Working It Out Along the Way

2. Daniel Bell: The Global Creative Leader Who Grew Up in a Sunshine Coast Cult

In this episode of Working It Out Along the Way, I sit down with Dan, a designer whose story arcs from growing up in a cult on the Sunshine Coast to leading creative teams at Booking.com. Dan shares what it was like to leave a controlling religious community as a child, discover design by accident in a t-shirt shop, and eventually build a global career in London and Amsterdam. It’s a conversation about curiosity, courage, and the freedom to write your own story, one decision at a time.

1. Veronique Merriam Barbosa: The Founder Who Left Banking, Built a Startup, and Might Do It All Again

In this first episode of Working It Out Along the Way, I sit down with my friend Veronique "V" Merriam Barbosa, whose career has taken her from investment banking to the fast-paced world of startups. The daughter of a diplomat and a banker, she grew up moving around the world before landing in London for university—without a clear plan for what came next. V became an investment banker, then walked away from the big paycheques to join Revolut as employee number 4. Soon after, she co-founded Flux, a fintech startup aiming to digitise receipts, which grew to process nearly 4% of all UK card transactions. But after seven years, last-minute buy-out negotiations fell through, and V found herself shutting down her company—just two weeks before giving birth. Now at Monzo, building their rewards platform, V reflects on the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, why she sees it as her true calling, and when she might take the leap again. 🎧 Tune in for a raw, insightful conversation about ambition, resilience, and the reality of building (and closing) a startup.