In this episode, I’m joined by Adam Witty, founder of Advantage Media, which he launched in 2005 from the spare bedroom of his home.

What began as a done for you publishing system for busy business leaders has grown into a global authority building company serving thousands of clients across 50 US states and 13 countries.

We explore how Adam’s innovative approach attracted Forbes, leading to the launch of Forbes Books in 2017, followed by partnerships with SXSW and Entrepreneur. From appearing on the Inc. 30 Under 30 list to leading a company recognised multiple times by Inc. 5000, Adam shares the reinventions behind the success.

This is a conversation about resilience, authority and embracing change as fuel for growth.

Highlights:

(03:15) Early lessons in resilience and entrepreneurship

(10:20) Launching Advantage Media from a spare bedroom

(17:30) Reinventing after losing his first company

(23:45) The Forbes partnership and building authority at scale

(30:10) Why writing a book changes how the world sees you

(34:10) Embracing change in the age of AI

If you’re looking to connect with Adam, he welcomes connections at awitty@theauthoritycompany.com, or visit theauthoritycompany.com and adamwitty.com

Connect with Lucy:

Website - https://bookmagic.ai

TikTok - @lucymccarra

Instagram/Threads - @lucymccarraher

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucymccarraher/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@lucymccarraherauthor

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LucyMcCarraher/

In this episode, I’m joined by Heather Pownall, founder of Heather’s Media Hub, a purpose led digital strategy and communications consultancy working across healthcare, research, technology, cybersecurity and membership organisations.

After nearly two decades in publishing, including 15 years in senior medical publishing roles, Heather made the bold decision in 2018 to leave corporate security and build her own consultancy from scratch.

We talk about coming from a working class, risk averse background, navigating self doubt in the early years of business, and leading major digital transformation projects with measurable impact.

Heather shares how loss, burnout and a later diagnosis of ADHD and dyslexia reshaped the way she works and leads. This is a powerful conversation about trusting your expertise, walking away when values no longer align, and building something that truly lasts.

Highlights:

(02:23) Leaving a secure senior role with no safety net

(05:19) Early experiences of being dismissed at school

(11:38) Thriving, then questioning corporate life

(14:24) The leap into entrepreneurship and loss of identity

(19:39) Discovering neurodivergence and reclaiming confidence

(24:54) Reinventing again and stepping into bigger leadership

Connect with Lucy:

Website - https://bookmagic.ai

TikTok - @lucymccarra

Instagram/Threads - @lucymccarraher

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucymccarraher/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@lucymccarraherauthor

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LucyMcCarraher/

This conversation with David Horne is one of those episodes that stays with you. David is an award winning entrepreneur, founder of Add Then Multiply, and a former CFO who has raised over £120 million and bought or sold more than 30 companies.

He’s also a bestselling author and advocate for fairer funding, particularly for female and underrepresented founders. But this episode isn’t about titles or achievements, it’s about what happens when success falls apart and who you become on the other side of it.

David shares his journey from global corporate leadership to entrepreneurship, the deep reckoning that followed a failed business, and the unexpected moments that helped him rebuild with more meaning, humility, and purpose.

This episode is about resilience, starting again when things fall apart, and trusting that there is still something worth moving towards.

Highlights:

(02:06) How early travel sparked a lifelong pull towards reinvention

(06:58) Failing a defining exam and learning how to recover

(11:27) Moving countries and rebuilding identity from scratch

(16:35) Burnout, corporate collapse, and walking away

(19:01) Losing everything, denial, and a spiritual awakening

(27:33) Why becoming an author can change everything

Connect with David:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-b-horne/

https://www.facebook.com/david.horne.967

https://x.com/David_B_Horne

Connect with Lucy:

Website - https://bookmagic.ai

TikTok - @lucymccarra

Instagram/Threads - @lucymccarraher

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucymccarraher/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@lucymccarraherauthor

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LucyMcCarraher/

This episode is a deeply moving conversation with Anne Whitehouse, a former Cambridge scientist turned power alchemist.

Anne shares how burnout ended her career in university engineering and became the doorway into a completely different way of understanding health, power, and identity. We talk about subconscious conditioning, inherited patterns, and why burnout and self-silencing are not personal failures.

Anne also speaks with extraordinary honesty about losing her daughter, Rebecca, and how that devastating loss reshaped her work and her purpose.

This is a powerful conversation about grief, trauma, and what it really means to rebuild yourself from the ground up.

Highlights:

(03:11) Childhood intuition and knowing there was more to reality

(12:05) Burnout, misogyny, and the body saying no more

(14:58) Illness as the doorway into deeper healing

(24:15) Losing Rebecca and living with grief and PTSD

(36:41) Rebuilding power and safety after trauma

Connect with Lucy:

Website - https://bookmagic.ai

TikTok - @lucymccarra

Instagram/Threads - @lucymccarraher

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucymccarraher/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@lucymccarraherauthor

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LucyMcCarraher/

This conversation fascinated me. Joseph McGuire has spent decades studying how we read people, not just through words, but through faces, bodies and behaviour.

He’s taught the ancient Chinese art of face reading and body language since the 1980s, blending it with modern negotiation and interrogation skills to help leaders make better decisions and avoid costly mistakes.

We talk reinvention, intuition, and why so many people miss red flags in business and relationships.

From C level hiring to dating dynamics, this episode is about seeing beyond the surface and understanding the person behind the title, before it costs you time, trust or millions.

Highlights:

(02:39) Realising you can read people long before you have language for it

(06:01) Leaving Ireland and the reinvention that changed everything

(11:13) Turning intuition into a practical, teachable skill

(19:13) Why executive hires fail more often than we admit

(29:28) Spotting red flags in high stakes interviews and relationships

(34:56) Reinvention, trust and learning to see clearly

Connect with Joseph:

Email: info@clearsightcommunications.com

LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-mcguire-face-facts/

Connect with Lucy:

Website - https://bookmagic.ai

TikTok - @lucymccarra

Instagram/Threads - @lucymccarraher

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucymccarraher/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@lucymccarraherauthor

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LucyMcCarraher/

I’m joined by Dayna Byfield, a burnout prevention strategist and keynote speaker, to talk about the kind of burnout that hides in plain sight. The “I’m fine” burnout, where you keep performing, adapting, and carrying everyone else until there’s nothing left.

Dayna shares how being visibly different as a kid shaped her drive, her resilience, and her default setting of becoming whoever the room needed.

We also dig into what makes her work different, she’s trained in interdisciplinary problem-solving and behaviour change, with 20 years across entrepreneurship, connection, biology, and cultural change.

Dayna brings sporting performance principles (yes, including Formula 1) into leadership and well-being, pushing for supportive structures, not just louder “self-care” messaging.

Highlights:

(02:25) - “Little Dayna was always big Dayna”, and why being visibly different shaped everything

(04:58) - The bullying moment that taught her to shapeshift to feel safe

(07:58) - “I got two and a half A levels”, and how General Studies hinted at her real strengths

(13:51) - The burnout that literally stole her voice, and the wake up call from the chairman

(21:32) - When the good stuff (love, marriage, a baby) becomes the pressure cooker

(30:33) - Back to uni, polymath energy, and her mission to redefine power as quiet and gentle

www.daynabyfield.com (launching soon)

Connect with Lucy:

Website - https://bookmagic.ai

TikTok - @lucymccarra

Instagram/Threads - @lucymccarraher

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucymccarraher/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@lucymccarraherauthor

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LucyMcCarraher/

I’m joined by Lee Chambers, Founder and CEO of Male Allies UK, and honestly, his story is a masterclass in reinvention.

We go all the way back to growing up on a council estate in Bolton, being the kid who couldn’t stand unfairness, and how that same “I’ll step in” energy shaped everything that came after.

After a career spanning corporate finance and building and exiting a tech company, Lee now helps organisations engage men in inclusion and build effective allyship.

He’s a Great British Entrepreneur Award winner, was named 2023 UN Women Changemaker of the Year, and received the Freedom of the City of London in 2024 for services to equality in business.

In this episode, we talk about what it really takes to rebuild after life knocks you sideways, and how allyship gets practical when it’s grounded in everyday choices, not just good intentions.

Highlights:

(03:15) - Growing up in Bolton, social justice instincts, and being “the kid who stepped in”

(07:29) - University pressures, mental health struggles, and journaling before it was trendy

(11:50) - Redundancy as a turning point, boiler room living, and starting a business anyway

(16:29) - The health crisis that changed everything, losing mobility, then fighting to walk again

(21:45) - Becoming a stay-at-home dad, loneliness, and the eye-opening baby group moment

(34:35) - What Male Allies UK actually does, engaging men in inclusion and building real allyship

You can connect with Lee Chambers at:

https://www.maleallies.co.uk

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leechambers-1/

And get your copy of Lee’s book here: Momentum: 13 Ways To Unlock Your Potential.

Connect with Lucy:

Website - https://bookmagic.ai

TikTok - @lucymccarra

Instagram/Threads - @lucymccarraher

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucymccarraher/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@lucymccarraherauthor

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LucyMcCarraher/

In this episode, I’m chatting with the brilliant Jane Duncan Rogers, coach, author, former corporate HR high-flyer, accidental pioneer, and someone who has reinvented herself more times than most of us change phone contracts.

Jane grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, learned to switch on confidence on purpose, and followed her curiosity through therapy, community living, travel, and building meaningful work.

We also talk about what changed when Jane’s husband died, and how grief pushed her into a surprising new chapter, helping people face the practical realities of death without fear taking the wheel. If you’re standing on the edge of a change, Jane’s advice is simple, and quietly brave.

Highlights:

(02:27) Growing up in Belfast, and the moment she realised “normal” was not normal

(05:08) How shy teenage Jane built a confidence persona, one awkward question at a time

(10:04) A sudden death, a spiritual detour, and the decision to walk away

(14:06) Cleaning toilets on a Greek island, then accidentally joining the management team

(21:28) Widowhood at 54, the “hard questions”, and why end-of-life planning became her mission

(29:03) Her best reinvention advice, do it, you will learn something either way

Connect with Jane:

Writer of Embracing Ageing on Substack

Author of 3 books

TedX speaker: How to Do a Good Death

Website: www.janeduncanrogers.com

- Facebook

- LinkedIn

Connect with Lucy:

Website - https://bookmagic.ai

TikTok - @lucymccarra

Instagram/Threads - @lucymccarraher

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucymccarraher/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@lucymccarraherauthor

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LucyMcCarraher/