LOQPOD

In episode 23 of LOQPOD, Katy Ringsdore speaks to Marco Logiudice, the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Prograd. Marco and his Co-Founder Ethan Fraenkel built Prograd in 2021 to help younger people to navigate their way through the complex world of personal finance after experiencing affordability issues for tuition themselves.

Katy Ringsdore spoke to Irwin Kula, an American rabbi, author and a disruptive spiritual innovator. They discuss the impact and synergies of disruption in religion and business. Irwin also shares his story of meeting the Dalai Lama.

Guy Rigby and David Murray are now the oldest pair on the planet earth to row any ocean.It was the summer of 2019. Guy had just turned 66 and was ready for a new challenge. Having spent most of his life working with and advising entrepreneurs, he had recently become much more interested in the concept of social entrepreneurship, where people and planet, as well as profit, are at the centre of the business agenda. This is the so-called “triple bottom line” and the domain of the social entrepreneur.Fundraising to enable and support this great cause quickly became Guy’s focus and, with no desire (or capability) to climb a mountain or run multiple marathons, Guy settled on the idea of a water-based activity. Having started rowing at Marlow Rowing Club on the Thames in 2014, rowing seemed like an appropriate choice.The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge beckoned and a chance telephone call with the son of a friend who had recently succumbed to cancer yielded an enthusiastic response. So it was that David, an extreme sports enthusiast and a strong supporter of entrepreneurship, joined the crew.Guy and David set off to row the 3,000 miles from the Canaries to Antigua in December 2021. Guy tells Katy Ringsdore about the highs and lows of their epic adventure.

Tanyella Evans is the CEO of NABU. A charity on a mission is to solve the imbalance in children’s book creation and distribution, so all children can read and rise to their full potential. Literacy is a prerequisite for eradicating poverty, yet globally there is a severe shortage of local language books at the early grade levels. As a result, 250M children are leaving school without being able to read, rendering them extremely vulnerable to social and economic exploitation. 

Dan Witmer and Brandon Epstein are the co-founders of the Jump Rope Dudes and produce jump rope-focused content, offer online training programs and make affiliate product recommendations to their massive YouTube audience of more than 1.11M subscribers. Katy Ringsdore spoke to Dan about their journey from and idea to viral success.

In the 2017 Collegiate Rugby National Championship, Robert Paylor broke his neck and his life changed in an instant. Immediately, he was told he would never walk or move his hands again. Robert didn’t accept that reality and miraculously willed himself to walk again, against all odds. He tells Katy Ringsdore his incredible story.

Hugo Mitchell-Heggs is a Submariner in The Royal Navy. He also led a team of four serving Royal Navy submariners to row unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean. On 18 January 2020, the team safely landed in Antigua becoming the fastest serving military team in history to complete the Atlantic crossing. HMS Oardacious has now raised over £110,000 for charity to leave a lasting legacy of Mental Health and wellbeing support for the Submarine community working with the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity. He and the team are planning another crossing later this year. Katy Ringsdore spoke to Hugo about his experiences below and above the water.

In episode 15 of LOQPOD, Katy speaks to Amelie Arras, Marketing Director at Zumo Money. Amelie helps demystify some facts about crypto currency and shares her fascinating story of travelling the world using only Bitcoin.