Inside The Maverick Mind

Afanti Media
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Inside the Maverick Mind is an invite-only vodcast hosted by Emyr Afan — long-form conversations with people who don’t quite fit the mould.Each episode features a Maverick from business, fintech, innovation, tech and the creative world, revealing how they think, what drives them, and how they turn “you can’t” into “watch me.”Episodes drop weekly on YouTube, with audio available on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.Subscribe and back your own Maverick mind.

  1. Ep 15 | HENRY ENGELHARDT CBE| The Man Who Proved Happy People Build Better Companies

    3D AGO

    Ep 15 | HENRY ENGELHARDT CBE| The Man Who Proved Happy People Build Better Companies

    Henry Engelhardt didn't just build a successful company. He built one of the most loved workplaces in British corporate history - and did it by betting everything on a single, radical idea: that happy people build better businesses. Starting as a complete outsider to the insurance industry - a Chicago kid who'd worked a hotdog stand, the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and McDonald's on the Champs-Élysées - Henry co-founded Admiral Insurance in 1993 from a standing start, without offices, without a name, and as the seventh player in a market already crowded with giants. By the time he stepped down as CEO, Admiral was a FTSE 100 company employing over 10,000 people across four continents, had been named one of the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For more times than most businesses even try, and had made its entire workforce shareholders. On his final day as CEO, hundreds of staff lined the car park wearing T-shirts printed with his face. That's not a corporate valediction. That's a movement. In this conversation, Henry talks candidly about growing up in 1970s Chicago, the mentors who shaped him, why being an industry outsider was his greatest competitive weapon, how he turned culture into a hard financial advantage, the four pillars that drove everything Admiral became, and why - even now - he writes down what he's grateful for every single day. This is one of the most honest, warm and genuinely useful conversations about leadership, people and business we've ever recorded. Inside the Maverick Mind is the podcast that goes beyond the boardroom and behind the breakthrough. Each episode, host Emyr Afan sits down with the entrepreneurs, leaders and rule-breakers who didn't just build successful businesses — they changed the game entirely. These aren't polished corporate interviews. This is real talk: about failure, obsession, instinct, culture, and what it actually takes to build something that lasts. From startup scars to FTSE 100 boardrooms, from Chicago hotdog stands to Cardiff Bay — every guest has one thing in common: they refused to play it safe. New episodes every [frequency]. Subscribe and join us inside the minds of the people who dared to think differently. Until next time — remember, the world doesn't change by playing it safe.

    1h 5m
  2. Ep 14 | Craig Maxwell OBE | The Man Who Was Given 12 Months - And Changed Welsh Cancer Care Forever

    MAY 18

    Ep 14 | Craig Maxwell OBE | The Man Who Was Given 12 Months - And Changed Welsh Cancer Care Forever

    YOUTUBE DESCRIPTION: In 2022, Craig Maxwell OBE was told he had a rare form of cancer and 12 months to live. Most people would stop. Craig accelerated. In this extraordinary episode of Inside the Maverick Mind, Craig — a former Welsh Rugby Union executive and one of the youngest commercial directors in world rugby — sits down to talk about the moment that changed everything. The diagnosis. The fear. The clarity that followed. But this isn't just a story about facing death. It's a story about what you choose to do with the time you have. Since his diagnosis, Craig has run marathons, cycled across countries, climbed mountains, and walked the entire Welsh coastline — all while undergoing treatment. In doing so, he has raised over £1.7 million to fundamentally change how cancer is diagnosed in Wales. So that others are found in time. So that no one else hears the words "we can treat it, but we can't cure it" when it's already too late. In this conversation, Craig talks about: The moment he received his diagnosis — and what happened in the hours that followedWhat he's most afraid of, and the things no one can prepare you forHow a terminal illness made him a better husband, father and friendWhat "keep going" really means when the stakes are as high as they getThe £1.7 million mission to save lives through early cancer detectionWhat he wants his children to know about who their father wasThis is one of the most remarkable, thought-provoking and life-affirming conversations we have ever recorded. Please watch. Please share. It could save a life. 🔔 Subscribe for more conversations with people who think differently when the stakes are real. CraigMaxwell #CancerAwareness #EarlyDetection #TerminalCancer #Podcast #WelshRugby #LungCancer #Mindset #Legacy #InsideTheMaverickMind

    58 min

  3. MAY 11

    Ep 13 | Chris Macnamara | From Homeless Teenager to National Retailer

    What does it take to build a premium national brand when you couldn't write your name at age 10? Chris McNamara, founder of The Brogue Trader, is living proof that instinct and resilience can outrun any traditional path. In this raw and refreshingly honest conversation, Chris opens up about struggling with dyslexia and ADHD in a school system that didn't know what to do with him, moving into a council house at 19 with a newborn, a bean bag, and a borrowed microwave - and somehow building a shoe brand with stores from Cardiff to Edinburgh. But this isn't just a business story. It's a story about a boy who chose work over school at 14, who nearly got involved in a post office robbery out of desperation, who survived a heart attack and an armed confrontation at Le Mans - and who has never once stopped moving forward. We explore: Why The Brogue Trader was built on experience, not just footwearHow a car sales training process still drives his shoe business todayThe mentor who told him "it's okay to be skint - it's not okay to look skint"Why family is the true foundation of everything he's builtWhat a heart attack at the peak of his success taught him about vulnerabilityWhether you're an entrepreneur, a parent, or just someone who's ever been told they're not enough - this one will hit home. 🎙️ Inside the Maverick Mind - exploring the thinking behind people who refuse to follow the expected path.

    1h 12m

  4. MAY 4

    Ep 12 | Prof. Laura McAllister | Inside the Maverick Mind | Captaining a Nation, On & Off the pitch

    What does it take to captain your country on the pitch, then go on to shape how that country governs itself?  This week, we sit down with Professor Laura McAllister CBE - former Wales women's football captain, Vice President of UEFA, co-chair of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, and one of the most compelling voices in Welsh public life. Laura takes us from kicking a ball with her grandfather in the Llynfi Valley to sitting at UEFA's top table as the only woman in the room. She talks candidly about what sport taught her about leadership, why she never had to choose between football and politics, and why Wales is far better regarded abroad than many at home dare to believe. We cover the Euros breakthrough for Cymru women, the slow grind of gender equality in global sports governance, the real risks facing Welsh democracy, and why she thinks "authenticity" as a leadership concept is mostly nonsense. This is a conversation about quiet power, honest challenge, and what it really means to represent your nation - on the pitch and off it. Topics covered: Women's football in Wales | UEFA governance | Constitutional future of Wales | Welsh identity & independence | Public service broadcasting | Leadership, legacy & the maverick mindset

    1h 6m

  5. MAY 3

    Ep 11 | Spencer John | Inside the Maverick Mind - The Boy who Chose Option 4

    **Inside the Maverick Mind | Episode: Spencer John What happens when a boy from Port Talbot - no father, raised by his nan, told at 12 he had three choices: the cemetery, prison, or the forces - refuses all three and builds option four? Spencer John went on to a 25-year career in investment banking across London, New York, Sydney, and the Middle East. Today he's the founder of Ethos Chain, an advisor to the UK Ministry of Defence on financial warfare, a FTSE 100 non-executive director, and the chair of employment advisory boards across all six Welsh prisons. But none of that is the real story. The real story is about trauma rewiring a brain into a superpower. About a daily gin habit at 13 that saved a life - and nearly ended it. About waking up unable to move on Clapham Common and feeling, for the first time, completely at peace. About walking onto a Wall Street trading floor and seeing not power, but insecurity. And about choosing, again and again, to build option four. In this conversation, Spencer and host Emyr Afan - two boys who grew up miles apart in South Wales and found each other on a charity bike ride across America - go deep on: 🧠 Pattern recognition as a survival mechanism 💼 25 years in global finance - and why he walked away at his most successful ⚔️ Advising the MoD on unconventional warfare 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Changing outcomes in Welsh prisons through employment ❤️ The Yellow Sands Foundation and giving back to the rough diamonds 🌍 The end of the global multinational — and what's replacing it This is raw, honest, and genuinely remarkable.

    1h 14m

  6. APR 20

    Ep 10 | Blanche Sainsbury - From Boardroom to Purpose

    **Inside the Maverick Mind | Blanche Sainsbury - From Boardroom to Purpose: Power, Sacrifice & the National Children's Awards What does it really take to reach the top of British media - and then walk away from it all? In this episode of Inside the Maverick Mind, host Emyr sits down with Blanche Sainsbury, former board-level executive at Trinity Mirror and Daily Mail General Trust, to explore one of the most compelling leadership stories you'll hear this year. Blanche started her career as a teenage classified girl in a newsroom ruled by typewriters and big egos. Four decades later, she'd helped run some of the UK's most powerful regional media businesses, overseen multimillion-pound budgets, navigated cost-cutting in a changing industry - and made headline news herself when she became one of the first people in the UK to remove an editor from their post. Then she did something unexpected. She walked away. Not into retirement - but into purpose. Blanche and her husband Mark founded the Child of Wales and Child of Britain awards, shining a spotlight on extraordinary children doing remarkable things in the face of adversity. What started as a simple idea to celebrate inspiring young people has grown into one of the most anticipated events in Wales, with sold-out rooms, standing-room-only demand, and a reputation for leaving audiences speechless. In this conversation, Blanche and Emyr get into: What it was really like to be a woman at board level in British media in the 1990s and 2000sThe personal sacrifices of climbing the career ladder - commuting between cities, missing sports days, and living away from home for yearsThe moment the content stopped feeling right - and why Celebrity culture and Love Island were the final strawHow she made the decision to leave a six-figure career and start something from scratchWhat it takes to build a national awards brand with integrity and storytelling at its heartWhy vulnerability is a leadership superpower - and why she's never afraid to say "I don't know"Growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, being raised largely by her grandmother, and how that shaped her relentless driveHer "Maverick Moment" - walking into the Daily Mail offices in London and choosing honesty over egoWhy a maverick carries on regardless - and the importance of boundaries, radiators over drains, and protecting your energyThis is a conversation about leadership, legacy, and what happens when you finally put purpose before profit. 🎙️ **Hosted by Emyr | Inside the Maverick Mind 🏆 Find out more about the Child of Wales and Child of Britain Awards

    1h 11m

  7. APR 13

    Ep 9 | James Sills | Inside the Maverick Mind

    Inside the Maverick Mind | James Sills — The Choirestarter: On Fear, Belonging & Why Everyone Can Sing What if the most powerful tool for connection, wellbeing, and culture in your workplace isn't a strategy, a workshop, or a wellbeing app - but singing? James Sills is the man they call the Choirestarter. A musician, author, facilitator and founder of Sofa Singers - the online singing community that launched in lockdown, broke the Zoom room on day one, made the six o'clock news reaching 17 million people, and earned a Prime Minister's Award. 590 live sessions later, it's still going. Because the need hasn't gone away. In this episode we go deep on why James believes every single one of us is born a singer - and what it actually takes to help people believe that about themselves. We talk about Bantam of the Opera, the Bradford City fans choir he built from scratch that sang on the pitch at Valley Parade, performed for the King, appeared on BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and is now the subject of a BBC One film. We talk about what it means to lead without ego, to make belonging your life's work, and to build communities that outlast you. James also opens up about the dark year that taught him the lesson every leader needs to hear: you can't pour from an empty cup. In this episode: Why singing is the fastest way to bond a group of strangers (Oxford University's Icebreaker Effect)How James gets a room full of sceptics singing - without them realising itWhat Sofa Singers taught him about the global hunger for connectionThe message from an IVF patient that changed everythingWhy he walked away from a safe teaching career - and never looked backWhat "finding your tribe" really means in the age of lonelinessHis maverick moment: conducting the BBC Philharmonic with 50 football fans🎙️ Inside the Maverick Mind is the podcast exploring the mindset, moments and maverick moves behind extraordinary lives. 📖 James's book: Do Sing — Reclaim Your Voice, Find Your Singing Tribe 🌐 Sofa Singers: [sofasingers.com] 🎵 Bantam of the Opera:  Subscribe so you never miss an episode — and if this one moved you, share it with someone who needs to hear it. InsideTheMaverickMind #JamesSills #SofaSingers #BantamOfTheOpera #Singing #Wellbeing #MentalHealth #Leadership #Belonging #Podcast #Choirestarter

    52 min

  8. MAR 30

    Ep 8 | Giovanni Malacrino | Inside The Maverick Mind

    What does it take to build a standout hospitality business — and make it feel personal at every level? In this episode of Inside the Maverick Mind, Emyr Afan sits down with Giovanni Malacrino — restaurateur, entrepreneur, and one of the driving forces behind Cardiff’s modern food and hospitality scene. From his Italian roots to building a name in Wales, Giovanni shares the reality behind running hospitality businesses in a fast-moving, high-pressure environment. This isn’t just about food — it’s about people, standards, energy and creating places that others want to be part of. 👉 Subscribe for more Maverick Minds 💬 Comment below — what makes a great hospitality experience for you?

    1h 5m
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About

Inside the Maverick Mind is an invite-only vodcast hosted by Emyr Afan — long-form conversations with people who don’t quite fit the mould.Each episode features a Maverick from business, fintech, innovation, tech and the creative world, revealing how they think, what drives them, and how they turn “you can’t” into “watch me.”Episodes drop weekly on YouTube, with audio available on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.Subscribe and back your own Maverick mind.

Information

  • Creator
    Afanti Media
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Inside The Maverick Mind
  • Show Website
    Inside The Maverick Mind

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