The Blueprint Podcast

TNCo

Success leaves clues. On The Blueprint Podcast, Helen Nicholson sits down with South Africa's most respected leaders to reverse engineer how they got there. Helen is the founder and CEO of The Networking Company and has built a career on what a real network is worth. Blueprint is that network put to work: she opens her contact book so the lessons inside it stop being dinner party stories and start being useful to the rest of us. Every episode is a long, honest conversation. The failure chapter, not the highlight reel. What their career never prepared them for. What they would tell someone st

Episodes

  1. 5d ago

    Bryan Habana on Grief, Reinvention and Why a World Cup CV Means Nothing in Business | Episode 2

    Bryan Habana won a World Cup, was named World Player of the Year and is South Africa's record test try scorer. In episode two of The Blueprint Podcast, he talks about grief, reinvention and why none of that counts when you walk into a boardroom.Helen Nicholson sits down with Bryan at The Edge, a venue built to bring sport and business together, which is exactly why she wanted him as its first sports star. He is one of the few people who has done both at the top level, and he is open about how hard the crossover has been.He talks about retiring after a knee injury, the detraining programme nobody gave him, and why "in business, that CV means absolutely nothing". He describes the day it ended, when he got home in the South of France and "opened the door and just broke down", and what pulled him out of it. He explains why people who cannot use AI, not AI itself, are the real risk to jobs, what leading 23 direct reports taught him that rugby never did, and the lesson from his dad he still lives by: "you must never ever let people steal your joy".Who is Bryan Habana?Bryan Habana is a former Springbok wing and South Africa's record test try scorer. He took up rugby after his father took him to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final, and started in the under 14s at King Edward VII School. He played for the Lions, the Bulls, the Stormers and Toulon, won the Rugby World Cup in 2007 and was named World Player of the Year. He retired in 2018. He is co-founder of Paymenow, the fintech that gives South Africans access to their wages before payday, and chairman of Laureus Sport for Good South Africa.The Blueprint Podcast is hosted by Helen Nicholson and produced by TNCo, The Networking Company. Recorded at The Edge, DP World Wanderers Stadium.Watch on on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtF-AHrhA0MUhxqdLWUGviAHost: Helen NicholsonGuest: Bryan HabanaProduced by TNCo, The Networking Company

    Bryan Habana on Grief, Reinvention and Why a World Cup CV Means Nothing in Business | Episode 2

  2. Sep 30

    CEO of Ocean Basket on Heart, Ego and Losing Millions in London | Episode 1

    Ocean Basket is a household name in South Africa. In episode one of The Blueprint Podcast, the CEO who runs it talks about heart, ego and the London expansion that lost the group millions. Helen Nicholson sits down with Grace Harding, CEO of Ocean Basket. They have known each other for about 30 years, which is why this sounds like two friends talking rather than an interview, and why Grace says things most sitting CEOs would not. They get into the UK expansion that went wrong, the moment the founder told her to her face "Grace, you don't listen", and what she took from it: you must restructure your own self first. She argues that "ego is far more dangerous than imposter syndrome". She names workaholism as an addiction and is open about what it took from the people closest to her. And she makes an argument about AI and what happens to companies when humans stop being the resource. Who is Grace Harding?Grace Harding is the CEO of Ocean Basket, the South African seafood restaurant group. She started working in her father's shop at 12 years old because she wanted a television and he told her she would have to earn it. She joined Ocean Basket in 2012 and became CEO in 2014. She is currently doing an MBA, having not studied since 1987. The Blueprint Podcast is hosted by Helen Nicholson and produced by TNCo, The Networking Company. Recorded at The Edge, DP World Wanderers Stadium. Listen and watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thenetworkingco Host: Helen NicholsonGuest: Grace Harding, CEO, Ocean Basket Produced by TNCo, The Networking Company

    CEO of Ocean Basket on Heart, Ego and Losing Millions in London | Episode 1

  3. Sep 10 ·  Bonus

    Success Leaves Clues: Welcome to The Blueprint Podcast

    Success leaves clues. In this short introduction, Helen Nicholson explains why she started The Blueprint Podcast and what she is trying to do with it. Helen is the founder and CEO of The Networking Company, and she has spent her career on one conviction: that the most useful thing anyone has is the people they know. Blueprint is that conviction put to work. She sits down with South Africa's most respected leaders and reverse engineers how they actually got there, then shares it with everyone who was not in the room. Here she covers what the show is, who it is for, and how each episode runs: a long, honest conversation, then the hot seat for ten rapid fire questions, and the sauna to finish. Recorded at The Edge, DP World Wanderers Stadium, Helen's newly founded venue for leadership offsites. Episode 1 lands on 30 September. Follow The Blueprint Podcast so you catch it. Presented by The Networking Company.

  • 3 Episodes

About

Success leaves clues. On The Blueprint Podcast, Helen Nicholson sits down with South Africa's most respected leaders to reverse engineer how they got there. Helen is the founder and CEO of The Networking Company and has built a career on what a real network is worth. Blueprint is that network put to work: she opens her contact book so the lessons inside it stop being dinner party stories and start being useful to the rest of us. Every episode is a long, honest conversation. The failure chapter, not the highlight reel. What their career never prepared them for. What they would tell someone st

Information