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Season 2 of My Duvet Flip podcast is back with 3 incredibly successful guests sharing the lessons they’ve learnt along the way.
Powered by incredible partners and youth-verified companies Aviva and EY, episode 1 saw Jack joined by Greg Jackson, Roger Saul and Jacqueline Gold as they discussed all things from their first jobs to their failures to their biggest triumphs. Here are 3 of our key takeaways for young people.
1. You are the driving force behind your career
Octopus Energy founder and tech entrepreneur Greg Jackson left us with the motivational reminder that we only have one life, or so Greg believes, and with that life, we have a duty to be happy.
Greg goes on to advise young people that if there are unfulfilled in their job or career, they should be doing something else. It is not in anyone’s best interest to get stuck down a path that is someone else’s. As hard as it may feel to leave a job that offers stability, it’s crucial to shape your own path where you can be happy.
He shared his failures with host Jack about dropping out of school at a young age to pursue his idea of coding and selling video games. After this initial step into the world of business was unsuccessful, Greg went back to school to get his A-levels. With this, he told young people to not be scared of changing paths. If it’s not working for you, change it and get to a better place.
2. Courage, resilience and passion are key
Ann Summers chair and 16th richest woman in the world Jacqueline Gold told us that courage, resilience and passion are the 3 words you’ll hear her say over and over again.
These 3 characteristics are so important for young people looking to pursue a career or find their life purpose. Jacqueline shared with us many stories that knocked her down or caused her to doubt herself for quite some time but it was her courage, resilience and passion that helped her push through.
A practical piece of advice from Jacqueline included writing a list of all your life achievements. As you go about your day or at the end of every day, write down what you’ve achieved. This list will continue to grow and it is something you can look back on whether you start to struggle with doubt. Before a particular presentation, interview or meeting, you can look back at your long list of successes and know that you have the ability to do whatever it takes.
As Jacqueline said, we all have milestones and we all have achievements, but these can be so easily forgotten. Jacqueline’s message was clear. Young people should have the courage to pursue what they are interested in, the resilience to get back up when they face obstacles and the passion to keep going.
3. Have a plan
Mulberry England founder Roger Saul shared some of the practical steps a young person must have in mind if they want to become a successful entrepreneur.
Roger told us that understanding the financial side of any business is vital. If you don’t understand it, then you need someone who will. In Roger’s case, his financial partner was his mum!
He also stressed the importance of research. If you have a business idea and you want to take this to the next level, you need to know why your product or service is unique from all of the others out there. One of Roger’s hacks was to get out there on the shop floor and get your hands dirty. Get some real experience, understand everything there is to know about your customers and use this knowledge to make your business idea the best. Spend time really figuring out how your product differs, is it better and how? Is it cheaper? Once you’ve figured this out, you need to test it.
Go find people to test your idea. Ask around and then sell yourself to these people. Being a successful business leader and entrepreneur is as much about being able to sell yourself as it is about selling a product. Go further by finding a network of valuable connections that can give you as much advice as possible and implement this into your business plan.
Mapping out your business idea and how to get where you need to be is crucial. To do this you need to think, plan, research, test and get help from those more experienced than yourself. With these steps, you have the recipe for success.
Spotlight 1 gave listeners so much information to digest about becoming a successful entrepreneur or following the steps of these leaders to have a thriving career.
Greg left us feeling motivated to take our goals into our own hands, Jacqueline inspired us to pursue our passions at all costs and Roger shared his practical steps for us to follow.