#42: Alex Chisnall - Founder of Screw It, Just Do It Podcast Agency - Inspiring the next generation of Podcasters

As Steve Jobs says, you can only join the dots when you look back.

I started straight from University as a trainee journalist at BBC Radio Wales interviewing everyone from heavyweight champion of the world Lennox Lewis, to leader of the opposition Neil Kinnock. I now feel life's come full circle as I'm back in the audio space, helping leading brands & entrepreneurs tell their stories through the power of podcasting. In between I'd had my head turned & left to see the world with Virgin Atlantic Airways.

Then Inspired by my boss, Sir Richard Branson, I left Virgin to set up my own business.

I'm now the founder of the Screw It, Just Do It podcast agency. From initially launching my own show and receiving two downloads, to last year getting a #1 rated business show from the UK to Uganda and downloaded in 140+ countries, I passionately believe that everybody deserves to be heard & everybody should have their own voice. Podcasting is a great enabler in this regard. 

More than anything, it has been about the people I have met. Great leaders of hugely successful businesses such as Innocent's Richard Reed, Ted Baker's Ray Kelvin CBE, Not On The High Street's Holly Tucker MBE. People I would have never got to have met without my podcast, and who have grown my network immeasurably.

In hindsight, I wish I'd asked Richard more questions as we used to see a lot of him in the early days of the airline.

When I re-joined Virgin, in the guise of his not-for-profit Virgin StartUp, helping entrepreneurs get funding & mentoring, he was living on Necker Island!

My biggest takeaways when it comes to leadership was seeing how well he recruited people who had skills he didn't. How he empowered them by giving them autonomy, by delegating, and by creating an incredibly positive company culture.

I am also an advisor for global startup-generator and VC, Antler.co, whilst I also chair the Accelerate Event Series for British American Business - the US Chamber of Commerce in the UK.

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