A Curious Kid
David Beckham and I were born in the same hospital. My claim to fame. A London boy at heart, I’ve spent the last few years across the pond in New York.
As a kid, I was incredibly curious. So when I first discovered this thing called ‘the internet’ that could answer all my questions – I fell in love with the possibilities of the future.
Fast forward to age 16, and this curiosity led me to accidentally starting an online retailer. Shortly after, I started a popular sports fan site that grew to 23 writers & a global audience of 500,000 users.
I learned a ton through this process and have since spent the last 15 years helping to grow startups and Fortune 500 brands through various roles, including my jobs at Google in Europe & the US.
I was hooked. I had found “my thing” and business is what I wanted to do forever.
Until It Wasn’t: Searching For Something New
A series of bad incidents hit me in 2013. Putting life into perspective. It was a low moment for me. I felt lost. Confused. Disillusioned.
I was depressed about the state of the world and I was desperate to make a change. But I felt hopeless and had no idea where to start. All my life, I thought I knew what I wanted to do forever. And all of a sudden, everything I thought I cared about, no longer did.
First, I brushed it off: ‘I’m just like any other millennial’ – a privilege to have a quarter-life crisis.
But something wasn’t right. On the outside, I was as lively as ever. On the inside, I was a mess. Distracting myself from the inevitable.
And so I went on a journey to find out what I was doing and why I was doing it. In the only way I knew possible, I started to ask questions:
What did I care about? Had I fallen into this path out of chance? What did I want to dedicate my time and energy to? How could I make a positive impact and double down on my strengths?
The Genesis Of Creator Lab
On one side, I kept meeting people unhappy with what they were doing. People who had talked about wanting to switch careers or create a new life. But most would fall flat working out what to do next.
So I started to reach out to people who had. Those who had been brave enough to create and act on their ideas.
This time, not just business people & tech founders I was used to meeting – but non-profit founders, educators, activists, artists and everything else in between.
Meeting those people and hearing their stories, brought me back to life. It was refreshing to see people living life on their own terms and making an impact!
And though they each had their own unique path, I was looking for the common thread that brought them all together.
They had an idea. Convinced people to join their vision. Funded it. And took a product, service or art to the world and made changes as they went along. Many had worked in multiple fields and created time and time again!
This discovery led me to start Creator Lab.
I wanted to create something that would help me and others continuously learn – for people who wanted to create change and learn how to turn their ideas, into action.
On my podcast, I interview some of these people.
Some who’ve impacted millions of lives through charitable work. Sold companies for hundreds of millions of dollars. Built media empires. Made Oscar-winning movies. And some who are just getting started.
2020 Update
I started this podcast in 2015 and what a ride it has been! As I write this in 2020 – I can’t thank you enough for being a part of something that truly changed my life.
And now more than ever – I’m motivated to keep bringing you incredible conversations & lessons from the world’s greatest entrepreneurs & change-makers.
Through this podcast, I got to meet some of my heroes. I had “pinch me now” moments like this time I got to record with Gary Vee in his podcast studio. I was even inspired enough to leave my job at Google to join a non-profit, after meeting the founder through Creator Lab.
There’s an old saying that you often overestimate what you can do in one year, and underestimate what you can do in three. That feels so true looking back at the last few years.
But I’m even more hopeful that I’ll be saying the same in a few years time.
I’m now working full-time trying to make my own “Creator” dreams come true. Listen into the show to hear me continue learning from the best mentors I could ask for. And you can now watch all interviews by subscribing on YouTube.
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