40 Minute Mentor JBM, James Mitra

“If you’re in a situation where you’re dealing with [a difficult boss], I think the question is - am I actually getting something from this? And if the answer is ‘no, I’m getting nothing’, then it’s time to really think about what could be your next step.” 

To kick off our brand new ‘Specialist Advice’ series, we’re joined by workplace expert and long-time contributing editor at Harvard Business Review, Amy Gallo. 
You may have come across Amy on her own co-hosted podcast ‘Women at Work’ or have read one of Amy’s best-selling books, including her latest work ‘Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People)’. 
In today’s episode, we dig into Amy’s advice on effective communication, conflict management and how we can get along, even with the most difficult colleagues and bosses. 

Episode chapters: 
➡️ Failing every day [02:40] 
➡️ Leading by example [06:40] 
➡️ An early career in consulting [09:50] 
➡️ Getting into Harvard Business Review [17:10] 
➡️ Why relationships get difficult [19:55] 
➡️ Dealing with difficult bosses [25:00] 
➡️ The eight archetypes of difficult people [30:00] 
➡️ Embracing conflict in your team [35:10] 
➡️ Building resilience to bounce back from conflict [41:10] 
➡️ Relationships in hybrid & remote first environments [43:55] 

⛳ Helpful links:
➡️ Follow Amy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyegallo/  
➡️ Grab a copy of Amy’s latest book: https://www.amyegallo.com/books 

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That’s a wrap on Season 11 of 40 Minute Mentor and 12 weeks of non-stop pocket-sized mentorship. 

Our guests over the last 12 weeks have candidly shared the ups and downs of entrepreneurship and shared the advice they wish they would have received when they started out. 

We also celebrated some 40 Minute Mentor firsts this season, including hitting 1 million+ downloads and welcoming our very first Hollywood actor to the podcast. 

Although we had such a diverse spread of 40 Minute Mentors joining us this season, there were 4 consistent themes we explored with all of them: Resilience, Fundraising, Hiring and Pivoting. 

No matter whether you’ve religiously tuned in every Wednesday for the last 12 weeks or you have dipped in and out, we’ve selected the best advice from this season to solidify the mentorship from our guests. 

Episode chapters: 
➡️ Pivoting sectors and careers - the transferable skills for entrepreneurs [01:56] 
➡️ Building resilience & navigating failure [08:58] 
➡️ Hiring & building the best teams [16:03] 
➡️ Bootstrapping & fundraising advice [25:32] 

⛳ Helpful links:
➡️ Catch up on all episodes from Season 11: https://jbmc.co.uk/40-minute-mentor/ 

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“80% of your work, no matter what it is, is confidence. It’s the confidence to know that when you go to a door handle, when you turn it, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know whether you pull or push. You just have to see which way it goes and then go with that.” 

Today’s 40 Minute Mentor is a podcast first. We’re joined by Hollywood actor and producer Jason Flemyng, known for ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ and ‘Deep Rising’. 

In this episode, we don’t just get an inside scoop into Jason’s career and experience working alongside Hollywood greats, Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp, we also discuss Jason’s work with The Samaritans and in prisons. Plus, he shares lots of mentorship, including… 

Episode chapters: 
➡️ Acting in a film nominated for 13 Oscars [02:02] 
➡️ Upbringing & route into acting [03:27] 
➡️ The importance of luck [05:45] 
➡️ Building your confidence [08:00] 
➡️ Acting alongside Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and Sean Connery [09:55] 
➡️ The lasting success of ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ [12:22] 
➡️ Battles with Imposter Syndrome & paying it forward [16:34] 
➡️ Speaking up about mental health [21:18] 
➡️ Ageing in Hollywood [22:51] 
➡️ Audience Question: Common misconceptions of Hollywood [25:30] 

⛳ Helpful links:
➡️ More about Jason’s work: https://www.themoviedb.org/person/973-jason-flemyng 

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“Had I continued along my path, I could have a very successful private and NHS GP practice. I could be earning multiples of what I’m allowing myself to earn right now. The stability that I can provide for my family is, quite frankly, limited.” 

Today’s 40 Minute Mentor is Dr Rupy Aujla, Founder of The Doctor’s Kitchen and best selling cookbook author. 

Rupy is a trained medical doctor turned startup Founder - a path that was never really part of his plan. 

If you haven’t come across The Doctor’s Kitchen yet, you might recognise Rupy from his cookbooks, his popular podcast, or seen him featured on TV shows across the BBC, ITV or Channel 4. 

It was a huge honour to have him join us on 40 Minute Mentor and candidly talk to us about his experience as a doctor, what led to The Doctor’s Kitchen, the startup lessons he had to learn quickly and lots of easy to follow advice for all of us to eat healthier and better. 

Episode chapters: 
➡️ Rupy’s upbringing and his parents wanting him to go into business [04:05]   
➡️ Finding his love for medicine [07:25] 
➡️ The accidental business that became The Doctor’s Kitchen [10:10] 
➡️ Dealing with imposter syndrome [12:43] 
➡️ Transferable skills from medicine to business [15:10] 
➡️ The Doctor’s Kitchen App [17:55] 
➡️ Podcast recommendation: Strategy & Tragedy [20:13] 
➡️ The Doctor’s Kitchen impact to date [21:50] 
➡️ Pivots & bootstrapping everything [25:20] 
➡️ Why entrepreneurship should be simple [29:00] 
➡️ What a truly well-balanced diet looks like [34:35] 
➡️ Audience question: Learning about food in schools [41:50] 


⛳ Helpful links:
➡️ Connect with Rupy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rupy-aujla?originalSubdomain=uk 
➡️ Check out The Doctor’s Kitchen: https://thedoctorskitchen.com/ 

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“Fundraising can be exhausting, so it’s really important to spend time with the right people who just won’t waste your time [...], pay attention and ask the right questions.” 
Today’s 40 Minute Mentor is Avion Gray, Co-Founder and CEO of Belong, a new wealth-building platform. 
Avion started her career in investment banking, before working as Head of Product & Commercialisation at industry-leading POS systems and merchant service provider Clover, where she oversaw the launch and expansion of the business in the US and across Europe. 
Following her deep drive to do something that she could bring every aspect of her being to, Avion is now building Belong, together with Co-Founder and behavioural economist, Samantha Rosenberg. 
Having only recently come out of stealth, Avion and Samantha have already built incredible traction in the market, including having raised the largest pre-seed round ever raised by female Founders in Europe. 
We unpack all that and much more in today’s episode. 

Episode chapters: 
➡️ Avion’s upbringing & education being the biggest equaliser [03:57] 
➡️ Finding her entrepreneurial spirit [07:00] 
➡️ Career foundations [09:00] 
➡️ Clover’s expansion to the US and Europe [11:30] 
➡️ Taking the leap into entrepreneurship [14:20] 
➡️ The paradox of wealth [16:40] 
➡️ More about Belong [18:32] 
➡️ Nick Hungerford’s mentorship [24:18] 
➡️ The sacrifice for entrepreneurship [29:07] 
➡️ Raising the biggest pre-seed round in Europe [32:23] 
➡️ Practical advice for wealth building [37:40] 
➡️ Audience Question: How would you describe Belong’s culture? [41:42] 

⛳ Helpful links:
➡️ Connect with Avion: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aviongray/?originalSubdomain=uk 
➡️ Find our more about Belong: https://www.be-long.co/

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“[Having bootstrapped] we get to control our destiny, we can move as quickly as we want and we can go where we want and don’t have to be accountable.” 
Today’s 40 Minute Mentor is Gurinder Dhillon, Founder of Otto Car, London’s largest community of PCO drivers and Europe’s largest provider of electric vehicles to private-hire drivers.  
Having recently partnered with Gurinder and Otto Car to deliver a very exciting search for them, it was extra special to sit down with Gurinder and find out more about his incredible journey with Otto Car - from one Toyota Prius in a West London garage to one of the fastest growing startups in Europe…all completely bootstrapped. 
In amongst the shared ups and downs of scaling a bootstrapped business, Gurinder shares invaluable advice for anyone thinking of starting their own entrepreneurial journey. 

Episode chapters: 
➡️ The cost of entrepreneurship [04:18] 
➡️ Gurinder’s upbringing and route into entrepreneurship [07:16] 
➡️ Early startup experience [09:40] 
➡️ Eternal optimism & navigating failure [13:06] 
➡️ Otto Car’s origin story [14:32] 
➡️ Losing 75% of revenue in one day - Otto Car’s pivot [17:44] 
➡️ Advice on pivoting [19:14] 
➡️ Building a business around love [23:22] 
➡️ Gurinder’s vision for the future [26:00] 
➡️ The benefits & reality behind bootstrapping [28:12] 
➡️ Hiring advice [30:30] 
➡️ Audience question: What would you do if you wouldn’t have followed the entrepreneurial route? [37:00] 

⛳ Helpful links:
➡️ Connect with Gurinder: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gurinder-dhillon/ 
➡️ Find our more about Otto Car: https://ottocar.co.uk/ 

⭐Enjoyed this episode?⭐️
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