Join me, Lee Lam, in chatting with founders of all sorts of businesses, big, small, new and old to find out what it is really like running their business every Friday.
Finish off your work week (before starting your working weekend because, obviously you run your own business, so of course you will end up working) with a quick run down of the week of a business owner, to reflect on the good, bad and funny, until it all starts again on Monday morning.
Welcome to the latest episode of The Startup Game, where we have honest conversations about running a business – the incredible highs and the terrifying lows and how it takes hearing the stories from another business owner to understand why on earth we do it to ourselves.
This week we have a very special episode, donated as part of the Podcasthon that will be going on all week, where podcasts donate an episode for this week to a cause of their choosing. Of course, this meant a perfect pairing between the discussions we have on this podcast and the charity that is very meaningful to me as a trustee, Standing Tall.
Christy Acton is CEO of the Birmingham based charity, and we are joined by Mark Ashfield who is chair for the Board of Trustees. In the episode I wanted to use it to not only spread the word about the fantastic work that Christy and the team do on getting people experiencing homelessness back into work and housing, but to also drill into the realities of starting and running a charity, which is not that different to a lot of issues founders of for profit businesses experience.
It’s a longer than usual episode, but the conversation touches on such great topics – the link between business, charities and society, the importance of proactive solutions that give everyone multiple ways of getting involved, and the reality of taking an idea from a concept to an organisation (in short, it takes longer than you think!)
It would be great for you to listen to Christy and Mark explain the work of Standing Tall and if you feel like donating or getting involved, the links are included in the show notes.
Enjoy!
Guests:
Christy Acton, CEO, Standing Tall
Christy Acton is the Founder and CEO of Standing Tall, a social enterprise providing a real solution to homelessness. Christy previously set up and managed a night shelter in Birmingham for people experiencing homelessness and saw the potential for the talented residents to start and keep a stable job. Standing Tall matches the right person with the right stable job, the right safe home and the right support and 80% of the people the organisation helps are still off the streets and in the same job one year later. Standing Tall is helping 100 people across 8 cities this year.
https://www.standingtall.org.uk/
Mark Ashfield, Lime intervention Design
As a social entrepreneur, Mark is committed to using innovative business models to create positive social change, and he is dedicated to learning as much as possible about the intersection of business and social impact.
Throughout his life, he has witnessed the devastating effects of poverty and inequality and have always felt a deep desire to make a difference. He has been fortunate to work with organisations and individuals who share his vision. Through these experiences, he has developed a profound understanding of the challenges and opportunities that social entrepreneurs face, and he is eager to use this knowledge to create lasting change.
He is driven to create a more just and sustainable world, and value-centred social entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful tools to achieve this. Mark is excited to continue exploring new ways to use business as a force for good, and he is confident that with passion, dedication, and hard work, we can build a better future for all.
