Danielle spoke with Mike Kirby, Founder of Find & Finance. Their focus is not on selling cars, but on guiding people through the various stages of buying a used vehicle and making it simple, safe and special.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Mike takes us through every element of Find & Finance from the challenges of launching, the customer journey, recruitment, growth and scaling. At the centre of everything they do is - Simple, Safe, Special.

Find & Finance have an exciting year coming up in terms of growth but Mike explains they’ve had challenges along the way and he’s very open about how he faced them.

Danielle and Mike discuss what success looks like and how, as a business owner, you don’t always have time to step back and assess what success would be.

Mike finishes the episode by sharing advice for anyone who wants to start a business, has an idea and wants to build a brand.

BEST MOMENTS

‘There were a few key factors why I decided to start the business and what I identified quite early in my motor career was a few, I don't want to say negatives to the industry, but some challenges within the industry.’

‘We're trying to create a relationship with our clients. We're not selling the car to them, we're selling a service to help them to effectively find a car. Right from the first communication, we're trying to find out exactly what's important to the clients.’

‘If you don't have that clearly defined set of values and you don't have a clear direction with your value statement, when you start growing your business and you bring staff on, you bring people in that might not have lived and breathed these values before. They're highly likely not going to work within your business even if they have the experience that you're looking for.’

‘This year is very exciting for us from a recruitment perspective, growing the team and also some key accounts, and then the launch of our three key brands, ensuring that we stick to our core values.’

ABOUT THE GUEST - MIKE KIRBY

Mike Kirby is Owner & Director of Find & Finance Limited

CONNECT WITH MIKE ON LINKEDIN

FIND & FINANCE ON INSTAGRAM

ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKE

Danielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.

GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05

WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4

CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/

SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke

This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle spoke with Ria Burrage-Male, founder and director of Kibo, which helps leaders achieve personal and professional growth through mentoring, communication, and performance. Previously the CEO of Hockey Wales, Ria has a background in sports coaching, having been an international hockey player and a Commonwealth Games athlete.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Ria takes us through every step of her life, from growing up in Wales, becoming an international hockey player, rising to CEO of Hockey Wales, her family and how they’ve inspired her latest project, Kibo.

Danielle and Ria discussed how life experiences, good and bad, make you the person and the brand that you are.

Sport has played such a crucial role in Ria’s life and she explains how she competed at an elite level, representing Wales at hockey, while juggling a full time career and how there just weren’t enough hours in the day.

Authenticity and confidence are key themes for Ria and she explains that you’ve got to be kind and positive to yourself as you are the most consistent voice in your head.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I'm very passionate about exposing people or holding up a mirror to people to show them that they have so much potential and people are there to support and guide them. I think as women, there's still a lot we need to do on that.’

‘I was a teenager in the valleys, in a church school, knowing that I was a gay, and I spent my whole life being somebody that I wasn't because of that inability to be authentic and therefore not being able to be vulnerable.’

‘I feel like I've gone through all of these experiences and now I'm in a position where I can reflect and also share those experiences with people and help them on their journeys, because I feel like I've lived through so many different iterations of authenticity and vulnerability and weakness and communication and, you know, psychological safety and also working in high performing teams and all of those facets that I think are imperative for leadership skills and leaders at executive levels.’

‘Another part of Kibo as well as the coaching is eat, sleep, breathe, connect. I talk a lot about and with businesses and with individuals around these four pillars that before you look externally, before you challenge culture that might not need to be challenged, let's stop and pause and look at ourselves first.’

ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKE

Danielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.

GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05

WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4

CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/

SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke

This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle spoke with Caroline McQueen, Founder and Chief designer at Impulsiv®, a digital consultancy specialising in branding and custom Shopify Themes. Impulsiv® helps independent companies in fashion, beauty and lifestyle connect with customers through engaging brand experiences. They blend neuroscience, brand psychology, and cutting-edge design to craft engaging customer interactions.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Caroline delves into how she decided to pivot during the pandemic from focussing on tech and, thanks to a grant from Baroness Karren Brady, founded Impulsiv®, an ecommerce consultancy specialising in interaction design.

Danielle and Caroline discussed how brands can enhance their online presence and make meaningful connections with their audience. Caroline suggested a good starting point is to do a website audit. Making sure the brand is communicating its values in a way that customers can really understand.

Caroline shared a case study of working with a client and how Impulsiv® helped reduce the bounce rate from the clients website from 70% to 40% by making one change.

BEST MOMENTS

‘If you can get your customers to engage in the brand building process with you, especially if they're early adopters, then they are very open to giving you their feedback on what they think of your website or what they think of your products and how you can actually use that.’

On working with clients - ‘I take it all the way back to the beginning and start looking at the strategic approach. What their goals are, what their visions or intentions are, and then also who their customer is and also what research they've done on their competition and how they're different’

‘It was a lifeline because it came during the pandemic. If you're running a tech company, you are burning cash. She (Baroness Karen Brady) awarded us the grant money and I was chuffed to bits when that came through because it was just enough for me to just kind of go, okay, this is what we're going to do’

‘Depending on what conversation you're having on social media will depend on whether or not someone will sign up to your list. If you've taken the time to understand what their needs and wants are, that would determine whether or not they're actually going to click through onto your website and buy something.’

ABOUT THE GUEST - CAROLINE MCQUEEN

Impulsiv®: https://impulsiv.io/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinemcqueen/

ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKE

Danielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.

GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH

WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW

CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN

SUPPORT THE SHOW

This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.