Thriving Minds with Alberto Zandi

This week Alberto sat down with Richard Harpin, the founder of HomeServe, investor, and author of How To Make A Billion In Nine Steps, to unpack the practical framework behind building a business that sold for $5.6 billion.

Richard’s story challenges one of the biggest myths about entrepreneurship: that you need a completely unique idea to build something great. He explains why copying and improving can be more powerful than inventing, why founders should stay small until they prove the model, why focus matters more than endless new ideas, and why hiring your replacement can be one of the most important decisions a founder ever makes.

He also shares the nine steps he believes helped build a billion dollar business, from copying and improving existing ideas, to testing before scaling, finding the right investor, hiring better people, expanding internationally, staying focused, and developing the character needed to survive the journey.

You will learn
• The 9 steps Richard created to help founders build a billion dollar business
• Why you do not need a completely unique idea to build something great
• How copying, improving, testing, and learning can create a stronger business model
• Why founders should stay small until they have proved the model works
• Why hiring your replacement can help your business scale faster
• How focus, discipline, resilience, and self belief helped Richard build and sell HomeServe for $5.6 billion
• What a billion dollar exit actually feels like, and what success and money do not solve

Follow Sir Richard Harpin:
https://www.instagram.com/richard_harpin/
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/rharpin
https://www.facebook.com/harpinr/
https://twitter.com/richard_harpin

Buy Sir Richard's Book - How to Make a Billion in Nine Steps:
https://amzn.to/3R2cFpu

#thrivingminds #RichardHarpin #Entrepreneurship #BusinessPodcast #StartupAdvice #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #FounderMindset #Success #PersonalGrowth #Investing #ScalingUp #Motivation #HomeServe #EntrepreneurLife
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This week Alberto sat down with Dr Chloe Paidoussis Mitchell, the world renowned Chartered Counselling Psychologist, grief and trauma specialist, and best selling author of The Loss Prescription, to unpack what grief really is, what it does to the brain and body, and why so many people feel like they are grieving in the wrong way when they are not.

In this conversation, Dr Chloe explains why grief is not just emotional pain but a full mind, body, and identity experience, why sudden loss can dysregulate the nervous system, why denial can be a normal early response, and why people do not move through grief in neat stages. She also explores bereavement, relationship loss, trauma, family grief, delayed grief, and the difference between suppressing pain and actually healing through it.

You will learn
• What grief actually is, beyond the clichés people are usually told
• Why grief affects the brain, body, nervous system, and identity, not just emotions
• Why there is no single right way to grieve, and why people in the same family can grieve very differently
• What denial, numbness, anger, guilt, and delayed grief can really mean
• What helps in the first days after a loss, and what makes grief harder in the long term
• Techniques to heal healthy in the long term
• How to support someone who is grieving without trying to fix or rush them

Follow Dr. Chloe:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-chloe-paidoussis-mitchell-cpsychol-dcpsych-afbpss-69809b30/
https://www.instagram.com/dr.chloe.paidoussis.mitchell/

Buy Dr. Chloe's book:
https://amzn.to/4dlgy1j

#grief #mentalhealth #healing #selfawareness #trauma #emotionalhealth #personalgrowth #psychology #copingwithloss #healingjourney
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This week Alberto sat down with Viviane Paxinos, former Warner Bros Vice President, former AllBright CEO, and one of the most accomplished growth and transformation executives in media and digital, to unpack a career built on ambition, reinvention, resilience, and the courage to keep moving when things do not go to plan.

Viviane shares how she grew up in a Greek immigrant family in Canada, moved to London on her own, built a remarkable career across Viacom and MTV, BBC Worldwide, A+E Networks, Warner Bros Discovery, UNiDAYS, and AllBright, and then faced one of the hardest leadership chapters of her life under public scrutiny.

In this conversation, she speaks openly about ambition, burnout, public failure, identity, leadership shame, female leadership, fundraising, resilience, and what it really takes to rebuild yourself personally and professionally when a business goes through a painful transformation.

You will learn
• How to build a career across media, tech, and leadership without having everything planned from the start
• What Viviene learned from leading global businesses through growth, transformation, and public failure
• Why women often internalize business struggles more personally, and how to stop doing it
• How to adapt to new industries quickly, even when you are not the obvious expert in the room
• Why success, identity, and self worth should never be tied tightly to your title
• The habits and mindset shifts that helped Viviane recover from stress, burnout, and intense professional pressure

Follow Viviane:
https://www.instagram.com/viv_paxinos/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/viviane-paxinos-378a513/

#podcast #entrepreneurship #leadership #personalgrowth #business #mindset #resilience #womeninbusiness #careeradvice #startup #wellness #storytelling #thrivingminds
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This week Alberto sat down with Richard Mullender, the renowned former hostage negotiator and communication expert, to unpack what communication really is, why most people do it badly, and how better listening can transform negotiation, trust, persuasion, leadership, and relationships.

Richard spent decades in policing, with the final part of his career leading Scotland Yard's hostage and crisis negotiation, where the stakes were often life and death. In this conversation, he explains why negotiation is not really about talking more or sounding clever, but about understanding what the other person values, what they are feeling, what they are motivated by, and why they believe they are right.

He challenges some of the most common myths people still believe, including the idea that body language can reliably reveal truth, that asking more questions automatically makes you a better listener, and that great negotiation starts when the formal negotiation begins. According to Richard, trust starts much earlier, and the people who influence best are often the people who understand best.

You will learn
Why most people think they are listening, but are actually just waiting to talk
Why body language can mislead you, and what to focus on instead
How trust is built before a negotiation even begins
The six things Richard says you should listen for in every important conversation
Why everyone believes they are right, and how understanding that changes everything
How to negotiate better at work, at home, and in high pressure situations

Follow Richard & The Listening Institute:
⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-mullender-1b427910/⁠
⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-listening-institute/⁠
⁠https://www.facebook.com/listeninginstitute/⁠
⁠https://listeninginstitute.com/richard-mullender/⁠

Get Richard's books: ⁠Amazon⁠

#podcast #negotiation #listening #communication #mindset #selfimprovement #thrivingmindspodcast
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This week Alberto sat down with Oliver Cookson, the renowned founder of Myprotein, the world’s #1 supplement brand, serial entrepreneur, author, and one of the UK’s most compelling self-made business builders, to unpack how he went from humble beginnings in Manchester to building one of the most recognised names in sports nutrition.

Oliver’s story breaks almost every rule people think success requires. He did not go to university, did not raise outside funding, and did not build Myprotein with a polished business plan or a big support network. He started with a £500 overdraft, built the first products himself, packed orders around a full-time job, and slowly turned a kitchen operation into a global business.

In this conversation, Oliver explains how curiosity first led him to question what was really inside protein powder, why he believed he could build and sell a better version online, and how obsessive execution, discipline, and self-belief became the foundation of everything that followed.

He also shares the reality of scaling without investors, the importance of hiring people who cover your weaknesses, the emotional toughness required to keep going, and why entrepreneurship is often far lonelier than people realise.

You will learn
How Oliver built Myprotein from a £500 overdraft, with no degree, no investors, and no safety net
Why execution matters more than credentials, and how to start before you feel ready
How to scale a consumer business through lean cash flow, referrals, and smart direct-to-consumer marketing
What great hiring really looks like, and why your senior team should cover your weaknesses
Why entrepreneurship is mentally hard, emotionally lonely, and still worth it if the mission is real
What money does and does not solve, after building and selling major businesses

Follow Oliver:
IG: ⁠mrolivercookson⁠
X: ⁠olivercookson⁠

Buy Oliver's book:
⁠Bootstrap Your Life: How to Turn £500 into £350 Million⁠

#entrepreneurship #businessstory #startupjourney #founderstory #mindset #selfgrowth #successmindset #motivation #myprotein #businesstips #hustle #resilience #podcastclips #growthmindset #startupadvice #myprotein
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