What's Your Stori?

Stori Cymru
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Business

We're all about championing business owners across Wales and getting to hear their business stories. This podcast is all about learning from business owners both experienced and those who have started their journeys. Through storytelling we can encourage, motive & inspire people to achieve their potential. We all have a story to tell, and we believe we're all storytellers.

  1. Episode 71 - Phil Evans: Financial Wisdom, Mentorship, and Preparing for Life’s Unknowns

    May 8

    Episode 71 - Phil Evans: Financial Wisdom, Mentorship, and Preparing for Life’s Unknowns

    In this episode of What’s Your Stori?, host James speaks with Phil Evans, a long-time business owner who works in financial services and describes his week as primarily “problem solving.” Phil shares how he wanted to be a carpenter but entered finance in his early twenties and has spent 41 years learning and helping others. They discuss how business owners often leave employment perks like pensions, death-in-service, and sickness benefits behind, yet underestimate personal risk, and Phil stresses planning for living too long, dying too soon, or becoming disabled. Phil and James explore money mindset, the importance of mentors, paying yourself first, tracking spending, surrounding yourself with the right people, building loyal friendships, delegating to a strong team, and using listening and humour in communication, including stories from comedy and a magician’s “breaking of the wand” funeral ritual.

    1 hr
  2. Episode 70 - From Garage to Global: Lucy Clark's OatSoak Success Story

    May 1

    Episode 70 - From Garage to Global: Lucy Clark's OatSoak Success Story

    Meet Lucy Clark, co-founder of OatSoak, a 100% natural bath additive and skincare brand created for people with eczema, psoriasis, and sensitive skin. Lucy explains how the business began during lockdown after her nephew suffered severe eczema and store-bought products irritated his skin, prompting her and her sister Katie to focus on colloidal oatmeal without added preservatives. Starting with a borrowed blender and early sales on Amazon, they validated demand, then won £3,000 at a local Young Dragons-style competition run through CYCA, which funded machinery, mentorship, and their first unit.Lucy shares the realities of reinvesting, scaling into larger premises, and recently expanding to the US via a Natural Grocers pitch in Dallas, leading to distribution and a launch in 176 stores, including FDA approval and added compliance.

    35 min
  3. Episode 69 - Queen of Steel: Alex Shufflebottom's Story

    Apr 24

    Episode 69 - Queen of Steel: Alex Shufflebottom's Story

    In this episode of What’s Your Stori?, James speaks with Alex Shufflebottom, a long-time owner of the South West Wales steel building firm 'Shufflebottom Ltd'. They talk about growing a family business which started nearly 50 years ago from selling wrought iron gates into a market-leading steel fabrication company. Alex recounts the company’s moves to Cross Hands, her father’s death in 1993, her progression through roles after university, and a 2008 management buyout with her brother and general manager Alec just before the recession. She discusses major challenges including cashflow pressures and a site fatality, alongside highs such as winning major awards and delivering prominent projects like the new Pentre Awel leisure centre in Llanelli. Alex explains how they built culture by looking after staff and tackling health topics, why she sold the business two years ago, and her next chapter in mentoring, investing, and supporting manufacturing in Wales.

    44 min
  4. Episode 68 - From the Rugby Field to the West End Stage: The Journey of Samuel Wyn-Morris

    Apr 17

    Episode 68 - From the Rugby Field to the West End Stage: The Journey of Samuel Wyn-Morris

    In this episode of What’s Your Stori?, James sits down with actor and musical theatre performer Samuel Wyn Morris, a fellow local from their hometown, Llanelli, where they went to school and played rugby together. Sam shares what life is like working in the West End and on tour, describing the discipline of eight shows a week and treating performance like elite sport. He retraces his late start in singing at school, training at the Guildford School of Acting, and the setbacks that followed—including stage fright, unemployment, and taking “normal jobs” before regaining confidence. Sam details the competitive casting process for Les Misérables, his breakthrough roles (including covering key parts), the impact of COVID shutdowns, and his path to playing the Phantom on the international tour, while reflecting on hometown pride, giving back, mistakes onstage, and advice to “emulate, don’t replicate.”

    55 min
  5. Episode 67 - From Vet to Visionary: John Burns' Journey in Pet Nutrition

    Apr 10

    Episode 67 - From Vet to Visionary: John Burns' Journey in Pet Nutrition

    This week, James interviews John Burns, founder of Burns Pet Nutrition and John Burns Foundation. John shares his background; born in Belfast in 1948, raised in west Scotland, trained as a vet in Glasgow, and moved to Whitland, Wales, where his interest in small-animal chronic illness led him to acupuncture and macrobiotics, shaping his nutrition-first philosophy. He challenges grain-free and raw-feeding trends, arguing whole grains are digestible and beneficial for pets. John recounts starting the business in the late 1980s by recommending home-cooked brown rice, vegetables, and meat, then finding a local manufacturer, selling directly to West Wales vets and pet shops, scaling to around 200,000 customers and 100+ staff, and exporting notably to Ireland. He explains selling after stress from Brexit, COVID, rising costs, and intensified competition, and describes his current focus on the John Burns Foundation, including the Reading with Dogs scheme in 70–80 schools and running the John Burns Centre while seeking volunteers and funding.Listen in for an inspiring story from the founder of the well known pet food brand

    46 min
  6. Episode 66 - Beyond the Pitch: Aaron Shingler's Journey from Rugby to Business

    Apr 3

    Episode 66 - Beyond the Pitch: Aaron Shingler's Journey from Rugby to Business

    In this episode of What’s Your Stori, James sits down with Aaron “Shingz” Shingler. A Welsh international and long-time Scarlets player and now owner of property development firm GS6 Developments, founded in 2018 after injury. He describes a typical week balancing site visits, meetings, emails, family life, and intense training for triathlons. Shingler recounts his late rugby rise after focusing on cricket, earning a Scarlets contract, and fighting for his place, plus the surreal highs and sharp lows of his first Wales cap in 2012 and later involvement in a championship-winning 2013 campaign. He reflects on Scarlets success in 2017, overplaying and injury, then major setbacks including an ACL rupture and an 18-month battle with reactive arthritis during COVID. He explains how early property investing, calculated risk, and partnerships enabled his business transition, emphasises the need for athletes to plan for life after sport, and discusses challenges building a reliable workforce.

    1 hr
  7. Episode 65 - Entrepreneurship unfiltered: Richard Lee's journey from startup to success

    Mar 27

    Episode 65 - Entrepreneurship unfiltered: Richard Lee's journey from startup to success

    In this episode of What’s Your Stori?, Meet Richard Lee, founder of Innovators Uncensored, a startup and self-employment focused media company creating weekly newsletters, events across the UK, and the podcast series “Sharks, Snakes, and Shareholders” about investor horror stories. Richard shares how Innovators Uncensored began after an investment pitch at Google’s London HQ revealed a knowledge gap between London and founders outside the capital. He reflects on early entrepreneurship buying and selling football boots and clothing, leaving Deloitte because employment wasn’t the right fit, and lessons from raising £250,000 for a previous startup but ultimately not taking the investment due to lack of validation. They discuss James' new Welsh-language AI subtitle translation app and Richard’s new venture, Roca Card, aimed at helping self-employed people build pension savings through cash-back on business spending.

    45 min
  8. Episode 64 - From Crisis to Growth: Kay Augustus on Building a Payroll Business in Wales

    Mar 20

    Episode 64 - From Crisis to Growth: Kay Augustus on Building a Payroll Business in Wales

    In this episode of What’s Your Stori? James speaks with Kay Augustus, a mother, business owner, and Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals member, about Augustus Payroll and why payroll is more than “pushing a button,” including its role in PAYE and compliance. Kay shares her path from an admin role in a local factory into payroll across industry and practice, and explains how software can create costly HMRC issues when used incorrectly. She describes registering her business in 2022, then scaling it full-time after her daughter’s severe mental health crisis in 2023 led her to quit her job and build the company around safeguarding her family. Kay outlines hustling for clients, acquiring a payroll business through networking, onboarding 85 clients quickly, growing to a team of three with 162 clients, partnering transparently with accountants, keeping payroll UK-based, and advising businesses to seek expert conversations to avoid missed reliefs like employment allowance.

    43 min
See All (72)

Trailer

About

We're all about championing business owners across Wales and getting to hear their business stories. This podcast is all about learning from business owners both experienced and those who have started their journeys. Through storytelling we can encourage, motive & inspire people to achieve their potential. We all have a story to tell, and we believe we're all storytellers.

Information

  • Creator
    Stori Cymru
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    72
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Stori Cymru
  • Show Website
    What's Your Stori?