The 1% Podcast hosted by Shay Dalton

Matthew Dicks is an award-winning bestselling author, speaker, and marketing consultant to some of the world’s biggest companies including Amazon, Slack, and Salesforce. As a record 58-time Moth StorySLAM winner and 9-time GrandSLAM champion, he is widely regarded as one of the best storytellers in the world.For more than a decade, Matthew has been advising C-suite executives and their teams. Whether it’s a product launch, sales deck, or keynote, he surfaces the real stories behind the spreadsheets – stories that resonate and connect on a meaningful level. He has taught at multiple universities including Yale, MIT, and Harvard, and his work has been featured on Lenny’s Podcast, TEDx Talks, Newsweek, and many more.His latest book, ‘Stories Sell: Storyworthy Strategies to Grow Your Business and Brand’, reveals the ingredients of a compelling story and demonstrates how they can be incorporated into persuasive marketing copy, productive face-to-face conversations, and presentations that people actually want to hear. It gives readers permission to be themselves, take risks, and make a splash in a sea of empty corporate jargon, helping readers find their voice and share their stories with the world.

Sam Peters is a former national newspaper reporter credited with driving a cultural change in sport's attitude towards brain injuries and concussions. Between 2013 and 2017, Sam was the driving force behind the Mail on Sunday’s concussion in rugby campaign and was subsequently short-listed as sports journalist of the year at the 2014 UK Press Gazette Awards. Sam’s exclusive report in 2014 also revealed the FA’s failure to deliver promised research into the link between heading footballs and dementia following the death of a former England player  In his 2023 book, ‘Concussed: Sport’s Uncomfortable Truth’, winner of the Best Sports Writing Award, Sam recounts the untold story of the most influential sports campaign in British newspaper history, asking how rugby and other sports can save themselves from the vested interests which threaten not just players’ livelihoods but the very existence of the sports themselves.

After stepping down as the founder and CEO of Makers, one of the UK's leading coding boot camps, Evgeny Shadchnev became a certified professional coach specialising in helping entrepreneurs through CEO succession. In his new book, Startup CEO Succession, A Founder's Guide to Leadership Transition, Evgeny draws on firsthand experience of stepping down as a founder CEO and as a certified professional coach, guiding other CEOs through the same journey.From reflecting on our deepest motivations to choosing the successor and executing a smooth succession plan, Evgeny helps entrepreneurs and CEOs along with their boards to navigate leadership succession when the stakes are at their highest. You wrote this book because it was what you needed when you were deciding whether to step down from the makers.

Alex M H Smith is a strategist, writer, and advisor to CEOs and founders. His goal is to increase strategic understanding and expertise, something he thinks is not just widely misunderstood, but often completely overlooked.In stark contrast to the jargon and abstract declarations that have come to pass for strategy in much of the modern business world, Alex offers sharp, succinct and actionable strategic insights that will make you see your business in a totally new light.His weekly newsletter, The Hidden Path, and regular LinkedIn posts make him a must-follow for any CEO or founder looking to grow their strategic expertise.

Guy Kawasaki is an American marketing specialist, author, and Silicon Valley venture capitalist. He was the ‘Apple Evangelist’ originally responsible for marketing their Macintosh computer line in 1984 and is currently Chief Evangelist at Canva. Guy has written sixteen books, including The Art of the Start (2004) and Wise Guy: Lessons from a Life (2019). In his latest book, Think Remarkable: 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference, the host of the Remarkable People podcast shares invaluable knowledge to help readers make the leap from average to exceptional and start living the remarkable life they were meant to lead.

Andy is a former Boxing Middleweight Champion of the World. Known in boxing circles as a tough-as-nails southpaw, Lee’s famous right hook is world renowned. He’s also an Olympian, having competed for Ireland at the 2004 Olympic games in Athens.In this interview, you’ll hear Andy and me get into his training techniques and methodologies, what Lee thinks about success and what it takes to be a great champion.

David Gillick is one of Ireland's greatest ever 400m runner, having distinguished himself admirably in his chosen field. He finished sixth in the world in 2009, and won the European Indoor Championships in 2005 and 2007. Along the way he beat some of the best athletes in the world and realized a lifetime ambition by competing at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.In recent times, David has appeared on Master Chef, and has authored 2 best selling cookbooks, Back on Track and David Gillick’s Kitchen, and retrained as a sports psychologist.In this podcast, we discuss David's career highs, lows, thoughts on retirement, lessons he's learned as well as thoughts on the future.

Neville Maxwell is a former professional and international rower. He is currently a Director of Rowing Ireland and the Chairman of the High Performance Committee. He competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2000 Summer Olympics and is a multiple world rowing championship medallistIn this episode, we discuss Neville's introduction to rowing, his professional career, experiences at the Olympics, thoughts on retirement and his current position as High Performance Chair and Director of Irish Rowing.

I sat down with Billy Walsh, current USA head boxing coach and former Head Coach of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) High Performance Team, to discuss the recent Olympics, his approach to performance and development, and the future of boxing in the Olympics in light of the McLaren report. Billy shares his thoughts on a range of subjects, in what is one of the most in-depth conversations with one of Ireland's greatest ever coaches. We touch on his preparation for the Olympics with the backdrop of the pandemic, his background in boxing and coaching in Ireland and some of the great boxers he coaches including Katie Taylor and Kellie Harrington.  Billy’s successes to date at European, World and Olympic level are unprecedented in the history of Irish Sport and he is carrying this into the USA setup. We also take detours into Elite Performance and how this can relate to excelling in business, the benefits of motivation and attitude, leadership and adapting to change.