Common Sense with Mike Omoniyi

E126: Private Jets, Wealth, Luxury at 17. Then Her World Collapsed | Sharon Foulston

Sharon Foulston grew up in an ordinary home until the day her father's company went public and the family became extraordinarily wealthy almost overnight. The private jets, the doors that suddenly opened, the kind of life most people only ever watch from a distance, all of it arrived at once. Then, on her first day of university at 17, her father was killed in a crash while testing a car at Silverstone, and the world she knew disappeared with him.What came after is the part nobody photographs. Years of feeling unmoored, disconnected from who she was, with growth that quietly stopped. In this conversation Sharon talks about how she slowly found her way back, through nature, through simply going outside again, and eventually through sailing alone across open water. It is a story about losing everything that once defined you and rebuilding a self that wealth could never buy.In this episode we get into:- What sudden wealth actually does to a young person and a family- The first day of university that became the worst day of her life- The long, invisible middle: identity loss, stalled growth, and grief that has no timeline- How nature and solo sailing became the way back- Why she now wants to help others find their footing after loss

E125: Everyone Wants Dubai. Nobody Wants the Work | Austin Okolo

Everyone wants the Dubai photo. Almost nobody wants the years of unglamorous work that are supposed to come first. Austin Okolo started in football, moved into fashion, then fell into building the Gen Z Club, partly by accident and partly by luck. These days he runs a recruitment agency focused on upskilling young, diverse talent, having walked away from the fast, "sexy" business models for something slower, more predictable, and actually built to last. We get into why so many young people feel pushed into entrepreneurship rather than choosing it, why the "Gen Z is lazy" line falls apart the second you meet the people doing the work, and why the course-seller industry keeps selling an easy version of a hard thing. Austin is honest about losing money to a pyramid scheme at eighteen, about being miserable despite the success, and about the danger of high conviction when nobody around you is willing to say no. This one is for anyone who is tired of the highlight reel and wants the real version.

E124: Kelechi Okafor on Doubt, Identity and Refusing to Be Worshipped

Kelechi Okafor joins Mike Omoniyi on The Common Sense Podcast for an honest conversation about doubt, identity and why she refuses to be worshipped.We get into her path from high-achieving air cadet to writer and podcaster, the "beautifully chaotic" childhood that shaped her, faith without certainty, the case against the monarchy, the adultification of Black children in schools, regional inequality across Liverpool and Manchester, and why she would rather buy a kid a school uniform than run for Mayor of London.A conversation about holding two truths at once in a culture that rewards picking a side.

E124: He Got Everything He Wanted and Still Felt Empty | Nelson Louis

We're told that if we just get the thing, the followers, the money, the recognition, we'll finally feel settled. Nelson got all of it by 23 and found the opposite waiting for him. In this conversation, he's honest about the year he streamed to nobody, the success that felt like a trap, and what actually started to fill the gap. Worth a listen if you've ever hit a goal and felt strangely flat on the other side.

E123: The Next PM, Reform's Rise, and Why Labour is Losing | Listener Q&A

You asked, I answered. From who'll lead Britain after Starmer to whether the two-party system is finished, this Q&A goes through the questions you've been sending in. Reform's rise, Burnham vs Streeting, the death of identity politics, faith in public life, and what the next Prime Minister should actually say on day one. No talking points. No press lines. Just honest answers to the questions you actually want asked.