Josh Smith from Wingman made a bold career switch move. He reached out to his (now) Director on LinkedIn with no sales experience, no CV attached, just personality and a willingness to make a leap.

Two and a half years later, he's traveling the world for expos, and working with MSPs across the English speaking world! This week Dave speaks with him about career pivots, why you should hire on personality not just skillset, and why embarrassment is often the only thing standing between you and your next opportunity.

What they discuss:

📱 How a LinkedIn message got him his dream job
💼 Wingman's niche approach to marketing in the IT channel
🌍 US/Canada expansion
🤖 Optimising for AI search
📊 Why MSPs struggle to productise AI

As always, enjoy, with your 'Quick Brew' ⏱️☕🎙️

🤝 Connect with Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-smith-b181b6184/

💻 Learn more abuot Wingman online: https://wingmanmspmarketing.com/

📖 Read Josh's book recommendation: Choose Trust: Building relationships for business success: https://amzn.eu/d/06TD6O9S

❤️ Thank you to our sponsors, Loomyna. Your AI conversation coach - helping managers, leaders, and HR professionals rehearse, refine, and communicate with clarity, confidence, and care.
🔗 https://wellityglobal.com/meet-loomyna/
🤑 Don't forget to use the discount code: BREW10

This week Dave and James suggest courtesy is dying, and we're treating people like they're our personal punching bags.

What they discuss:

🎤 James' Center Parcs incident
🎵 Why weddings are chaos when you ask guests for playlists
🍽️ Why waiters don't deserve to be screamed at
👨‍⚖️ Kids football referees dealing with aggressive parents
✈️ Airport desk staff and the rudeness they face
🏢 Leadership: assertiveness without being an a*sehole
🙏 Why being decent takes less energy than being angry

This is about remembering we're all human and respecting people doing their jobs.

As always, enjoy, with your 'Quick Brew' ⏱️☕🎙️

❤️ Thank you to our sponsors, Loomyna. Your AI conversation coach - helping managers, leaders, and HR professionals rehearse, refine, and communicate with clarity, confidence, and care.
🔗 https://wellityglobal.com/meet-loomyna/
🤑 Don't forget to use the discount code: BREW10

#aquickbrew #podcast #courtesy #respect #hospitality #communication #kindness #leadership #DJing #workplace #culture #mentalhealth #humanconnection #empathy

Heather from Counting Creators knows something most MSPs don't: if your financial house isn't in order, you can't see s**t. And she says it unapologetically.

What they discuss:

💰 Why a financial house in order is the foundation to every business decision
📊 The Evolve benchmark model: 80% recurring revenue, 20% non-recurring (projects/hardware/upsells)
🏆 Building teams where nobody's waiting for someone to leave
👥 Trust over micromanagement: hire for their skills, then step back
🧠 ADHD, autism, dyslexia as superpowers
💊 HRT and perimenopause: why it matters in business and why men need to know
✉️ LinkedIn as your mailbox: posting three times a week keeps you visible
❌ Turning down clients because they're not a fit
🎤 The journey from breakdown to international speaker

As always, enjoy, with your 'Quick Brew' ⏱️☕🎙️

🤝 Connect with Heather on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathermacdonaldalford-yourmspfinanceexpert-profitpreview/

📖 Read Heathers book recommendations:

📕 Leadership Mindset 2.0: The Psychology and Neuroscience of Reaching your Full Potential: amzn.eu/d/0dVZDsj9

📘 All My Friends are Superheroes: https://amzn.eu/d/08SY8dbS

📙 Who Moved My Cheese: How to Deal With Change in Your Work and in Your Life: https://amzn.eu/d/087t0BHZ

❤️ Thank you to our sponsors, Loomyna. Your AI conversation coach - helping managers, leaders, and HR professionals rehearse, refine, and communicate with clarity, confidence, and care.
🔗 https://wellityglobal.com/meet-loomyna/
🤑 Don't forget to use the discount code: BREW10

#aquickbrew #podcast #MSP #finance #bookkeeping #neurodiversity #ADHD #autism #dyslexia #HRT #menopause #teamculture #leadership #businessowner #entrepreneurs #linkedin #marketing #businesspodcast

Dave and James explore what happens when you stop moving forward: burnout, illness, and stagnation. But more importantly, they explore what happens when you learn to rest.

What they discuss:

🪓 The Axeman story
🥋 Dave's karate journey: commitment, discipline, and competing
⏰ Consistency beats intensity every single time
😤 Hustle culture is a lie
🏥 Why David got ill every time he took a holiday
💼 Psychological safety: building teams that admit mistakes and learn from them
🎮 Why hobbies matter
💭 The most important relationship you'll ever have is with yourself

As always, enjoy, with your 'Quick Brew' ⏱️☕🎙️

❤️ Thank you to our sponsors, Loomyna. Your AI conversation coach - helping managers, leaders, and HR professionals rehearse, refine, and communicate with clarity, confidence, and care.
🔗 https://wellityglobal.com/meet-loomyna/
🤑 Don't forget to use the discount code: BREW10

#aquickbrew #podcast #wellbeing #mentalhealth #leadership #psychology #teamculture #worklifebalance #rest #karate #personalgrowth #learning #businesspodcast #burnout #hustle

England just beat Mexico in the World Cup, and James Pitron from Digital Data Governance is here to explain why cybersecurity requires the same tactical flexibility as football!

Dave and James 'ICH' Sharples welcome Shiny (our guest James), a cyber essentials assessor just back from expanding operations across Southeast Asia. They dive into Cyber Essentials frameworks, why basic cybersecurity hygiene matters more than fancy solutions, and the uncomfortable truth: small businesses aren't too small to target, they're actually the easiest entry point to bigger brands.

What they discuss:

🔒 Cyber Essentials: the NIST framework and why basic hygiene saves businesses
✨ Cyber Essentials rebrand and two-branch approach (Governance + Defence)
🌏 Expanding to Manila and Malaysia (with a detour to the worst beach in the Philippines)
⚽ England's tactical masterclass and why Tuchel proves adaptability wins
😩 Blockbuster rejecting Netflix for £50M: the cost of refusing to innovate
💡 Why everyone you meet knows something you don't (and networking without a list)
🎯 Atomic Habits in cybersecurity: small changes compound into big protection
🤝 The strength of networks and unexpected connections through LinkedIn

This is about adaptation, vulnerability, and why the philosophy "if you don't innovate, you'll evaporate" applies to every business, and every person (Dave borrowed this one from James Sinclair)

As always, enjoy, with your 'Quick Brew' ⏱️☕🎙️

🤝 Connect with our guest James Pitron from Digital Data Governance: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-pitron-53353a283/

📖 Read James' book recommendation: The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran: https://amzn.eu/d/0hH5M6s8

❤️ Thank you to our sponsors, Loomyna. Your AI conversation coach - helping managers, leaders, and HR professionals rehearse, refine, and communicate with clarity, confidence, and care.
🔗 https://wellityglobal.com/meet-loomyna/
🤑 Don't forget to use the discount code: BREW10

#aquickbrew #podcast #cybersecurity #smallbusiness #innovation #datagovernance #worldcup #itscominghome #networkingtips #linkedin #businesspodcast

00:00 Euphoria and Football Excitement

02:19 Introducing James Pitron from Cyber Trust

03:23 Global Ventures in Cybersecurity

08:13 England's Football Performance and Tactical Changes

11:50 Analyzing Key Players and Future Challenges

16:56 Referee Decisions and VAR in Football

19:17 The Importance of Adaptability in Cybersecurity

22:09 AI's Impact on Cybersecurity

24:56 Innovation vs. Complacency in Business

29:08 A Note From Our Sponsors: Loomyna

29:32 The Evolution of Cyber Trust

31:56 The Twelve Week Year: James' Book Recommendation

34:47 Cybersecurity Awareness Among Small Businesses

36:09 The Vulnerability of Supply Chains

39:15 Networking and Learning from Others

43:17 Wrapping Up The Episode

EP42. The summer holiday season is coming, and your mindset about it will determine your results!

This week Dave and James explore the sales fundamental that separates winners from everyone else: showing up when everyone else assumes it's quiet. They discuss why your effort directly equals your opportunities, why quality conversations matter more than call scripts, and why after working hard, you should never feel guilty about taking time off to recharge.

What they discuss:

🎯 Why the holiday period is actually an opportunity, not a dead zone
📞 The cold call approach: personality over scripts, questions over pitches
🎣 The fishing analogy (if you don't put a rod in the water, you catch zero fish)
❌ Knowing when to walk away from deals that aren't a fit
⚡ The Yerkes-Dodson curve: why you need positive pressure but also recovery
🏖️ The value of intentional time off and digital detoxing
✉️ A live LinkedIn DM to Jordan Belfort mid-episode

This is about mindset in sales, boundaries in work, and why showing up matters more than you think.

As always, enjoy, with your 'Quick Brew' ⏱️☕🎙️

❤️ Thank you to our sponsors, Loomyna. Your AI conversation coach - helping managers, leaders, and HR professionals rehearse, refine, and communicate with clarity, confidence, and care.
🔗 https://wellityglobal.com/meet-loomyna/
🤑 Don't forget to use the discount code: BREW10

00:00 Introduction and Refreshments

02:14 Mindset During Holiday Seasons

05:21 Do The Holidays Slow Down Recruitment?

09:07 Sales Strategies and Cold Calling

11:55 Consistency and Effort in Sales

14:52 You're Not Trying To Sell To Everyone

15:42 Don't Prejudge In Sales

17:11 Let's Get Jordan Belfort Onto The Pod!

19:41 Balancing Work and Rest

21:36 Reminiscing Over Corfu in James’ Youth

24:13 Look After Yourself And Take Time Off

26:22 Wrapping Up The Episode

#aquickbrew #podcast #sales #salesleadership #mindset #summerholidays #holidayseason #coldcalling #worklifebalance #burnout #businesspodcast

How do you turn broken tech into life-changing opportunities? Mike Tarbard, co-founder and CEO of Every Child Online and Everyone Digital, has spent five years answering that question... and the results are impressive!

Dave and James welcome Mike to discuss digital inclusion, online safety, and how refurbished IT equipment is creating pathways for young people who would otherwise have no access. From collecting surplus tech from businesses to wiping data securely, from training centres to creative upcycling, this is a charity that's doing things differently.

What they discuss:

💻 How 50,000+ devices have been refurbished and distributed to schools and charities, and they're just getting started
🎓 Digital inclusion isn't just about education, it's about belonging and self-esteem
🔒 The online safety crisis: bullying, sextortion, and predators
♻️ Creating jewellery and gifts from old circuit boards
🤝 How ESG credentials help businesses win tenders whilst supporting their community
🏢 Expanding to new premises and outreach centres across the region
📚 The importance of practical work experience alongside qualifications

As always, enjoy, with your 'Quick Brew' ⏱️☕🎙️

🤝 Connect with Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-tarbard/

🙏 Learn more about Every Child Online: https://everychildonline.co.uk/

📖 Read Mike's book recommendation: The Magic Faraway Tree Collection by Enid Blyton: https://amzn.eu/d/0c8y6FXz

❤️ Thank you to our sponsors, Loomyna. Your AI conversation coach - helping managers, leaders, and HR professionals rehearse, refine, and communicate with clarity, confidence, and care.
🔗 https://wellityglobal.com/meet-loomyna/
🤑 Don't forget to use the discount code: BREW10

#digitalinclusion #everychildonline #onlinesafety #charity #tech #cybersecurity #corporatesocialresponsibility #businesspodcast #aquickbrew #podcast

Sometimes the best episodes are about the simplest things: paying it forward and remembering that kindness still matters.

Dave and James kick off their 40th episode discussing James's decision to refocus on an AI project inspired by recent health scares, and David's work as a charity ambassador for Every Child Online and Everyone Digital.

What follows is a celebration of random acts of kindness.

What they discuss:

🤝 Why paying it forward matters when the world feels cynical
💻 Refurbishing tech and making cufflinks from circuit boards
👴 The elderly couple and a £3 bottle of water
🤝 InfoSec at the Excel and the Cyber House Party igloo
📱 Why people engage with one-minute shorts instead of full episodes
🎬 Film actors that never have anything in their cups...

A genuinely positive episode about community, connection, and the fact that small acts of kindness cost nothing but make everything better.

As always, enjoy, with your 'Quick Brew' ⏱️☕🎙️

#podcast #kindness #community #charity #volunteers #everychild #cybersecurity #mentalhealth #payitforward #businesspodcast #aquickbrew

00:00 The Perfect Introduction

01:03 Focus on Personal Projects and Side Hustles

03:02 Charity Initiatives and Community Support

05:33 Acts of Kindness and Paying It Forward

10:21 Challenges of Modern Transactions - Just Take My Money!

12:00 The Importance of Paying It Forward

12:47 Community Engagement in Cybersecurity

14:17 Positive Initiatives and Charitable Causes

17:23 Recognition and AQB Host Identities

19:20 Humor and Family Dynamics

21:20 Come On Guys, Watch The Pod!

22:16 James' Stunt Mug

23:48 Acts of Kindness in Daily Life

25:47 Wrapping Up

26:35 AQB_intro_short.mp4