Norman Surplus is a pioneer from Larne, Northern Ireland. He’s also a video game designer, wind-farmer, lifeboat captain, log-cabin builder, cancer survivor and most recently the first man to circumnavigate the world in an autogyro. Known as a gyrocraft or gyrocopter, these nifty flying machines are a cross between a helicopter and a motorbike. In 2010, Norman set out from his hometown Larne on a journey that would take him all around the world — and in a bizarre turn of events — nine years to complete.

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Nadine Patterson is a puppet-maker from Northern Ireland. From making models as a child to working in the puppet hospital on a Tim Burton movie set, Nadine has one of the most interesting stories we’ve ever featured on the podcast. Her passion for art and working with tiny things has led her all over the world and put her in contact with some of the biggest names in the film industry (including Wes Anderson for his latest movie Isle Of Dogs).

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Colin Williams is the BAFTA-winning children’s television creator, showrunner and writer behind Sixteen South — a production company that has produced 450+ episodes for networks like Disney Junior, CBeebies, Nick Jr, Hulu, PBS Kids and much, much more. Colin & company have picked up over 50 international awards including two EMMY® nominations, a British Animation Award, the coveted Prix Jeunesse and a BAFTA for the Best Independent Production Company.

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Katrina Cairns is one of the youngest people we’ve ever had on the podcast. She’s also the first person I’ve ever met with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). At 14-years-old Katrina unexpectedly developed chronic pain in her knees, elbows, fingers, neck, hips and toes… and after a challenging year of doctors not knowing why, she was finally diagnosed with early-onset Arthritis, something that according to Katrina, is much more common than you think. 

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n this week’s show we have the absolute privilege of sitting down with one of Northern Ireland’s most experienced and successful entrepreneurs: Pete Boyle. Pete Boyle started Argento in 1997 after selling jewellery on the streets of Belfast. Blessed with an excellent eye, and natural entrepreneurial flare, the Strabane family man travelled the world sourcing the best jewellery, in South America, Asia and beyond.

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Sarah Friar is from Sion Mills, Northern Ireland. She’s also the CEO of Nextdoor, a free private social network whose goal is to get you connected to your neighbours. Prior to serving as Nextdoor’s CEO, Sarah was CFO of Square a tech company who under Sarah’s leadership, launched its initial public offering in 2015 and added $30Bn in market cap. Before her time at Square, Sarah worked with some of the biggest names on the planet including Salesforce, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey and even spent some time working on a gold mine in Ghana.

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Andrew Trimble is a “retired egg chaser, entrepreneur and podcaster.” That’s the bio he gave us anyway.

The former Ulster and Ireland rugby star played over 250 professional games before retiring in 2018 to pursue business. After meeting his now co-founder Gareth Quinn (see episode #39), Trimble is now the CEO of Kairos, a sports-tech startup who exists to organise players hectic schedules to allow them to be fully present on game day and perform at their highest ability.

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Despite being only 23-years-old, Ballymena born & bred Sarah Mcbride has already worked with Google, Nokia, a VC firm in NYC — and launched a t-shirt company that doesn’t exist… While holding her current marketing role at Betaworks, Sarah has been using her “spare time” to create Cross & Freckle: an AI t-shirt company that has garnered global media attention and coverage from the likes of Product Hunt and WIRED Magazine.

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Terry George is an Oscar-winning film director from Belfast, Northern Ireland, known for movies like Hotel Rwanda, The Shore, In The Name Of The Father and much, much more. After serving a term in Long Kesh prison in his youth, Terry moved to NYC where he started working as a journalist and writing on the side for theatre. From there, he went on to write and direct his own films, working with some of the greatest actors in the world including Christian Bale, Helen Mirren, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix and Don Cheadle.

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Jack McGarry is the youngest-ever International Bartender of the Year. Sean Muldoon is admired/feared throughout the bar world for his vision, drive and insane attention to detail. Before opening The Dead Rabbit in 2013, the two met while working at The Merchant Hotel in Belfast. During their time there, The Merchant became the first bar outside the US to be named World’s Best at Tales of the Cocktail. From that moment on, Jack & Sean wanted to create a bar with the world-class service of a five-star hotel combined with an Irish pub’s down-to-earth, bustling atmosphere.

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Geraldine Hughes is an actor from West Belfast, Northern Ireland known for her performances in Rocky Balboa, Gran Torino, Harry Potter & The Cursed Child and much, much more. After moving to the States to study when she was 18, Geraldine’s journey is one of grit, determination and success. In recent years, Geraldine has been turning to writing and producing, with her multi-award-winning play Belfast Blues coming to The Lyric Theatre this week.

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‘The Heroes Journey’ is an age-old step by step model used to describe the process a person has to go through to experience success. First discovered by Joseph Campbell, the cycle can be found in almost every story/myth/religion on the planet, and is often used by storytellers to create characters that resonate with us. But what can we learn from The Heroes Journey? How can we apply it to our lives?

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Suzanne Wylie has been Chief Executive of Belfast City Council for 5 years.  Having worked for the council for over 30 years, Suzanne progressed from working as an Environmental Health Officer to the top leadership position. In her time as CX, she has been responsible for negotiating an £850 million city deal with the UK government to deliver on an ambitious set of projects spanning across Life & Health Sciences, Creative Industries, Advanced Manufacturing, digital development, smart districts, tourism regeneration and much much more.

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Grace Chambers is a 91 year-old with a passion for quilt-making and travelling. She’s also a record-breaking member of the Ormeau Park Parkrun. After spending her childhood in the rural countryside of Northern Ireland, Grace went on to have a very successful career in education that eventually led her to Barbados. In today’s show Grace shares some wisdom from her jam-packed, adventure-filled life with plenty of great stories along the way.

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Cathy Craig is a Professor of Experimental Psychology at Ulster University, but she’s also the CEO of INCISIV: a sports technology company that helps players make more match winning decisions. Cathy was the first in the world to use Virtual Reality to study decision-making in sport and has worked with some of the top atheletes in the world. Having a burning desire to get her research out of the lab, she’s embarked on an entrepreneurial journey that has led to Incisvs’s first product: a VR platform that trains goalkeepers to make more saves called Cleansheet.

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Since his first album in 2007, Foy’s music has been known and loved all over the world and alongside selling-out his own tours the last decade has played alongside some of the greatest musicians alive including Ed Sheeran, Elton John and Alicia Keys. But in November 2017, something unusual happened. Foy walked off stage after playing the Union Chapel in London without having another gig lined up in the diary for the first time in 20 years.

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Shane Todd is a comedian from Holywood, Northern Ireland. I asked him for a bio and he said to say: "THE WIZARD OF WIT. THE KING OF COMEDY. THE MASTER OF THE MIC. THE SOURCERER OF STORIES."

Nice. After getting up on stage to do stand up as a dare while still in school, Shane has spent over 11 years working on his craft and perfecting the art of getting people to laugh.

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RagDogs is a new start-up founded by 7 young women from Bloomfield Collegiate School in East Belfast through the Young Enterprise Northern Ireland Company Program. Being “barking mad about the environment” the team developed a series of products around two passions: taking care of the planet and having fun with their dogs. RagDogs produce handmade eco-friendly dog toys with materials that would otherwise be sent to landfill sites and have partnered with animal welfare charities like Assisi to create a profitable business with a social impact.

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In 2017, Kilkeel born and bred Jenna Stevenson set up Made In Mourne, a non-profit organisation whose goal is to connect and support over 500 entrepreneurs in the region and provide a space for them to sell their stuff, meet together and as you’ll hear, access fast wifi. Jenna spends a lot of time pitching and presenting the great work Made In Mourne do, but she doesn’t really like talking about herself.

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Ryan Crown is a creative director and designer specializing in hospitality and food & beverage. He lives in Brooklyn New York with his girlfriend Emma and their dog Ted. After working with The Dead Rabbit in New York as Digital Marketing Manager, Ryan moved to become HPH Hospitality’s Creative Director and worked across over 20 venues in their New York portfolio.

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