Don't Work Harder

The Most Impressive Apprentice Candidate in 20 Years | Why She Won The Show

When the media called Karishma Vijay the most impressive Apprentice candidate in 20 years, they weren't exaggerating. She won Lord Sugar's £250K investment, grew to over 1 million followers on social media, with many viewers saying she was the winner from episode one! But what you saw on TV was only half the story. Behind the scenes, Karishma is a biomedical scientist - and at one stage, she lost her dream job, her relationship, and her home all at once. Karishma runs Kishkin, an organic luxury skincare brand she launched 5 months before filming started. She packed every order by hand with her family for months. She went live on Instagram at 3 am to make one sale. Then, she hit £50K in sales in those first 5 months. In this conversation, Karishma reveals: - The text Lord Sugar sent to her the morning after filming wrapped 👀 - The techniques she used to stay calm under pressure on The Apprentice when everyone else was losing it 🤯 - How she turned disaster into enormous success - and how losing her job, her relationship, and her home in one go became the turning point - How she hit £50K in sales in the first 5 months with ZERO paid influencer marketing 👀 - Why she strategically stopped taking brand deals even though it cost her hundreds of thousands of pounds - What it's REALLY like working with Lord Sugar now - and some of the most interesting and valuable things he's said to her And so much more. Karishma spent 10 years trying to make it work and built a business on the back of her own skincare struggles, using carefully sourced ingredients to create a solution she didn't see in the market. Now she speaks to Lord Sugar almost every day, and runs a brand she dreams of seeing in Harrods, Sephora, and duty-free. This is her full story - and everything you can learn from her success 🚀 -------- This episode is brought to you by our Sponsors: Vidonary – the video tool making business videos simple and confident. Plan, record and publish with ease. Find out more and sign up here: https://vidonary.com/ ------ Karishma's Links Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karishmua/?hl=en Kishkin: https://kishkin.com/ ------ Steal our Sales Call Success Template and convert more of the right people on calls and get more ‘YESES’ than ever before without feeling salesy Access our FREE Sales Call Success Template, to help double your conversation rate call, forevermore. https://atomic.site/sales-script/ ------ #DontWorkHarder #BusinessGrowth #SalesandMarketing

Meet the YouTube Genius Behind Ali Abdaal and Daniel Priestley | His Full Strategy

Saf Mohammed helped grow Ali Abdaal's YouTube channel from 3 million to 6 million subscribers in 2 years. He landed the job with at age 24 with ZERO portfolio. Saf now runs Talking Heads, a YouTube agency for top entrepreneurs. He's worked with Ali Abdaal, Ryan Diess (runs 17 companies generating $200M/year), and Daniel Priestley (bestselling author and entrepreneur with over 150,000 subscribers). He built his entire business on referrals alone and still doesn't have a website. Despite being less than 30 years old, he's been invited to Richard Branson's private island with 50 of the world's best entrepreneurs. In this conversation, Saf reveals: - How he helped grow Ali's channel from 3 million to 6 million subscribers in 2 years 📈 - Exactly what he did to meet huge names like Colin & Samir, Max Fosh's team, and rugby stars - How he got Ryan Diess to say yes to working with him in the first 15 minutes of their first call 😱 - The moment of panic when Ryan's invoice came back paid and Saf realised he had no idea what to do next - and what he did in that moment to make sure he did an amazing job - Why he decided to be extremely picky about who he works with ( he only works with people who can WIN in their category - have they been on a Diary of a CEO episode? Do they have a bestselling book?) - Why his team regularly tells him his standards are impossibly high - How he built a 7-figure agency entirely on referrals with NO website - His crazy story attending the 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai (overslept his flight, ChatGPT said 10% chance of making it) - What happened when he saw another speaker's incredible slides - and his were basic black and white (he spent the night before vibecoding them with AI) - Why he operates his business at 80% capacity intentionally - His exact framework for creating banger viral YouTube videos This is a masterclass in backing yourself before you're ready and building a business doing what you've loved since age 10. Saf breaks down how he scaled Ali's channel from 3M to 6M with zero experience, why being extremely picky about clients attracts your dream clients, and how holding the highest standards separate you from everyone else. Whether you're trying to break into the creator economy, building an agency, or wondering how to price your expertise, this conversation shows what becomes possible when you learn to punch above your weight 👀 -------- This episode is brought to you by our Sponsors: Vidonary – the video tool making business videos simple and confident. Plan, record and publish with ease. Find out more and sign up here: https://vidonary.com/ ------ Saf's LinkedIn: ------ Steal our Sales Call Success Template and convert more of the right people on calls and get more ‘YESES’ than ever before without feeling salesy Access our FREE Sales Call Success Template, to help double your conversation rate call, forevermore. https://atomic.site/sales-script/ ------ #DontWorkHarder #BusinessGrowth #SalesandMarketing

Why This Entrepreneur Built an Empire… Then Walked Away at the Peak

Pavan Ahluwalia-Dhanjal started as a henna artist and became so exceptional she broke the Guinness World Record twice. She went on to scale her craft into a permanent concession in Selfridges that lasted 11 years, eventually expanding across London, Birmingham, and Milan. Then everything changed. COVID forced her to pivot into products. Just as she found her footing again, a horse riding accident left her with 8 broken ribs in 15 places, unable to move or breathe properly, and on morphine for 8 weeks. What should have stopped everything became the reset she didn’t know she needed 💡 Pavan is the founder of Pavan Beauty with 12 years in business. She’s a 2x Guinness World Record holder, received a British Empire Medal for services to beauty, and exited her 11-year Selfridges concession in 2024 just two weeks before her accident. In this conversation, Pavan reveals: - How she went from mastering her craft to building a business beyond herself 📈 - The real story behind her Dragon’s Den pitch — what happened during the 1 hour 15 minute conversation, and why she said yes but didn’t take the investment 🤯 - How she successfully expanded across multiple cities and countries - The accident that forced her to completely rethink how she operates 🚀 - How that “forced reset” transformed her approach to business and life - Why the business now runs without her, as she focuses on building community This is a masterclass in resilience and scaling. Pavan breaks down how she evolved from a solo artist into an international operator, the strategies that kept her in premium retail for over a decade, and why learning to say no became her biggest advantage. If you’re scaling a service business, navigating a pivot, or rebuilding after a setback, this is packed with hard-won insight from someone who’s done it at the highest level 👀 -------- This episode is brought to you by our Sponsors: Vidonary – the video tool making business videos simple and confident. Plan, record and publish with ease. Find out more and sign up here: https://vidonary.com/ ------ Pavan's links: Website: www.pavanonline.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pavanbeauty ------ Steal our Sales Call Success Template and convert more of the right people on calls and get more ‘YESES’ than ever before without feeling salesy Access our FREE Sales Call Success Template, to help double your conversation rate call, forevermore. https://atomic.site/sales-script/ ------ #DontWorkHarder #BusinessGrowth #SalesandMarketing

From 15 Years of Failure to £100K Launches | His Secret Strategy

Matt Hall spent 15 years making every business mistake possible. His membership sat at the same level for 5 years and wouldn't budge. Then he finally did the ONE thing he had been resisting for years. Within 18 months, everything changed. 350 members. £100K launches. On track for 2026 to be his first 7-figure year 🚀 Matt is a launch strategist and visibility expert with over 15 years in business. He runs Success School (a membership that went from 50 to 350 members in 7 months), hosts the Success School podcast, and works with a team of 30 people. He runs Business Mastery Live events and is heading into his first 7-figure year in 2026. In this conversation, Matt reveals: - The one thing he resisted for years that became the catalyst for going from stuck to £100K launches in 18 months 📈 - Why his membership sat at 50 members for 5 years and what changed to jump to 350 in 7 months - How he converts at 12% on every launch when industry standard is 1-8% - The biggest mistake people make with launch experiences that kills conversions ❌ - His framework for creating offers people can't say no to - How he felt completely burnt out and was struggling even though he had 32-36 one-to-one clients per month and his business looked really successful - The courage it took to let go of lucrative one-to-one income to scale - Why ""do less better"" and ""simplicity scales, complexity fails"" are his mantras for the membership This is a masterclass in persistence and patience. Matt breaks down exactly what it took to go from 15 years of struggling to consistent £100K launches, the specific launch blueprint that converts at 12%, and why the best thing you can do for confidence is simply never quit. Whether you're stuck at a revenue ceiling, running a membership that won't grow, or burnt out from one-to-one work, this conversation shows what becomes possible when you finally do the thing you've been resisting 👀 -------- This episode is brought to you by our Sponsors: Vidonary – the video tool making business videos simple and confident. Plan, record and publish with ease. Find out more and sign up here: https://vidonary.com/ ------ Matt's links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthallofficial/ Free 60 minutes masterclass on Matt's visibility framework "S.P.O.T.L.I.G.H.T.S" - https://www.successschoolgroup.co.uk/get-visible-masterclass ------ Steal our Sales Call Success Template and convert more of the right people on calls and get more ‘YESES’ than ever before without feeling salesy Access our FREE Sales Call Success Template, to help double your conversation rate call, forevermore. https://atomic.site/sales-script/ ------ #DontWorkHarder #BusinessGrowth #SalesandMarketing

How Lara Acosta Made $80K in One Week With a Simple Product | Her LinkedIn & Email Strategy

Lara Acosta started posting on LinkedIn in March 2023 on a random Wednesday afternoon, because she couldn't get a job. Then, her first post went viral. Now, she has over 300,000 followers, goes viral consistently, and has built multiple million-dollar businesses off the back of LinkedIn content 🤯 Lara is a founder, co-founder, and investor with over 500,000 followers across platforms. She runs Literally Academy, with 3,000+ members and co-founded Kleo (an AI writing tool that did $300,000 revenue in 3-4 months). In this conversation, Lara reveals: - Why she started posting on LinkedIn when she couldn't get a job (and how she went went viral immediately) 📈 - Why 80% of her revenue comes from email, not her 300,000+ social media followers - The biggest mistake she sees most founders make (spoiler alert - this is the main distractor for young entrepreneurs) - How she made $80,000 in one week with a bare-bones initial iteration of her offer 🎯 - How she positioned herself so well that a $300 million agency wanted to work with her (instead of her chasing them) 💰 - The framework for keeping an evergreen product selling year-round 🚀 - Exactly how she goes viral """"every day, every time"""" she posts - How to make content so good people opt into your email list Most content creators think their followers are their revenue source and constantly look for the next opportunity to scale. Lara proves that email list is where revenue actually lives, that going deep on one thing opens more doors than chasing many things, and that refusing to settle for average means waiting longer but winning bigger. Lara is an incredible entrepreneur, and this is one of the most tactical episodes we've recorded. Lara breaks down exactly how she built three businesses by 28, the specific frameworks she uses to scale, and the strategies behind content that consistently goes viral. Whether you're building a business, growing on social media, or trying to understand where revenue actually comes from, this conversation is packed with insights you can implement immediately 👀 -------- This episode is brought to you by our Sponsors: Vidonary – the video tool making business videos simple and confident. Plan, record and publish with ease. Find out more and sign up here: https://vidonary.com/ ------ Lara's links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laraacostar/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Laraacosta Free Training: https://www.literallyacademy.com/join-free-training-organic ------ Steal our Sales Call Success Template and convert more of the right people on calls and get more ‘YESES’ than ever before without feeling salesy Access our FREE Sales Call Success Template, to help double your conversation rate call, forevermore. https://atomic.site/sales-script/ ------ #DontWorkHarder #BusinessGrowth #SalesandMarketing