Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Meet Mark Williams

Mark Williams
Founder and CEO, Pensar IT

Imagine being in business for +20 years, growing your ‘business baby’ into a success story, and now having the opportunity to plan for your own exit strategy.

In all honesty, isn’t that what business should be about? I think it is. Yet so many business owners/entrepreneurs don’t achieve that goal. They remain a slave to their business for much of their lives, often with few options remaining towards the end of their career.

Meet Mark Williams, the Founder and CEO of Pensar IT. He’s substantially grown his business over the last 20 years, through good times and bad. In recent years, he’s also had a business coach/mentor who injected rocket fuel into the leadership team and now the business is reaping the benefits; it’s even more successful than he’d imagined it could be.

While Mark loves the work he does, he’s also in a phase of life where he can start planning his own exit strategy, and he is.

During our conversation, Mark tells many of the business ‘war stories’ he managed through to get the business to where it is today – his business success story.

I hope you are inspired by Mark’s journey and success in business. Enjoy.

You can listen to the original Interview with Mark Williams here:

To connect with Mark:
W: www.pensar.co.uk

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be part of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Successful Entrepreneurs and be inspired in the Successful Entrepreneurs Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Millionaire Mindset
NZ Entrepreneurship Success

Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Meet Mark Cottle

Mark Cottle
Entrepreneur, Accountant, Accountancy Profession ‘Disruptor’

Meet my Australian friend, Mark Cottle. He’s an accountant by profession and an entrepreneur at heart… and he’s combined the two to create a fantastic business that supports accountants in Australia and the UK to reduce the cost of their biggest overhead – staff.

In this week’s interview, Mark talks openly about how he has substantially developed his Australian accounting practice by thinking outside the box. As a result, how he now helps many other accounting practices operate their businesses like his. And the great thing is they are more successful and profitable.

Everything is changing at a rapid rate in business. Successful businesses of the future will embrace technology and new ways of thinking in order to serve their customers. There are no sacred cows. The accountancy profession is no different. Failure to change and evolve with the times will mean businesses get left behind.

Mark’s staffing model works for lots of industries, not just the accountancy profession. I’m thinking about it for one of my businesses too. Exciting times.

I hope you enjoy this week’s interview with my ‘Aussie mate’, Mark. 🙂 Enjoy!

You can listen to the original Interview with Mark Cottle here:

To connect with Mark:
W: www.frontlineaccounting.com.au (accounting services – Australia only)

W: www.dianependle.com (offshore teams)

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be part of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Successful Entrepreneurs and be inspired in the Successful Entrepreneurs Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Millionaire Mindset
NZ Entrepreneurship Success

Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Meet Bruce Walker

Bruce Walker
Founder – WeAreTheFuture, Social Entrepreneur

Meet my friend, Bruce Walker. He’s fabulous, and has a gorgeous Scottish accent to boot! 🙂

WeAreTheFuture is a global youth entrepreneurship organisation that inspires and connects entrepreneurs around the world.

It’s backed and supported by some seriously large corporates, including: Virgin, Google, AirBnB, HP, Silicon Valley Bank, Sky, RBS…, and lots of entrepreneur heavyweights (check out the website for the names of these people).

And to think this all started from a school based entrepreneurship project that Bruce led a couple of years ago. WeAreTheFuture is testimony to what one can achieve with vision and belief… regardless of age!

Bruce is on a mission with WeAreTheFuture. He has such belief in the importance of the work it does that he dropped out of university to work full time in the business. Is he another Branson or Gates? Only time will tell. Personally, I look forward to supporting Bruce on his entrepreneurship journey over the coming years.

I urge you to get involved. WeAreTheFuture may well be the organisation for you. Perhaps you’re a young entrepreneur needing support and/or guidance; maybe you’re a major corporate with deep pockets; or how about an experienced mentor who can give something back???

Listen to this week’s truly inspiring interview with Bruce. Enjoy!

You can listen to the original Interview with Bruce Walker here:

To connect with Bruce:
W: www.wearethefuture.org.uk

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be part of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Successful Entrepreneurs and be inspired in the Successful Entrepreneurs Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Millionaire Mindset
NZ Entrepreneurship Success

Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Meet Sharryn Waters

Sharryn Waters
Retired Business Entrepreneur, 1989/90 NZ Business Woman of the Year

Meet my very dear friend, Sharryn Waters. She’s a wonderful entrepreneurial success story.

In the 1970s Sharryn and her then husband left New Zealand for a life adventure in the USA. She later found herself back in New Zealand alone, divorced with custody of two children (her ex husband remained in the USA)…. little money or security and no job.

So, Sharryn did what many others do in that situation…. she got on with life and business, working her way up the career ladder in a corporate travel agency.

Sharryn created her own luck. She was extremely hard working and successful in her career roles, leading her to become joint managing director of the business. Later she led a management buy-out of the business and later still, sold the business via an IPO (initial public offering – share market listing). How impressive is that!

All the while, Sharryn was heavily involved in wider business activities in New Zealand, including becoming President of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce and being a leading activist and voice for equal pay and opportunities for women.

Sharryn lives her dream. The sale of the business has given her substantial wealth, she travels the world, she’s pursuing other passions in her life (including researching family history and writing a book), has time for her adult children and three gorgeous grandchildren, and much more.

Isn’t that what business ownership and success is about: success in business, community and life? Sharryn, my friend of 30 years, is a true inspiration.

Enjoy this week’s insightful and inspiring interview with Sharryn.

You can listen to the original Interview with Sharryn Waters here:

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be part of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Successful Entrepreneurs and be inspired in the Successful Entrepreneurs Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Millionaire Mindset
NZ Entrepreneurship Success

Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Meet Mark Attwood

Mark Attwood
Entrepreneur, Raconteur, Poet, Activist, Digital Expert, Lifestyler

Meet my friend, Mark Attwood. He’s a thoughtful, clever and really interesting guy. Mark started out training as a RAF pilot and left as he didn’t want to kill people! He then became a poet, actor, stand-up comedian and many other things before heading towards serial entrepreneurship.

Mark was at the forefront of the digital era, teaching himself via his Hire a Skip business how to be an online marketer. That business, while like most businesses has had its challenges, has generated in excess of £40M turnover and counting. Not bad, eh?

In our interview, Mark shares his entrepreneurial journey to date, his lifestyle choices – he and his family of five children now live in Morocco – and some of his interests and passions in life.

Mark also gives us BIG tips on how to ensure our businesses are more visible and successful in the digital world. Mark’s a ‘go to’ man on all things digital, so listen in to his free and really good advice. Digital is the ‘new normal’ for business marketing, so we all need to learn more about it.

If you’re interested, Mark also has a DVD product that will help you navigate the digital world. It’s called: The Technophobes Guide to Internet Marketing. Click here to check it out. I have this DVD programme, and I use it all the time. It’s been really helpful in taking the jargon and mystique out of SEO and internet marketing, helping me to effectively structure my online presence for several of my businesses. I highly recommend The Technophobes Guide to Internet Marketing to you.

Enjoy this week’s insightful interview with Mark.

You can listen to the original Interview with Mark Attwood here:

To connect with Mark:
W: www.attwooddigital.com

W: www.markattwood.com

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be part of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Successful Entrepreneurs and be inspired in the Successful Entrepreneurs Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Millionaire Mindset
NZ Entrepreneurship Success

Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Meet Martin Worner

Martin Worner
The City Secret

Successful entrepreneurship should be about success in business and life, don’t you think? That’s certainly what I help my clients achieve.

Meet Martin Worner. He’s achieved both. Until 1997, he was a City of London man, working for Morgan Stanley in various technology roles. Like many, he worked enormous hours, travelled a lot, and had a life that was out of balance. So one day he said “enough” and left, returning to Yorkshire in the UK, his childhood home.

In 2000 Martin established The City Secret, a technology business that provides innovative and bespoke software solutions to top tier banks and investment houses.

Martin managed through the usual twists and turns of a new business…. until the global financial crisis hit the world in 2007. Remember that? It’s seems a long time ago now, but you will recall its impact at the time, was HUGE and in many respects still is as countries and businesses continue to rebuild.

Martin’s business suffered during the crisis. Work in progress got cancelled. New work dried up. Clients disappeared. To save his company, Martin had to make around half his staff redundant – something that’s not easy or comfortable for anyone in business.

However, the business not only survived, it has thrived, and is on an aggressive growth path over the next few years.

This week’s interview provides a wonderful insight into how Martin was able to combine his desire for a different lifestyle with his skills and experience, and create a magnificently successful business in a very narrow and competitive niche. I hope you are inspired by Martin’s entrepreneurship journey. Enjoy!

You can listen to the original Interview with Martin Worner here:

To connect with Martin:
W: www.thecitysecret.com

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be part of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Successful Entrepreneurs and be inspired in the Successful Entrepreneurs Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Millionaire Mindset
NZ Entrepreneurship Success

Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Meet Sophie Burnett

Sophie Burnett
Co-Founder and Managing Director of PA Business Support

It’s quite usual these days for people leave stable employment to become their own boss, or as it is commonly known, self employed.

Sadly, very few self employed people then make the transition to being business owners in the true sense of the words, where they employ others to do the work, so they can be a leader, working ‘on’ the business rather than directly ‘in’ it.

Meet my friend, Sophie Burnett. A few years ago, Sophie left a very stable and secure job in the recruitment industry to become her own boss. To save money, she even returned home to live with her mum and dad, and started the business in her bedroom at her parents’ home.

However, Sophie had a big vision for her business, and very quickly developed a plan enabling her to employ people, so she could spend more time strategically planning the future of the business and bringing her plan into reality.

As testimony to her business success, Sophie was the winner of the 2014 FSB Hertfordshire Business Award. Brilliant work, Sophie!

But that wasn’t enough. Six months ago, Sophie merged her business with another similar sized business in the same industry…. and as a result, the new business is going from strength to strength, supported by a very strong vision and business plan that Sophie and her new business partner, Sabina, have created. The future for this business is very, very bright.

I hope you are inspired by this week’s Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories Interview. Sophie’s business journey and successes are a living example of what we can all achieve if we have clarity of vision for our businesses and lives. Enjoy.

You can listen to the original Interview with Sophie Burnett here:

To connect with Sophie:
W: www.pabusinesssupport.co.uk

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be part of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Successful Entrepreneurs and be inspired in the Successful Entrepreneurs Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Millionaire Mindset
NZ Entrepreneurship Success

Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Meet Dallas Hardcastle

Dallas Hardcastle
Angel’s Advocate

You’ve heard of someone being a Devil’s Advocate, right? That’s the person who points out all the reasons why you can’t do what you want… they point out all the issues and challenges you will face. Yawn!! That type of conversation is so limiting.

How about having someone who is your Angel’s Advocate in your life? That’s someone who will support and encourage you to be and achieve everything you want in life. They will challenge you to dream big in all dimensions of life: career, relationships, health, growth etc… and they will hold you to account to achieve. Doesn’t that sound more appealing and exciting?

Meet my very dear friend, Dallas Hardcastle. He’s an Angel’s Advocate – he’s actually more commonly known as a Master Growth Coach. And man o’ man, does he get results with his clients. Dallas’s energy, vitality and attitude towards life is awe inspiring.

He also calls himself the Unlearning Architect™ – doesn’t that sound intriguing? Plus he also takes his clients on ‘Momentum Surges!’

I sooo hope I have captured your attention with this. Please listen to this week’s interview and hear Dallas’ take on our ability to be, do and have everything we want in our lives. Enjoy!

You can listen to the original Interview with Dallas Hardcastle here:

To connect with Dallas:
W: dallashardcastle.com

W: dallashardcastle.com/strategysession/

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be part of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Successful Entrepreneurs and be inspired in the Successful Entrepreneurs Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Millionaire Mindset
NZ Entrepreneurship Success

Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Meet Zach Falconer-Barfield

Zach Falconer-Barfield
The 1st Gentleman of The Perfect Gentleman

You’re probably asking what on earth the 1st Gentleman of The Perfect Gentleman is. I certainly was.

Well meet my new friend, Zacchary Falconer-Barfield. He’s the 1st Gentleman. He’s also a serial entrepreneur, author, speaker, teacher and a lovely, fun guy!

In all seriousness, Zach and his partners founded a business called The Perfect Gentleman. Listen to the audio interview we did recently to learn what it’s all about…. and in case you are wondering, no this isn’t a joke. 🙂 It’s serious business that sees Zach and his team travelling the world educating their clients in their niche market that is growing fast.

In our interview, Zach also shared his experience and wisdom on entrepreneurship. He’s been in business since he was a young teenager, and in a multitude of industries. One of his early business issues was that he didn’t look old enough to be in business, so he partnered with his granddad in order to build one of his first enterprises. Don’t you think that’s very sweet? I do. 🙂

And has it all been ‘plain sailing?’ Heck, no. Like everyone, Zach has had his share of business challenges, yet resilience, determination, hard work and being a nice guy helped him through the tough times.

I’m sure you’ll be inspired by Zach’s entrepreneurial journey… and you’ll have a lot of fun learning what it means to be a Perfect Gentleman… or Gentlewoman. Enjoy.

You can listen to the original Interview with Zach Falconer-Barfield here:

To connect with Zach:
W: www.codeofthegentleman.com

W: www.theperfectgentleman.tv

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be part of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Successful Entrepreneurs and be inspired in the Successful Entrepreneurs Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Millionaire Mindset
NZ Entrepreneurship Success

Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Meet Theresa Gattung

Theresa Gattung CNZM
MEGA Entrepreneur, Investor, Philanthropist…. and…

Meet my friend, Theresa Gattung. She’s awesome and a mega achiever in business and life!!

At age 37, she became CEO of New Zealand’s largest publicly listed company, Telecom NZ (now Spark), and led Telecom, its people, and the telco industry through a time of massive change (1999 to 2007).

After leaving Telecom, Theresa took time out and travelled the world to think about what came next. After-all, what does one do at age 45 after having run such a big business??

Since then, Theresa has become chair of some major Australasian public companies, she’s an investor in start-ups, an active philanthropist, an entrepreneur… and more!

In 2013, along with two others, Theresa founded My Food Bag in New Zealand.

My Food Bag was born out of the idea that healthy and delicious food can also be convenient and exciting. The goal is to bring inspiring, nutritionally-balanced tasty recipes and the best seasonal produce together, delivering it to the customer’s door.

In less than two years of trading the business has turned over $50M, was profitable after nine months, has 15,000 customers, and now employs over 60 staff. How many start-ups have achieved such rapid growth?! My Food Bag is growing massively; it also recently launched in Australia, and Asia might be next.

Here’s a recent NZ Herald newspaper article on Theresa and her achievements. Have a read to learn more.

Plus, listen to this week’s Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories interview I did with Theresa. She talks about her corporate career, entrepreneurship journey and much more. You will be inspired as you travel your own entrepreneurship path.

Oh, and Theresa was recently awarded the CNZM – Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. This award is well deserved. Congratulations, Theresa.

You can listen to the original Interview with Theresa Gattung here:

To connect with Theresa:
W: www.theresagattung.com

W: www.myfoodbag.co.nz

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be part of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Successful Entrepreneurs and be inspired in the Successful Entrepreneurs Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Millionaire Mindset
NZ Entrepreneurship Success