The University of Life
The University of Life podcast has become my personal collection of fascinating learnings from the people I meet and experiences I have as I explore life and journey deeper in to the space of business mentoring & life coaching.
The University of Life
The University of Life & Jonny Dodge
A business built around freedom shouldn’t chain you to a desk. Jonny Dodge joins us to share how he engineered eight companies around experiences that energise rather than exhaust, from Formula 1 hospitality and global adventures to superyacht brokerage, private jet charter, and even commercial space trips. The common thread isn’t luxury; it’s a deliberate system for living well while scaling impact.
We dig into the mechanics: hiring for your weaknesses so you can operate in your zone of vision and relationships, and building community as a core asset. Johnny’s Global Committee brings influential founders together for meaningful experiences and candid conversations, while Global Base pioneers “subscription living” for the luxury nomad who rotates homes and wants lifestyle, network, and access bundled together. He shows why the right room changes your baseline, your decisions, and your deal flow.
Johnny’s growth playbook is equal parts mindset and method. Forget 10% gains, ask what it would take to 10x, then let that ambition demand new pricing, clients, and systems. Break rules when they block standout experiences. Go to the customer first, give value before you monetise, and build trust in motion. Start before you’re ready, because momentum makes steering, and pivoting possible. Most of all, tell your future. People buy why you do it, not what you do. When your narrative aims high, the right allies show up.
If you’re tired of grind-for-grind’s sake and want a life-first, scale-ready way to work, this conversation is your spark. Listen and share with a friend who needs a push.
If ever you'd like to connect, please don't hesitate to connect via my website www.jamiewhite.com.
I am always open to feedback, reflections, guest / subject recommendations and anything else that might come up.
Thank you for listening, Jamie x
So, Johnny, welcome to the University of Life. Hello. Hello. I love being here.
SPEAKER_01:Looking forward to it.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you. Um I look, I'm just fascinated by your life. I'm fascinated by your Instagram. I'm fascinated by you as a whole. And I'm I'm like dying to I'm I'm actually kind of curious where do I even get started when it comes to you? Like, how do you start by saying, Oh yeah, this is me, this is what I do?
SPEAKER_01:How do I tell people?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:That that's an interesting challenge. Like, um problem is as an entrepreneur, you you often can't fix with one business, right? It's it's too easy to go off and do multiple. Um, and that can be challenging. It doesn't always result in the best financial outcome, but it does create a lot of fun. I think the the importance of our group of companies is our client base, ultra high net worth clients, and our passion. So, what is our our group philosophy? It's um being able to inspire the most powerful and influential people in the world. Um, and we inspire them through experiences, and that's the power of what we do, which is super exciting.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, because because I look on at you and I I see a lightness, I see a fun, I see a playfulness, and then I see a scale. It's like when I I I kind of quickly introduce you, I'm like, oh, he like he uh leases yachts for like the best holidays ever are our private jets. But like at one stage you were doing trips to the to space.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, we do with space experiences. We set that up five years ago, uh, sent our first clients to space three years ago. So yeah, I mean, look, they we have exciting companies in the group. Um and that there's eight companies in total across the group, but uh I mean the ones that are most of interest, and I mean so many, but the the ones that take my most time, GPM, um, our events and formula one business. That's exciting, doing adventures around the world as well as running F1 and hospitality and sponsorship for the last 16 years. That's based in London. We have MyOcean, which is um chartering, managing, and selling of um the largest yachts in the world, which is a great business. Um, and that's between Monaco and Dubai, um, the team there. Then Your Sky, our jet charter business, um, and then Global Base, um, our community um in Bali.
SPEAKER_03:It's it seems like for every which way you want to live life, you find a fantastic way of building a life sorry, building a business around it. But it also like the business doesn't seem to, let's say, constrain the quality of life. Like, because you're somebody that seemingly lives and breeds what he does. And it's like when I look on anyway, or in the moments of where we connect, you're enjoying the yacht or you're enjoying the travel. It's like the travel doesn't get too much. You don't get jaded by the indulgences or anything. You seem to live and live really, really well, whilst at the same time building a fantastic business throughout in compliment to you.
SPEAKER_01:Look, I'm lucky enough to have built an awesome team around me. And I think it's finding the gaps as well. That's important. Like I know I'm not very good at operations, having a great operational team, having good COO, these types of individuals that are really key to where your gaps are. I think that that's fundamental. Otherwise, you employ people like you, and that that becomes a challenge because you all have the big gaps. So um employing a good team has been one of my hardest challenges. Um, we're employing across three different countries, like it's that there's a lot of nuance to how we manage that and in four different industry sectors across our company. So definitely a big challenge. But I am lucky enough to live the lifestyle of our clients and to have billionaires come to you and go, Johnny, I wish I had your life, like is a great situation to present uh like living life to the fullest, and uh remembering that the ultimate goal in life isn't money, it's happiness, and make reminding people of that on a daily basis and and how to get there doesn't always take lots of money, it does help.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, I think there's a real there's such a kind of um an odd thing, let's say, about so many of us that we we will sacrifice so much in life in the pursuit of money. Um and we'll sacrifice the happy only to get the money devoid of the happiness, devoid of the energy, devoid perhaps of the health that we sacrificed along the way, and then wonder what the hell was it about and spend a fortune to get some of that back.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I mean, there's that um great story of that entrepreneur that uh meets a fisherman on the beach catching a fish, and he says, Look, with this money, if you're extra, you stay here for a few more hours, you can go and sell the extra fish you don't need tonight once he caught all his fish. And and then he's like, But then what would I do with that? Then you can employ more people to help you fishing, you could get a factory, you could go out and get boats, you could go out and do that. And then he's like, Cool, but then what would I do? He's like, Oh, look, once you've amassed all that money, you'd come and do what you you want. He's like, What do you want? He's like, I want to sit here and fish. Yeah, like the ultimate goal of trying to uh achieve all these things. And as I've found, it's very easy once you've had money to realise that it's not necessarily the solution. And at times when I've made the most, I've had some of my biggest emotional challenges. I think that sometimes with all of this comes a lot more burden, and my highest value is freedom. And often that can start to be taken away from you if you've got too much responsibility and liabilities around you. So with these assets come liabilities and owning your house, operating these things, the all these companies, staff reliant on you. So it's an important balancing game. Um, just get right.
SPEAKER_03:It's interesting hearing you say that like your highest priority is freedom. For me, as a younger entrepreneur in my 20s, I remember the big motivator for me. It was like, I want to be free. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna be an entrepreneur. And I I I unconsciously enslaved myself with my business. I enslaved myself to my team. I remember like I found myself almost keeping up appearances. I wanted to be the first one in, I wanted to be the last one out. I remember being too afraid to let anyone see that I was on holidays. Yeah. And uh, and I really felt literally chained to a desk. And it's quite sad. Yes, I made a lot of money, but I didn't do anything with it. And interestingly enough, what I found is that my quality of life deteriorated so much that let's say my spirit, my soul, my energy did. And as much as I was turning up first in work and turning up last, my energy was gone. And that actually, I think, undermined it my undermined, let's say, my energy, my entrepreneurial charge and my capacity to earn. And so what? I gave myself to my work, did really well, but in giving myself to my work, suffered and suffered so much that regardless of how much I gave to my work, there was nothing left to give. And unfortunately, then the return just stopped altogether. That I see as so much of a journey that I'm kind of reminded more and more put yourself first, look after yourself first and foremost. You're like you're your most valuable resource as an entrepreneur. Umce I love what you do because I'm like, oh, okay, these are like they're like money can't buy opportunities. Of course, of course, a lot of money can, but like it is uh, I do find that when I let's say invest now in these like incredible experiences, it actually inspires me. It charges me up, it makes me want to work all the more. Very much.
SPEAKER_01:And I think that's what I've loved with the global committee is building our community. It's really been one of my favorite projects and um something that is deep with my passion. It's about bringing together these incredibly influential, uh, powerful humans. And the ability to do that means that we can all be in an environment you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. It's so important to be around that environment and the energy that you take from those people. Let's discuss big challenges, let's discuss um big challenges that we have with ourselves and externally. Like those types of discussions are so important and they're not had enough. Often in a business, we'll have teams of people sit down and work out what the plan is for the year and these goals and write them down. But some people don't even do that for five minutes for their own lives. Yeah. That's incredible because you're far more value than valuable than your business. Like nothing matters more than you. So put your time and energy into you is the primary focus.
SPEAKER_03:I love that as uh like let's say an inspiring message because uh entrepreneurs are old. Like I remember 10 years ago, there was guys like what it was, Tony Robbins, or it was or it was Gary V, and it was like, you gotta work, work, work, work, work, and it's stop sleeping, like just keep working. Um, I remember that idea of like compete over how few hours you can sleep, biohack yourself to literally working 24 hours a day. And that's miserable. That's absolutely miserable. And you're completely right that if if you're like the better you look after yourself, the better that reflects itself in your business. That whole idea was lost a few years ago, but now I now I love that it's coming into prominence.
SPEAKER_01:And I very much look, I think there's a mix if you are here with the business agenda, and um, I think that there is some key learnings from that. It's and I I love the visions of doing the right things in business when but you've got to balance the two. I I'm uh like 10xing that idea, or what I do with my team is go, look, if a project that made a million dollars last year has to make 10 now, um, what would you do to change uh things? And that like cheat code I've created with my team is they go, hang on, it's had to make 10 million. Well, well, we'd have to change all of the marketing, all of the supply systems, all of the clients, the price point. I'm like, go ahead and do all of those things and then come back to me. And if we then double our income through that project, because we've taken such big visionary thoughts in the first place, it and my uh ethos has always been to the team, it is really aim for the stars, and if we fail, we'll hit the moon. And I I would love to fail at a massive goal than succeed at a small goal because that really isn't the mentality of how you're gonna achieve things. And so often people put small goals in or they try and review their goals down, keep failing at absolutely massive goals that will ultimately inspire everyone, and it will bring people closer to you and around you. Have ridiculously big goals, and I love it. I love that. That's actually quite a little micro moment.
SPEAKER_03:I'm like, capture that, share that. But I um looking at you, and kind of there's two gems that I've pulled, let's say, from what you've shared so far. Is that one, hire your weaknesses? Like, don't don't be too proud as a boss. Recognize that the probably the most efficient place you can hire as a boss is your weakest point. And yeah, and don't be too proud to have somebody come in as an expert in that weakness and give them that expertise.
SPEAKER_01:As I always say, I want to be the dumbest guy in the room, like your ability to be able to have those people around you and the poorest guy, because you're gonna learn something from everyone else. So, whether that's in social settings where you can learn from them or whether you employ, you certainly don't want to be the expert. And I get so excited when someone in my team has far more knowledge than me in an area because that that gives me that complete comfort to let go and give them the reins to that particular area of the business, and that is ultimately where you're going to drop your stress levels and um create more value and freedom for yourself. And so much of this is a mindset, like you say, it was it took COVID for me to learn that I didn't need to be the first guy in the office and the last one to leave because I moved to Monaco during COVID and then I had to run a team remotely. Now, uh, so many of my employees are new, the majority of my staff didn't know me when I used to work in our London office. I now go to our London office once a year. So everyone's used to that being the case in the scenario. If you educate like that, then everyone's used to it. Now I can be away from the office all of the time. Um, unfortunately, I'm now in another office in a different country, but um, it does mean you have that ability to do it. And it's just such a glass ceiling that people have, or just this perception that I can't do this. Once you're forced to change it, and of course, it it's always um the point where it's always the pain that makes the most change. If there's a good opportunity ahead, but sometimes you're forced into those changes. When you are, that's the most brilliant thing. In fact, some of the biggest challenges I've had in business of things not working out have been when I've made the greatest changes, and that's been the most exciting for me. When I've seen something that others would see as a terrible situation within a business or a huge challenge that really hasn't gone in our favor, it's ultimately ended so significantly better for me because it's forced me to change into a different direction or a different challenge. And that's been some of the greatest opportunities I've ever had.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I love that. Like when circumstances go wild and extraordinarily challenging, like there is that, oh, life is happening to me, buzz that most of us get that we become the victim. And then there's an enormous turning point when it is like, okay, what can I learn from this when we see life as a teacher? And that that's our opportunity to upgrade. That's our opportunity, our certainly our our encouragement to do things differently. And in so many cases, if you take the learnings, evolve. Um, I I love as well, like I kind of get the idea, snooping at say into your business journey that it's like perhaps you went on a private jet and you're like, this is cool. I'm gonna make this easier for people, and then a yacht, and you're like, this process is cool too. I'm gonna make this easier for people. I I think what you're doing with Global Committee now is really interesting because you have this network of fascinating people that are on the jets, on the yachts. Um but success can be lonely. Success can be really lonely. And so bringing the and and also at the same time isolating, sorry, lonely, isolating, pretty much the same thing, but like isolating in terms of it's hard to relate to those that you grew up with and your family, but other people who are on a similar journey are your clients, your customers. And what I get the impression you're doing with Global Committee is you're like, hey, why don't you all come together? I'm doing these experiences for you all individually. How about I do it collectively? And at the same time, we'll foster some really good conversations.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I mean, that's that's the thing. I love building community. And what we've seen as we look at new trends across all of our industry sectors that we operate in, that one of the most valuable trends going forward is going to be community. It's something that is so challenging to build nowadays, and our network is incredible and full of inspiring people. So we've now driven that community, not just through global committee, but also through global base, our real estate business. And that's been super exciting because again, what we've done is driven by community-first home ownership, which which sounds strange, or like the the concept is in what we've built now is that people are looking to invest three, four, five, six hundred thousand dollars. Um and they can then become part of our community. But the narrative has been spend that money, come part of the community, and you get the villa for free. Like the the point in that is that we're building homes around the world is our ultimate goal because of what we see now as what we've dubbed as the luxury nomad, someone that a few years ago was a digital nomad. Now the luxury nomad in our eyes, as we've seen through our travel trend, is very much um the CEOs of large corporations that have the ability to work remotely. They travel with their staff, they travel with their family, they travel seasonally. Gone is this um traditional summer holiday situation, and now seasonal travelers come in. So we felt that home ownership needed to change with that. So our concept with Global Base is to build properties around the world, um, starting with Bali, but growing that to other destinations where people can have a home they've acquired and then come and have what we've called subscription living, this concept of um owning your own home and paying your service fees that you would traditionally, but then giving you access to a world of not exist not just the community um where you're based, but also around the world. We're very unique as a developer because we also own an events company that gives you access to whether it's going to a Formula One race, going on a super yacht, going on trips to Antarctica or supercar rallies.
SPEAKER_03:This is the point now that anybody listening on would completely get my introduction at the start. It's like, wait a second, this guy's a property developer, he's building a community, he does the entertainment for Formula One. I heard yachts, I heard jets, I heard spaces trips to the moon, not to the moon to space. It's like, oh my gosh. Yeah. Like, wow, wow. Do you do you ever like, do you ever get overwhelmed? Do you ever pinch yourself and go, holy shit, I'm doing all of this?
SPEAKER_01:I try to ground myself as much as you can. I love living these experiences through other people's eyes. The first time I get to show this. Um as a business, because we traditionally look after newer, younger clientele. Um, the the first time kind of they're ever going to Santrape or going on a jet, and we've got clients that have gone from zero to billionaire in a matter of months. So what?
SPEAKER_03:You said newer younger as well. Uh my imagination was kind of like movie stars and like uh empire owners, but you're saying newer younger.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, yeah, very much. In in it the new revolution, of course, of wealth used to be traditionally was in property and real estate, these billionaires would come through. Now it's coming through technology and crypto. Um, and people have the ability to go from um a non-profitable business to exiting for billions of dollars, as well as um through crypto amassing billions of dollars of wealth very, very rapidly. And so you've got clients of ours buying their first yacht at$100 million. Like you've got clients experiencing these trips coming on$25 million holidays with us. So, and it's our ability to be able to explain to these people and show them how to live to the absolute fullest through their new wealth.
SPEAKER_03:So I find it fascinating chatting to you because it is it's such a like a gateway, let's say, into a bit of a different world. Um, for so many, that that kind of living is is unfathomable. But it what I'm kind of getting the grasp of when you sort certainly when you talked about global basis, like it's like Jamie, community is everything. Uh, positioning is everything. I I I learned this. I remember I went on the holiday, I went to a really, really like fancy resort. I was like, I just want to indulge. The only thing is, over the course of that holiday, I bumped shoulders into so many interesting people that the holiday paid for itself over five, six times. That fascinated me. It was like, Jamie, think a little bit differently about how you leisure. Think a bit a little bit differently in terms of how you indulge, because in actual fact, you put yourself in the right place at the right time, it will return back so many times over.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I mean, that's how I've done every deal in life is building that network. And that's been the most valuable thing. As they say, don't go for a coffee at Starbucks, go and find a five-star hotel. The coffee's gonna cost you more, but it will 100% return through that network. When you go to these luxury hotels, what you don't often notice is why you feel the experience is so much more elevated, and often it's the people at that location, not the way of the service. The people there are significantly more elevated, and that environment creates so much more value. But all of these opportunities that I've had in life is through building that network, connecting people. And I think people look to climb that ladder and they often look above them and try and ask for things. I look above me and try to give things. That's the value of building your network and the connection that people want. So if you're trying to reach up to that billionaire, offer something back, um, and be the most interesting person in the room, be able to offer value to people, even if you're not the wealthiest.
SPEAKER_03:And in your case, it's fun, it's indulgence, it's enjoyment. I um I think it's quite interesting. Like the whole obviously, money science. Psychology and money mindset. And there's idiots online saying, you know, like if you really want to do well, save the three, four pounds a day that you spend on a coffee, put it into an index fund every day. And it's like, oh God almighty. Whereas a love that's saying, if you want to be successful, look at what everybody else is doing, do the opposite. And you're like, stop spending four quid for a coffee, spend 10 pounds, go to the nicer place, enjoy the nicer experience, meet the nicer people, and you very quickly find an interesting opportunity presents itself. That just isn't encouraged enough. Like you obviously spend a lot of time over in Dubai as well. And I found it interesting. My my past history, I used to promote nightclubs. And uh I used to own nightclubs, so I don't vibe.
SPEAKER_02:You know this vibe, yes.
SPEAKER_03:Um, one of the guys who worked with me uh went off to Dubai to work in the nightclubs there, and I checked in with him. I was like, How's it going? He went through the figures. We were doing at the height of about 30 nightclubs a week. I thought we were doing phenomenally well. He was like, Jamie, I'm doing one night in Dubai. I'm working fractionally in comparison to how we used to work over there. I'm earning pretty much on par. And I think that's like, you know, when we talk about obviously the company you keep and then the environment you're in, you can be doing the same work in a different environment in the right environment, and it'd be 30 times more productive.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I think this is the key thing, and there's so many people that create this glass ceiling within their businesses, and they say, look, last year, whatever it may be, whatever their figures, they made$100,000. Like, and they think, oh, if I can make 10% more this year. But you have to realize that there's opportunities in that marketplace for you to be able to make$10 million the next year. And I think that so often you need to break all of the molds and reset everything. Um, even within our organizations, when you're having budget meetings or sales meetings, you're looking for this incremental growth. And I'm like, there's a whole gap in the market here which could double our um turnover or profit next year. Like, go and find that. Like, just look for these big gaps. Don't fit into the norm. Go and find where these opportunities are. Don't believe there's a glass ceiling. Like, you can see examples of other things out there. Go and look at different industries, see how people have completely broken the norm. Look for um examples of where people have completely broken the norm and gone and found out a way because too often we just try and get incrementally better when the opportunity is to just write everything off and start again and go so exponentially bigger.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I it is odd, let's say the almost societal conditioning where so many have subscribed to like a 10% pay rise every year. That's great. That's the benchmark. And and perhaps all it is is a difference of saying, Well, actually, how can I double every year? That that simple act of just asking yourself that question might be the bigger determining factor in terms of the success you want to do.
SPEAKER_01:100%, because it just resets every question in your mind, completely changes. It's 10% better. None of your uh current conditioning changes. A hundred percent more. Everyone realizes they've got to change every single narrative, every single process they're currently doing. So when you start looking at it in that way, it starts moving things very quickly.
SPEAKER_03:It's funny that there's there's obviously such safety in doing what everybody else does. But all there is is normalness in that. Um, you know, it's just the beaten path. It's the way things are done, and all the, you know, everybody's profit margins are taken into it. And so the beaten safe path is, let's say, the 10% pay rise per year. To step out of that is quite rebellious, it's quite challenging, it's quite pressuresome, actually. Like, you know, if you're doing something different to everybody else, you feel a weight of pressure from that. And that pressure might feel like almost good instinct instinctually, I'm doing something wrong. Actual fact, I actually think that's right. Once you're getting away from the norm, there's the opportunity.
SPEAKER_01:There's the opportunity to beat the growth curve. But but that's where I found these opportunities in this sort of stuff, and not that I've gone after and gone, right, I'll go and present a different product or go and do these other deals. But I've seen where the need is, and then I've offered my services without looking at how I'm going to monetize it. The opportunity is to get yourself in that network, doing that business, being able to connect people through the relationships you've created. So, first time coming into these industries, I've just offered to put myself in the middle, create the opportunity, create the deal, not looking at how I'm going to monetize it at all. And those have been the situations that then given me the foundations to build on and monetize from there. If you're trying to make money from day one, it won't work.
SPEAKER_03:Can I make that practical? So here's me chatting to a group of people, and even a group of friends. And I'm like, guys, we should go on this holiday. And everybody gets really excited about the holiday. But I'm immediately start thinking about the figures, and I'm like, oh, it'll cost this and it'll cost that, and it'll cost that. And before I know it, I've killed the energy of it, right? And that happens a lot. The other one is like, this holiday's amazing. Well, do you know what? Look, we'll make it happen. Whatever it is, we'll figure out the figures as we go along. Who's in? I'm in, I'm in, I'm in, I'm in, I'm in. Cool. I'll check in with you as we progress from there. One is like flowy, exciting, enticing. And the other one is thinking of all the obstacles up front. Yeah. Right. One progresses, one stalls before it even gets going. And that kind of that simple little analogy could be applied to every aspect of life of let's focus on the excitement, let's harness that in, let's get the commitment and let's make it up as we go along. That's how the trip gets out of the WhatsApp group. Okay. Right. Yeah. Because to be fair, the amount of trips that have stayed in the WhatsApp group never gone anywhere. But I love, I love that. And an actual fact, people will generally speak pay a lot more if it's drip drabs along the way, rather than the ideal, you know, the expert businessman wants to present every cost up front, also all the terms and conditions. And by the time you go through it, it's it's vomit-inducing. It's too much. Whereas, like, oh, let's book the flights. Oh, I got the hotels. A month later, oh, we can do this, and a month later we can do that. Before you know it, you've spent twice as much, but you're actually a hell of a lot more excited, too.
SPEAKER_02:For sure.
SPEAKER_03:Wow. That's simple, but it makes an enormous amount of sense. Johnny, can I ask you, like, you're obviously you're in this world, um, you're rubbing shoulders with fantastic people, you're doing really interesting deals. It's like a cliche question, a coaching question. But like, if you trace back, what the hell led you on this path?
SPEAKER_01:I think that uh obviously I had a great foundation with my family. Um, my family had family businesses for many years. My father then stepped away from that family business, although in the same industry, he then went on to build his own business, and um that really showcased to me what it was like to be an entrepreneur, do those things. He had a company fitting out super yachts and private jets and palaces. Oh, so you knew this space well. Yeah, but in a very different way, this was very much driven by manufacturing and and those types of things. But yeah, at the age of 18, I was at the Monaco yacht show and had that world of experience. And we lived in it too. We we lived a great upbringing. Um I think that it was just what gave me access to open these doors. And um at university still, I hadn't really grasped onto that until I sort of got my master's degree and moved to London, and that created the environment. And it wasn't my degree in London, it was the network I then created, the the clubs, the experience, the events, um, and and that platform it gave me. So I then got excited about these opportunities, connecting people, creating relationships, and that went on for me to start organizing all these celebrity parties in London, then organizing the Gumball rally, then going on adventures to Antarctica. And I just kept on getting more and more inspired by what was possible and the environment around me and the network that I was just kept on wanting to go up that ladder. It was so exciting.
SPEAKER_03:So you actually you were the guy say early on that was in the WhatsApp group, going, guys, let's do this. This would be fantastic. And the better you organize and the better you kind of campaign, the more exciting stuff you could do very quickly to that became an opportunity to share with others. And it kind of grows quite naturally from there.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, very I think just believing that everything's possible. And I that mindset that I educate with my team as well is that genuinely nothing is impossible. It might take an enormous amount of time or an enormous amount of resources, but it's definitely possible. So when someone tells you it's not, they're wrong.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And the reality is you have need to keep asking why. And it's often you'll go up the chain at a company that tells you no, and you'll say, Oh, my manager says, Oh, that's our rule, our process. And I love breaking the rules and breaking the processes. And so often as a business, we have to do that to create experiences that are out of this world. We always have to break the rules. So, as a business, we constantly spend our time breaking the rules and breaking other people's rules, finding out why they exist. And I love that challenge always because so many times, in fact, almost every time, we break those rules and we find out that the impossible is possible. And it really, really is. And that's what's so exciting. And once you learn that and learn that things aren't impossible, and you make that even a mental goal of being like, right, this particular challenge, how would it not be impossible? What would I have to do? Yes, enormous amount. I'd have to put 300 people solving this problem, or I'd have to put a million dollars against it. But it's possible. So don't tell me it's not. Yeah. And that ability to change that mindset and just go, oh my God, it's not. Now let's see if we can bring that down and get bring that back to reality. And this is what I, one of the educations I got from university is about this creative brainstorming process and just thinking so far outside the box. So take that vision, take that crazy idea, make it happen, and then scale it back down to reality. And by having such a broad vision and an enormous goal, an enormous amount of resources perceived to put against that challenge, you work out how to solve that problem and then bring it back down to reality and you work out the little incremental steps to actually solve it. And so many times I've been proving everyone wrong around me and I absolutely love it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I get this idea as well. It's that when you do something different, it stands out dramatically. There's no real money, no exciting money to be made doing the same thing everybody else is doing. Why? Because it's the same. It doesn't stand out, it doesn't have any natural marketing power. So that that idea of like actually almost searching for things that people would say, oh no, that can't be done. Brilliant. Let's start there. Because that's our opportunity to shine, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And it's it's not just that as well. It's so exciting for the very people that are working with you. Because who again wants to be doing the same stuff over and over? No, we want to be doing different things, things that are like bending the rules, opening people's horizons. I get that. I get that a lot. Because I think when it comes to like building businesses, a lot of time there's huge attrition with teams when just they're doing the same thing, they're following the rules. Um, whereas the excitement that comes from doing something different, from breaking the rules, from challenging the norms, from challenging no's. That's so much, that's so appealing. I love that. I really love that. I think the idea of like really searching for concepts of success, pillars of success. And I think, like, yeah, there's one way to burn out a team, have them do the same thing over and over again, have them do boring work. On the opposite, how do you keep them, get them do different work, get them do exciting stuff for yourself? Like, if you're searching for an opportunity, search for the place that nobody's looking. Search for the place that people have accepted. Oh no, that can't be done.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I saw I I um I had a summer of dance music. I I fell in love with partying and uh I saw this DJ decided to do a big gig in front of the pyramids. And I just thought, oh my god, that's so cool. And then there was another one saying, Oh, they're gonna do one in the Coliseum. I just thought, like, those are things I like. I thought, oh, you can't do that.
SPEAKER_01:But the immediately as somebody's doing my friend actually kicked off that concept at the pyramids by doing his 50th birthday party there. And then that and he brought in all the his government contacts to be able to host that party. We had a party at the pyramids that then led on to the music festivals you now see. This was uh four or five years back when he fested it. So we had an amazing party, but then they they opened the floodgates. So subsequently, people have seen a lot of events go on there. But he was the one that wanted to make the impossible possible for his birthday.
SPEAKER_03:Very cool. And okay, so in that then, boom, opens up a big opportunity. Because I think a lot of the time people people have this idea, oh, everything's been done, there's no opportunities there. And it's like, well, no, the world is always growing, and so it's all the time opening up opportunities. And at the same time, as well, we as a species, we're very good at closing doors. Yeah, we're very good at almost normalizing society and conforming.
SPEAKER_01:But when you're in an environment where everything's wild and everything's crazy, it's so interesting what you view as the norm and uh our space travel business. People don't realize that people have been going commercially to space for the last 25 years when they're like, I can go to it. You're like, what? Like people have been going up as um cosmonauts um with the Russians for 25 years. Yes, it's cost tens of millions of dollars to go with them, a year's worth of training and learning Russian, um, now simplified a lot more by SpaceX and going with them, that only takes a few weeks of training. Um, but that mindset around what's possible and going to the space station, um, people just don't realize those things are possible. And when more recently I was with Blue Origin when we sent some clients at Blue Origin, even down to the my driver that was driving me around for those few days, like he's on a daily basis being given that understanding that Blue Origin is building a space station and building rockets that are going into space. Like, so his norm and understanding, even as the driver for Blue Origin, is far greater and his mindset is far wider than some others, and that's what he thinks is the norm that people can just go into space every day. So it really is about your environment. Spend time and energy building your environment, building your community. And if you put your energy into that, everything else will flow. If you are around a room of CEOs, if you're going to um meetings with billionaires, if you're in these types of networks, then it will just organically flow into you. You will get these opportunities, you will change your mindset. So focus on putting your energy into finding your right friend circle and environment. That is where you should spend your time and money. Not in trying to take more education, not in trying to take more courses. Like put your time into building your network and that will pay off in shed loads.
SPEAKER_03:So as you're sharing this, I'm kind of my my mind is almost getting to like the playbook of like, okay, if you are, if you are playing all the odds to complement your future success from, let's say, a young age or for wherever somebody is, I totally get exactly what you've just shared there. I think our the company we keep is so incredibly impressionable, they will either lift you up or cut you from the heels or cut you from the knees. And that's really sad, but but that's just the fact of facts. Sometimes people want to pull you down, other times people love celebrating you up.
SPEAKER_01:But but generally the people that pull you down are beneath you, and generally the people that lift you up or above you. So be in that right environment.
SPEAKER_03:So that's actually a really interesting thing that you've said. Few people ever want to say that. There's this idea of, oh, we're all equal. I don't believe that. Me personally, and I think it's really important that I lead with vulnerability on this. I don't think we're all equal. I think somebody who comes from a really hard-working lineage and who has really, you know, worked hard on themselves, not just professionally, but physically. Like there's a reason why, let's say, you look at that person and it's like, oh, they stand out. You can see them looking after themselves. Whereas on the other side, you have somebody who's not looking after themselves, who all their personal habits are awful. They are literally physically sickly and they don't give a bet a shit about their career. And then unfortunately, all the stress of that reflects itself on them. There's an idea societally, and it's like, oh, a poor, unfortunate them. It's like, well, one second, where do where does that person take responsibility? And on the other side, if we're saying that poor, unfortunate person, there's a lot of, let's say, wealth shaming that goes on where people will point the finger at wealthy and go, oh, it's easy for them. And it's like, wait a second, that one wealthy person is probably, and it's like, oh, they're they're creative with their taxes. It's like that one worth wealthy person is probably paying 10,000 of the other person's taxes altogether. And I I find this that I I find myself fascinated that it is hard to say, um, hard to look upon people and say, oh, they're outstanding, they're superior. That person is underwhelming, they're inferior. And that and that there's like I I know I I love putting out this podcast. I know I'm gonna get loads of people being like, that's disgusting. I don't think it is. I think it's actually a really, really important thing because at that you can start to see where you aspire to and what you want to what what you want to uh move away from. Um does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely, yeah. I very much agree.
SPEAKER_03:I I I I get so frustrated because sometimes it becomes hard to look. Where do you look for inspiration? And it becomes hard to actually have any feelings or beliefs because my instincts would lead me to aspire to the beautiful person, the healthy, beautiful person, the successful person living a successful life, making it all look easy, but I'm told not to. And on the other side, I'm like told to be like, you know, to have to really feel sorry for the person who wait a second, are they indulging in an in addictionary challenge over and over and over and over and over again? Are they uh not working? Not not dieting, not like and it's it's it's it's a it's a it's an odd thing. And I I I actually I withdrew as a as a tax citizen of Ireland. I I just mentally couldn't fathom. Let's say if I'm if I'm dieting, I'm working so hard, I'm pumping so much money into a health system that is pumping so much money to people that don't give a shit about their health. I'm like, that just doesn't add up. Not to mention, let's say, my frustrations with the corruption. Ireland's government is comically corrupt and wasteful. I think we built the most expensive hospital the world has ever seen, and it's still not open 10 years later. So my my kind of withdrawal was a let's say a hold of sanity in that. Um, but I yeah, I God, I've I've probably gone a little bit too much down on this avenue. God, pull us back. But I do think it is very, very important to have clear ideas in terms of what you aspire to and what you don't.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, uh, very much.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, okay. Change that subject, Shamie. My gosh. Did you ever get like that? Sometimes something triggers and you're like, but it's uh yeah, it's it's I I find it challenging sometimes because you can't uh we're I suppose we're all meant to be very, very positive and we're all meant to look at everything in such an equal lovely fashion versus um it's it's versus there are let's say challenging our divisive opinions that it's just not socially okay to have.
SPEAKER_01:I mean I think the I always have uh a positive outlook on every situation. I think that I'm away like people ask me, did you regret anything if you did? And the answer's always no, because I'm so happy to be where I am. I think that that focus on positive mindset, if you search for the negative, you find it. And it's so important to wake up every morning and be looking for that positive. As a CEO, unfortunately, I I'm often looking for the problems within an organization because that's the things I'm there to solve. Um the successes are um there to be praised, um, but the problems are there to be found a lot of the time. But the reality is, is it's so important to focus on those positives because you genuinely will draw that negative to you if you keep focusing on it. You your eyes Go towards it and you can't do anything else. So I think that that positivity mindset is absolutely fundamental. And I think that uh the the law of attraction, this mindset, and try trying to understand that science of that is ultimately if if you'll keep constantly discussing something, if you're constantly pushing forward towards a specific goal, that then you're going to achieve it. I always when I'm talking to people and advising them, is when you're in a discussion sharing what you do, share your vision, share your forward, not share your now. Like so often, people with startups or people with go, oh well, I'm trying to start something up. And it's like, no, what you're trying to do is I am building this, we are working on that. And you then start to narrate your future. But when you do that, the people around you also listen to go, oh, you're you're you're doing this. Oh, actually, I could probably help with that. And you're you're casting your vision six or 12 months ahead of you, and that's the relevant bit for the environment you're in. If you have that, oh, I'm just building this or I'm doing it, it's like I have this, I we're creating this, creating clear clarity around that. People will then be able to support you more because you're telling your story, and it's ultimately your sales pitch. Whenever you're around someone, it is that ability to be able to build the network, connect with more people, and be more relevant to them. So don't tell them what you're doing now, tell them what you're doing in the future.
SPEAKER_03:That's really interesting. That current circumstances are generally quite challenged because it's volatile, it's up and it's down, but the future vision is clear. So if you ask somebody what they're up to right now, it can sometimes be a bit challenging to actually understand it and for someone to do themselves justice. But it's much, much easier when they're narrating the future. Very much. Lovely. So I get this. It's like, look, you know, really step one, you're working hard on your mindset, you're making sure you're clearing the negative thoughts and zoning into your positives. You're reinforcing that by the company you keep, making sure people are really, really complimenting you and being choice with that regard. And then when it comes to actually in terms of how you're carrying yourself, you're very, very clear in terms of what you're working towards. You're not necessarily taking people on a rook on a journey through the challenges that you're going through up and down, because that can be detractive. Yeah. That can be difficult. Generally speaking, nobody wants to, nobody wants to go through what you have to go through to get to where it is that we want to go, but they really want to get there. Yes. So why not just talk about the place that they want to be rather than the challenges that you know they'd avoid?
SPEAKER_01:Well, exactly. And that's the the the energy that you need to give off, right? So everyone wants to get this success that you have, but no one wants to have gone through the journey. So, but but showcase that opportunity and people will jump on and join you. Of course, you need to share some of the challenges with your inner network, but your ability to tell your story, tell your now. People buy why you do things, not what you do. Remember that. And that's fundamental because people are buying into your story, your why. That that's the excitement of these things. And the the physicality of your your product or service isn't inspiring for people. Buy into the why. So have a strong why. If you don't know what your why is, that's an issue. Go out and find it and be great at telling your why story. Your why is always in the future, your why is what you're always striving towards. It will always be there. So make that your focus when you talk to people.
SPEAKER_03:Jenny, there's so many, let's say, like concepts of success that you shared throughout this. Like, and it and it like there's the there's the mindset, there's the company, there's the storytelling, but there's also like the avoidance of like avoid that. That actually that makes so much sense to me. That when you're sharing what it is that you're up to, nobody wants to go through the journey. Hell, you probably aren't enjoying the journey. So don't distract, don't bring the energy down. Remember the vision. That's huge. It's I always think there's a play of energy. Keep like talk into this point, the points that speak that peak and that really, really grab that are magnetic. Avoid the points that are low, that are challenging. Follow the energy. It's really, really, really simple. Can I ask what like there's obviously big lessons that have led to you, uh led you to where you are right now? Like it's from what you've shared, and perhaps you're exercising your very strategy there, but what but it feels like, oh, this makes so much sense, and that went to this, to that. Where are the challenges? Like, what's the biggest teacher that you kind of come across?
SPEAKER_01:I think the reflecting back on the biggest challenges is where the best opportunities have come from. Whether I was starting my nightclub and had disagreements with my shareholders and um the times were challenging to make the money in the club, but that made me step away from that. And if I hadn't have done, I would then wouldn't have got into Formula One. And being so lucky that my business partner at the time had just bought a Formula One team, and that gave him my steps into that, or other challenges in business, which I think that people that they're your biggest fears is the unknown. And I've often had challenges where I've been like, How am I going to finance this next stage of this business investment? And I'll have sleepless nights about it being like, what if the investors don't like it? What if this, what if that? And um, I had a challenge recently where I thought about those numbers and how we do that. And I decided I'll just finance it myself. And overnight that dropped my fear. But the the relevance of that story is about you fear the unknown. Once you have that situation under control, so to so make rapid decisions. Like get to the solution. Your fear is the unknown. Make sure nothing's unknown. Take massive action now. The best time to part a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today. Yeah people always ask like, why? Um, what's the best strategy? Take action. Take massive action now. That's it. That is the only strategy. The difference between someone who succeeded and failed is the other person took action. Whether it didn't work or not, they just took action and take massive action, enormous action, more than you can ever imagine. And that is what creates the solution every single time, and it doesn't fail.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. I'm kind of getting the picture of the opposite of that is the person sitting on the sideline, the person over-strategizing, refining the business plan over and over and indulging in perfectionism to the point that they paralyze themselves. And it's like unfortunately, you only learn so much and you can only do so much from the sidelines. Whereas when you're on the pitch, you can, yeah, you might fall over, but you can get yourself back up. But you're learning a hell of a lot in the process. And and with those learnings, you get to bring them all together and improve off the back of them.
SPEAKER_01:Always start before you're ready. Just get going. Just start, just start. That's yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Don't overthink it. I love it. Even if we go back to the WhatsApp group and the friends, it's like, don't overtrip the over overthink the trip. Just get everybody on board, make it up as you go along. Don't overthink the business idea. Just make sure it's something that you really want to do, and you'll improve as you go from there.
SPEAKER_01:Or with the WhatsApp group, fail at the goal, that maybe it was too big the trip you planned. Then you'll you'll end up still doing it, but it might be scaled back, but you'll still do the bloody thing. And that's so important.
SPEAKER_03:That's a funny one because I when I reflect back, I I I I be I suppose I find myself almost haunted by the amount of time wasted, the amount of time thinking up a project or planning a business or just over-analyzing something on all of that is wasted. Whereas what I'm hearing from you is like, don't do that, just dive in, trust yourself, have real deep trust that your future self will solve it. Um, but get yourself moving. That that note of like the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. There's a hell of a lot of truth in that. Like that stop trying to wait for the perfect moment and again paralyzing. Just get yourself going, get the wheels in motion and flow forward from there.
SPEAKER_01:Honestly, the energy that gives you and the speed at which you start to complete tasks when you realize that's the goal is just start now. The impact that has, the amount of uh, as they say, eat the frog, like the first thing in the morning is go and do the biggest, most challenging task first. The thing you've been putting off for weeks, just go and do it. And it's never that bad. Once you start to get involved in it, it's never as bad as you think it is. Pick up the phone, do that thing, and you'll see the results.
SPEAKER_03:I I found what I asked you about, like the tough, challenging scenario. It was almost a very political answer, but matter of fact, I I feel your truth from it. It's like Jamie, if I overindulged in those challenges, they would have got the better of me. But instead, if I literally jumped to where's the learning and quickly jumped for the refinement, the improvement off the back of it, the win that we can get from that down point, it turns it into an overall win. So you don't overindulge in failures. You don't overindulge in too much thought or too much analysis or too much strategy. You just move and you roll. And if a challenge comes up, I love as well the difference of perspective that you were saying, you're like, let's say, haunted by challenges with regards to investment. You're like, are I could just invest myself. I'm amazed oftentimes how we can imprison ourselves with stress and imprison ourselves in situations, oftentimes when this la the solution is dangling in front of you. It's so obvious. But people can sometimes be blind to it. Yeah. And what I'm kind of getting the impression of is in that situation, in actual fact, your solution was probably a better one than the fair.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, absolutely. And I think that that's that that's the great thing, is like once you start those wheels in motion, and what we often see, and you think, oh, don't start now or don't make that decision, is some of the biggest companies on earth pivoted, right? They they were that wasn't their first goal. Whether it was an Uber or or a Tesla, like people pivoted as they evolved into different things. It's never what they originally thought. But once you've got that momentum, it's so much easier to just steer left and steer right with no momentum. You've got no traction. Just get going.
SPEAKER_03:Johnny, can I ask you, say, like somebody, somebody who's like I was gonna say somebody young at the start of their career, but to be fair, somebody actually just had a turning point in their lives where they've kind of gone a certain path. And it's like, okay, I I followed the societal norms that Jamie's chatting about, or the ideals, I held myself to them, and and they work, but perhaps not to the tune that I wanted. And and you know what? I'm actually taking quite a lot of inspiration from this guy. Wow, he's doing that light, he's like living that life, rubbing these kind of shoulders. What are like the the kind of the key pearls of wisdom that you are are actually the key concepts of success? Because as you've been chatting, I've been like, oh, I really like that. Like that you you've put a different spin in terms of the company, a key, are not not taking a no, for example. When somebody comes to you with that, or actually just when you think of like, what are the kind of the key concepts that that you've held dear that you feel have really stood to you?
SPEAKER_01:I mean, I think that what I see so many times, especially in the startup world, is people creating the perfect product, but that doesn't matter if you don't have the customer. So I think going to the customer first, going back to finding someone's needs, going and exploring that world of needs, wherever that is, at events or networking, find your customer that you want to look after and then offer to do that service for free. Advise, support, be the intermediary. Don't be the expert yet because you're not. So just get involved, just go and support whatever industry sector that is in, then go find the clients, build the relationships, connect people, and don't look at how you're going to monetize it. That is the easiest and quickest way to get into an industry and start making a lot of connections very quickly, getting a lot of traction. So that is one of the greatest opportunities I've um been able to do in every industry I've worked in and everyone that I've stepped into a new industry sector. So for me, that's the greatest opportunity first. I think that in addition to that, it's about having those big goals, having a goal that seems so crazy that people just say you're mad. Um, because then that's going to inspire others and make them want to listen and understand more. Um, but number one, be in that environment, find the clients first.
SPEAKER_03:I love that line that you shared that like aim for the moon and at least you'll end up with the stars. It's it's it's beautifully true.
SPEAKER_01:All the way around, just for reference. Stars are further away than the moon.
SPEAKER_02:You want to aim for the stars.
SPEAKER_03:I love when something's on video. My face was like, what? Aim for the stars and at least you'll land on the moon.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:Oh gosh.
SPEAKER_02:Do you know I've said that wrong so many times? The moon's closer than the stars.
SPEAKER_03:But I thought it'd be cooler to be on the moon, but it would be better to be with the stars. Oh god, the shame. Lovely though, but lovely. Um, yeah, that note with regards to just like sorry, when you were sharing with regards to like, don't worry about the money, just get yourself in the mix, start creating. I as you were sharing that, you know the way sometimes your mind almost starts going through scenarios. I was thinking about the most successful things I've been involved in. They were all like that. Yeah, there was no over emphasis on the costs or the terms and conditions or like if it's possible or not.
SPEAKER_01:But that's what takes the energy away is you trying to work out how am I gonna get my percentage out of the deal, what margin am I gonna make. If you're just going into it with the opportunity of building a relationship and network, none of that matters to you. And that energy flows into other people. You go, I'll help you out, and they'll be like, what do you want for it? Oh, nothing. I just want to help you out. And they're like, oh my god, cool, then brilliant. Then all that energy and excitement comes from the client at that point because they're just excited that someone's gonna support them and get involved. They can see there's some upside. Everyone gets excited about the opportunity. If you come into something working out how you're trying to make the money out of it first, I can guarantee you it's gonna nose die straight away. So do that first. Just get involved.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I'll take that. I think that's like the best parting gift, the best way to finish this. It's like actually have faith. Don't be too calculated up front. Just do something brilliant, do something fun. And things have a beautiful way of working out from there. Ani, thank you. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01:Amazing, thank you, mate. Lovely. Loved it. That's a much better ending.