The Bottom Line

After 14 years of having a successful career in media, Sophie found herself unemployed. She thought with her skills and experience finding a new role would be easy, but it was the opposite. After struggling with applications and repeated denials, Sophie decided she wanted to change the process of applying for a job. The employment specialist talks to Evan Davis about how she’s trying to change the way recruitment works with her business Pollen Careers. Production team: Producers: Nick Holland Editor: Matt Willis Sound: John Scott Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison

At a time when coding and IT was in its infancy, Sir Kenneth fortuitously took a computer class to get out of cross country running; that choice would shape the rest of his life. From an internship at IBM, he later went on to a senior position at Wang laboratories, but then was fired after an unsuccessful management buyout. He eventually struck out on his own and founded two merchant banks. The entrepreneur talks to Evan Davis about the moment he was fired after trying to engineer a management buyout, and then what happened next. Production team: Producers: Eleanor Harrison-Dengate Editor: Matt Willis Sound: John Scott Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison

When a family member gets sick, it can mean major changes to our lives. For Chris May, it meant he needed a role that could be done entirely from home. He quit his job, and created his own enterprise doing management consulting. One of the contracts he had after that was to create a report on the standards of north London hospitals. Instead of just a report, Chris created an entire database, and his work snowballed from there. The health technology entrepreneur talks to Evan Davis about how he eventually created the database for the entire NHS. Production team: Producers: Nick Holland and Simon Tulett Editor: Matt Willis Sound: John Scott Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison

Grief hits everyone differently. For Claire Daniels, it changed her life; she had been working as the head of marketing for a technology firm and believed she’d keep climbing the corporate ladder, but after her brother’s death she found herself needing time out and quit. Later she began working for her sister in law’s business as a stopgap measure while she got herself back on track, but then that ended up becoming permanent. The marketing executive talks to Evan Davis about what it was like to work for family, and how she eventually became CEO of Trio media. Production team: Producer: Bob Howard Editor: Matt Willis Sound: John Scott Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison

An early passion for the high street meant Julian Metcalfe was determined to get into retail from the get-go. He and his partner Sinclair Beecham founded Pret A Manger when he was just 26. In 2008 Pret was sold to a private equity firm, and Julian no longer had a say in the company’s future. Now Julian is in charge of Itsu, an Asian-inspired fast-food chain. The food entrepreneur talks to Evan Davis about how he is determined not to lose his decision-making role this time around. Production team: Producer: Eleanor Harrison-Dengate Editor: Matt Willis Sound: John Scott Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison