Episodios
-
Behind every great leader is a powerful vision, but how do you ensure that your message actually lands when the stakes are at their highest?
In this episode, executive voice and presence coach Daidree Tofano dives deep into how leaders can master the tool they use every single day: their own voice. Drawing from her fascinating, non-linear career path, Daidree shares her unique inside-out philosophy for conquering high-pressure speaking moments. You'll learn how to shift your mindset, step away from your script, and actively use your body and breath to command authority and connect authentically with any audience.
Key Takeaways
True executive presence requires sharpening your physical instrument—your body, breath, and voice—rather than just focusing on your slide deck or written content.
Managing high-stakes speaking anxiety requires building deep physical awareness of your internal tension and your breath before you even open your mouth.
Presenting effectively on camera is a distinct skill set from speaking in person, demanding fewer physical movements and a direct, consistent connection with the lens.
Great speakers command authority not by rushing, but by intentionally embracing silence, pausing, and physically claiming their environment
Episode Quotes
"A lot of communications coaching is all around what you say, your content. I look at the instrument that delivers it: the how you say it."
"I help leaders, specifically in really high-stakes moments, show up as the best version of themselves and the most persuasive version of themselves."
"People don't want to take up space. They don't want to take up physical space, they don't want to take up vocal space... I think that is one of the biggest turnarounds that people can make."
"We're all kind of like brains on a stick walking around, and we're in our heads and then we completely forget about the body."
VALUABLE RESOURCES
● LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/daidreetofano/
● Website www.impactvoicecoaching.com
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
In this episode, applied AI expert Lee Russell sits down with us to separate real-world utility from the loud extremes of Silicon Valley optimism and dystopian pessimism.
Steering clear of dense, speculative tech jargon, Lee breaks down how automated systems can drastically elevate trade and service-based businesses by automating the mundane and humanising the exceptional. From creating hyper-personalised customer proposal flows to structural team transformations, this conversation outlines an actionable blueprint for business owners to step away from repetitive day-to-day tasks, scale consistently, and leverage machine learning to become highly strategic orchestrators of their own success
Key Takeaways
Genuine ROI in business comes from practicing applied AI rather than getting caught up in the far-off "futurist" predictions of massive societal disruption.
Successful AI integration is an engineering consistency problem rather than a capabilities problem, requiring strict guardrails, thorough context templates, and deliberate constraints to maximise results.
The "10-80-10" model suggests that while AI can efficiently handle the middle 80% of repetitive data processing, human expertise must direct the initial 10% of context setting and refine the final 10% of output.
Rather than causing mass job replacement, the emergence of AI allows high-performing teams to elevate their responsibilities, offload the mundane, and focus entirely on high-leverage human connection.
Episode Quotes
"It is the middle road... It's not going to be as amazing as everyone says, and it's not going to be as bad as everyone says. And that is generally how technology plays out."
"When you're doing AI right, that's the signal we look for: Are you becoming a more human business? Are you spending more time with your clients? More face-to-face time?"
"If you can think in your business: 'How do I get to try before I buy?' and 'I will pay you to interview with me' because I don't want to waste an hour of my time speaking to someone who's not going to get the job... it's been brilliant."
"An AI will be confounded at its current level of a closed door or two sets of data that aren't connected... Humans are insane miracles of evolution. We can look at very strange scenarios that are not normal within your business and look at the context around that instantaneously."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
¿Faltan episodios?
-
Brad welcomes personal health and fitness expert Byron Munford, one of the UK's leading powerlifters and founder of Lifestyle Revolution, to discuss the critical connection between physical health and business success.
Byron shares his personal journey from aggressive child to black belt martial artist, crossfitter, and elite weightlifter, highlighting how physical challenges condition the mind to handle daily stress. The conversation delves into the similarities between elite athletes and corporate executives, exploring how both groups utilise a high tolerance for stress and an advanced perception of pain to maintain peak performance.
Byron also introduces his Six Pillars of Health exercise, nutrition/hydration, sleep, mindset, stress management, and circadian rhythm, explaining how mastering these elements can transform lives, recover lost time, and optimise both personal well-being and professional success.
Key Takeaways
An unhealthy individual is consumed by a single problem—their illness—while a healthy person has the freedom to face and manage the thousands of challenges that come with daily life.
Elite performance in sports or business relies on conditioning the mind to view high levels of stress and discomfort as a normal, manageable part of the daily routine rather than a reason to stop.
True well-being requires a balance of exercise, nutrition, sleep, mindset, stress management, and circadian rhythm, as an imbalance in even one pillar can completely disrupt the others.
Lasting transformation comes from focusing on incremental, consistent improvements—like tracking and slowly increasing deep sleep—rather than trying to achieve a flawless standard immediately.
Episode Quotes
"A healthy man has a thousand problems, an unhealthy man has one problem."
"If you look at the average person, they will only ever contract 30 to 40 percent of their max muscular units, but elite athletes can tap into a greater percentage where they're lifting or using 80, even 90 percent."
"Learning how to manage stress is one of the best skills you can learn in life because it just buys you back time, buys you back freedom."
"Go after what you really want, and not what your parents tell you to do, not what your mates tell you to do, not what the guy down the pub tells you to do. What do you really want without the external influence?"
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
Forget the traditional one-size-fits-all workplace; it's time to build an environment where every mind can thrive. We sit down with Melissa, a secondary school teacher, mum, and the driving force behind Neuro Inclusion UK. She shares her deeply personal journey of navigating autism and ADHD diagnoses for both her son and herself. Sparked by conversations with her dad in the trades, Melissa aims to bring foundational awareness of neurodivergence to the construction industry. We explore why genuine inclusion is far more than a tick-box exercise and how small, practical tweaks can massively boost team morale, safety, and productivity. Discover actionable coping mechanisms, understand the exhausting reality of masking, and learn how to foster a culture where everyone feels safe to bring their authentic selves to work.
Key Takeaways
True inclusion requires a foundational understanding across the whole team, rather than relying solely on human resources departments for compliance.
Simple environmental tweaks, like providing written handouts or using visual status indicators, can significantly enhance focus and productivity.
Masking neurodivergent traits is an exhausting daily process, and fostering a safe culture allows individuals to operate authentically.
Neurodivergence brings distinct strengths to the workplace, such as exceptional attention to detail and creative problem-solving abilities.
Early education is vital, as teaching neurodiversity in classrooms lays the groundwork for the inclusive leaders of tomorrow.
Episode Quotes
"It's never been wrong it's never been broken it's just different and it's um yeah so it's yeah there might be times where you think i wonder why that person does it that particular way."
"We should be judging it based on the outcomes of what the job was rather than how we think it should be done."
"If you want true inclusive culture then everyone should have a foundational knowledge of it to really truly be removing the barriers."
"Putting on that mask it's exhausting it's unrelenting and it's you know just being your true self it's that's the bit that's liberating."
"Every human on this planet has strengths and they have weaknesses or challenges and we all have to find what how do we get around our own challenge."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
It is time to stop waiting for a silver bullet to solve your problems and start looking in the mirror to see the only person who can actually change your trajectory. Neil Tuson returns to the show to dive into the current state of the UK and why a culture of dependency is the silent killer of both national progress and personal growth. We explore the 25 levers that make a nation tick, the vital difference between $10 support tasks and $1,000 strategic moves, and why the most successful people are those who invest in their own skill sets rather than waiting for permission. Whether you are struggling to break a seven-figure ceiling or just trying to find clarity in the "noisy nonsense" of the modern world, this conversation provides a roadmap for reclaiming autonomy and building a legacy worth being remembered for.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Growth begins only when you move from a dependent state to an independent mindset by accepting 100% responsibility for your outcomes.
Business owners must differentiate between support, operational, and strategic tasks to avoid the trap of "peeling spuds" when they should be leading.
Most criticism from others is actually a reflection of their own internal struggles, making it easier to ignore the noise and stay focused on your vision.
Public speaking and sales are the two most critical skills for any young professional looking to fast-track their career in a digital-heavy world.
Taking time for silence and internal reflection is often the missing ingredient in solving complex business and life problems.
QUOTES
The moment you take responsibility, things will happen; until you do, you are going to hide into nothing.
Successful people become successful in the time that other people waste.
If you start paying attention to the noise at the edges, it disperses the focus on the centre.
You do not build relationships through screens; real relationships come from being face-to-face, eyeball to eyeball.
Money is just an outcome of doing something that becomes successful.
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
Starting out with just a VW Polo and a few tools, Brad Jones didn’t have a business plan—he just had the "bottle" to go it alone when nobody else would hire a fresh apprentice. Today, he’s steering Imperium Group toward a £10M turnover, but the journey hasn’t been a smooth ride.
We dive deep into the "scary as hell" moments, like the morning 99% of his revenue vanished and how he fought back through pure persistence. Brad shares the "ruthless" reality of building a team that actually cares, why he still jumps in the van to clear his head, and the exact steps needed to step off the tools and start acting like a businessman. If you’re feeling stuck in the day-to-day firefighting of your trade, this is the wake-up call you need to stop winging it and start scaling.
Key Takeaways
The Tools Bottleneck: You can’t grow a business while you’re wiring sockets all day; leveraging other people's time is the only way to break the ceiling.
Speed Wins: Returning quotes in 10 minutes rather than 2 days is often the difference between winning a massive contract or losing it.
Incentivize Results: Moving from hourly pay to pay-per-job creates engineers who treat the business like their own.
Resilience is Non-Negotiable: When you lose your biggest client, you either shut the phone down or get on LinkedIn and hunt—there is no middle ground.
Integrity Over Flash: Success isn't about Ferraris; it’s about being a man of your word and treating your team like family.
Direct Quotes
"You can wire a socket up, but apart from that, you ain't got a scooby."
"I put four grand into this business... we probably hit 10 million this financial year."
"There’s nothing better than proving someone wrong. It’s the greatest feeling ever."
"I had two options: I could have turned around or I could say... I’m going to find a way."
"If you haven't got the bottle to do that, you're going to be on the tools for the rest of your life."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
In this episode, Brad sits down with Neil Tuson, the founder of Perfect Teams, a personality profiling system designed to optimize team dynamics. Neil shares his fascinating and non-linear career path, taking us from his early days as a marine engineer in the Navy to selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door in America, which eventually led him to discover a deep passion for personal development.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Invest in your own development: Neil paid his own way through his initial Dale Carnegie public speaking courses. He emphasizes that true growth requires taking individual responsibility and investing your own resources rather than waiting for an employer to do it for you.
Embrace the uncomfortable: A foundational mantra for Neil, borrowed from Albert Gray's The Common Denominator of Success, is that successful people willingly choose to do the things that failures dislike doing.
Sales is a process of listening: Rather than simply pushing a product onto a prospect, effective selling is a questioning process designed to actively listen to the customer and elicit their true needs.
Delegation is required for scale: To grow a business beyond a sole operator, founders must transition from working in the business to working on the business. This requires hiring strategic experts, delegating tasks, and trusting your team enough to let them safely fail and learn.
Great teams require diverse skills: The three essential components of a highly successful team include an intuitive visionary, an organized process planner to execute the ideas, and an empathetic culture builder to maintain harmony.
BEST MOMENTS
"Successful people do the things that failures don't like to do."
"Two parties come together, there's a sale going on. Either you sell them on listening to you, or they sell you on going away."
"If you look at anything that's sustainable, it's got a great education policy behind it."
"You've got to break this dependent cycle and get more people recognizing that if they take responsibility and invest in themselves, they will get the rewards."
"I consider to be my master's level intern that's sitting by my side answering all the questions that I can't answer."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
In this episode, we sit down with Emmy-nominated journalist and global communications expert Michelle Ponto to explore her fascinating career journey across three continents. Michelle shares her insights on the courage it takes to leave a comfortable career in the US and move to places like Saudi Arabia and the UAE to build new ventures.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Embrace change and take calculated risks: Leaving a comfortable job to explore unknown territories, like moving from the US to Saudi Arabia to help build a university newsroom, can lead to unprecedented career growth.
Take control of your personal brand: If you do not actively update your personal brand and tell your own story, others will write it for you based on outdated information.
Be a language architect: Effective communication requires building a solid foundation of messaging rather than just using generic words, ensuring your core values are clear across all platforms.
Avoid AI-generated fluff: While AI is a powerful tool for writing, it often produces generic corporate jargon, meaning you must inject your unique perspective and specific facts to stand out.
Maintain consistency across channels: Your core message should remain identical whether it is on a website, a press release, or a podcast, even if the delivery format changes.
BEST MOMENTS
"Sometimes you just have to go where the journey takes you."
"If you're not always talking and updating people, your personal brand whatever you're doing is stuck in somebody else's mind and it is incorrect. And they make up your own history for you and your own future."
"If you don't change, your brain I think kind of can go to mush."
"Language is almost like a system... you find these key stories, these key things that will be interesting to your audience, and you build your messaging from there."
"AI won't know your personal stories; it will only know what it can find on the internet."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
In this inspiring episode, Brad sits down with James Martin better known online as "Dyslexic James" to uncover how he transformed his early educational struggles into a multimillion-pound property and business empire. Expelled from school at 14, unable to read or write, James used his familiarity with failure as a superpower, leaning into his relentless determination and unmatched social skills.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Early struggles with severe dyslexia made James immune to the fear of failure. Because he was already used to failing in traditional academic settings, he had nothing holding him back from taking risks in business.
Instead of letting his inability to read and write stop him, James hired a Personal Assistant at just 18 years old. By outsourcing his weaknesses, he freed himself up to focus entirely on his strengths—sales, networking, and growth.
Business is fundamentally about people. If you lack certain technical skills, lean heavily into authenticity, relationship-building, and trust. People buy from people they like and trust.
There is a clear evolution from being a "solopreneur" (doing the mechanical work), to an "owner-preneur" (managing the business and team), to an "invest-preneur" (buying businesses and providing stewardship while others run the day-to-day). To scale, you must let go of the tools.
Don't rely on the government or external economic conditions to dictate your success. Build a highly profitable business by delivering exceptional, "surprise and delight" customer experiences that keep your pipeline full regardless of the broader economy.
BEST MOMENTS
"When you're used to failing as much as I did from say six years old to say 14... failure was my friend. It was more prominent in my life than most other things. So I just tried everything and anything."
"We are on sale. As business people, we are salespeople of us every single day. I soon learned that my superpower was to be very social and be very capable of meeting new people."
"A brand is just about promise. More than anything, that is what defines what your brand is. You say you're going to clean windows, they're going to be clean... and they're going to be at a price point. That is the promise."
"They've got to have their own set of scars themselves. You can't just have your scars told to them, they need to feel them... you have got an environment where they are allowed to make mistakes."
"You need to be your own economy. You need to make sure your company is making profit to afford these turnover taxes that are crippling companies."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
In this episode, Brad is joined by Tom Griffiths, a former JPMorgan corporate banker turned fractional CFO for SMEs. Tom dives deep into the most common financial pitfalls business owners face like making gut-based decisions instead of data-driven ones, and shares his expert framework for navigating economic shifts. KEY TAKEAWAYSMany business owners mistakenly equate their bank balance with profit, forgetting upcoming liabilities like VAT and Corporation Tax.There is a critical difference between a P&L statement and a cash flow statement; profit is theoretical until the cash is actually collected from the customer.Every business is made of the same basic parts. To fix a business, you must identify and repair only the malfunctioning "part".To protect margins, business owners must have a clear minimum profit target for every project and be willing to walk away if it isn’t met.Tracking cash flow on a rolling 13-week basis is the most effective way to prevent crises and make proactive decisions.BEST MOMENTS"It's very easy to get into the trap... of making decisions based on how much money's in the bank account... and forgetting that we have upcoming liabilities.""We're just tax collectors for the government, basically. The VAT and the corporation tax—it was never really our money in the first place.""Financial statements were designed by accountants, for accountants... no wonder it’s easier to just look at your bank account.""You can't cut your way to growth. You can cut your way to improved margins, but there’s a limit to how far that can go.""For every small business that's struggling, there is one that's doing tremendously well... the way we choose to see the world isn't out of our control."HOST BIOBrad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. I
-
Today, Brad interviews Christina Robinson, who shares her extraordinary journey of self-reinvention, beginning with her transition from redundancy to becoming a successful business owner in the marketing industry. Christina discusses the pivotal role social media played in her career and how she eventually orchestrated a management buyout to own her agency. However, the narrative takes a profound turn as Christina recounts a life-altering medical emergency in 2025 that challenged her physical abilities but strengthened her mental resolve.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Christina highlights that life often requires us to recreate ourselves multiple times, and dropping out of traditional paths (like university) can lead to discovering true passions, such as social media and marketing.
Christina introduces her ‘COGH’ model for overcoming adversity:
Community (having the right people around you)
Vision (owning where you want to go)
Reality (understanding your current situation)
Happy (finding joy in the journey).
True success in business and personal branding comes from removing the ‘mask’ and being the same person in every environment, from a boardroom pitch to a 2 AM reflection in the mirror.
In marketing, focus 80% on educational, inspirational, and motivational content, and only 20% on direct sales to build a loyal audience.
When faced with a prognosis that she might never walk again, Christina focused on the ‘possible’ rather than the ‘unlikely’, using the same mental tools that helped her succeed in business to navigate her physical recovery.
BEST MOMENTS
"You get to a point in life and you realise that you've recreated yourself way too many times."
"Success to me is the freedom to be who I am every hour of the day."
"The mind only knows what you tell it."
"Unlikely means it’s possible, and I’m going to focus there."
"Everything happens for you, not to you."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
In this episode, Brad sits down with Dan Gurney to discuss his unique career trajectory, transitioning from the host's personal trainer to ascending the ranks as Operations Manager at Aquamark. Dan shares the challenges of moving from hands-on site work to managing a growing team, emphasizing the critical importance of maintaining strict standards, leaning on the "teacup method" to stay calm under pressure, and always leading by example.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Lead from the Front: Transitioning into management requires setting the standard and maintaining clear expectations across the board.
The Power of Discipline: Motivation is fleeting, but discipline is what gets the job done on tough days. Sticking to non-negotiables and pushing through difficult moments ultimately generates the motivation needed to keep moving forward.
Always Have a Backup Plan: In operations, unexpected challenges are inevitable. Staying calm under pressure and ensuring you always have a Plan B and Plan C allows the team to pivot smoothly without panicking.
Embrace Accountability: A blame culture is toxic to any growing business. Fostering an environment where team members own up to mistakes and use them as active learning opportunities is vital for long-term organizational success.
Prioritize Your Own Well-being: You cannot effectively lead a team or support your family if you are burnt out. Committing to your own health and happiness acts like putting on your own oxygen mask first, equipping you to be a stronger, more present leader and parent.
BEST MOMENTS
"Leaders have to lead. As in, whether I'm in the office or on the field, I've always led from the front."
"Discipline creates motivation when all motivation isn't there... once you've done what you should be doing, that motivates you to continue."
"If you make a mistake, be accountable for it. I think in order for you to grow, you have to understand where you made the mistake and be accountable for it."
"I didn't start as a window cleaner, I started actually as a personal trainer... but I think definitely those fundamentals and the foundations that I learned, work ethic, the simple things I learned in the gym, definitely shaped the way I was going to go about window cleaning."
"I just want to inspire people. I think that's a major thing for me this year is like, be like an inspiration if you can."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
Today, Chris and Brad take a look at the challenges and triumphs of building a successful business in the trade and construction industry. They share personal anecdotes, discuss the importance of a supportive community, and unveil the ‘Magic Seven’ pillars for sustainable growth. From mastering financial management to cultivating a strong brand vision, this episode is a treasure trove of insights for ambitious business owners.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals who understand the unique challenges of the trade industry is crucial for growth and emotional support.
Success in the trade business hinges on seven key areas: vision, marketing, sales, operations, finance, team building, and scaling up.
Understanding and regularly monitoring your P&L, cash flow, and balance sheets is the lifeblood of any successful company.
It’s essential to move beyond simply paying bills and focus on producing profit after all expenses and stakeholders are paid.
While information is readily available, the key to success lies in taking deliberate, strategic action and having accountability for those actions.
BEST MOMENTS
"Running a business can get lonely. Sometimes you don't need more hustle, you need more clarity, structure, and the right people around you."
"The number one rule or the number one purpose of a business is to make money and produce profit."
"The finances are the blood of the company. You have to get that first—for investment, for paying bills, for growing."
"Build your business to sell, whether you're going to sell or not, because then it gives you options."
"Action is literally the enemy of procrastination, and it will move you forward."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
In this episode, entrepreneur and personal branding expert Kelly Lundberg shares her journey from a cabin crew member in Dubai to becoming an authority on personal branding. Kelly shares the defining moments that led her to recognise the importance of personal branding, particularly her experience with luxury retailer Harvey Nichols. She breaks down her ‘Seven Pillars of Personal Branding’ and explores the power of storytelling and consistency across multiple platforms. Kelly also shares her insights on professional growth, the impact of environment, and how personal branding is about evolving into the version of yourself you aspire to be.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Personal branding is often about transitioning from being ‘hidden’ to being ‘seen’, often providing the confidence and clarity that people are truly buying into.
A successful personal brand must be consistent across multiple digital platforms, including LinkedIn, Instagram, websites, and even search results.
Your personal brand sits at the top and evolves with you, while business activities and joint ventures may come and go beneath it.
Effective personal branding requires an intentional strategy (who you are and what you want to be known for) before jumping into social media content.
Storytelling is a crucial element of personal branding that allows for a relational experience, moving beyond generic AI-generated content.
BEST MOMENTS
"While you think that you're offering transformation and personal branding, ultimately what people are buying into is confidence."
"Dubai is the home of reinvention. And more than that, presence and brand is very much Emirates standards."
"Your personal brand never stays still. It always evolves. You evolve as a person."
"Visibility is your responsibility. No one else is going to talk about you than you."
"It's the small things done consistently that makes you memorable, not one big thing."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
In this episode, Brad sits down with recruitment expert Daniel Langley, founder of his own agency with a decade of experience in the industry. Daniel shares his journey from a successful career as a personal trainer to becoming a specialist in MES and smart manufacturing recruitment. They dive deep into the post-COVID landscape of hiring, exploring the challenges of inflation, the impact of AI, and the ongoing debate between remote and in-office work. Daniel provides actionable advice for both companies and job seekers, emphasising the importance of structured interviews, the power of a ‘don't-want’ list, and the necessity of building a visible personal brand in today’s digital market.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A bad hire can cost a company up to 200% of that employee's salary when factoring in recruitment fees, training, onboarding, and lost productivity.
Beyond defining the perfect candidate, companies should create a ‘red line’ list of traits and qualifications they absolutely do not want to protect the company culture.
A successful hiring process should include at least three stages: a line manager interview, a ‘peer-to-peer interview’ to assess team fit, and a final meeting with the CEO or founder.
For professionals seeking growth, being visible, particularly on platforms like LinkedIn, and quantifying your specific impact (outcomes over responsibilities) is essential for triggering promotions.
Companies should strive to be in a state of constant recruitment rather than ‘turning the tap on’ only when a desperate need arises, allowing them to hire for potential rather than just immediate relief.
BEST MOMENTS
"The riches are in the niches. You just can't be a generalist; you've got to zero in on one micro area."
"I think you have to be delusional. You have to be delusional about what you can achieve and you've got to pitch into existence what you dream."
"I've always been a big believer in you either win or you learn."
"AI is excellent at repeatable tasks. The big differentiator is being able to talk about your impact, being able to demonstrate that you can make decisions, assess risks."
"Your LinkedIn profile should be treated as a professional digital CV."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
In this engaging episode, Brad interviews Beth Lancaster, a Senior Property Manager at FirstPort. Beth shares her fascinating career journey, starting as a dental nurse on minimum wage to making a bold move to Dubai at age 26, where she ‘faked it till she made it’ into the world of luxury skyscraper management. The conversation explores the high-pressure world of facilities management, the importance of proactive communication with residents, and how Beth manages a team of 96 developments.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Beth shares how she transitioned from dental nursing to managing a Dubai skyscraper by being willing to learn on the job and projecting confidence even when she was still learning basic office skills.
In property management, silence creates anxiety. Beth emphasises the importance of constant updates, even if there is no new news, to build trust with residents during building emergencies.
Successful property managers must be adept at juggling multiple high-priority tasks simultaneously while recognising their limits to ensure service standards don't slip.
Beth discusses how her management style evolved through personality profiling (like the ‘Surrounded by Idiots’ workshop), moving from a ‘High Red’ dominant style to a more empathetic ‘High Yellow’ approach.
The industry has become significantly more complex with the Building Safety Act, requiring managers to be constantly learning and leveraging new technologies to track compliance and safety.
BEST MOMENTS
"I was faking it till I made it. I didn't know how to use computers, I didn't know how to file anything, but I just seemed to get away with it."
"Over-communicating is definitely going to be better than under-communication... that's where you build up the trust with your residents."
"I like to be a medium fish in a big pond. I like to be somebody, but I also like to be surrounded by a lot of other somebodies."
"On a Sunday evening, none of my team are feeling sick about going to work the next day. As long as we have that, then we're happy."
"The more times you say no, the more successful you can be, because then you focus on the stuff that really matters."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
In this insightful episode, Brad sits down with Paul Bulloch, as they dive deep into the evolution of business over the last 25 years. Paul shares his journey of founding and scaling Concept, a specialist vehicle leasing brokerage, and the eventual sale of the company to Rivervale. From the early days of ‘fire in the belly’ ambition to navigating the 2008 financial crisis, Paul discusses the fundamental shift from traditional marketing to the AI-driven landscape of 2026.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Despite the rapid acceleration of AI and digital communication, business remains fundamentally relationship-based. Real trust is earned through face-to-face interaction and consistent touchpoints.
The 2008 financial crisis forced a strategic shift from consumer leasing to a B2B focus. Embracing constraints can lead to discovering a more profitable and sustainable niche.
Maintaining a team for 10-15 years requires more than just high salaries; it’s about structure, clear progression paths, and small, consistent acts of recognition that make employees feel valued.
Selling a business is a multi-year process. Paul suggests a five-year window to refine systems, clean up credit control, and ensure the business is attractive to potential acquirers.
Success in 2026 requires consistent habits, such as regular strategy sessions out of the office and staying ‘present’ in the business while leveraging AI to handle operational heavy lifting.
BEST MOMENTS
"No trust, no transaction."
"You've got to celebrate the wins, little and often, just making sure you take stock, look at what's worked well."
"As business owners, quite often the best ideas or best solutions to problems come when you're taking yourself out [of the office]."
"You've got to be the best version of yourself, you need to work on yourself massively before the business."
"If you're in a hole, the only way to deal with that is to try and grow out of it."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
In this episode, Brad sits down with marketing strategist Chris Burton of ‘The Marketing Centre’ to pull back the curtain on what truly drives business growth in 2026. Moving far beyond the surface-level tactics of SEO and pay-per-click ads, Chris explains his ‘Marketing Orchestra’ philosophy, where technology, messaging, and people must be perfectly synchronised to create a high-impact brand.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Successful marketing isn't about a single tool; it’s about the synergy between the ‘instruments’ (tools like Google Ads or AI), the ‘music’ (your messaging and tone), and the ‘conductor’ (strategy).
Exceptional customer experience is defined by doing the unexpected. Small, innovative shifts in how you treat customers can lead to massive increases in referrals and lifetime value.
Small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) have a distinct advantage in their ability to pivot quickly. By leveraging AI to accelerate research, they can outmaneuver slow-moving corporate competitors.
A brand isn't just a logo; it’s the internal culture of the business. When employees are aligned with the brand's values, they naturally deliver the ‘operating standards’ that keep customers coming back.
To avoid the ‘Red Ocean’ of cutthroat price wars, businesses must identify their ‘sweet spot’ - the intersection of what they do best and what the market uniquely needs.
BEST MOMENTS
"Marketing shouldn’t be a cost; it should be a profit driver, a growth driver, contributing actively in the fiscal year and beyond".
"The instruments are the tools, the music you play is the messaging and the tonality of it all. I need to be the conductor, not the instrument player".
"Customer experience is what your customers feel and actually experience. It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it. It’s not what you do; it’s how you do it".
"Brand exists because what it does is it helps attract the right people to your business. That’s customers, but it’s also talent".
"A customer that strongly recommends your business typically creates eight times their own lifetime value through recommendation".
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
In this high-energy conversation, Dr. Aalok from Implement AI joins the show to demystify the rapidly evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence. Moving beyond the ‘Google search’ mentality, Alok explains how AI is a general-purpose technology, akin to electricity or fire, that can act as a ‘spectral night vision’ for business owners to see opportunities they previously missed. From automating mundane tasks to building full-scale digital colleagues like ‘Neo’ and ‘Morpheus’, the episode explores how curiosity-driven entrepreneurs can leverage AI to gain an unfair advantage.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Don't view AI as a simple chatbot; view it as a tool that allows you to see data patterns, customer needs, and business inefficiencies that are invisible to the naked eye.
Start by augmenting yourself (speeding up your own tasks), then augmenting your team (standardising processes), and finally reaching transformation (redefining revenue capacity and customer experience).
To get the best results from AI, you must feed it your ‘company DNA’, your specific tone of voice, ethos, and unique industry insights, rather than asking for generic content.
We all have a limited ‘budget’ of attention each day. Success comes from automating or avoiding distractions so you can apply your focus to high-impact, creative decisions.
2026 is a ‘compression year’ where technological advancement is moving at an unprecedented pace. Those who experiment and implement now will be ‘above the fog’ while others are left struggling to take off.
BEST MOMENTS
"Use AI like special glasses, spectral night vision, to see things that other people couldn't see before."
"You're not limited by technology; you're limited by creativity."
"If you're a free user, you're the product. When you pay, you're the partner."
"It’s more elegant to avoid than to say no. Guard your attention; it’s your most valuable currency."
"It’s not what you don't know that gets you; it’s what you think you know that isn't true."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. -
In this episode, Brad dives deep into the fascinating intersection of psychology and branding with Claire Marshall, founder of Brand Mixology. Claire shares her unique journey from corporate recruitment to hypnotherapy, and ultimately, to helping founders build powerful personal brands. We explore why ‘yellow pages’ advertising is dead, how our primal need for human connection influences buying decisions, and why AI should enhance, not replace, your authentic voice.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Success comes from owning your unique blend of experiences, skills, and personality quirks.
In an era of AI-generated content and endless ads, consumers crave authentic human connection. Building trust through a personal brand is more effective than shouting the loudest.
True accountability isn't about being told off; it's about having a support system or community that validates your progress and keeps you moving toward your goals when motivation wanes.
Avoid ‘throwing spaghetti at the wall’. Use Claire's ‘Vivid Framework’ (Vision, Identity, Visibility, Innovation, Data) to ensure every marketing action aligns with your core business goals and customer needs.
Don’t ignore the numbers. Regularly reviewing simple metrics, like engagement or consistency, can reveal what’s actually working, allowing you to pivot before you waste resources on ineffective strategies.
BEST MOMENTS
"You can only see the journey when you join the dots backwards."
"Success comes from your own mix of experiences, of the trial and error, and also of what makes you unique."
"You don't ask somebody to marry you on day one... [that's] probably not the most effective strategy."
"All data is good data. I think sometimes people don't want to look at it because the data can be stuff you don't want to hear, but actually that's the good stuff to hear."
"If you can really own who you are and what you want that life to be... take that stand aside from what is considered the 'safer route'."
HOST BIO
Brad Staines is a founder in the thick of it - but by design, not by default. As the face of Aquamark Cleaning, he’s built a multi-million-pound operation with 30+ team members, strong systems, and a culture that gives people space to grow.
He’s still involved in the business a couple of days a week - but only doing the parts he genuinely enjoys: building relationships, growing the brand, spending time with the team, and spotting new opportunities. The day-to-day grind? That’s been handed over to a structure that runs without constant firefighting.
Brad’s also found his rhythm outside of business - with a deep commitment to physical and mental training. Whether it’s strength work, early morning runs, or cold plunges, he’s a believer that how you show up for yourself shapes how you show up as a leader.
Working On It is where he brings it all together - growth, grit, and getting better every week. - Mostrar más
