How did you do that?

Simon Stoneham and Gethyn Williams

Introducing How did you do that? A new podcast about people stepping off the traditional career path and going it alone. Though from different generations, co-hosts Simon and Gethyn have much in common, both making a recent leap into freelancing and navigating the stresses of going solo, the unknowns around starting your own business and the effort it takes to wrench yourself from our traditional career expectations. In S1 Simon and Gethyn reflect on their own journeys as well as interviewing others from their professional networks with similar and fascinating stories of their own.

Episodes

  1. S1. Ep.4 Connected

    10/27/2023

    S1. Ep.4 Connected

    For our third and final interview this season we ventured deep into the heart of Canary Wharf for our only IRL meet up of the series, to the tech hub on level 39 of the iconic, pyramid-topped number 1 Canada Square. There we caught up with Tony Colville, MD of The Cancer Awareness Trust to hear more about one of the most unusual career arcs in the non-profit sector you’re ever likely to come across. Hailing from Birmingham, Tony has always been one of those people that effortlessly seems to keep a lot of plates spinning. Starting his career in Local Authority leisure services, whilst juggling studies and significant caring responsibilities, Tony’s talent for developing, inspiring and connecting saw him move into the voluntary sector, riding that wave of social entrepreneurship that swept the UK in the early 2010s. At that point however his career took quite the turn, as he found himself becoming something of an architect-fixer for a succession of high-profile, highly ambitious philanthropists. In a space that didn’t previously exist, Tony became the go-to guy to ignite and launch your new social purpose initiative. Doing their best not to fixate exclusively on the many household names that populate Tony’s CV, the conversation takes a more nuanced turn towards the dynamics of working for powerful people with big egos, the real meaning of work-life balance and the underlying nature of doing good. “It’s not a career” is how Tony describes it, but it is a hell of a story about building your own path, and a fitting way to conclude our S1 interviews. Join us next week for our season closer as we return to the start, to catch up with Simon and Gethyn on their own progress.

    1 hr
  2. S1. Ep.2 Wise Counsel

    10/13/2023

    S1. Ep.2 Wise Counsel

    For our first guest we caught up with James Allen, owner / MD of Counsel - a boutique policy and public affairs consultancy working across the voluntary, statutory and sports sectors. In many ways James was the perfect first guest for us - one of Gethyn’s longtime collaborators, he was a crucial point of reference as our co-host started out on his own solo journey, as well as occupying a professional space in between Gethyn (non-profit sector) and Simon (motorsport). James’ career began with political ambitions but was curtailed by a lack of the personal networks so crucial to advancing in that world. Nevertheless, he developed a niche influencing the political space through the sports and voluntary sectors, albeit in a quite a different environment to the one we see today. After holding a number of senior positions in non-profit trade bodies and membership organisations, James took the leap to go solo after realising he could provide a better, cleaner service outside of the trappings for a larger organisation. IN this episode he not only recounts this journey but describes how he designs his services, how to charge without guilt and what he won’t do for money. Towards the end of the episode we take a deep dive into the inequalities still rampant in the sports sector covering the shortcomings around athlete welfare, financial inequalities in motorsport and what we can really do to improve gender diversity in participation.Connect with James on LinkedIn

    1h 5m
  3. Pilot

    02/20/2023

    Pilot

    Introducing How did you do that? A new podcast about people stepping out of the traditional career path to create their own or goal it alone. Meet Simon and Gethyn - the pods creators and co-hosts - reflecting on their own versions of this journey. Simon is a Gen Z who had a very unrewarding couple of Covid-era years at University before deciding to drop out early in order to focus on developing his own marketing and development business, working mainly in motorsport. Gethyn is Gen X, spending much of his career in short term, stressful roles in the charity sector before finally leaving traditional employment and going freelance in 2020. He still works mainly for non-profits, albeit in a consulting capacity, offering a very different work/life balance. Though from different generations Simon and Gethyn realised they had a lot in common - the stresses of making the leap to going solo, the unknowns around starting your own business, the effort it takes to wrench yourself from a traditional, structured career path. In this episode you’ll hear their back stories in their own words - where they’ve been, what they’ve done, how they’ve failed and what they’ve learned - revealing their hopes and fears in ways both personal and universal. And in the following episodes we’ll meet a host of different individuals who have done something similar, all with their own stories to tell. We hope you enjoy How Did You Do That - please consider rating the pod and leaving a comment below :) Read more about Simon or Gethyn, or connect with them professionally, here: linktr.ee/howdidyoudothat.

    1h 6m

About

Introducing How did you do that? A new podcast about people stepping off the traditional career path and going it alone. Though from different generations, co-hosts Simon and Gethyn have much in common, both making a recent leap into freelancing and navigating the stresses of going solo, the unknowns around starting your own business and the effort it takes to wrench yourself from our traditional career expectations. In S1 Simon and Gethyn reflect on their own journeys as well as interviewing others from their professional networks with similar and fascinating stories of their own.