Inside The Maverick Mind

Afanti Media
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  • Entrepreneurship

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 19 | Nick Hounsfield | 230 Rejections, One Stroke, and a £30M Wave

    2d ago

    Ep 19 | Nick Hounsfield | 230 Rejections, One Stroke, and a £30M Wave

    Nick Hounsfield didn't set out to build a tourist attraction. He set out to build the kind of medicine you can't prescribe. A former osteopath, Nick spent 18 years treating the symptoms of stress, burnout, and disconnection — until he realised the real problem wasn't in the treatment room. It was in the environment people were returning to. So he left his practice, made a promise to his dying father, pitched to over 230 investors, fought for planning permission on greenbelt land, and built The Wave — the UK's first inland surf destination, just north of Bristol. A place designed to make people healthier, happier, and more connected, without them even knowing. Then, just months after opening, Nick had a major stroke. In this episode, we explore what it means to build a place of recovery and then become the person who needs it most — and how that experience reshaped everything Nick thought he knew about ambition, resilience, and what actually matters. We cover: * Why Nick walked away from a thriving osteopathy practice to build something "impossible" * The 10-year journey from £500 and a sketch to a £30 million destination * What 230 investor rejections taught him about vision, timing, and personality fit * The stroke that stopped everything — and the clarity that came with it * Blue health: the science of why water makes us happier and healthier * His new mission, One Blue World, and why it goes far beyond surfing * The difference between stubbornness and vision * Why pause is as important as push Nick's story is a masterclass in maverick thinking — and a timely reminder that sometimes the boldest thing you can do is build the world you think people need.

    56 min
  2. Ep 18 | Andy Middleton | The Man Who Sacked His Biggest Client — and Never Looked Bac

    Jun 22

    Ep 18 | Andy Middleton | The Man Who Sacked His Biggest Client — and Never Looked Bac

    Andy Middleton is a pioneering force in sustainability, ecologic thinking, and biomimicry - and he happens to be based in one of the most breathtaking corners of the world: St Davids, West Wales. As founder of the TYF Group, co-creator of the World Freestyle Kayaking Championships, and a key contributor to Wales' groundbreaking Future Generations Act, Andy has spent decades helping individuals, communities, and businesses think - and act - differently. In this conversation, we explore how growing up on the Pembrokeshire coast shaped his worldview, why he believes shareholder capitalism is in its "death days," what biomimicry and ecologic thinking can offer a world in crisis, and why the most powerful conversations happen not in boardrooms but in nature. We also dig into the DO Lectures, the dangers of AI singularity, legacy, family, and what it truly means to be a maverick. 🌊 Topics covered: Growing up in St Davids & founding TYFCoasteering, kayaking & being #2 in the worldFrom adventure business to sustainability pioneerThe Future Generations Act & Wales as a global modelBiomimicry, ecologic thinking & the rules of physicsThe DO Lectures & community on the edgeAI, singularity & upgrading our "maverick quotient"Legacy, George Bernard Shaw & being "fully used up"

    47 min
  3. Ep 17 | FRANKIE JAMES | From Door-to-Door Sales to Glastonbury for Business

    Jun 15

    Ep 17 | FRANKIE JAMES | From Door-to-Door Sales to Glastonbury for Business

    From 100% commission door-to-door sales to co-creating a Glastonbury for Business - Frankie James joins Emyr Afan on Inside the Maverick Mind. Frankie is the force behind the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and Ideas Fest, an outdoor business festival that blends entrepreneurship with music, wellbeing, and genuine human connection. Co-created with economist Dylan Jones Evans, Ideas Fest has grown into one of the UK's most distinctive spaces for founders to think, connect, and be inspired. In this episode, Frankie shares: How brutal door-to-door commission sales shaped her approach to people and businessWhy she went to university after working - and what she'd do differentlyThe real story behind launching Ideas Fest during the pandemicWhy community beats competition and how collaboration supercharges growthThe importance of honest founder spaces - not just highlight reelsHer Maverick Moment: taking over a field and throwing thousands of entrepreneurs into itHow to scale something special without losing what makes it humanWhether you're a founder craving connection, someone building community around a bold idea, or just looking for permission to do things differently — this one's for you. 🎙️ Inside the Maverick Mind - the show where unconventional thinkers share what really goes on behind the business. 📌 Find Frankie James: Ideas Fest: ideasfest.co.ukGreat British Entrepreneur Awards: greatbritishentrepreneurawards.comInstagram/LinkedIn: @FrankieJames | @IdeasFest📌 Subscribe for more maverick conversations every week. #Entrepreneurship #IdeasFest #MaverickMind #BusinessPodcast #GreatBritishEntrepreneurAwards #Founders #CommunityOverCompetition #Wales #StartupUK

    43 min
  4. Ep 16 | John Parr | The Man Behind the Anthem St Elmo's Fire - Betrayed Twice & Silenced for 20 years

    Jun 8

    Ep 16 | John Parr | The Man Behind the Anthem St Elmo's Fire - Betrayed Twice & Silenced for 20 years

    The Voice Behind the Anthem: John Parr on Fame, Betrayal & Never Giving In In 1985, a song exploded out of a Hollywood cinema and never really stopped playing. That song was St. Elmo's Fire — and its writer and singer, John Parr, joins Emyr Afan on Inside the Maverick Mind for one of the most honest, surprising and inspiring conversations you'll hear this year. Born on the wrong side of the tracks in a Nottinghamshire mining town, John Parr spent 20 years grinding his way to a room with David Foster — then wrote a number one anthem in three attempts on a single afternoon. But what came next wasn't the fairy tale the world imagined. In this episode, John opens up about: The real story behind "St. Elmo's Fire" — and the wheelchair-bound hero who inspired itWhy his record label hated the song and refused to promote itThe betrayal that cost him 20 years of his career — and how he survived itWhat it was really like touring with Tina Turner, Toto, The Beach Boys and JourneyWorking with Mutt Lange and the lesson that changed how he createsHis growing obsession with Welsh culture, Hedd Wyn, and a film that could change everythingWhy he believes the next great anthem needs to be about mental healthAnd the uncanny sign that made him certain he was on the right pathThis is the story of a man who never gave in — even when everything gave out. 🎵 "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" | 🎬 Filmmaker | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Friend of Wales --- 📩 Subscribe for more conversations with maverick thinkers, creators and disruptors. 🔔 Hit the bell so you never miss an episode of Inside the Maverick Mind.

    1h 6m
  5. Ep 15 | HENRY ENGELHARDT CBE| The Man Who Proved Happy People Build Better Companies

    May 25

    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
  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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
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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
    19
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Inside The Maverick Mind
  • Show Website
    Inside The Maverick Mind

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