You already know what you think. The hard part is saying it out loud, and staying yourself once you have.

You'll learn:

• How to take harsh feedback without swallowing the cruelty that came with it
• Two questions to ask before you say yes to a stage, a client or a room
• How to think straight for someone whose brain has gone offline
• Why AI sounds so human, and why that should make you trust it less
• What the 10 December Privacy Act change means if your business uses AI to make decisions about customers
• Why poor sleep can be a menopause symptom, and what to do if your GP doesn’t take you seriously
• A ridiculous trick for turning down the voice in your head

By the end, you'll know what it takes to be honest at work, with other people and with yourself, and still be the person they booked.

Key topics: leadership integrity, harsh feedback, authentic leadership, values alignment, AI ethics, AI governance, Empire of AI, Karen Hao, The AI Con, Emily Bender, cyber security, Privacy Act, GDPR, privacy law, self-talk, mindfulness, sobriety, menopause, perimenopause, frank advice

Chapters:

00:00 - Intro
(00:51) Why EJ, not Emma Jane
(02:05) When a keynote misses the mark
(08:05) Checking the fit before you say yes
(11:16) From Air Force lawyer to cyber law firm
(12:38) Who AI is built for
(17:20) Why AI sounds so human
(19:50) Privacy Act changes and your business
(24:59) Mirror Mirror: the wardrobe cull
(31:39) Turning down the voice in your head
(35:43) Between the Lines
(36:27) Twenty years without a drink
(39:38) Picking the wrong fight
(43:15) Giving frank advice after a cyber incident
(48:42) Why prevention beats response
(51:25) Menopause, sleep and being believed

#NakedAtTheTop #Leadership #AuthenticLeadership #AIethics #CyberSecurity #Menopause #PrivacyAct #LeadershipPodcast

Where to find EJ Wise:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wiselaw3/
Wiselaw LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wiselawandcyberconsulting/home/

Thanks to AIXFamily for sponsoring this episode. AIXFamily is the parental control platform built by a dad of three after a decade in network security couldn't turn up a tool that met his own family's needs. It runs at the network level, so deleting the app or switching on a VPN gets your kids nowhere, and every block comes with an explanation for them.

Join the waitlist for founding-member access before it launches:

🔗 https://www.aixfamily.com

STORIES FOR BUSINESS NEWSLETTER:
https://storiesforbusiness.substack.com/

FOLLOW NAKED AT THE TOP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nakedatthetop/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/naked-at-the-top/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nakedatthetop/

🎥 YouTube – https://youtube.com/@NakedAtTheTop?sub_confirmation=1

🍎 Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/naked-at-the-top/id1822169203

🎧 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1lCQJthCpq39LkWXDlkwCf?si=9ef0f76a91cd4bd0

CONNECT WITH ALEYX
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyxward
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleyxfward/

You built the business so you'd have more time. So where did it go?

In this episode of Naked at the Top, the founder of an outsourced bookkeeping and CFO firm, 19 years in with a team of 30, explains why he never wanted to be the person who runs it. Damian Scodella of SquarePenny has lived by one rule in every job since his early twenties: make yourself redundant. He has handed the running of the business over twice, most recently to a leader promoted from within. He also wears a jacket covered in logos to networking events, on purpose, so there is nowhere to hide.

You'll learn:

• Why "make yourself redundant" has been his rule in every role for 30 years, and what he does with the time it frees up
• The difference between profit and cash, and the one habit he gives clients who keep asking where their money went
• What happened the Tuesday a major client walked away with no notice, and how a strategy coach turned it into growth from 10 staff to 20
• How a Friday morning basketball game became the place a group of dads say things they don't say anywhere else
• Why 5am to 7am is the only time he takes for himself, and what those two hours pay for
• How a diagnosis six weeks before a planned move to Italy changed what time is worth to him

By the end you'll have a sharper answer to what your business is for, and what your time is worth.

Key topics: stepping back from your business, making yourself redundant, profit vs cash flow, losing a major client, men's connection and wellbeing, morning routine, time and family, business owner leadership

Chapters:
(00:57) Embracing Vulnerability: The Jacket Story
(08:23) Building a Brand: SquarePenny's Unique Approach
(10:49) Leadership and Delegation: Making Yourself Redundant
(15:48) Personal Reflections: The Impact of Time and Health
(21:54) Finding Balance: Work, Life, and Self-Care
(25:31) Understanding Financial Realities
(26:41) Client Education and Financial Habits
(28:04) Creating Safe Spaces for Men
(32:02) Navigating Business Challenges
(36:26) The Importance of Support Systems
(40:50) Dealing with Life's Significant Changes

#NakedAtTheTop #Leadership #BusinessOwner #Founder #AuthenticLeadership #CashFlow #MensMentalHealth

Follow Damian:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianscodella/
Website: https://squarepenny.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squarepennyau/

Instagram (Jacket): https://www.instagram.com/where_is_the_jacket/

Thanks to YourHR for sponsoring this episode. YourHR works with 100s of businesses to cut the jargon, simplify the systems, and build workplaces where people genuinely want to be. Find out where your business stands with their free HR Health Check in minutes:
🔗 https://www.yourhrsystem.com/health-check/
💼 https://www.linkedin.com/company/your-hr-team-and-system/

Thanks to AIXFamily for sponsoring this episode. AIXFamily is the parental control platform built by a dad of three after a decade in network security couldn't turn up a tool that met his own family's needs. It runs at the network level, so deleting the app or switching on a VPN gets your kids nowhere, and every block comes with an explanation for them.
Join the waitlist for founding-member access before it launches:
🔗 https://www.aixfamily.com

STORIES FOR BUSINESS NEWSLETTER:
https://storiesforbusiness.substack.com/

FOLLOW NAKED AT THE TOP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nakedatthetop/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/naked-at-the-top/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nakedatthetop/

🎥 YouTube – https://youtube.com/@NakedAtTheTop?sub_confirmation=1

🍎 Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/naked-at-the-top/id1822169203

🎧 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1lCQJthCpq39LkWXDlkwCf?si=9ef0f76a91cd4bd0

CONNECT WITH ALEYX
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyxward
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleyxfward/

Being the person everyone leans on is lovely until the day you need to lean back.

In this episode of Naked at the Top, a marketing consultant who has built a community of 18,000 marketers across Australia and New Zealand talks about the LinkedIn post she almost did not send: the one where she told everyone she was broke. Chanel, founder of The Marketing Club and of a new co-working space in Brisbane, walks through what it costs to be the person who builds the room, and what happened when she had to admit that the thing she built now needs a brain that works differently to hers.

You'll learn:

• Why posting the unflattering version can be freeing and how to find where your own line sits
• What it takes to say out loud that the business you built has outgrown the way you think
• How a community of 18,000 started as a coffee meet-up announced on stage on impulse
• Why hitting 10,000 changed how brands treated her, while nothing about the work changed at all
• How to use delusional optimism as a working method rather than a personality trait
• What an introvert did to become the person who walks into a room and owns it
• Where the line sits between authentic leadership and offloading your bad day onto your team

By the end you will have a clearer sense of what your own honesty is worth in public, and what it costs to keep building rooms for other people.

Key topics: authentic leadership, community building, founder honesty, vulnerability on LinkedIn, letting go of control, business restructure, delegation, first hires, marketing community, co-working, isolation of working alone, self-belief, AI in marketing

#NakedAtTheTop #AuthenticLeadership #CommunityBuilding #FounderStory #Vulnerability #BusinessOwner #MarketingPodcast

Thanks to YourHR for sponsoring this episode. YourHR works with 100s of businesses to cut the jargon, simplify the systems, and build workplaces where people genuinely want to be. Find out where your business stands with their free HR Health Check in minutes:

🔗 https://www.yourhrsystem.com/health-check/

💼 https://www.linkedin.com/company/your-hr-team-and-system/

Thanks to AIXFamily for sponsoring this episode. AIXFamily is the parental control platform built by a dad of three after a decade in network security couldn't turn up a tool that met his own family's needs. It runs at the network level, so deleting the app or switching on a VPN gets your kids nowhere, and every block comes with an explanation for them.
Join the waitlist for founding-member access before it launches:
🔗 https://www.aixfamily.com

Follow Chanel Clark:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chanel-clark/

The Marketing Club: https://www.themarketingclub.org/

The Coworking Club: https://thecoworkingclub.org/

STORIES FOR BUSINESS NEWSLETTER:
https://storiesforbusiness.substack.com/

FOLLOW NAKED AT THE TOP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nakedatthetop/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/naked-at-the-top/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nakedatthetop/

🎥 YouTube – https://youtube.com/@NakedAtTheTop?sub_confirmation=1

🍎 Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/naked-at-the-top/id1822169203

🎧 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1lCQJthCpq39LkWXDlkwCf?si=9ef0f76a91cd4bd0

CONNECT WITH ALEYX
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyxward
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleyxfward/

That voice asking when will everyone figure out you don't belong? It doesn't retire when you make CEO.

In this episode of Naked at the Top, the CEO of Insync, an experience measurement consultancy, opens up about leaving school at 16, hiding outside networking events for 20 years, and the interview where someone assumed a degree he didn't have. Jeremy Summers has spent a career walking into rooms he was convinced he'd be found out in: this is what he learned on the way through.

You'll learn:

• What finally loosened the grip of two decades of networking dread
• How to handle the moment someone assumes a qualification you don't have
• The "point easy" rule: why feedback has a window, and when it closes
• Why "it's okay not to know, but it's not okay not to ask" is part of a company's culture
• The question this CEO still wrestles with about his own career

By the end, you'll be rethinking how long you've been waiting to ask the questions you were embarrassed to ask.

If this one lands, like the video, drop a comment with the question you waited too long to ask, and subscribe for more honest conversations with leaders.

Chapters:

00:00 The last time Jeremy felt naked

01:11 Hiding outside networking events

03:38 "What degree did you get at Bath University?"

05:14 When your accent gives you away

06:38 What changed: exposure therapy and 26 years of marriage

10:11 From operations to CEO of Insync

12:15 Is it lonely at the top?

13:18 The free executive network he built instead

14:25 Mirror Mirror: Taylor's voice note

17:52 The boardroom he swore he'd never belong in

20:00 Okay not to know, not okay not to ask

21:01 Point easy: why feedback has an expiry date

24:42 Truth as a value that makes decisions harder

26:07 Between the Lines begins

26:35 Clients who pay for answers and do nothing

28:53 Is authentic leadership nonsense?

30:20 Two years of hiding his tattoos

33:14 The decision he still wrestles with

36:36 Why he does this work

38:03 A demerger, a move, and a year of change

41:11 Where to find Jeremy

Key topics: imposter syndrome, authentic leadership, leadership, CEO, workplace culture, employee engagement, networking, career change

#NakedAtTheTop #Leadership #ImposterSyndrome #AuthenticLeadership #CEO #WorkplaceCulture #EmployeeEngagement #Networking

Thanks to YourHR for sponsoring this episode. YourHR works with 100s of businesses to cut the jargon, simplify the systems, and build workplaces where people genuinely want to be. Find out where your business stands with their free HR Health Check in minutes:

🔗 https://www.yourhrsystem.com/health-check/

💼 https://www.linkedin.com/company/your-hr-team-and-system/

Thanks to AIXFamily for sponsoring this episode. AIXFamily is the parental control platform built by a dad of three after a decade in network security couldn't turn up a tool that met his own family's needs. It runs at the network level, so deleting the app or switching on a VPN gets your kids nowhere, and every block comes with an explanation for them.
Join the waitlist for founding-member access before it launches:
🔗 https://www.aixfamily.com

Follow Jeremy:

• Insync: https://www.insync.com.au
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-summers-4a9ab19/

STORIES FOR BUSINESS NEWSLETTER:
https://storiesforbusiness.substack.com/

FOLLOW NAKED AT THE TOP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nakedatthetop/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/naked-at-the-top/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nakedatthetop/

🎥 YouTube – https://youtube.com/@NakedAtTheTop?sub_confirmation=1

🍎 Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/naked-at-the-top/id1822169203

🎧 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1lCQJthCpq39LkWXDlkwCf?si=9ef0f76a91cd4bd0

CONNECT WITH ALEYX
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyxward
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleyxfward/

If you stopped achieving tomorrow, would you still know who you are?

In this episode of Naked at the Top, an executive coach who spent his corporate career climbing to CIO of a large investment bank strips back what happens when the title comes off. He shares the question he asks clients but had been avoiding himself, the moment he realised the treadmill was rewarding him with more treadmill, and the six months after leaving when he kept working full-time hours out of pure identity habit.

You’ll learn:

• The question Justin asks his coaching clients that he had been avoiding asking himself
• Why tying self-worth to achievement keeps capable people on a treadmill they no longer want to be on
• How he stopped building "mini-mees" and learnt to lead people who are not wired like him
• The Die With Zero equation of time, health and money, and why senior leaders stay too long
• What the first six months after leaving a big role do to your identity, and how to prepare for it

Thanks to YourHR for sponsoring this episode. YourHR works with 100s of businesses to cut the jargon, simplify the systems, and build workplaces where people genuinely want to be. Find out where your business stands with their free HR Health Check in minutes:

🔗 https://www.yourhrsystem.com/health-check/

💼 https://www.linkedin.com/company/your-hr-team-and-system/

Thanks to AIXFamily for sponsoring this episode. AIXFamily is the parental control platform built by a dad of three after a decade in network security couldn't turn up a tool that met his own family's needs. It runs at the network level, so deleting the app or switching on a VPN gets your kids nowhere, and every block comes with an explanation for them.
Join the waitlist for founding-member access before it launches:
🔗 https://www.aixfamily.com

Follow Justin:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajustin-clarke/

Website: https://justin-clarke.com/

Chapters:

00:49 Navigating Embarrassment: A Passport Mix-Up

03:15 From Technology to Coaching: A Career Transition

05:57 The Importance of Being Human in Leadership

08:54 Understanding Personal Stories and Self-Reflection

11:13 Finding Alignment: The Journey to Personal Fulfillment

14:06 Leadership Styles: Balancing Demand and Fairness

15:02 Feedback from Peers: Insights into Leadership

17:37 Understanding Team Dynamics and Individual Motivations

23:25 Embracing AI to Enhance Human Potential

27:13 The Importance of Meaningful Conversations in Leadership

28:07 Between the Lines: Personal Reflections and Honest Questions

30:46 Defining Identity Beyond Achievements

35:02 Navigating Career Transitions and Personal Growth

39:52 The Confrontation of Self in New Environments

45:19 The Adaptive Career: Shaping Your Future

STORIES FOR BUSINESS NEWSLETTER:
https://storiesforbusiness.substack.com/

FOLLOW NAKED AT THE TOP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nakedatthetop/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/naked-at-the-top/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nakedatthetop/

🎥 YouTube – https://youtube.com/@NakedAtTheTop?sub_confirmation=1

🍎 Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/naked-at-the-top/id1822169203

🎧 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1lCQJthCpq39LkWXDlkwCf?si=9ef0f76a91cd4bd0

CONNECT WITH ALEYX
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyxward
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleyxfward/

It takes years to build a high trust team and one hallway conversation to break it.

In this episode of Naked at the Top, a leadership coach and L&D Manager at a University in New Zealand shares the moment he believed hearsay from someone senior over his own team member, and what it cost them both. We also go back to a 2am arrival at Christchurch Airport, where two and a half hours in an immigration room taught him what it feels like to be "just a number in a system, not an actual human" and how that moment shaped the way he gives people his full attention today.

You'll learn:

• Why "I don't know" is the biggest lie coaching clients tell, and the two questions that unlock the answer
• How hearsay from someone senior can undo a high trust team, and the warning sign it's already happening
• What admitting a mistake does for a leader, and what dodging one costs you
• The spotlight effect: why nobody is watching you as closely as you think
• How to tell when giving to everyone else has started taking from you

By the end, you will have a sharper read on where your own bias hides, and a reason to go and ask before you decide.

Chapters
00:16 New clothes: the last time he felt naked
01:34 Two and a half hours in a Christchurch immigration room
05:51 The assumptions and biases leaders carry
07:45 Coaching, speaking and all the hats Prajesh wears
08:59 Mirror Mirror: Marina's voice note
12:16 Hearing how someone else sees you
15:57 The spotlight effect
16:32 Staying in your own lane
17:38 Between the lines begins
18:16 The most overused word in coaching
22:06 If you did know, what would you say?
23:57 The passion his workplace doesn't know about
26:45 Leaving twenty years of Otago behind
31:29 The hearsay that broke his own trust rule
36:53 The part of his own life he's still asleep to
40:04 Fill your cup, full stop
42:45 Where to find Prajesh

Thanks to YourHR for sponsoring this episode. YourHR works with 100s of businesses to cut the jargon, simplify the systems, and build workplaces where people genuinely want to be. Find out where your business stands with their free HR Health Check in minutes:

🔗 https://www.yourhrsystem.com/health-check/

💼 https://www.linkedin.com/company/your-hr-team-and-system/

Thanks to AIXFamily for sponsoring this episode. AIXFamily is the parental control platform built by a dad of three after a decade in network security couldn't turn up a tool that met his own family's needs. It runs at the network level, so deleting the app or switching on a VPN gets your kids nowhere, and every block comes with an explanation for them.
Join the waitlist for founding-member access before it launches:
🔗 https://www.aixfamily.com

Follow Prajesh Chhanabhai:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prajesh-chhanabhai/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phambilicoaching

STORIES FOR BUSINESS NEWSLETTER:
https://storiesforbusiness.substack.com/

FOLLOW NAKED AT THE TOP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nakedatthetop/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/naked-at-the-top/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nakedatthetop/

🎥 YouTube – https://youtube.com/@NakedAtTheTop?sub_confirmation=1

🍎 Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/naked-at-the-top/id1822169203

🎧 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1lCQJthCpq39LkWXDlkwCf?si=9ef0f76a91cd4bd0

CONNECT WITH ALEYX
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyxward
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleyxfward/

Have you ever had a season where everything in your life fell apart at once and you couldn't catch your breath?

Then this episode is for you. Today I'm sitting down with Nicholas Howe. He's the founder of Howe United Games and Software, a single dad to a nine-year-old, and the creator of a free app called Cups and Spoons that helps couples build healthier relationships.

Before we recorded, I spoke to his friend Cheri about him. What she said is sweet and a little savage, and you can hear him squirm hearing it back live.

Nick opens up about the four months in 2024 when everything came apart at once. The move-out notice from his parents. The friends he turned to whose place he had to leave in under a month. The relationship that ended. He shares the sacrifices he's making to keep his company alive that he hasn't told his own family. And he tells me about the night he asked the universe for a sign and what showed up the next morning.

In Between the Lines, I gave it everything I had. Five questions, five chances to get him to lose a layer. Find out if I managed it.

Thanks to YourHR for sponsoring this episode. YourHR works with 100s of businesses to cut the jargon, simplify the systems, and build workplaces where people genuinely want to be. Find out where your business stands with their free HR Health Check in minutes:
🔗 https://www.yourhrsystem.com/health-check/
💼 https://www.linkedin.com/company/your-hr-team-and-system/

Thanks to AIXFamily for sponsoring this episode. AIXFamily is the parental control platform built by a dad of three after a decade in network security couldn't turn up a tool that met his own family's needs. It runs at the network level, so deleting the app or switching on a VPN gets your kids nowhere, and every block comes with an explanation for them.
Join the waitlist for founding-member access before it launches:
🔗 https://www.aixfamily.com

—

Don't forget to like 👍, comment 💬, and subscribe (it's completely free!) 🔔 for more honest leadership stories. Click the bell to stay updated on new episodes.

(00:41) Welcome and introduction

(00:59) New Clothes: the night everything fell apart

(09:05) Building Cups and Spoons and Howe United Games and Software

(15:29) Mirror Mirror: hearing how Cheri sees him

(18:17) The sacrifices behind the build

(23:15) Between the Lines begins

(24:28) Q1: what therapists get wrong about couples

(27:06) Q2: the gap between perception and reality

(31:19) Q3: the sacrifice no one knows about

(37:43) Q4: the worst leadership he's ever experienced

(42:59) Q5: the thought that plays on repeat

(44:46) The bullfrog sign

(47:48) Where to find Nicholas and sign-off

--

Howe United Games & Software:

https://howe-united.com/

https://www.instagram.com/HOWEUNITEDGAMES/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-howe-%F0%9F%A5%A8-87261114/

STORIES FOR BUSINESS NEWSLETTER:
https://storiesforbusiness.substack.com/

FOLLOW NAKED AT THE TOP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nakedatthetop/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/naked-at-the-top/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nakedatthetop/

🎥 YouTube – https://youtube.com/@NakedAtTheTop?sub_confirmation=1

🍎 Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/naked-at-the-top/id1822169203

🎧 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1lCQJthCpq39LkWXDlkwCf?si=9ef0f76a91cd4bd0

CONNECT WITH ALEYX
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyxward
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleyxfward/