What happens when you stop following the rules—and start following your passion? In this inspiring and insightful episode, Stephen Ridley shares how he built a globally recognized music brand, grew an online academy that now teaches over 1.2 million students, and turned personal passion into a thriving, purpose-driven business. Whether you're an entrepreneur or creative professional, Stephen’s story offers a powerful blueprint for building something truly meaningful from the ground up.

What You’ll Learn:

• How Stephen turned live performance into global visibility—and business momentum
• The key to growing a loyal, international audience with emotional connection
• Lessons on authenticity, branding, and standing out in a saturated market
• How Ridley Academy scaled to 40 countries and over a million students
• What it really means to build a brand based on purpose, not just product

Stephen’s journey is proof that building a business with heart can also be smart—and that you don’t need to fit the mold to make a massive impact.

Stephen Ridley is a world-renowned British pianist, composer, and visionary in modern piano education. His journey from a high-fl ying investment banker to a global musical sensation is as remarkable as his performances. At the age of two, Stephen discovered his passion for the piano, receiving formal training at eleven, but it wasn’t until he left the corporate world that his true artistry fl ourished. Beginning as a street performer on the streets of London, his raw talent and electrifying performances quickly garnered international attention, propelling him onto some of the world’s most prestigious stages.

Over the past five years, Stephen has toured across 60 countries, amassing a global fan base of over one million people and generating more than 500 million views on social media. His performances have mesmerized audiences from intimate private gatherings to large-scale concerts, including Monaco Yacht Week, London Fashion Week, and Uzbekistan’s largest concert in history, where he played for 28,000 people.

Stephen’s ability to blend classical brilliance with modern showmanship has led him to perform for royalty, including Queen Elizabeth II and numerous royal dignitaries, as well as alongside A-list celebrities such as Anderson .Paak, Sting, and Keanu Reeves. In Russia alone, he performed over 400 concerts, including at Dom Musica, one of the world’s most prestigious music halls, after securing three No.1 chart hits in the country.

Beyond his career as a performer, Stephen is revolutionizing piano education through the Ridley Academy. With a mission to make learning piano accessible to everyone, he has distilled his years of experience into an intuitive step-by-step system, enabling students of all ages—from 5 to 95—to master the piano. Today, over 1.2 million students across 40 countries are benefi ting from his unique approach, redefi ning the way the world learns music.

Stephen Ridley is more than just a pianist—he is a global artist, an innovator, and a passionate educator, bringing the magic of music to audiences everywhere.

Stephen's LinkedIn

www.ridleyacademy.com

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Negotiation is more than winning—it’s about creating value for both sides. Many business owners struggle with negotiations, relying on outdated strategies that often lead to conflict or lost opportunities.

Whether you're dealing with vendors, partners, or internal stakeholders, your ability to negotiate directly affects your bottom line and professional confidence. In this episode, you’ll learn how to negotiate with clarity, calm, and confidence — even if you don’t consider yourself a “natural” negotiator.

Host Paul Sweeney shares a powerful and practical conversation with Wendy Minne, an experienced corporate manager turned business coach. Wendy unpacks why negotiations feel so uncomfortable for many of us, and how mindset shifts and a structured approach can help you get better results without burning bridges.

You’ll discover:

• Why many business leaders avoid negotiation — and how to reframe it
• The “cost of not negotiating” and how it quietly drains your business
• A simple three-part framework Wendy uses to help clients prep for tough conversations
• How women in particular can navigate common negotiation traps

Whether you're renegotiating contracts, managing procurement, or setting client expectations, this episode will equip you with tools to advocate for what you want — and feel good doing it.

Books mentioned in the episode:

The Third Alternative by Dr Stephen Covey

Conscious Business by Fred Kofman

Another great book to check out:

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William Ury

Check out the previous episode featuring Wendy: Ep 110 The Journey from Corporate to Small Business

Wendy Minne is accredited in Organisational Coaching and a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation. Her activities include coaching senior manager initiatives as well as young leader development. Wendy benefitted from coaching during her corporate career, and she is passionate about coaching for success at all levels.

Wendy’s area of specialisation in coaching is supporting leaders and potential leaders, particularly engineers, through change and transitions. It can be confronting when engineers transition from being the expert to leading others. They step back even further from their area of expertise when they are leading leaders.

Wendy has a corporate background that includes extensive experience in leading teams through change and transition. With her understanding of the business environment and her coaching skills, Wendy supports clients through a journey of self-discovery to find strengths-based solutions and develop as leaders.

www.novamentis.com.au

LinkedIn

Email wendy.minne2@gmail.com

Phone 0413 433 808

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

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If you're a small or medium-sized business owner, this episode could save you from costly legal missteps that threaten your business's growth—or even its survival. Legal expert Matthew Fornaro joins the podcast to highlight the essential contracts and legal strategies that many entrepreneurs overlook in their rush to launch or scale. Whether you're just starting out or already running a business, you’ll learn how to lay the legal foundation to protect your operations, reputation, and revenue.

What You'll Learn:

• Why your business plan is a legally powerful document—not just a planning tool
• The 10 contracts every small business should have in place
• How missing legal steps early on can hurt your chances of getting a loan or surviving an audit
• What to know about doing business across state or national borders
• The difference between minimum compliance and real protection
• How to set up a business structure the right way from the beginning

Matthew also shares personal stories from his own transition from big law firms to running his own legal practice, plus practical insights from mentoring business owners like you. If you've ever wondered whether your contracts, agreements, and structures are truly protecting your business—you can’t afford to miss this episode.

Matthew Fornaro is a seasoned business law attorney and founder of Matthew Fornaro P.A., serving South Florida since 2003. He specializes in contract disputes, with expertise in intellectual property. Additionally, he mentors entrepreneurs, teaching programs like FastTrac NewVenture and the Jim Moran Institute.

Subscribe to the Fornaro Legal newsletter and get the eBook 10 Contracts Every Business Needs

www.fornarolegal.com

LinkedIn

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