What It Takes with Olly Fawcett

Olly Fawcett

What does it take to build something? What does building something take from you? In this podcast, we speak with the founders and owners of some of the most incredible brands and businesses to find out the truth about what it takes to build a brand from the ground up, and as founders what going through that process teaches you. Olly Fawcett is the founder of 303, a creative performance marketing agency working with premium brands. Over the last 10 years, he has spent time inside some amazing brands as they have grown and now is sharing those insights through What It Takes.

  1. 3 days ago

    CLIP: He Made DOAC's Trailers, Here's What He Learned About Going Viral

    Watch full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdWVHaSQStE The man who made millions of people click play on The Diary of a CEO just walked away from the job! In this episode, Anthony Smith, the show's Director of Trailers for four and a half years, reveals the death threat, the burnout, and the real reason he quit one of the most influential roles in podcasting. Anthony Smith spent four and a half years as Director of Trailers for The Diary of a CEO, the podcast hosted by Steven Bartlett that reaches over 10 million viewers a month. Before DOAC, Anthony worked as a video editor at a London agency producing social content for Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and James Bond, and started his own production company straight out of university, working with clients including Asda and the NHS. His trailer style, built through years of trial, error, and at points real burnout, became one of the most recognisable parts of the DOAC brand. In mid-2026, after roughly 450 trailers, Anthony left the company to start a new chapter. Follow Anthony: https://www.instagram.com/anthonyr.smith/?hl=en Follow Olly:  https://www.instagram.com/olly.303/ https://www.tiktok.com/@ollyfawcett303?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc https://www.linkedin.com/in/olly-fawcett-668566177/ Get frequent behind the scenes updates from Olly: https://whatittakes.kit.com/51cd36dc35

  2. 4 days ago

    The Formula Behind Diary Of A CEO's Trailers | Director of Trailers, Anthony Smith

    The man who made millions of people click play on The Diary of a CEO just walked away from the job!In this episode, Anthony Smith, the show's Director of Trailers for four and a half years, reveals the death threat, the burnout, and the real reason he quit one of the most influential roles in podcasting.Anthony Smith spent four and a half years as Director of Trailers for The Diary of a CEO, the podcast hosted by Steven Bartlett that reaches over 10 million viewers a month. Before DOAC, Anthony worked as a video editor at a London agency producing social content for Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and James Bond, and started his own production company straight out of university, working with clients including Asda and the NHS. His trailer style, built through years of trial, error, and at points real burnout, became one of the most recognisable parts of the DOAC brand. In mid-2026, after roughly 450 trailers, Anthony left the company to start a new chapter.In this episode:• Why Anthony left The Diary of a CEO after 4.5 years, and what nobody tells you about walking away from adream job• The death threat he received while working on the show, and how he handled it• How losing an entire day's footage on his biggest early client taught him the most valuable lesson of his career• What burnout actually felt like, including the point where he wanted to quit media entirely and become a traindriver• Why he believes storytelling, not budget or technology, is the real reason The Diary of a CEO succeededIf this gave you even one idea worth stealing, subscribe, there's a new conversation like this every week!Chapters:00:00 I Received A Death Threat01:24 He Just Quit Diary Of A CEO03:04 The Day He Walked Out, He Felt Nothing06:59 The Kid Who Wore A Mask To Fit In13:47 The Night His Acting Dream Died On Stage22:44 “You've Sold Your Soul To The Devil”25:07 Starting A Company Out Of Pure Necessity27:03 Asda, £400 A Video, And A Furious Lecturer38:34 The Shot That Lost Them Everything44:17 How The Partnership Actually Ended48:02 Breakdown, Panic Attacks And Hiding It All56:10 The Dream Job: Disney, Marvel, Bond1:01:52 The Adidas Pitch That Got Him Hired1:08:37 Crying While He Worked, Because He Couldn't Stop1:13:33 Why He Nearly Became A Train Driver1:33:21 The Real Reason He Left Diary Of A CEO1:42:17 The Death Threat, In His Own Words1:45:16 The Message From A Man With Cancer1:50:52 Why Story Is The Most Powerful Thing On EarthFollow Anthony:https://www.instagram.com/anthonyr.smith/?hl=enFollow Olly: https://www.instagram.com/olly.303/https://www.tiktok.com/@ollyfawcett303?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pchttps://www.linkedin.com/in/olly-fawcett-668566177/Get frequent behind the scenes updates from Olly: https://whatittakes.kit.com/51cd36dc35Key words: Anthony Smith, Diary of a CEO trailers, Director of Trailers Diary of a CEO, Steven Bartlett podcast, Diary of a CEO editor, podcast trailer editor, how to make podcast trailers, Diary of a CEO team, Anthony Smith editor, DOAC trailers explained, podcast marketing strategy, video editing career, self-taught video editor, burnout in the creative industry, storytelling psychology, Disney Marvel Star Wars editor, What It Takes podcast Olly Fawcett, why did Anthony Smith leave Diary of a CEO, Diary of a CEO staff departures, podcast video marketing

  3. 12 Aug

    CLIP: "I Was Sober, Healthy And Meditating Every Day, I Still Got Sick!" | Founder, Hector Hughes

    Watch full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOqTOdD8Qr0He spent two years going to allergy clinics and drinking twig tea from a Chinese doctor who didn't speak a word of English.Turns out it wasn't allergies. It was mold poisoning, and it only showed up once he'd stopped numbing himself with a decade of drinking he never told anyone the full truth about.Hector built Unplugged, the off-grid cabin company that locks your phone in a box for three days, after a 10-day silent retreat in the Himalayas ended with him quitting his job a week later. Follow Hector:https://www.linkedin.com/in/hector-hughes-10082195/https://unplugged.rest/Follow Olly: https://www.instagram.com/olly.303/https://www.tiktok.com/@ollyfawcett303?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pchttps://www.linkedin.com/in/olly-fawcett-668566177/Get frequent behind the scenes updates from Olly: https://whatittakes.kit.com/51cd36dc35

  4. 4 Aug

    A Decade Of Addiction, A Silent Retreat And Starting Over | With Hector Hughes

    He spent two years going to allergy clinics and drinking twig tea from a Chinese doctor who didn't speak a word of English.Turns out it wasn't allergies. It was mold poisoning, and it only showed up once he'd stopped numbing himself with a decade of drinking he never told anyone the full truth about.Hector built Unplugged, the off-grid cabin company that locks your phone in a box for three days, after a 10-day silent retreat in the Himalayas ended with him quitting his job a week later. In this episode:- Why Hector spent two years and thousands of pounds chasing an illness that turned out to be mold poisoning, and what suppressed trauma had to do with it- The decade-long relationship with alcohol he hid from everyone around him, and how addiction recovery reframed what he thought was "bravery"- The 10-day silent retreat in the Himalayas that led him to quit his job a week after landing back in the UK- Why guests regularly leave Unplugged cabins having decided to end their relationships, and the "day one blow-up" pattern Hector sees again and again- How Unplugged went from four company values to one, and why Hector thinks most startups over-complicate everythingChapters: 00:00 Growing Up, Chaos Behind The Optimism 03:01 The Decade Of Numbing Himself 05:03 The Himalayan Silent Retreat That Changed Everything 08:10 Sober, Healthy, And Then He Got Sick 09:51 The Real Diagnosis11:14 How He Actually Recovered 14:51 His Advice For Anyone Watching Someone Spiral 19:16 Inside The Startup That Nearly Broke Him 24:01 What Actually Caused The Burnout 29:40 The Fear Of Sitting Still 38:33 Did He Think About Quitting The Retreat? 41:27 Coming Home A Changed Person 43:05 Building Unplugged With Zero Experience 51:22 What Unplugged Actually Is 53:00 Marketing An Experience No One Can Explain 1:09:42 Why Couples Break Up At The Cabins 1:14:12 Becoming A Different Kind Of Leader 1:20:38 The Real Signs Of An Addictive PersonalityFollow Hector:https://www.linkedin.com/in/hector-hughes-10082195/https://unplugged.rest/Follow Olly: https://www.instagram.com/olly.303/https://www.tiktok.com/@ollyfawcett303?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pchttps://www.linkedin.com/in/olly-fawcett-668566177/Get frequent behind the scenes updates from Olly: https://whatittakes.kit.com/51cd36dc35

  5. 29 Jul

    A marmite advert made him richer than selling his company with Founder of Yo! Sushi

    Watch full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-itMEAbNqDo Nobody walked into Simon Woodroffe's restaurant on opening night. Two weeks later there was a queue down the block that lasted five years and it started with an idea nobody in Britain had ever heard of. Simon Woodroffe OBE is the founder of Yo Sushi and Yotel, and one of the original Dragons on Dragon's Den. Before any of that, he lit Rod Stewart's stage show, worked in the rock-and-roll production world alongside acts like Ozzy Osbourne, sold television rights for Live Aid-era concert broadcasts, and spent time in prison in his late teens for dealing drugs. At 45, with half a million pounds and a government-backed bank loan, he built Yo Sushi, Britain's first conveyor belt sushi restaurant, and turned it into a business with over 100 restaurants and a presence in 600 supermarkets worldwide. He later sold his majority stake to Primary Capital, but says he made more money from a single royalty clause than from either exit. Buy Simon’s book Yo! Man here: https://yo.co.uk/yo-man/ Follow Simon: https://www.instagram.com/yosimonwoodroffe/?hl=en Follow Olly: https://www.instagram.com/olly.303/ https://www.tiktok.com/@ollyfawcett303?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc https://www.linkedin.com/in/olly-fawcett-668566177/ Get frequent behind the scenes updates from Olly: https://whatittakes.kit.com/51cd36dc35

  6. 23 Jul

    CLIP: Want to go viral? Hundreds of artists are now copying his idea... | Billy Lockett

    Two major record deals, and Billy Lockett walked away from both with nothing to show for it. Then his own manager told him an idea was career suicide, he did it anyway, and it changed everything! Billy Lockett is a self-taught singer-songwriter and pianist from Northampton who has spent over a decade in the music industry, including two major label deals (Warner, and a Virgin-affiliated US label) that both collapsed without ever recouping. After going fully independent, Billy (working alongside his mum) started posting real, unedited concert ticket sales numbers on TikTok and Instagram. One video hit 5-6 million views, hundreds of other artists have since copied the format, his monthly Spotify listeners have grown by 200,000-300,000, and his latest self-produced album hit No.1 in the UK indie charts. Follow Billy: https://www.instagram.com/billylockett/?hl=en Follow Olly: https://www.instagram.com/olly.303/ https://www.tiktok.com/@ollyfawcett303?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc https://www.linkedin.com/in/olly-fawcett-668566177/ Get frequent behind the scenes updates from Olly: https://whatittakes.kit.com/51cd36dc35

  7. 22 Jul

    From prison to Dragon's Den: the man who built Yo Sushi | Simon Woodroffe

    Nobody walked into Simon Woodroffe's restaurant on opening night. Two weeks later there was a queue down the block that lasted five years and it started with an idea nobody in Britain had ever heard of. Simon Woodroffe OBE is the founder of Yo Sushi and Yotel, and one of the original Dragons on Dragon's Den. Before any of that, he lit Rod Stewart's stage show, worked in the rock-and-roll production world alongside acts like Ozzy Osbourne, sold television rights for Live Aid-era concert broadcasts, and spent time in prison in his late teens for dealing drugs. At 45, with half a million pounds and a government-backed bank loan, he built Yo Sushi, Britain's first conveyor belt sushi restaurant, and turned it into a business with over 100 restaurants and a presence in 600 supermarkets worldwide. He later sold his majority stake to Primary Capital, but says he made more money from a single royalty clause than from either exit. Chapters 00:00 "I Got Lost" Three Times in His Life
 01:51 He Wrote the Book Only When He Felt Like It
 05:31 The Dad Who Taught Him to Be a Showoff
 08:32 Confessions of a Lost Boy
 10:50 Busted for Dealing Drugs With Two Kids and Some Surfboards
 12:05 Why Prison Stopped Him Breaking the Law Forever
 15:07 A Newspaper Ad Got Him Into Rock and Roll
 16:36 Designing Rod Stewart's Stage With No Experience
 20:45 "I Had to Get Out Before I Got Found Out"
 24:45 Divorced, Broke and Starting Over in Chamonix
 25:33 The Idea That Changed Everything: Sushi on a Conveyor Belt
 26:25 His 100-Day Rule for Testing Any Idea
 32:50 The Envelope That Arrived From Japan
 37:43 The Queue That Lasted Five Years
 46:07 How He Built a Million Pound Restaurant on Half the Money
 50:39 The Contract Clause That Made Him Richer Than Selling the Company
 53:03 The ATM Screen He Couldn't Stop Staring At
 1:11:24 His Answer to "What Does It Take?" Buy Simon’s book Yo! Man here: https://yo.co.uk/yo-man/ Follow Simon: https://www.instagram.com/yosimonwoodroffe/?hl=en Follow Olly: https://www.instagram.com/olly.303/ https://www.tiktok.com/@ollyfawcett303?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc https://www.linkedin.com/in/olly-fawcett-668566177/ Get frequent behind the scenes updates from Olly: https://whatittakes.kit.com/51cd36dc35

  8. 13 Jul

    His manager called it career suicide, it got 6 million views | Billy Lockett

    Two major record deals, and Billy Lockett walked away from both with nothing to show for it. Then his own manager told him an idea was career suicide, he did it anyway, and it changed everything!Billy Lockett is a self-taught singer-songwriter and pianist from Northampton who has spent over a decade in the music industry, including two major label deals (Warner, and a Virgin-affiliated US label) that both collapsed without ever recouping. After going fully independent, Billy (working alongside his mum) started posting real, unedited concert ticket sales numbers on TikTok and Instagram. One video hit 5-6 million views, hundreds of other artists have since copied the format, his monthly Spotify listeners have grown by 200,000-300,000, and his latest self-produced album hit No.1 in the UK indie charts.Chapters0:00 Welcome, Billy1:34 He Could Play Piano Before Anyone Taught Him3:03 The Loner Who Couldn't Fit In Anywhere8:09 The Talent Show That Changed Everything10:12 A Standing Ovation and a Drug Addict's High14:14 The Cost of Being "The Brand"17:18 Burning CDs and Selling to His Mates25:57 A Backstage Rider Full of Blank CDs and Cash28:15 Bin Bags Full of Money in a Fiat33:03 The Cancer Treatment His Dad Refused38:00 The Handshake Before His Dad Died41:37 A Year of Cocaine and Alcohol49:00 Warner Walks Into His Gig Unannounced52:03 "They Own You": Life Inside a Major Label55:47 Walking Away From Warner56:29 The Song That Reached James Corden1:01:03 Paying a Rapper a Fortune for Nothing1:04:07 The Idea His Manager Called Career Suicide1:14:14 The Video That Hit Six Million Views1:22:54 What Success Actually Looks Like NowSubscribe for more conversations with entrepreneurs, founders and high performers.Follow Billy:https://www.instagram.com/billylockett/?hl=enFollow Olly: https://www.instagram.com/olly.303/https://www.tiktok.com/@ollyfawcett303?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pchttps://www.linkedin.com/in/olly-fawcett-668566177/Get frequent behind the scenes updates from Olly: https://whatittakes.kit.com/51cd36dc35

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What does it take to build something? What does building something take from you? In this podcast, we speak with the founders and owners of some of the most incredible brands and businesses to find out the truth about what it takes to build a brand from the ground up, and as founders what going through that process teaches you. Olly Fawcett is the founder of 303, a creative performance marketing agency working with premium brands. Over the last 10 years, he has spent time inside some amazing brands as they have grown and now is sharing those insights through What It Takes.

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