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The Merri-Cast

Trevor Merriden

77 episodes

2 weeks ago

This end-of-year episode is a moment to pause and reflect on some of our brilliant guest insights from the past 12 months – completely honest conversations about the entrepreneurial and leadership journey. So many great insights – and we wish we had the room to include everyone. For this round-up episode, thank you to Bobby Dutton, Assim Ishaque, Zareen Roohi Ahmed, Emily Gill, Richard Barkey, Mindy Gibbins-Klein and Jenny Garrett for your gems and for making this episode a joy to put togeth...

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Entrepreneurship

All content for The Merri-Cast is the property of Trevor Merriden and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

This end-of-year episode is a moment to pause and reflect on some of our brilliant guest insights from the past 12 months – completely honest conversations about the entrepreneurial and leadership journey. So many great insights – and we wish we had the room to include everyone. For this round-up episode, thank you to Bobby Dutton, Assim Ishaque, Zareen Roohi Ahmed, Emily Gill, Richard Barkey, Mindy Gibbins-Klein and Jenny Garrett for your gems and for making this episode a joy to put togeth...

Show more...

Entrepreneurship

Episodes (20/77)

The Merri-Cast

A Year of Great Conversations: Our 2025 Highlights

This end-of-year episode is a moment to pause and reflect on some of our brilliant guest insights from the past 12 months – completely honest conversations about the entrepreneurial and leadership journey. So many great insights – and we wish we had the room to include everyone. For this round-up episode, thank you to Bobby Dutton, Assim Ishaque, Zareen Roohi Ahmed, Emily Gill, Richard Barkey, Mindy Gibbins-Klein and Jenny Garrett for your gems and for making this episode a joy to put togeth...

2 weeks ago

16 minutes

The Merri-Cast

David Horne: ON Tackling Funding Inequality

This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m joined by the inspiring David B. Horne – founder of Add Then Multiply and Funding Focus. In this episode, we explore his career, one that spans global finance, corporate leadership, and a mission to level the playing field for underrepresented founders. From collecting newspaper payments as a boy in Canada to raising £60 million in funding for AIM-listed companies, David’s journey is full lessons and reflections for anyone starting and growing thei...

1 month ago

44 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Suvianna Grecu: ON Leading a Human-Centred Future for AI

This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m delighted to be joined by Suvianna Grecu – Founder of AI for Change Foundation and DevCraft Agency, and a passionate advocate for ethical, inclusive and human-centred AI. Suvianna’s career story is an interesting one. A law graduate turned serial entrepreneur, she first built DevCraft, creating custom AI chatbots, before realising that the conversation around AI needed to change. Out of this realisation came AI for Change, a non-profit organisation...

1 month ago

29 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Steve Ramona: ON Why Your Network is Your Net Worth

This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m joined by the brilliant Steve Ramona, host of Doing Business with a Servant’s Heart podcast. Steve is all about the network – he describes himself as a “super connector” specialising in impactful partnerships through personalised introductions. That doesn’t really cover it though. He specialises in the energy industry and is involved in $5bn dollar worth of projects and $125 million in partner deals. From his early days at his family’s health clu...

2 months ago

46 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Charles Skinner: ON Humility, Failure, Resilience and Reinvention

This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m delighted to be joined by Charles Skinner – CEO of Restore plc. I first met Charles 30 years ago and I have a lot to thank him for. He was the man who gave me my first job in journalism at Management Today magazine. Charles’s own career and entrepreneur journey is as fascinating as it is varied. From an early career in investment banking and private equity, then magazine editor, then CEO of several quoted companies before returning to Restore as CEO in t...

2 months ago

38 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Jenny Garrett OBE: ON Playing the Long Game and Why AI is our Mirror

This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m joined by the fantastic Jenny Garrett OBE – an award-winning Author, Speaker, Thought Leader and Founder of Jenny Garrett Global. Jenny’s entrepreneurial journey didn’t begin with a grand plan. It started cautiously, carving out one day a week to test her new coaching path. Now, it’s a thriving business that is 20 years strong. Along the way, Jenny has become a leading voice in inclusive leadership and empowerment, helping women and underrepresente...

3 months ago

48 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Mindy Gibbins-Klein: ON Leading With Purpose and Why We Need Thoughtful Leaders

This week on The Merri-Cast podcast, we had the pleasure of speaking with Mindy Gibbins-Klein – Founder of The Book Midwife and Giving 1%. Mindy describes herself as an “accidental entrepreneur”, but what an accident it turned out to be! Redundancy pushed her into building a career that’s empowered thousands of authors, leaders and entrepreneurs to share their stories with the world. In our conversation, Mindy shares powerful insights that will inspire anyone thinking about writin...

3 months ago

40 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Richard Barkey: ON Reinventing Yourself and Coaching through AI

This week on The Merri-Cast podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Richard Barkey – Founder and CEO of Imparta. I first met Richard almost 20 years ago, when his sharp questions about PR effectiveness left a lasting impression on me. Since then, he’s gone on to build and scale a business in a sector that is notoriously difficult to grow. How has he done it? With curiosity, resilience and innovation at every turn. In our conversation, Richard shared his journey and valu...

4 months ago

43 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Celebrating the Life and Ideas of Charles Handy

After a short Summer break, we’re back with a very special episode of The Merri-Cast. We depart from our usual format to pay tribute to the late, great Charles Handy – social philosopher, visionary thinker and one of the most influential voices in leadership and management. Charles’s insights heavily shaped my own journalistic and entrepreneurial journey. And his books including The Age of Unreason, The Elephant and The Flea, and The Second Curve, continue to inspire entrepreneurs, lead...

4 months ago

46 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Emily Gill: ON Believing That Anything Is Possible and Embracing Imperfection

What do you do when the career you worked so hard for no longer feels right? And how do you build something new that’s driven by purpose, not pressure? This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m joined by Emily Gill – Co-Founder of human skills platform Levra and a qualified coach. In this episode, Emily shares her fascinating career journey from lawyer to Oxford MBA student, to entrepreneurs. It’s full of insight, humility and real-world lessons. Other key highlights include: • Her fat...

5 months ago

33 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Dani Dufresne: ON Burnout, Reinvention and Creative Freedom

We love guests who challenge the status quo – and our latest one does exactly that. This week, I’m joined by Dani Dufresne – Emmy Award Winning Executive Producer and Founder of The Auxiliary. Dani’s journey from film school in LA to reinventing how creative production works is inspiring and refreshingly honest. With over 20 years’ production experience across Film, TV, Commercials and Events, Dani’s built an incredible reputation for turning her client’s visions into reality. ...

5 months ago

34 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Melitta Campbell: ON How Introverts Can Win at Sales and Networking

This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m joined by Melitta Campbell, otherwise known as ‘The Value Whisperer’. She is a business and leadership coach, TEDx Speaker, best-selling author and an unapologetic introvert. In this episode, Melitta shares how she went from being a shy child, who believed that no one wanted to hear her voice, to coaching female founders to sell themselves and their services with clarity and confidence. Her journey is impressive to say the least. Key insights that Melitta ...

6 months ago

38 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Dr. Zareen Roohi Ahmed: ON Breaking Taboos and Being Prolific, Not Perfect - Part 2 of 2

This week on The Merri-Cast, we pick up where we left off with part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Zareen Roohi Ahmed. In this episode, Zareen shares how she launched Gift Wellness without any business background, but with a powerful mission and drive. In part 2 of our conversation, Zareen also discusses: • Realising that period poverty wasn’t just abroad, but everywhere, including on her doorstep. • Building eco-friendly products before "sustainable" was a trend. • Facin...

6 months ago

37 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Dr. Zareen Roohi Ahmed: ON Pain, Resilience and Purpose - Part 1 of 2

This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m joined by Zareen Roohi, Founder & CEO of Gift Wellness, an inspiring voice in purpose-led entrepreneurship. In the first of a powerful two-parter, Zareen shares her remarkable life and career journey – from growing up as the daughter of Pakistani immigrants in the West Midlands to navigating early life challenges, building a remarkable and diverse career and then, tragically, losing her daughter Halimah in 2007. Out of this unimaginable loss came inc...

7 months ago

32 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Karl Pontau: ON The Power of Networks, Human Connection and Resilience

This week on The Merri-Cast, I’m joined by the brilliant Karl Pontau – entrepreneur and host of The Human Connection Podcast. Karl’s journey is nothing short of inspiring - from teenage brain tumour survivor to a purpose-driven entrepreneur, podcast host and soon-to-be author. In this episode, Karl dives into the importance of having a network and forging real human connections, especially in a world increasingly obsessed by data, metrics and AI. Key insights that Karl sha...

7 months ago

33 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Rediscover your Creativity

In this episode, I discuss a topic frequently misunderstood and undervalued: creativity. The everyday creativity that fuels problem-solving, drives innovation and unlocks confidence. I explore three common barriers that hold people back in their creativity: ⏳ “I don’t have time to be creative” – Time constraints aren’t a barrier. It’s what can light your creativity in the first place. 🤔 “I’m not a creative person” – Despite popular belief, creativity isn’t a talent you’re born with; i...

8 months ago

10 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Liz Sebag-Montefiore: ON Trusting Your Gut and Finding Courage

Joining me on The Merri-Cast this week is the fantastic Liz Sebag-Montefiore – co-founder of career and talent management consultancy 10Eighty. Along with current CEO Michael Moran, the pair have steered the growth of the business for over 13 years now. And in June, Liz takes over as CEO, so it seemed like a great moment to talk to her about her entrepreneurial past, present and future. In this episode Liz shares stories about her early employment including the two people who i...

9 months ago

28 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Katharine Plunkett: ON Working Hard and Going Bigger

Joining me on The Merri-Cast this week is the wonderful Katharine Plunkett. I first met Katharine around 25 years ago when we both worked for Haymarket Media Group. She made a big impression on me then - and continues to do so in this episode. Katharine is an entrepreneur and commercial business leader with extensive international experience in global business growth. And today, she runs two businesses plus an extensive network of founders in the travel industry. In this episo...

9 months ago

37 minutes

The Merri-Cast

Assim Ishaque: ON The Importance of Trust and Giving Business Ideas Time

Joining me this week is the fantastic Assim Ishaque. He is the Founder & Director of Envirup and Simbrix Ltd as well as being a Business Coach, Speaker, Inventor, Investor and NED. Assim’s career journey is truly fascinating. From early redundancies, dyslexia and industry barriers to building multiple, successful business ventures, his story is one of true resilience, adaptability and innovation. He also highlights the importance of giving back. Throughout his career, Assi...

9 months ago

50 minutes

The Merri-Cast

How to Build Your Curiosity Skills

What is the best possible question you can ask, when you're curious about someone or something? The #MerriCast is the podcast show that puts you on the fast track to business confidence. And this week I'm taking a more personal look on the role that curiosity played in building my confidence. When I was younger I lacked a lot of personal confidence. I developed it through asking lots of questions about the world around me. And I (very) slowly came to realise that real confidence came through ...

10 months ago

11 minutes