Torque

Dom Fiore
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A podcast about men, life, connection and the things we don’t always say out loud  Have you ever felt like there's too much pressure, and nowhere to turn? Well you’re not alone and this podcast is for you. This podcast exists because host Dom Fiore suffered a life changing injury that sent him on a journey of discovery. Dom believes that proper connection is what is missing for most men and he wants to understand how we can make that change together. With a focus on lived experience Dom is on a journey to discover real life stories with real life men and experts on a range of subjects to understand how we can connect, deal with and share the changes and experiences that life brings. We talk about life, health, fitness, career, family, relationships, stress and how we connect as men. The show will feature in depth interviews, personal reflections and how we keep going when the pressure is on. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. Sep 13

    The Bald Ref: The Referee Standing Up to Abuse and Why Men Need to Talk

    The Bald Ref The Referee Standing Up to Abuse and Why Men Need to Talk Guest: Johnny Cartwright — rugby referee, primary school teacher, Loose Heads ambassador Episode Description Johnny Cartwright is a primary school teacher, a dad, and a rugby referee operating at RFU National League level in the Manchester area. He is also the Manchester Referee Society Chair of Training and Development and a proud Loose Heads ambassador — an organisation that champions respecting the game and men's mental health beyond rugby. Known in the rugby world as the Bald Ref, Johnny has built a social media presence around calling out the abuse referees face on the pitch — not from the comfort of the touchline, but from the middle of it. In this conversation he talks about the incidents that shaped him: the under-15s coach who tried to get his home address after a game, the time nobody on the touchline spoke up to defend him and the silence that changed the way he operates, and the paradox of being reported for calling out abuse while the abuser walked away. He also talks about Waffle Wednesdays — a weekly voice note routine he built with two close friends to keep the lines of communication open between men who don't always find it easy to say how they're actually doing. And about Loose Heads, the world record attempts, and the goal of putting a mental health ambassador in every rugby club in the world. This is a conversation about standing up, speaking out, and the small habits that keep men connected. Timestamps 01:28 Torque Ten — Quickfire Questions with Johnny 02:42 Johnny Welcome to Talk 02:49 Entry Into Refereeing — From Coaching to the Whistle 03:39 The First Match — Nerves and a Ladies Game at a Familiar Club 05:44 Women’s vs Men’s Rugby — The Difference in Spirit 06:37 The First Time He Was Really Abused — An Under-15s County Cup Game 08:40 The Coach Who Pointed, Made Accusations, and Tried to Get His Home Address 10:20 Insinuations About Him as a Teacher — Where It Crossed a Line 11:30 Nobody Said Anything — The Silence That Changed Him 13:00 Becoming an Active Bystander — The Man Who Doesn’t Walk Past 14:30 Why He Started Posting About It — The Bald Ref on Social Media 16:00 The Paradox — Reported for Calling Out Abuse, the Abuser Walked Away 18:00 What the RFU Is Doing — and Where the Gaps Are 19:30 Respect the Ref — What Good Looks Like on a Touchline 20:45 Waffle Wednesdays — Where It Came From 21:38 How It Works — Voice Note, Two Close Friends, Every Week 22:00 Why a Voice Note Rather Than a Phone Call 23:13 The Beauty of Considered Rather Than Reactive Feedback 24:25 What Happens When He Misses a Wednesday 25:40 Men and Platitudes — Why We Don’t Say What We Mean 27:00 LooseHeadz — What It Is and What It’s Trying to Do 29:00 A Mental Health Ambassador in Every Rugby Club in the World 30:30 The Personal Loss Behind Why He Does This 32:00 Teaching Primary School Children vs Refereeing Adults 34:00 Parents at Kids’ Rugby — The Grandma and the Forward Pass 40:53 The Guinness World Record Attempt — Longest Game of Sevens Rugby 42:09 Dom’s Closing Reflection You can find Jonny at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-cartwright-7401712b?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios https://www.instagram.com/the_bald_ref?igsi=cjNoZXFjZXkyd20w&utm_source=qr We want to hear from you Get in touch through Email - connect@mantorquexy.com Instagram / Facebook / TikTok - @mantorquexy Subscribe and leave a review Original music composed and used with permission from Alex Tilley Video Editing for Socials assistance provided by Lily O'Connor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The Bald Ref: The Referee Standing Up to Abuse and Why Men Need to Talk

  2. Sep 6

    Losing Everything and Rebuilding a Life - My Journey with Alcohol and ADHD

    Losing Everything and Rebuilding a Life - My Journey with Alcohol and ADHD Guest: Cliff Sewell — mindset coach, ultramarathon runner and author Trigger Warning This episode deals with alcoholism, ADHD and suicidal thoughts. Please take care and bear that in mind before listening. Episode Description Cliff Sewell grew up in working-class northern England, built a highly successful recruitment business, became a millionaire, and spent years manufacturing every waking moment around one question: can I get to a pub? He was in the pub from 11 in the morning until 11 at night. He was constantly pretending to be somebody else. From the outside, he had everything. Inside, he was searching for something he couldn’t name. The business eventually collapsed. The money went. He found himself on a park bench waiting for the phone call that would tell him whether he’d lost everything he’d built. He reached the darkest point a man can reach. In this conversation, Cliff talks about when he first realised he was an alcoholic, what drove the drinking, the long road to sobriety, the suicidal thoughts that came with losing everything, and what it took to come back from that place. He also talks about a late ADHD diagnosis that reframed much of his story, becoming an ultramarathon runner in his 50s, and the mindset coaching work he now does with individuals and organisations. This is an honest conversation that goes to some dark places. It is also one of genuine hope. Timestamps 01:01 Trigger Warning — Alcoholism, ADHD, Suicidal Thoughts 01:39 Torque Ten — Quickfire Questions with Cliff 04:57 When Did He First Realise He Was an Alcoholic? 07:42 Everybody Thought He Had It All 09:39 Cash, Success and the Drinking That Came With It 10:30 Constantly Pretending to Be Somebody Else 13:22 On the Park Bench — Waiting for the Call 15:05 Carrying On Drinking After the Business Survived — Then Losing It 17:16 When He Wasn’t Rich Anymore 17:52 The Sobriety Journey — Where It Began 20:14 The Really Dark Place — Suicidal Thoughts 21:49 Coming Out the Other Side — Being Cautious About Talking 22:52 His Daughter — Living Together Through the Dark Times 24:19 Nobody Sets Out for Things to Go Wrong 27:07 99% of Days He Doesn’t Think About Drinking 28:38 Starting to Run — Typical Cliff, Going All In 29:59 The 100K Goal — Getting to 84K 32:35 Mindset Coaching — Making It Affordable and Accessible 34:16 The Noise of Self-Help and What Actually Works 37:11 It’s Not Just One Thing — Building Habits That Last 37:31 The Real Benefits Beyond the Physical 38:18 Dom’s Closing Reflection Resources If this episode has raised issues for you, the following organisations can help: Samaritans — free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: 116 123 Alcoholics Anonymous UK: 0800 9177 650 — alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk You can find Cliff at Cliff Sewell | High Performance & Success Coach Cliff Sewell (@cliff_sewell) • Instagram photos and videos The Magical Mindset Podcast with Cliff Sewell | Podcast on Spotify Success It's Personal: A clear and positive plan around change and achieving success: Amazon.co.uk: Sewell, Mr Cliff: 9798325562792: Books PREVIOUS EPISODES - Torque - Hosted by Dom Fiore We want to hear from you Get in touch through Email - connect@mantorquexy.com Instagram / Facebook / TikTok - @mantorquexy Subscribe and leave a review Original music composed and used with permission from Alex Tilley Video Editing for Socials assistance provided by Lily O'Connor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Losing Everything and Rebuilding a Life - My Journey with Alcohol and ADHD

  3. Aug 30

    The Millionaire Skydiver: How Winning the Lottery as an Addict Nearly Cost Me Everything

    The Millionaire Skydiver How Winning the Lottery as an Addict Nearly Cost Me Everything Guest: Peter John Mather — skydiver, entrepreneur, life coach and founder of Healthy Mindset Rebels Trigger Warning This episode contains themes of addiction and suicide. Please be aware before listening. Episode Description Peter John Mather won 5.2 million pounds on the lottery with his mum twenty years ago. He was 20 years old, already working in bars, already drinking, already using drugs. The money didn't solve any of that. As Peter says himself: it doesn't solve your problems, it just enhances them. What followed was almost two decades of addiction running alongside an extraordinary life — representing Great Britain at skydiving, building businesses in fireworks and sky sports, living across multiple countries, getting to within days of losing everything. A heart attack at 21. Suicide attempts. A relationship that left the country. Rock bottom in a foreign country, alone, having driven 26 hours through the night with everything he owned in the back of a car. And then — a phone call from a friend who had no idea what was going on. A Tony Robbins audiobook on a drive back from a party. Six words: change your environment, change your life. Five years clean and sober later, Peter is building Healthy Mindset Rebels and helping others find the same way out. This is a long, honest, and at times very dark conversation. It is also one of genuine resilience. Timestamps 01:56 Torque Ten — Quickfire Questions with Peter 03:05 What Life Looked Like Before the Lottery Win 03:18 His Mum's Accident, Giving Up Golf, Going Into Bar Work 04:27 Becoming a Cocktail Flair Bartender — When Alcohol Started 06:38 Rinse and Repeat — Getting Clean, Falling Back In 07:02 May 2005 — The Lottery Win With His Mum 07:50 What 5.2 Million Did to a 20-Year-Old Addict 08:20 It Didn't Solve the Problems — It Enhanced Them 09:20 The People Around Him 10:28 The Magaluf Job Offer — and Why the Money Stopped That 11:40 The Most Publicised Lottery Winner 12:55 The Heart Attack at 21 14:30 What Caused It 16:00 The Businesses — Fireworks, Skydiving, Seasonal and Unstable 17:00 How He Got Into Skydiving 21:00 Representing Great Britain — Sponsored, Competing, Still Drinking 23:24 Skydiving as a Dopamine Hit — Same as a Line of Cocaine 24:32 The Culture of Drink and Drugs in Skydiving 26:10 Buying the Drop Zone — Three Days Before COVID Shut Everything Down 27:47 From Zero Debt to 1.7 Million Overnight 28:45 His Partner Leaving the Country 31:35 Very Fortunate Not to Be Locked Up, Dead or Kill Someone 32:20 Rock Bottom — Driving 26 Hours to Resolve the Relationship 35:00 She Didn't Want to Be With Him — That Was the Real Rock Bottom 36:30 The Suicide Attempts 38:00 The Phone Call That Saved Him — A Friend Who Had No Idea 40:20 Getting a Commitment to Go and Have a Meal With Someone 41:00 The Recovery Journey — Bumpy, Non-Linear, Doing It for Her at First 43:15 One Slip in the Caribbean — Then the Moment Everything Changed 44:30 The Tony Robbins Audiobook on the Drive Home 45:18 Change Your Environment, Change Your Life 46:00 Moving to America, Starting Again 47:00 Tony Robbins in His Life — Senior Leader, UPW Events 48:00 Healthy Mindset Rebels — What He's Building Now 50:00 Helping People Design a Healthy Lifestyle Around Food and Body 51:30 Five Years Clean and Sober 52:18 Protecting His Sobriety 53:52 What He'd Say to Anyone Who Wants to Change Their Life 55:22 Dom's Closing Reflection You can find Peter at https://www.instagram.com/healthymindsetrebels/ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584908998789 https://www.instagram.com/peterjohnmather1984/ https://www.facebook.com/peterjohnmather1984 Peter John Mather | LinkedIn Resources If this episode has raised issues for you: Samaritans — free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: 116 123 Alcoholics Anonymous UK: 0800 9177 650 — alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk Narcotics Anonymous UK: 0300 999 1212 — ukna.org CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably): 0800 58 58 58 Previous Episodes Torque - Hosted by Dom Fiore We want to hear from you Get in touch through Email - connect@mantorquexy.com Instagram / Facebook / TikTok - @mantorquexy Subscribe and leave a review Original music composed and used with permission from Alex Tilley Video Editing for Socials assistance provided by Lily O'Connor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The Millionaire Skydiver: How Winning the Lottery as an Addict Nearly Cost Me Everything

  4. Aug 23

    How To Talk To Your Children: A Clinical Psychologist's Toolkit for Parents Who Want To Connect

    How To Talk To Your Children A Clinical Psychologist's Toolkit for Parents Who Want To Connect Guest: Dr David Marcus — clinical psychologist, 40 years working with families Episode Description Dr David Marcus has spent 40 years working with families under stress. What he sees, consistently, is not bad parents. It's parents making assumptions about their children that stop communication before it starts. In this conversation, David walks through the four assumptions parents make about their children's emotionality — and why, if any one of them is false, you're not going to get a response. He introduces the concept of the soothing presence — what it actually means to be okay when the person in front of you isn't, and how that skill, when a child internalises it, becomes the foundation of their emotional resilience for life. He talks about why asking why did you do that might be the worst question a parent can ask, what to say instead, and the power of the word something as a non-judgmental way into a difficult conversation. About the fairness trap with siblings. About how the history level — the accumulated memory of how conversations have gone before — fills us up before we even begin. About the pressures teenagers face. And about what he'd tell any parent right now who wants to connect more with their children. This is an episode for parents. But as Dom reflects in the takeaway, the skills David describes go well beyond parenting — they apply to every difficult conversation you will ever have. Timestamps 01:17 Introducing Dr David Marcus 01:36 What Does He Typically Witness in Families Under Stress? 02:42 The Four Assumptions Parents Make About Their Children 02:42 Assumption 1 — That Children Experience Their Emotions 03:46 Assumption 2 — That Children Can Tolerate the Intensity of Their Emotions 04:07 Assumption 3 — That Children Have the Language to Express Their Emotions 05:11 Assumption 4 — That It's Safe for the Child to Express Their Emotions With This Person 05:36 The Soothing Presence — Being OK When the Person in Front of You Isn't 06:40 The Temptation to Fix — Why It Doesn't Work 07:02 Emptying Out — Why Logic Doesn't Land When Someone Is Filled Up 07:50 How Parents Feel About Children Often Reflects How Children Feel About Themselves 08:16 Predictability as the Source of Trust 09:47 Unpredictable Parents — What It Does to a Child's Sense of Security 13:00 Screen Time — The Soothing Presence Problem of Modern Parenting 14:00 David's Pillow Story — When the Clinical Psychologist Got Mad 16:00 Why Children Need a Predictable Time When You Are Really There 18:00 The Dinner Table Conversation — Tell Me About Your Day 20:32 Why Did You Do That — The Worst Question You Can Ask 20:47 Something Made That Happen — A Better Way In 21:01 The Power of the Word Something — Non-Judgmental and Open 22:10 Mirroring Back — Emptying the Child Out 23:14 No Wonder You Did What You Did — Validating Without Approving 23:28 Productive Discipline and Building Resilience 25:03 Siblings — The Fairness Trap 26:53 The Emptying Out Process — What It Actually Means 29:01 The History Level — Getting Filled Up Before You Even Begin 32:00 Walls That Build Up Between People — How Communication Breaks Down 33:47 A Different Definition of Support 35:20 Teenagers Under Pressure — The Cost of Meeting Everyone Else's Expectations 36:58 David as a Parent — His Own Pitfalls 41:26 The Key Thing — Be OK Yourself First 42:44 Dom's Closing Reflection You can find Dr David Marcus at ParentRX - Dr. David Marcus Ph. D. All Previous Episodes https://shows.acast.com/torque We want to hear from you Get in touch through Email - connect@mantorquexy.com Instagram / Facebook / TikTok - @mantorquexy Subscribe and leave a review Original music composed and used with permission from Alex Tilley Video Editing for Socials assistance provided by Lily O'Connor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    How To Talk To Your Children: A Clinical Psychologist's Toolkit for Parents Who Want To Connect

  5. Aug 19

    Just the Beginning — What 13 Conversations About Men's Mental Health Taught Me

    Just the Beginning What 13 Conversations About Men’s Mental Health Taught Me A solo episode with Dom Fiore Episode Description This episode wasn’t planned. A guest asked Dom to hold their episode back at short notice — for good reason — and rather than fill the gap with something formulaic, Dom used it to reflect on what thirteen conversations with men about pressure, identity and connection have actually taught him. It’s also almost exactly a year since Dom had an accident that resulted in a brain injury — the event that led directly to this podcast existing. This episode is the first time he talks about it publicly. Dom reflects on the thread that runs through every conversation so far: the gap between the version of ourselves we show the world and the version we actually are. Where that gap shows up. What it costs. And what it takes to begin to close it. He also talks about David ‘Jacko’ Jackson — a former professional rugby player who sustained a brain injury and is currently running 100 consecutive ultra marathons for Headway, the brain injury charity — and what Jacko’s challenge says about the human capacity to find purpose in the hardest circumstances. The episode ends with a direct message to the listener: you have the power and the agency to write your own story. This is just the beginning. Timestamps 00:00 Why This Episode Is Different — A Guest Asked to Hold Their Episode Back 00:53 What It Means — A Chance to Reflect on 13 Conversations 01:00 13 Episodes, 13 Conversations With Men About Life Under Pressure 01:25 Why This Show Exists — The Brain Injury Anniversary 01:39 What the Brain Injury Changed — Physically, Cognitively, and How Dom Connects 02:03 Talk Came Out of the Accident, Not in Spite of It 02:37 David ‘Jacko’ Jackson — 100 Ultra Marathons for Headway 03:17 What Jacko’s Challenge Says About Finding Purpose in Hard Circumstances 03:29 The Thread — The Gap Between the Version We Show and the Version We Are 03:50 How the Gap Shows Up Differently Across Every Episode 04:26 What the Men in These Conversations Have in Common 04:43 Reflection 1 — Most Men Are Carrying Something They Haven’t Named 05:26 Reflection 2 — The Gap Between the Outside and the Inside 05:53 Freddie at the Olympics Feeling Like a Fraud. Jason Feeling Invisible. 06:01 Connection Is the Answer — Not Therapy or a Programme or a Book 06:18 The Moment Things Usually Change — Feeling Heard for the First Time 06:33 The Well Actually There Is Something Moment 06:51 Identity — Who Are You When the Job, the Sport, the Title Disappears? 07:11 What Every Guest Has Had in Common — Willing to Find Out What’s on the Other Side 07:21 This Has Been a Journey of Discovery and It’s Far From Over 07:31 The Brain Injury — What It’s Taken Away and What It’s Given 07:53 Lower Tolerance for the Superficial Version of Connection 08:00 Here’s How to Connect Properly 08:13 I’m Not Willing to Let the Accident Be the End of My Story 08:25 You Have the Power and the Agency to Write Your Own Story 08:36 The Pressure Men Feel — Real, But Not Fixed 08:48 It Shifts When We Talk. It Shifts When We Listen. 09:05 Thank You — 48 Countries, 13 Episodes, Just the Beginning About Jacko David ‘Jacko’ Jackson sustained a brain injury during his career as a professional rugby player. He is currently running 100 consecutive ultra marathons to raise money for Headway, the brain injury charity. He is also a running coach. Find him on Instagram Headway is the UK’s leading brain injury charity: Headway - the brain injury association | Headway We want to hear from you Get in touch through Email - connect@mantorquexy.com Instagram / Facebook / TikTok - @mantorquexy Subscribe and leave a review Original music composed and used with permission from Alex Tilley Video Editing for Socials assistance provided by Lily O'Connor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Just the Beginning — What 13 Conversations About Men's Mental Health Taught Me

  6. Aug 8

    The Middle Lane: Alcohol-Free Living for Successful Men Who Are Stuck, and Silently Struggling

    Langa Mthethwa wasn’t at rock bottom. He was doing well at work, keeping it together, exercising through the week. But every Friday to Sunday, the pattern kicked in. Heavy drinking from Friday night into Saturday, up again by 10 or 11 on Saturday morning, through the day, out again Saturday night, hair of the dog on Sunday, and by Monday he was shot. By Wednesday he’d feel normal again — just in time for the cycle to start over. He calls it the middle lane. Successful on paper. Not in crisis. Not at rock bottom. Just stuck — and silently struggling. In this conversation, Langa traces his relationship with alcohol from his first sip of his uncle’s beer at 11, through his teens in London, drinking Super Skull before his GCSE maths exam, through a Zimbabwean cultural landscape in which drinking was deeply embedded, through his twenties and thirties, to the morning of the 10th of March 2024 when he looked in the mirror and said: I cannot feel like this anymore. He also talks about the FA Cup final moment — the first time, months into sobriety, that he knew exactly who he was without a drink in his hand. About identity versus willpower. About why change that’s attached to who you are is more sustainable than change built on resistance. And about what he now does to help other men step out of the middle lane and into the next version of themselves. Timestamps 00:53 Coming Up — Langa’s Story 01:22 Follow the Show 01:35 Torque Ten — Quickfire Questions with Langa 04:05 The Middle Lane 05:09 Heavy Drinking — What That Actually Meant 05:58 The Loop — Friday to Sunday and Back Again 06:37 COVID and the Start of the Escalation 06:44 How It Started — First Sip at 11 08:12 The False Confidence Alcohol Gave Him 09:00 Drinking Before the GCSE Maths Exam 09:55 His Dad’s Silent Acceptance 13:07 Boarding School in Zimbabwe — Sent to Understand His Culture 17:40 Zimbabwean Drinking Culture 19:20 Work Hard, Drink Hard, Repeat 21:40 The Job That Lost Its Meaning 23:15 The Pursuit of Pleasure vs the Absence of Joy 24:53 What the Drinking Was Filling — Meaning, Presence, Consistency 25:41 Not at Rock Bottom — But Not Thriving Either 27:00 Keeping It Together While Sabotaging Your Potential 28:00 The 10th of March 2024 — Looking in the Mirror 29:08 Day at a Time, Weekend at a Time — The Decision 29:32 The Soba App — Blue Days and Red Days 32:03 Filling Life with Things That Had Meaning 32:58 The FA Cup Final — The Moment He Knew Who He Was Without a Drink 34:06 Change Is More Sustainable When It’s Attached to Identity, Not Willpower 35:17 The Lightbulb — Finding His Purpose 36:18 Identity vs Willpower — Dom and Langa Discuss 40:22 Limiting Beliefs and the Inner Critic 41:30 Physical Health — Training, Sleep, Diet 42:10 Values — Who You Are When Nobody’s Watching 43:14 Langa’s Call to Action — How to Find Him 45:02 Dom’s Closing Reflection — Identity, Not Willpower You can find Langa at http://www.langamthethwa.com https://www.instagram.com/bettermebetteryou_langa https://www.linkedin.com/in/langa-mthethwa-356811a9 tiktok.com/@langstr7 PREVIOUS EPISODES - From Patrol To Podium - Torque | Acast Debunking Sleep Myths - Torque | Acast Lessons From A Father's Influence - Torque | Acast Diving Into Olympic Pressure - Torque | Acast Off Screen - Torque | Acast Do You Feel Frozen Out? - Torque | Acast What Makes A Man? Part 1 - From Anger to Understanding, A Journey of Growth - Torque | Acast What Makes A Man? Part 2 - Raising Awareness on Coercive Control and Challenging Misogyny - Torque | Acast Man Rebuilt - Torque | Acast Regaining a Zest for Life and coming back from Burnout - Torque | Acast No Risk, No Story - the Life of AI Entrepreneur and zally Founder, Patrick Smith - Torque | Acast Happiness at Work: The Five Things You Need To Feel Happy in Your Job - Richard Clarke, the Entrepreneur with one KPI - Torque | Acast We want to hear from you Get in touch through Email - connect@mantorquexy.com Instagram / Facebook / TikTok - @mantorquexy Subscribe and leave a review Original music composed and used with permission from Alex Tilley Video Editing for Socials assistance provided by Lily O'Connor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The Middle Lane: Alcohol-Free Living for Successful Men Who Are Stuck, and Silently Struggling

  7. Aug 2

    Happiness at Work: The Five Things You Need To Feel Happy in Your Job - Richard Clarke, the Entrepreneur with one KPI

    Episode 12 Happiness at Work: The Five Things You Need To Feel Happy in Your Job - Richard Clarke, the Entrepreneur with one KPI Guest: Richard Clarke — keynote speaker, consultant and former tech company founder Episode Description Richard Clarke spent four years teaching water skiing in Turkey, sailing in the Caribbean, traveling through Australia and Asia — all in pursuit of a single question: what actually makes me happy? When the answer turned out to be making other people happy, he came home, became a teacher, moved to Gran Canaria, and in 2014 became founder of a tech company with an unusual KPI. Not revenue. Not growth. Team happiness. For the next ten years he experimented as an entrepreneur on his own team, testing everything from meeting design to what food to serve at breakfast, to no-meeting Fridays, to flexible working, to turning down clients who weren’t a good fit for the culture. When he sent out an engagement survey two years in and 50% of his team said they wanted to leave, it taught him something important: you can’t replace good management with free stuff. Last year, Richard sold the company. He describes handing it over as feeling like putting his daughter on a plane to Peru — the same loss of something he’d built and loved that he couldn’t control anymore. In this conversation, Richard talks about the five things every workplace needs to make people genuinely happy — safety, community, autonomy, learning and purpose — and why they aren’t just workplace needs. He talks about job crafting, about the difference between British and Spanish working culture, about what Gen Z are getting right that previous generations were too scared to ask for, and about what Richard would tell you to do if you’re not happy at work right now. Timestamps 02:37 Torque Ten — Quickfire Questions with Richard 03:44 What Led Him to Put Happiness at the Core of His Business 03:58 The Careers Advisor Who Changed Everything — Just Do Something That Makes You Happy 06:01 The Morning on the Beach in Thailand When He Knew It Was Over 08:03 2014: Founding a Tech Company with Happiness as the KPI 08:23 Nobody Believed Him — The Theory Nobody Would Fund 09:18 The Engagement Survey Two Years In — 50% Wanted to Leave 10:44 What He Did Wrong 12:17 What He Did Right 15:20 Spanish vs British Working Culture 17:00 Was He Happy While Running a Happiness Company? 18:28 Why He Sold 20:31 How the Team Reacted 22:14 Setting Red Lines Before the Sale 25:18 How He Dealt with the Loss — Talking to People 26:14 The One Thing Happiness Couldn’t Fix 28:12 Happiness as KPI Alongside Profit, Not Instead Of 30:00 Did Men and Women Need Different Things? 30:37 The Five Things — Safety, Community, Autonomy, Learning, Purpose 31:14 Age as the Bigger Differentiator — Young Parents Needed Flexibility 31:51 What Individuals Can Do for Themselves — The 50 Words Exercise 33:04 Job Crafting — Adapting Your Role Around Your Needs 35:04 What Schools in Africa Taught Him About Purpose 37:10 What Richard Would Tell You If You’re Not Happy at Work 38:30 What Good Management Actually Looks Like 40:10 Autonomy — Trust People or Lose Them 41:27 Gen Z — Not Different, Just Braver at Asking 42:44 What a Good Day Looks Like for Richard 43:05 Dom’s Closing Reflection You can find Richard on LinkedIn at Richard Clarke | LinkedIn PREVIOUS EPISODES - From Patrol To Podium - Torque | Acast Debunking Sleep Myths - Torque | Acast Lessons From A Father's Influence - Torque | Acast Diving Into Olympic Pressure - Torque | Acast Off Screen - Torque | Acast Do You Feel Frozen Out? - Torque | Acast What Makes A Man? Part 1 - From Anger to Understanding, A Journey of Growth - Torque | Acast What Makes A Man? Part 2 - Raising Awareness on Coercive Control and Challenging Misogyny - Torque | Acast Man Rebuilt - Torque | Acast Regaining a Zest for Life and coming back from Burnout - Torque | Acast No Risk, No Story - the Life of AI Entrepreneur and zally Founder, Patrick Smith - Torque | Acast We want to hear from you Get in touch through Email - connect@mantorquexy.com Instagram / Facebook / TikTok - @mantorquexy Subscribe and leave a review Original music composed and used with permission from Alex Tilley Video Editing for Socials assistance provided by Lily O'Connor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Happiness at Work: The Five Things You Need To Feel Happy in Your Job - Richard Clarke, the Entrepreneur with one KPI

  8. Jul 26

    No Risk, No Story - the Life of AI Entrepreneur and zally Founder, Patrick Smith

    Episode 11 No Risk, No Story The Life of AI Entrepreneur and zally Founder, Patrick Smith Guest: Patrick Smith — entrepreneur, AI specialist and founder of zally Episode Description Patrick Smith started his first two businesses at the age of ten — a website-building operation for his dad’s friends and a DJ booking agency, with his mum driving the equipment to school discos in the back of the car. By 13 he was being paid professionally as a DJ and lying about his age to get the gigs. By 25 he had built and lost eleven ventures. He took full ownership of every one of them and saw each failure as training. Born in Oslo to a family with entrepreneurship in its DNA — his great-grandfather built 40 bespoke tailoring businesses across Europe before the war stripped them away — Patrick has since built and exited multiple companies, moved to London knowing nobody, then Manchester, and is now based between Manchester and San Francisco building zally, a behavioural AI company working on what he describes as giving technology the one thing it lacks: intuition. In this conversation, Patrick talks about what it actually costs to be a founder — on your family, your friendships, your mental health. About the sacrifices his wife and children make so he can build. About the eleven failures before 25, and what each one taught him. About stopping drinking four years ago, treating himself like an athlete, and counting bad days rather than good ones. About the personal story behind zally — his mother’s death from cancer, his father’s dementia, and a problem with passwords that became a business. And about why, when you ask a billionaire in San Francisco why they’re doing it again, they always give you the same answer: I don’t know anything else. Timestamps 00:33 Introducing Patrick Smith — zally Founder, AI Entrepreneur 02:00 Torque Ten — Quickfire Questions with Patrick 04:08 What Drove Him — Intrinsic or External? 04:14 Born in Oslo, Born an Entrepreneur 05:22 Building Websites at Ten — HTML for Dummies on Holiday 05:51 Where Did It Come From? 07:38 Would He Let His Own Daughter Do the Same? 08:53 Eleven Failures Before 25 — What Did He Learn? 09:45 The Biggest Lesson — Bring People In Earlier, Ask for Help 11:14 How Do You Deal with Failure Personally? 11:40 The UK vs US Attitude to Failure 12:25 The More Chaos Around Him, the Calmer He Becomes 14:07 What Is the Personal Cost of Founder Life? 14:52 No Time for Friends, Family Sacrifice — What Are They Giving Up? 15:29 30 Mortgages Depending on Him Every Month 16:00 Balance Doesn’t Exist — You Need Harmony 17:28 The No Risk, No Story Tattoo 18:52 Landed in London Knowing Nobody, Then Manchester, Now San Francisco 19:02 Who Do You Turn to When Things Are Tough? 20:43 Stopping Drinking, Treating Himself Like an Athlete 22:00 What Does a Bad Day Look Like? 23:06 Learn to Dance in the Rain 23:51 Building a Startup Is Like Jumping From a Mountain 24:34 In San Francisco, Money Isn’t the Motivator 25:47 Money Doesn’t Solve Your Purpose 26:47 AI and the Fear of Job Losses — His View 28:46 Humans in the Loop — Why That Matters 30:45 What Future Does He Want for His Children? 32:57 Lost His Thursday, Friday and Saturday Nights at 13 37:49 The Personal Story Behind zally — His Mother’s Death and His Father’s Dementia 38:28 Passwords, Dementia, and a Better Way to Authenticate Users 39:21 How zally Works in Practice 40:39 Dom’s Closing Reflection You can find Patrick and zally at Patrick Smith | LinkedIn Behavioral AI Lab Instagram PREVIOUS EPISODES - From Patrol To Podium - Torque | Acast Debunking Sleep Myths - Torque | Acast Lessons From A Father's Influence - Torque | Acast Diving Into Olympic Pressure - Torque | Acast Off Screen - Torque | Acast Do You Feel Frozen Out? - Torque | Acast What Makes A Man? Part 1 - From Anger to Understanding, A Journey of Growth - Torque | Acast What Makes A Man? Part 2 - Raising Awareness on Coercive Control and Challenging Misogyny - Torque | Acast Man Rebuilt - Torque | Acast Regaining a Zest for Life and coming back from Burnout - Torque | Acast We want to hear from you Get in touch through Email - connect@mantorquexy.com Instagram / Facebook / TikTok - @mantorquexy Subscribe and leave a review Original music composed and used with permission from Alex Tilley Video Editing for Socials assistance provided by Lily O'Connor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    No Risk, No Story - the Life of AI Entrepreneur and zally Founder, Patrick Smith
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About

A podcast about men, life, connection and the things we don’t always say out loud  Have you ever felt like there's too much pressure, and nowhere to turn? Well you’re not alone and this podcast is for you. This podcast exists because host Dom Fiore suffered a life changing injury that sent him on a journey of discovery. Dom believes that proper connection is what is missing for most men and he wants to understand how we can make that change together. With a focus on lived experience Dom is on a journey to discover real life stories with real life men and experts on a range of subjects to understand how we can connect, deal with and share the changes and experiences that life brings. We talk about life, health, fitness, career, family, relationships, stress and how we connect as men. The show will feature in depth interviews, personal reflections and how we keep going when the pressure is on. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Dom Fiore
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Dom Fiore
  • Show Website
    Torque