Change Champions
What 15 Years of Entrepreneurship Actually Looks Like | Ep 58
Community to create more sales opportunities using relationship-first business development habits: networkandsell.com Ped’s career makes much more sense looking backwards than it did while he was living it. In this behind-the-scenes episode of Change Champions, Riley talks with Ped about the path from studying theoretical physics to teaching, facilitation, consulting, entrepreneurship and, eventually, the work we do today with coaches, consultants and facilitators. They unpack some of the less obvious turning points along the way: graduating without a job, deliberately building the skills his CV was missing, discovering facilitation through experiential learning, moving from education into corporate work, and learning business development through associate work and subcontracting. Ped also shares what happened when years of referrals and being “busy and in demand” suddenly led to six months without new work, why the pandemic forced another rethink, and how accidentally finding a niche changed the way he thought about his business. It’s a conversation about career pivots, identity, niching and the skills that compound over time, especially when your career doesn’t follow a neat plan. And underneath all those changes, Ped shares the through line that has stayed remarkably consistent: helping people grow. Timestamps: 00:00 Why Ped’s career story is worth unpacking 01:18 Why theoretical physics came first 02:55 Graduating highly educated and unemployed 05:00 Deliberately building the skills his CV was missing 06:00 Discovering facilitation through experiential learning 07:45 The email that led Ped into teaching 09:55 Why five years of teaching changed his direction 10:35 Realising corporate life wasn’t for him 11:38 Moving from teaching into leadership development 12:18 Building the bridge from education to business 15:40 How networking started opening doors 17:15 Going fully self-employed 19:05 How associate work built Ped’s business skills 20:55 Taking risks on proposals and unpaid work 22:45 When being busy and in demand suddenly stopped 25:20 The pandemic and the question of financial runway 26:10 Turning existing skills into digital transformation work 29:20 How Ped “niched by accident” 30:25 Designing a business around the life he wanted 32:30 Choosing what kind of work to do next 33:15 Why coaches, consultants and facilitators became the focus 34:25 From workshop design to helping clients sell their work 35:20 Looking back at the career through line 37:05 The “why” behind Ped’s work 38:40 Where Riley and Ped are today
