’t let me off easy. “You’ve just diagnosed yourself perfectly. You’re stuck in planner mode. How about you just get on with the work instead.”

It was like looking in a mirror. This is EXACTLY the kind of stuff I say to my clients. I’ve built a business around the act of closing the gap between planning and practice.

I’ve been acting like a strategist, when I was born to be a practitioner.

And the first casualty has been my content. I’ve stopped saying stuff about what I do. The truth? It doesn’t need a complex system, cleverness, or crisp editing. What it actually needs is consistent practice and contact with the world.

In other words: say the stuff and make it clear what people do with the stuff.

And when I close the tabs, resist the LinkedIn scroll, ignore the Substack clickbait, and tune out the gurus, what I want to talk about is crystal clear:

• The Authority Lab: my 1:1 programme for those ready to build a practice, not a business

• The Unremarkable Entrepreneur: weekly articles about how to build with intention and scale without limits

• The Unremarkable Entrepreneur Podcast: interviews with Unremarkable clients and creators who’ve been there and made it happen

Here’s my challenge to myself: if what you’re about to create doesn’t directly serve one of those, DON’T DO IT!

I believe in the power of constraints - time being the most sacred. Before I chase any shiny idea, I ask: will this cost me an hour with my son? Does this help build the future I want to own? If the answer to either is no, it doesn’t matter how clever the idea feels.

So I know what I want to say, but actually saying it? Well that’s a different practice entirely.

The Unemployable Reality

Here’s what I know about myself: having experienced five redundancies in a decade, the idea of going back into a full-time role feels like I wouldn’t be living my potential. But I still get tempted by the benefits: the security, the freedom of someone else’s to-do list, the team camaraderie. It’s catnip to a lonely entrepreneur.

But honestly, I’m unemployable now. Not because I lack skills - I have real depth across everything needed to succeed. But because the promise of working in alignment with who I actually am is like catnip for the soul!

My bills are paid, and there’s food on the table. But I still carry stress about whether this will work, especially with a 4-month-old son and a house purchase that’s running behind schedule. There’s pressure. Plus those redundancies have done my nervous system no good: I’m hard-wired now to expect that the rug will be pulled.

Despite this, my normal state is pretty confident.

I close most of my sales calls. I’ve grown an audience to nearly 10,000 on LinkedIn without ads or viral tactics. I’ve made this work before by simply serving the work instead of worrying about the outcome.

So why have I been feeling stuck?

The Forward-Thinking Curse

My friend nailed it: “One of your greatest strengths is that you are a forward thinker. You can see the entire process and all the potential before you start. But that can lead to overthinking every possible option, which feels overwhelming.”

And they’re right. I can see all the potential paths. I understand frameworks before I implement them. I’m intelligent enough to spot the whole journey from the starting line.

But that same intelligence can paralyse. When you can see everything that could work, choosing one path feels like closing doors. And when you’re carrying stress about whether this will actually provide for your family, that weight gets heavier.

The irony? I’ve watched people I’d consider less capable than me succeed by taking what might be considered dumb action. They just get on with things with the full belief that it will work, and often it does. Imperfect action is still action, and action creates opportunity.

They’re not smarter. They’re just not stuck in the planning trap.

The Starter Cadence

What I teach people is this: Your unfiltered self is your opportunity magnet. Don’t worship the outcome. Serve the work and take action. When you do, you’ll discover what wants to happen to you, through you, and for you.

And right now, I’m deciding to take action.

Here’s what I’m committing to in order to liberate myself: a weekly starter cadence that feels doable with a 4-month-old.

• Monday: Write one Unremarkable Entrepreneur article. Just write what wants to be written and let it rest

• Tuesday: Release one post about my 1:1 offer, The Authority Lab

• Wednesday: Publish the article and record a video read-through. Post it to the podcast

• Thursday: Reserved for business tasks and admin

• Friday: Write x5 short posts linking back to the article and schedule them for the following week

Of course, I’ll be working on guest podcast episodes, and let inspiration lead from time to time, but otherwise, that’s it!

One content pillar and one offer post. The long form drives almost everything, and one offer post solves my greatest weakness as an entrepreneur - telling people how I can actually help them.

Everything else - podcast recordings, events, social posts - orbits around this core practice. They’re not separate content pillars to manage. They’re extensions of the writing.

And if they can’t justify their existence, they’ll get cut. Without mercy.

Why this cadence and not another? Because I tried the ‘post daily’ approach. I tried the ‘batch everything monthly’ method. Both made me feel like I was performing rather than practising. This rhythm gives me space to think on Monday, take action on Tuesday, share on Wednesday, breathe on Thursday, and prepare for the next cycle on Friday. It’s not the perfect system - it’s simply the one that fits my life right now.

I Give Myself Permission

I have lived the experience of starting a business from absolute zero. Most people think they need to know the outcome, to understand where they’ll land.

But here’s what I know: things rarely go to plan. So whilst I’ve designed a rhythm, now it’s time to learn to dance. To establish the practice that generates the raw material.

I don’t need to know ‘what’s next’ beyond next Monday’s article. I’m going to write consistently until Christmas, and let what wants to happen to me, through me, and for me, reveal itself. The writing will deepen, the themes will compound, and what I can offer the world will sharpen through articulation and start cutting through the noise.

And here’s the thing I keep forgetting: I already have proof this works. I built 10,000 followers by running events, recording podcasts, and reaching out to people. One or two leads would always emerge naturally.

Not because I had perfect positioning, but because I was doing the work in public and people could see themselves in it.

The Path Forward

So I’m done planning. I’m done trying to see the whole journey before I take the next step.

Starting this week: One article. One offer post. One video. Repeat.

Starting from tomorrow: THIS article. Published. Recorded.

And it will work. Not because I’ve architected the perfect system, but because I’m serving the work consistently enough for patterns to emerge and in public enough for the right people - the 1% who are ready to build differently - to find me.

That’s the practice. That’s serving the work instead of worshipping the outcome.

And if you’re stuck in the same trap - overthinking, over-planning, waiting for the perfect structure - this is your permission slip: You already know enough. Start Monday. See what emerges by Friday. Do it again the next week.

The universe will show you what it wants from you. But only if you’re actually in conversation with it.

The question hung in the air during a recent coaching call, heavy with the weight of current events. My client, someone with a natural gift for creating joy and building community, was wrestling with a familiar tension: How to honour their nature while ICE agents conduct raids in Chicago, whilst families are torn apart by politics, whilst every headline brings fresh despair?

It’s a question I hear often in different forms. The creatives, the community builders, the joy-makers wondering if their work matters against the backdrop of global crisis. There’s a shame in it too - a sense that focusing on these things reveals our privilege, marks us as somehow separate from the real struggles of our time.

And perhaps it does; my ability to write this article is an expression of the liberty I get to enjoy. I need to recognise, integrate and remain sensitive to the reality of others: the truth, from my perspective, isn’t universal. I must be gentle.

The ideas I present as The Unremarkable Entrepreneur can’t and won’t work for everyone.

But play has always been important. A shared language. It endures amidst the psycho-drama (and its horrifying real-world consequences) that’s unfolding around the world, and will always be found in the rubble.

In fact, history shows us that play often emerges most powerfully in our darkest moments. Perhaps no example illustrates this better than a remarkable Christmas morning over a century ago.

The Game That Stopped a War

In the midst of World War I’s grinding horror, something extraordinary happened.

British and German soldiers, hearing familiar carols drifting across no man’s land, began to emerge from their trenches. What followed wasn’t a tactical manoeuvre or diplomatic initiative – it was a football match.

These men, who hours before had been trying to kill each other, found common ground in play. They traded cigarettes, shared photos and, for a brief, luminous moment, remembered their shared humanity. The game didn’t end the war, but it revealed something profound about trust that would echo through generations.

From Trenches to Twitter Threads

A century later, our trenches look different. They’re carved by social media algorithms, political ideologies and economic divides. But the principle remains: whilst everyone shouts their version of truth across these digital no-man’s-lands, very few are building trust.

As this insight emerged during our coaching conversation, my client’s struggle took on new meaning. Here was someone with a gift for creating joy and building community, yet feeling the pressure to abandon play for political commentary. But what if, like those soldiers in 1914, the path to connection isn’t through more debate, but through rediscovering our shared capacity for play?

What emerged was something powerful: Play isn’t a distraction from serious work – it’s often the only way to do it effectively.

The Language We Already Share

“You’re not building a brand,” I found myself saying, “you’re building a campfire.” Think about what happens around a campfire - stories are shared, guards come down, connections form naturally.

Play works the same way. Whether it’s a board game at a tense family gathering, impromptu sports in a refugee camp, or icebreakers in a divided community meeting, play creates a space where people can drop their defences and remember their shared humanity.

This insight visibly shifted something for my client.

Suddenly, their work wasn’t about choosing between play and purpose - it was about using play as a bridge. The question became more practical: What if their work wasn’t another voice in the chaos, but an invitation to remember how to trust? An invitation to heal across idological fault lines?

From Battleground to Playground

These aren’t just nice ideas. In a world drowning in hot takes and political commentary, what it needs are practical tools for rebuilding trust in our homes, our communities and our conversations. This is where play becomes revolutionary – not as an escape from reality, but as a strategy for engaging it more effectively.

What struck me most was watching my client realise that being “the play guy” wasn’t limiting – it was liberating. By embracing play as a trust-building tool, they could move beyond commentary to creation. Instead of adding another voice to the chaos, they could design experiences that help families navigate political divides at the dinner table, help communities build coalitions across difference, help people remember how to trust.

We can never argue people out of entrenched ideological positions. No well-written source or convincing video will break through those walls. But in play, we find another way.

When we create spaces where trust can grow, where wonder can return, where relationships can heal - that’s when real change becomes possible.

The Unremarkable Path Forward

Those soldiers in 1914 didn’t end the war with their football match. But they showed us something timeless about human nature: that in play, we find our common ground. That finding trust, not fighting for truth, can bridge our deepest divides.

This is the kind of unremarkable wisdom that changes everything. While others are shouting into the void, trying to win arguments, we can choose a different path. We can create spaces where trust can grow, where wonder can return, where relationships can heal.

This is the work I do with unremarkable entrepreneurs - helping them find their authentic way to serve, build trust and create meaningful change without adding to the noise. If you’re wrestling with similar tensions between creativity and responsibility, between joy and justice, between play and purpose, let’s explore how you can make your unique contribution.

Because the question isn’t whether what you do is serious enough for serious times. The question is: What becomes possible when we let who we are, not what we believe, shape what we do?

What follows isn't just theory. It's what emerges when you sit with someone wrestling with their next step and help them notice what's already there.

"I'll start when I have more savings."

"I need better skills first."

"The timing isn't right."

Here's the uncomfortable truth: you're not lacking resources. You're waiting for permission.

Typically, people look for reasons why now isn't the right time. It not only protects us from risk, it also protects our idea. If no one ever hears about it, it can remain an exciting dream indefinitely, stuffed full of potential.

And honestly, there's nothing wrong with that.

Sometimes we only have bandwidth to dream because we've got a steady job, a secure situation, and our bills squared away. And it's 100% OK if you're happy with that balance.

But what happens when it becomes more than just an idea? When it becomes an itch that needs to be scratched, or a necessity because you've lost your job?

For plenty of entrepreneurs I meet, that's when their perceptions around perfect timing, perfect product, and valued skills kick in, and they spend the next 6 months tinkering behind the scenes instead of making contact with the market.

And you know what happens next: they run out of time, money, and energy with nothing to show for it.

Here's the paradox: the very permission we think we need - the resources, the skills, the perfect timing - only appear after we start moving. You take those first steps in faith, and only then discover the sure footing you’ve been looking for, or in the very least, the confidence to keep moving forward.

The Power of Productive Constraints

Ask most people about constraints and they'll tell you they're limiting. They stop us achieving our dreams, hold us back from our potential. But talk to successful entrepreneurs and you'll hear a different story entirely.

Consider Donald Fisher, founder of The Gap. At 44, frustrated by not being able to exchange a pair of jeans that didn't fit, he spotted an opportunity. Instead of waiting for the "perfect" moment or trying to build a global retail empire, he started with a simple constraint: create one store that would carry all sizes of Levi's jeans. That constraint, focusing on solving one clear problem, evolved into a multi-billion dollar business. But it started with embracing limitations: one problem, one solution, one store.

My client discovered this same power. With impressive skills, an insatiable creative mind, and nothing short of divine gift for creating community, they were paralysed by the creative possibilities and a lack of time. Their breakthrough came when their partner offered a simple constraint: "Go part-time, throw yourself in, and let's test this out."

Together we went on to frame this constraint further: give it a year, and if we don't see the first signs of growth by then, you can step back toward corporate. Until then, focus on the work and let's see what happens.

That timeline, that constraint, suddenly made everything less threatening, more possible. They weren't trying to "make it" forever. They were just trying to show promise in a year.

Your First Idea Is a Vehicle, Not a Prison

As we spoke, this insight unlocked another truth about constraints: they don't just help us start, they help us evolve. Most entrepreneurs get stuck waiting for the perfect concept. But your first idea doesn't need to be permanent. We're not etching our mission on stone tablets.

And I can see it in my own journey: what started with Anthem, evolved to Culture Crush, and now I'm building Unremarkable. Each iteration wasn't a failure, it was an evolution informed by real conversations with real people.

The pressure to create something iconic and everlasting actually prevents us from taking action. But when we embrace our first idea as just that, a first idea, it becomes liberating. It gives us momentum. It starts the journey.

The Magnetic Effect

When you embrace constraints and give yourself permission to begin, something unexpected happens. You create the conditions for one of two things to happen:

• Your venture succeeds on its own terms

• You attract an opportunity so aligned with your values that it becomes impossible to refuse

Many entrepreneurs wait for the universe to make their choice obvious. They tell themselves "If I don't get this job, that's a sign I should pursue my dream." But here's the deeper truth: the real permission comes when you have both options available and choose anyway.

Imagine love was like ice cream; it isn't special because you only like one flavour. That would mean the one you chose isn't special at all. Love becomes meaningful when you choose something knowing you could have chosen differently, when it’s an act of the heart and your will. The same is true in business.

This isn't just positive thinking or manifestation. It's what naturally happens when you stop trying to control every outcome and start serving the work itself. You become magnetic to possibility because you're focused on creating value, not desperately chasing success.

The Hidden Pattern

What our conversation uncovered connected deeply with some of the core principles of The Unremarkable Entrepreneur. Namely that our best work is found, not chosen. Your business already exists. It's been flowing through you for years, hiding in plain sight. Like a constellation in the night sky, the stars are already there. You just need to learn to see the pattern.

Take Vera Wang, who didn't design her first dress until age 40. The constellation was always there: her eye for style, her understanding of what women want, her ability to blend tradition with innovation. She didn't invent her calling, she noticed it. Today her brand is worth over $1 billion, all because she gave herself permission to see the pattern that was already there.

Your calling leaves traces everywhere:

• In the margins of your notebooks

• Across years of social media posts

• In the advice friends always ask you for

• Through the problems you naturally solve

• In the post-its stuffed in your desk drawer

The challenge isn't creating something new, it's giving yourself permission to embrace what's already there.

The Partnership Principle

Conversations like this one, and taking time to reflect on it, really matter because the path to entrepreneurial independence often starts with partnership. Not just business partnerships (though they matter too) but the partnerships that give us permission to dream.

For me, it was my wife Laura saying "I see this dream in you, I support it, let’s give a year." For others, it might be a mentor, friend, or coach. Someone needs to see you clearly enough to say "yes, this is possible."

What began as a simple coaching conversation revealed something profound: our constraints, when embraced, become our path to freedom. Our first imperfect steps, when taken, become our vehicle to growth. And our calling, when we finally notice it, becomes the momentum we’ve been searching for all along.

Take a moment to consider:

• Who's already offering you permission?

• What constraints could actually liberate you?

• What work is already flowing through you, waiting to be noticed?

Sometimes the most remarkable breakthroughs start with unremarkable steps.

The question isn't whether you're ready. The question is: what's already stirring within you?

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and What’s Next

02:23 Conquer Imposter Syndrome with Julian Cole

03:29 Stop writing personal journals, with Daniel Murray

04:07 Unlock the power of hero content with Callum Mcdonnell

04:54 Empathy Inspired Marketing with Kat Kennan

05:45 Finding Your Digital Frontier with Dan Hafner

07:14 Brutally Simple Strategy with Mark Pollard

07:57 Facilitator Conversation Tactics with Laure Roy-Duchamp & David Rovira

10:02 Think Like A Thought Leader with Adam Faulkner

11:13 The Easy Way To Get Referrals with Brandon Barnum

12:14 Breakthrough Social Media Basics with Christian Brown

13:56 How To Doodle Your Dream with Theresa Rose

15:12 Power Up Your Company Offsite with Chloe Temple

16:07 Unlock The Power Of Customer Stories with Joel Klettke

16:56 Master The Blogging Basics with Alison Ver Halen

17:25 Critical SEO Foundations Mase Easy with Phillip Stemann

18:21 Personal Brand: Three Keys That Unlock ROI with Sam Winsbury

19:12 How To Make Friends With AI And Kill Copy-phobia with Hannah Brady

20:56 How To Get 1,000,000 Impressions with Mark P. Jung

22:11 Create Ads That Work Like Magic with Robert Brill

23:11 Why Creators Need To Think Like Scientists with Travis Terrell

25:40 Always Be Communicating with Sunny Singh

27:16 Discover Your Brand In 90 Days with Dain Walker

28:59 Write Stupid To Get To Smart with Maxton Gilchrist

31:19 How To Launch A Personal Brand with Nicole Marguerite Gray

31:47 Craft A Data-led Growth Mindset with Susan Coelius Keplinger

33:42 The Authentic Way To Build Your Brand with Purna Virji

34:32 How To Find Your Audience with Pete Newsome

35:21 Why Going Niche Is Bad Advice with William Choi

36:21 Strategy Simplified with Chris Bradshaw

38:00 Release The Power Of Conscious Leadership with Justin Foster 

40:18 From Burnout To Recovery with Tyler Wittkofsky

41:09 How To Generate Business with Chris Marin

42:55 Discover The Power Of Showing Your Work with Marcus de Vale

43:53 How To Deeply Connect With Customers with Shannon Howard 

44:49 Founders Fighting Burnout with Manuel Saez

45:44 Networking Is Power For Freelancers with Hollie Fraser

46:33 What Is Driving Your Identity? With Matthew Wood

47:46 How To Lead Better Gatherings with Douglas Ferguson

48:48 See You Soon

Here's to progress 🚀

👋 Follow ⁠Dan on LinkedIn

⚡️ But in your network there is power, wisdom, and opportunity.

Meet Hollie Fraser, freelance Creative Director and the mastermind behind We Are She Lance. Hollie has walked the uncertain soil of the freelance world and knows the importance and power of connection. In short, investing time building relationships with people walking a similar path is critical if you want to stay sane!

In today’s episode of Strategy Shorts, we discuss everything from earned media and storytelling, to the delicate balance between work and personal life. Hollie also unpacks her background in advertising and PR, her journey into professional freelancing, and why she’s launched a community for kickass female freelancers.

We’re talking:

✅ Hollie’s journey and the birth of We Are Shelance.

✅ Networking as an opportunity maker and sanity saver.

✅ How to just do it and stop asking for permission.

Here’s to progress 🚀

Follow Hollie on LinkedIn

Follow Dan on ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠

#Freelancing #Networking #Entrepreneurship #CareerJourney #Empowerment #Podcast #StrategyShorts #WeAreShelance

🧱 only to hit a wall of uncertainty?

🤔 Perhaps you’ve found success,

😵‍💫 and then the friction that comes with it?

This episode of Strategy Shorts goes out to all the dog-tired Founders, Entrepreneurs and leaders out there. You might feel like it, but you’re not alone.

Meet Manuel Saez, he’s an industrial designer by trade and a two-time Founder.

He’s been down burnout valley and come up the other side with some practical tools we can all use to help us manage our mental health.

The resources Manuel is producing come from a deeply personal place, he’s writing for the man he was five years ago. On his journey, he found that he had to piece together his own resources to help navigate his experiences and he’s distilled them into five pillars tailored for those facing the challenges burnout brings with it.

People love to say things like ‘Start with you’

but they often forget to say how to.

Manuel is here to challenge and change that.

We’re talking:

✅ Manuel’s story from industrial design to entrepreneur and through burnout.

✅ Five practices for transformation and nurturing resilience.

✅ The crucial role of self-care and gratitude in achieving liberation.

Here’s to progress 🚀

Founders Fighting Burnout Five-Day Recovery Guide.

Follow Manuel on LinkedIn.

Follow Dan on ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠.

#Entrepreneurship #MentalHealth #Burnout #Resilience #SuccessMindset #StrategyShorts #PersonalDevelopment #Podcast

🤔 Why? Because they are so focused on acquisition…

💔 …that they fail to nurture the community and fan the flames of fandom.

Here’s why that’s a problem: for most brands, their existing customers are responsible for the majority of their profits.

So if you take one thing from this: listen. Book some customer coffee breaks and listen.

That’s how Shannon Howard does it, customer relationships champion and Top 100 CMA. Shannon’s the Director of Customer and Content Marketing over at Intellum, who power customer education for brands like Meta, Google, and Reddit.

In the latest episode of Strategy Shorts, Shannon joins me to open up her playbook and it’s a goldmine.

We zero in on some of the simple weekly practices you can implement to hear directly from consumers and unpack the headlines from the Intellum framework - so you can use customer feedback to create marketing strategies that powerfully resonate.

We’re talking:

✅ The untapped power of the customer journey post-acquisition.

✅ The raw potential of collaboration and user-generated content.

✅ The simple stuff you can do to engage consumers today.

Here’s to progress 🚀

Follow Shannon on LinkedIn.

Follow Dan on ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠.

#CustomerExperience #MarketingStrategies #CustomerEngagement #Strategy #Podcast #StrategyShorts

🎨 Maybe it’s time to expand your dialogue through visual thinking.

When we’re trying to get something done, we normally exchange words to shape ideas, argue, and convince. But what if saw our role through a facilitator lens, the host of the dialogue?

And more than that, what if we introduced the power of visual thinking to reach deep understanding and alignment?

🔥 Visual thinking is facilitator power.

It can transform collaboration and problem-solving, paving the way for clearer communication and innovative solutions.

This is the work of Marcus de Vale, a visual facilitation visionary, and Director of Work Visible Studios. Work Visible has taken collaborative problem-solving to the next level for brands like Amazon, Mastercard, and American Express.

In today’s episode of Strategy Shorts, Marcus joins the show to unpack how to leverage visual thinking to foster a culture of creativity, collaboration, and alignment within your team.

We’re talking:

✅ The journey of WorkVisible.

✅ The power of visual facilitation to cut through points of friction.

✅ How to get started with your own visual thinking journey.

Here’s to progress 🚀

Watch the episode here.

Follow Marcus on LinkedIn.

Follow Dan on ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠.

📢 SO to the facilitator community at AJ&Smart

#VisualThinking #Facilitation #Innovation #Collaboration #StrategyShorts #CreativeProcess #Podcast

🚀 But it doesn’t have to.

🤩 And when you lead with value, amazing things can happen.

But don’t take my word for it. It’s wisdom straight from the Chris Marin playbook. He’s the mind behind convert.ai who generates thousands of leads for some of the world’s biggest brands including Microsoft and SEMrush.

But he didn’t start at the top.

He started in the back of Uhaul, dreaming as a seven-year-old kid. He went on to launch his first site at 14 and has since launched four successful companies. Basically, he knows a thing or two about landing the first few key clients.

This is for two types of business leader, those looking to go from zero-to-one, and those looking to scale. It all starts with ‘stand-alone independent value’, the secret sauce that opens decision-maker doors.

🎁 In fact, we’ve got a whole process for you to take away and try.

We’re talking:

✅ Chris’ entrepreneurial journey and where his mindset started.

✅ Proven strategies for outbound lead generation targeting larger enterprises.

✅ The art of crafting compelling value-driven messaging and killing the generic sales pitch.

Here’s to progress 🚀

Follow Chris on LinkedIn

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#B2B #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneur #OutboundOutreach #ValueProposition #MarketingStrategy #Podcast #StrategyShorts #ConvertAI

Specifically, we’re talking about burnout, and some daily practices (and some dramatic ideas) that you might find useful.

Let’s start with the dramatic. Meet Tyler Wittkoffsky, a self-care champion who has made a bold move and traded the stability of the corporate nine-to-five for life on the road in an RV.

Why? To bring balance to his mental health and take burnout out of the equation. Through remote work, Tyler and his wife have found financial sustainability while living on the road, shining a light on how alternative lifestyles and changing scenery can help maintain a healthy work-life balance.

But Tyler’s journey didn’t start with epic road trips, it started with daily practice and exploring sensory therapy techniques, to combat burnout and prioritise mental wellness.

We’re talking:

✅ Using sensory therapy to unlock your vacation state.

✅ The importance of finding your creative practice.

✅ Investing in and leaning on your support system.

Here’s to progress 🚀

Follow Tyler on LinkedIn

Follow Dan on ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠

RESOURCES:

• How To Warm Those Cold Thoughts: t.ly/Vn_rq

• Mindfulness While Traveling: A Route to Mental Well-being: t.ly/TMyhL

• Prioritizing Mental Health: A Comprehensive Guide to Taking Care of Yourself in Challenging Times: t.ly/AQu57

• Connect with Tyler: t.ly/MOpis

• Follow Tyler’s RV Adventure: https://adventurewcoffee.com/

#MentalHealth #SensoryTherapy #SelfCare #RemoteWork #Travel #Wellness #BurnoutRecovery #RVLife #Support #Creativity

⏩ So I’ll simply share who this special extended episode of Strategy Shorts is for…

💚 It’s for conscious leaders and change-makers who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo.

Meet Justin Foster. Justin is a lot of things that people might recognise, a brand strategist, an entrepreneur, a CMO. But beyond the titles, you’ll find a story of transformation, one that has led him and his wife, Virginia, to launch Massive and become leader shapers, system shakers, and freedom makers. Particularly for those from marginalised groups.

Today, Justin joins Strategy Shorts, to unpack the power of conscious leadership and how it can challenge and transform the systems that benefit those with power and resources at the expense of everybody else.

We’re talking:

✅ Justin’s journey from right-wing Republican to Co-founder of Massive.

✅ How switching from machine to people-thinking can liberate creativity, innovation, and agency.

✅ Where to start with your own journey toward conscious leadership.

Here’s to progress 🚀

Follow Justin on LinkedIn

Follow Dan on ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠

#Founder #Entrepreneur #ConsciousLeadership #SystemicChange #PurposeDriven #Leadership #Podcast #StrategyShorts

🤔 It probably depends on your definition of success.

🤝 Meet Chris Bradshaw, Global Strategy Director at Infinum…

Chris has made some bold moves in his career. Including trading in his titles for a position that would allow his passions to take the lead: as an innovator, facilitator, and success maker.

Today, Chris joins Strategy Shorts to discuss everything from leaning into personal fulfilment, how to align personal purpose with professional endeavours, and how to turn vision into practical strategy. Plus he’s got two frameworks on the grill (with a side helping of facilitation practice) for how you can simplify your approach to strategy by breaking the challenge down into bite-sized nuggets your team can gather around.

We’re talking:

✅ The power of workshops to unlock alignment (and surface risks).

✅ Meaning-making and balancing personal fulfilment with professional goals.

✅ Not one, but two, common-sense frameworks to simplify strategy.

Here’s to progress 🚀

🗞️ WTF is Strategy?

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👉 Why? Because it’s hard to find your audience on a shoestring budget.

It can be easy to think that nobody wants your solution.

But that’s not true. Your audience is out there.

Finding each other, now that’s the hard part.

Meet Pete Newsome, marketing technologist and GM at Fractal, who has unlocked the secrets to agile audience discovery without breaking the bank. He and his team have made it their mission to help small organisations take that first massive step in discovering their tribe and a foundational audience to build success from.

In this episode of Strategy Shorts, Pete shares practical approaches for startups to discover their audience and test their ideas without significant investment, focusing on content promotion, audience targeting, and leveraging existing resources.

We’re talking:

✅ Pete’s unconventional career path and his passion for service.

✅ A framework for quick, iterative, and affordable audience building.

✅ Where to start gathering insights by using content that already exists.

Here’s to progress 🚀

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👉 Why? Because we think reach means growth. So we sanitise instead of celebrate.

👀 But reaching lots of people isn’t the same as reaching the right people.

🎯 And reaching the right people starts when you tell your story.

Today on Strategy Shorts we welcome Purna Virji, Principal Consultant at LinkedIn. As an alumnus of Microsoft, renowned keynote speaker, and author of High-Impact Content Marketing it’s fair to say that Purna has conquered Mount Marketing.

We discuss Purna’s journey and explore the power and importance of perseverance and authenticity to drive personal growth. We also unpack how you can discover your secret sauce - the content that’s going to help you POP against a sea of samey content.

We’re talking:

✅ Purna’s journey from overcoming challenges to becoming a leading thought leader.

✅ How to ‘crawl, walk, run’ and break down your journey down into manageable steps.

✅ The power of humanising content and authenticity in personal branding in marketing.

Here’s to progress 🚀

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👉 And I get it. Dashboards, formulas, and spreadsheets can leave you feeling lost.

🔍 But what if you started small?

Meet Susan Coelius Keplinger, CEO of Force of Nature. She’s a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who’s pushed the boundaries in both business and extreme sports and worked with some of the world’s biggest brands.

And Susan’s got your back.

In the latest episode of Strategy Shorts, we discuss how to de-risk the emotional blockers to working with data and the power of getting started with a single data point to run test-and-learn experiments. Join us to explore the balance between risk, rigour and emotion!

We’re talking…

✅ Susan’s Founders journey and where business and extreme sports meet.

✅ The art of starting small and taking calculated risks in business.

✅ The value of taking risks early, learning from failure, and embracing a growth mindset.

Here’s to progress! 🚀

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🚪 Please leave your personality at the door.

We’re living in an age of excellent copycraft, punchy posts, and tactical creative. But where’s the heart, personality, passion, and presence?

That’s one of the hot topics I’m discussing with today’s guest on Strategy Shorts, Nicole Marguerite Gray, Founder of Five to Nine Creative.

Nicole has flat-out mastered the art of personal branding in a way that blends personality, authenticity and strategy, and helps her clients stand out against today’s ocean of technically high quality, but frankly quite mundane, content.

We also dive into Nicole’s founder’s journey and how she transformed Five to Nine Creative from side hustle to full-time gig.

We’re talking:

✅ How to avoid getting side-tracked by personal branding tactics.

✅ Nicole’s formula for building a successful personal brand.

✅ How to make a start today by simply grabbing a pen and paper.

Here’s to progress 🚀

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❎ Because the pressure to get it right costs you too much.

👉 And getting it wrong, means learning, iterating, and unlocking creative opportunities.

In our latest episode of Strategy Shorts, we’re joined by Brand Strategist, Maxton Gilchrist. Following a period of career transformation, Maxton speaks like an artist on the power of deliberate practice, creative process, and keeping passion in its place. He echoes the outlook of music producer, Jacob Collier, who challenges people to ‘make the worst song in the world’ because in removing the fear of creating something bad you open the door for your unconscious ideas to contribute and that’s when exciting things start to happen.

Maxton puts it like this, ‘Don’t let having the right answer get in the way of getting somewhere interesting’.

Maxton also breaks down one of his favourite brand strategy frameworks using common-sense language that makes it easy for everyone to use. It’s a tool that gets to the heart of the consumer problem and how a businesses can best position themselves to respond.

We’re talking:

✅ Redefining career trajectories through iterative approaches and deliberate practice.

✅ How to use the SOAP framework for creative ideation and strategic planning.

✅ The power of getting out of your own way and keeping it simple to get to effective.

Here’s to progress 🚀

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