Inside The Maverick Mind

Inside the Maverick Mind is an invite-only vodcast hosted by Emyr Afan — long-form conversations with people who don’t quite fit the mould. Each episode features a Maverick from business, fintech, innovation, tech and the creative world, revealing how they think, what drives them, and how they turn “you can’t” into “watch me.” Episodes drop weekly on YouTube, with audio available on Spotify & Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and back your own Maverick mind.

Inside The Maverick Mind is a business podcast hosted by Emyr Afan, with 28 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Emyr Afan hosts Inside The Maverick Mind, a business show with 28 episodes published.

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  Episode #4

  Ep 28 | Darren Briggs | From £2.50 to 200 Million: The Petrol Station Maverick

  Sep 28, 20261h 31mS2

  Send us Fan Mail At 38, Darren Briggs had to borrow £2.50 from his mother for deodorant before walking to the job centre. He had lost his business, his savings, his relationship - everything. Today, he is the founder and CEO of Ascona Group, a nationwide roadside retail business with 74 forecourts, 910 employees, 350,000+ customers, and over 6 million litres sold every week. This is not a story about petrol. It's a story about resilience, reinvention, and refusing to roll over. Darren takes us through a jaw-dropping journey that spans childhood paper rounds in his parents' newsagent in Milford Haven, a catastrophic business failure that cost him £250,000, a brutal David-vs-Goliath legal battle with a corporate giant that nearly broke him, and the maverick decision to chase high growth when most people would have walked away. From renting a single unloved forecourt in Pembroke to building the UK's seventh-largest independent fuel retailer with £200 million in committed funding - Darren's story proves that rock bottom can be a location without becoming an identity. In this episode: Growing up in a community newsagent and the three golden rules from his father Losing everything at 38 - and the £2.50 that changed his mindset The Costcutter legal war: 18 months of fighting for survival The maverick moment: deciding high growth was the only way out Surviving COVID when cash dropped from £4 million to £30,000 The health wake-up call: losing five stone and a near-death experience What comes next: 100 sites, a Sahara trek, and building on his parents' land Key quote: "Don't be afraid of failure. Be afraid of regret." — Guest: Darren Briggs, Founder & CEO of Ascona Group ️ Host: Emyr Afan Show: Inside the Maverick Mind - Ep 28 ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 01:36 - From paper rounds to Pam's newsagents 04:18 - Three golden rules from his father 07:08 - Losing his dad and what it taught him 08:09 - The full-pay cancer policy 09:30 - Spotting a gap in the market: BigOil.net 12:46 - The media venture that went up in flames 16:39 - Losing £250,000 and signing on the dole 19:39 - Why he didn't declare bankruptcy 21:20 - Renting Bush Hill: the first forecourt 27:02 - The Costcutter deal that turned toxic 38:50 - The bridge moment: hitting rock bottom 40:06 - "Costcutter Are Fucking Wankers": renaming the company 48:18 - Valentine's Day mediation: drop hands 50:24 - The maverick moment: going for high growth 54:06 - When Barclays pulled the rug 59:06 - Winning Fast Growth 50 - with Barclays as sponsor 1:06:35 - COVID: cash down to £30,000 1:10:05 - The health crisis: losing five stone 1:14:30 - Near-death on the operating table 1:16:49 - What a petrol station becomes when petrol isn't the main event 1:19:43 - Wales Air Ambulance & giving back 1:23:00 - Flying helicopters: the one place he can't multitask 1:23:45 - Maverick Maxims 1:29:10 - Building on his parents' land: the final chapter 1:31:03 - "A maverick is someone who never gives up" Subscribe for more episodes of Inside the Maverick Mind. What would you have done at Darren's lowest point? Let us know in the comments. Like this episode if it resonated - it helps us reach more people. #InsideTheMaverickMind #DarrenBriggs #AsconaGroup #Entrepreneur #BusinessResilience #PetrolStation #Turnaround #StartupStory #WalesBusiness #MaverickMind

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  Episode #3

  Ep 27 | Olivia 'Livvy' Breen | More Than an Athlete

  Sep 21, 20261h 3mS2

  Send us Fan Mail Born with cerebral palsy and deafness. Four days old when doctors said there was nothing more they could do. Bullied at school for her disability. Dropped from a Paralympic relay team an hour before the race. Told by her own parents to walk away from the sport. Livi Breen didn't just keep going. She became a world champion, Commonwealth gold medallist, and captain of Wales. In this episode of Inside the Maverick Mind, we go far beyond the medals to understand the person behind the smile - the family that refused to overprotect her, the twin brother who was her first competitor, and the coach in his 70s who learned to understand her body before he taught her anything. We cover: The meningitis that nearly took her at four days old Discovering she could run at a school sports day London 2012 - competing at 16, the false start she didn't hear, and Paralympic bronze Rio 2016 - the heartbreak of being dropped from the relay and how it changed everything Moving to Loughborough and becoming world champion within ten months Coach Aston Moore - patience, honesty, and breaking everything down Paris Paralympics - jumping the same distance as bronze and losing on countback The Adidas briefs controversy that went viral and changed the rules Captaining Wales to gold and silver at the Commonwealth Games The psychologist she's worked with since she was 15 Why she face-plants after her best jumps - and why she laughs about it Her maverick mindset: "Never say you can't, because you will." This is a conversation about resilience, identity, leadership, and what really sits behind that extraordinary smile. Hosted by Emyr Afan OBE New episodes every Monday at 6pm. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one. #InsideTheMaverickMind #LivvyBreen #Paralympics #ParaAthletics #TeamWales #WorldChampion #CommonwealthGames #Resilience #DisabilitySport #AstonMoore #CaptainOfWales

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  Episode #2

  Ep 26 | Ammar Akhtar | £3,600 and a Backpack: A Journey to 65 Countries

  Sep 14, 20261h 12mS2

  Send us Fan Mail In August 2022, Amar Akhtar stepped off a train in Cardiff with £3,600 in his pocket, £28,000 of debt, and nowhere to live. Nobody would rent him a room. A few years later, he's leading Final Rentals — a company valued at £14 million, operating across 65+ countries and 200+ locations, with a 28-person team spread across 12 countries. Revenue has grown 15-fold in three years. Final Rentals became the only Welsh company on the Sifted 100, and Amar was named Fintech Leader of the Year at the Fintech Awards Wales. But this isn't really a story about car rental or awards. It's about what happens when an outsider keeps building. In this episode, Amar speaks with Emyr Afan about: Growing up in Pakistan as the eldest of seven siblings Discovering he could code at a young age — and reading 2,000 lines of code in 10 minutes Moving to Dubai at 19 and stumbling into the car rental industry ☁️ Telling a sheikh his servers would become obsolete — and being right Living in Poland as the only brown person in the room Why Cardiff felt like home — and became his launchpad Building the world's first car rental company that doesn't own a single car Scaling through COVID instead of shutting down Why he's building a "zebra," not a unicorn The 50/50 gender balance in his leadership team Why a top branding agency told him the name "Final Rentals" would fail — and why he kept it anyway Guest: Amar Akhtar, Founder & CEO of Final Rentals Host: Emyr Afan — ⏱️ Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction 01:50 – Welcome, Amar 02:00 – The Fintech Awards and a growing trophy cabinet 04:30 – Arriving in Cardiff with nothing 08:40 – The meaning of the name "Amar" 10:30 – Being the eldest of seven 13:30 – Faith, Zakat, and wealth as responsibility 16:30 – Creating wealth vs. worshiping wealth 18:30 – Bringing Amazon mentality to car rental 20:30 – Coding in nine languages: a gift from God 24:30 – Engineering, MBA, and compulsive problem-solving 27:30 – Leaving Pakistan for Dubai 31:30 – Finding car rental by accident 33:30 – Telling a sheikh the cloud would make his servers obsolete 38:30 – Building cloud systems and the origins of Final Rentals 41:30 – Poland: the only brown person in the room 45:00 – Outsider as competitive advantage 47:00 – Building a 50/50 gender-balanced team 49:00 – Starting Final Rentals with AED 15,000 52:30 – Democratizing car rental for independent operators 56:00 – The founder as first salesperson 59:00 – Cardiff, Fintech Wales, and the angels who backed him 1:01:30 – Surviving COVID and building proprietary AI 1:05:30 – What AI really means for business 1:08:30 – Amar's maverick moment: coming to Cardiff 1:11:00 – The no-deposit revolution 1:13:00 – Aled Miles Global Impact Award 1:15:30 – What Wales gets right and wrong for entrepreneurs 1:23:00 – The Sifted 100: the only Welsh company 1:25:00 – Building a zebra, not a unicorn 1:28:00 – Studying Rockefeller, JP Morgan, and Ford 1:32:00 – Leading a distributed team across 12 countries 1:35:00 – The story behind the name "Final Rentals" 1:38:30 – Launching in Pakistan from Cardiff 1:41:00 – Maverick Maxims: rapid-fire round 1:47:30 – Best and worst decisions 1:51:00 – "Welcome home, son. We'll make it big." — Subscribe for more episodes of Inside the Maverick Mind. #FinalRentals #AmarAkhtar #Entrepreneurship #Cardiff #Wales #Fintech #CarRental #Startup #MaverickMind #TechFounder

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  Episode #1

  Ep 25 | Luke Evans | The Boy from the Valleys Who Conquered the World

  Sep 7, 20261h 8mS2

  Send us Fan Mail Luke Evans grew up in a strict Jehovah's Witness household in the Welsh Valleys, left home at 16 with nothing but a voice and a work ethic, and defied every odd to become a Hollywood leading man. In this episode, Luke opens up about leaving his faith, finding his identity, and the bullying that nearly broke him. From the West End stage to The Hobbit, Fast & Furious, and Beauty and the Beast, to launching his own fashion label BDXY and winning a BAFTA for his Christmas special back home in Wales — Luke has never played it safe. This is a conversation about faith, fear, regret, resilience, and what it really means to be successful. Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 0:10 - Growing up as a Jehovah's Witness 1:52 - Leaving the faith at 16 5:46 - Being bullied and finding strength 9:50 - Breaking into acting 13:40 - The agent who changed everything 16:40 - Dracula Untold: The moment everything changed 21:20 - Coming out in Hollywood 28:30 - The BAFTA-winning Christmas special 36:40 - Launching BDXY fashion label 46:20 - Life with Lala the dog 55:50 - Maverick Maxims rapid-fire round 1:09:56 - Outro Subscribe for more episodes of Inside the Maverick Mind #LukeEvans #InsideTheMaverickMind #MaverickMindset #WelshPride #Hollywood #BDXY

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  Episode #24

  Ep 24 | Hayley Parsons OBE | Challenge Accepted!

  Aug 3, 20261h 4mS1

  Send us Fan Mail She skipped six weeks of school, rang in pretending to be her own mother — and that same school later celebrated her as one of its most successful former pupils. Hayley Parsons OBE didn't follow the system. She built it her way. In this Season 1 finale of Inside the Maverick Mind, Emyr Afan sits down with the founder of GoCompare — one of the most recognisable brands in British business history. Hayley shares the real story behind walking away from a 13-year career at Admiral, launching a comparison site from scratch, taking on Tesco Compare with 6 staff against their 200, and creating one of the most iconic advertising campaigns the UK has ever seen. This conversation is about more than business. It's about instinct, visualisation, reinvention, and the courage to back yourself before anyone else does. In this episode: How she got away with six weeks off school — and what it taught her Building Confused.com from a windowless room Why she ignored her board and ran the GoCompare opera ad anyway The phone call from Norwich Union that made them profitable overnight Taking on Tesco — and why they never recovered Selling GoCompare for £190M and what came next Her one regret from the exit process "Game on. Challenge accepted." ️ Inside the Maverick Mind is back for Season 2 in September.

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