The first of many newsletters….
Many of the listeners within the Personable community work at the best hedge funds, banks & firms on the planet
Some people have an hour to listen to an episode
Others only have a few minutes a week
A consistent bit of feedback has been that people would like a newsletter
Here is the 1st one
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A collection of thoughts:
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THOUGHT 1 - Progress since 2022
3 years ago I would speak to 6 of the most extraordinary people on the planet in a year
this week I am speaking to
7 CEOs, one world famous influencer and one of the most famous actors in the world
There is no secret sauce or quick fix
Hard work + initiative = success
ONLY 0.1% Make It Into Citadel Securities! Their Chief People Officer REVEALS What It REALLY Takes!
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THOUGHT 2 - Time in Sydney
I have some spare time over the next few months
And so
I want to provide as much value as I can through Personable
Using the same advice I gave my brother before he started his GCSEs this year
'There is nothing like working really hard for something you care about
The love doesn’t come from the results
But knowing you worked your absolute hardest on something you are passionate about'
EXCLUSIVE With Tiger Woods CEO: “Being Liked ≠ Success. Respect Is Everything!” (Former NBA Exec)
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THOUGHT 3 - Social media is not social
Social media is not social anymore
We tell ourselves we go on there to connect with friends but spend the whole time
Watching reels & consuming content
Whilst the removal of addictive content would be ideal
A solution is to make content where people actually can learn
This is why I aim to ramp up production of Personable content
With the intent to improve the lives of people by sharing
Stories from real people with real world experience doing phenomenal things
Build the CULT, Then The CODE - How SCRAN’s 22-YO Couple Are Changing Food Apps Forever!
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THOUGHT 4 - Free Value
Episode 13 of Personable featured
Geoff Riley - one of my favourite teachers in high school & the co-founder of Tutor2U
A key insight I learned from him over the years:
Geoff would give away so much value for free over the years whether it be free hats, exam books, Youtube videos or his willingness to help any student
That it felt like you would have to buy something from him
Not because you had to
But because the value he gave you for free when he didn’t have to far outweighed the cost that you would give him in return
(this model was used by Alex Hormozi in his recent record breaking book sale)
Building a Business with 30 Million Users: Tutor2U Geoff Riley | Ep 13
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THOUGHT 5 - Favourite episode
When people ask me for my favourite episode of Personable I often say my episode with Nick Wheeler
Why? It fundamentally changed the way I view the world
Nick started out in the Christmas tree selling business. Only to realise it was seasonal so he had to stop.
Nick started a made to order shoe business. He made sales with 30 close friends and family. Measured around their feet & sent it off to India through fax. Only to realise the fax would come out different sizes on the other end. Leading to his 2nd failed business.
The creation of Charles Tyrwhitt. I have been fascinated by the power law: In VC if someone was to invest in 20 companies the expectation is that 15/20 companies will lose money, 2-4 will double in value or return a similar amount & 1 company will deliver extraordinary returns.
VC money enables you to hire more employees, speed up the rate or production etc but it also forces you to succeed or fail quicker. Nick realised that instead of going boom or bust straight away every time he made a mistake he could learn from it & improve next time
This may seem simple but so often we over estimate what we can accomplish in 1 year but under estimate what we can accomplish in 10 years (One Chowdhury Personable ep coming soon). Nick opened my eyes to realise that if you never quit you never lose & if you keep improving and learning you will eventually win
Charles Tyrwhitt is now worth a significant amount
Work hard but never lose the perspective that to build something that changes the lives of millions
You need to build for the long term not just the calendar year
Unlocking Success: Nick Wheeler on Building a Billion-Dollar Clothing Empire | Personable Ep 7
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THOUGHT 6 - Legendary actress
Whilst the podcast is still small (771 subscribers 27th Aug 2025)
The first guests I interviewed came on a podcast with practically no following
The 4th guest was with Sunetra Sarker
A famous UK actress but more importantly one of my late mother's best friends
Sunetra shares the same birthday as me: June 25th which is pretty cool
Spent hours offering me as much advice as she could, would repost every single podcast of mine & even pinned my podcast post for months to her 60k+ following!
A key insight I think about often from Sunetra…..
Many people want to be successful actors
But I wanted to understand what keeps actors going before they find fame
Sunetra made me realise that is not fame that she sought out
But the love of acting
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You do not become an actor for the fame, money or prestige
You do it because you love it
You should be prepared to perform in front of 10 people in middle of nowhere
On a 2am Nigerian tv channel
or in a play where no one watches
Success is the by product not the ultimate result
You may not find success but that shouldn't matter
Because your goal was not to be famous
But to act
And if in the end all you have done is your love of acting
You have won no matter what
Sunetra Sarker | Her journey, fame & the rise of wokeism | Brookside, Casualty, Ackley Bridge | Ep 4
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THOUGHT 7 - Be careful who you follow
Many finance influencers are not actually successful
Their primary income is making the videos & the courses they proclaim will make you rich
I could seek to interview people with large audiences for views
But I would rather interview people who have found real world success
It is hard to do extraordinary things
So when you are trying to learn how to do extraordinary things
You must learn from those who have actually done those things
Not simply those who say they have
Louis Vincent Gave - Co-Founder & CEO GaveKal
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THOUGHT 8 - Produce the best
My plan is to release 10s (maybe 100+ episodes)
With Billionaires, the best CEOs, actresses, authors, influencers, athletes… on the planet
My theory is
If I can produce the best podcasts with the best guests on the planet the results will come
I have spent 100s of hours making TikTok videos that have made 0 views
And spent a childhood being told I couldn’t write only to find out I was dyslexic
But 4 months ago I started to get 100,000 views a month for my writing on LinkedIn
With some time on my hands I am going to start a newsletter once a week (in the flesh)
Expect learnings from my guests, insights I put together, early insights from those I interview
Justin Rose: Former World No.1 Golfer, U.S. Open Champion, and Olympic Gold Medalist
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THOUGHT 9 - Be public or don't get noticed
The days of being secretive online or in finance are gone
Social media gives you the ability connect with CEOs, clients and share your life with your network
It allows for the democratisation of network limited not only to those with the right degree, resume or connections
But to those willing to put in the work, reach out to other people and share their lives in the hope of connecting with like minded people
The level of connection is significantly higher than email or Bloomberg
Just because you have someone's contact does not mean they will reply
But if u are delivering interesting content and sharing interesting things people will see your human element
Marcel Bens - CEO of Emil Capital Partners
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THOUGHT 10 - Don't try to be perfect instead be authentic
My goal is not to be perfect
Don’t expect the perfect clips, notes or insights
Personable is raw, authentic and I am sharing my insights as someone
Who was born on a 45mi^2 island learning from the most successful people on the planet
I could give you my polished self
But that would not be a person worth learning with
The greatest points of humanity and connection in a story arc
Are not once they have won
But when they are in the underdog phase
Everyone wants the little guy to win
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NEW EPISODES
Episodes of Personable out this week
Wednesday
The Market Experts: Quant AI has made Billionaires! Now Retail Investors Can Do It Too! (OpenQuant)
Makoto Tominaga & Quoc Anh Ngo
Friday
Basketball Phenom's SECRET To Keep Winning! What It Takes To Get To The Top! (USA World Champion)
Jadyn Donovan
Watch on Youtube, Spotify or Apple podcasts
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THANK YOU
Thank you for reading my first newsletter
This is something new so please send me comments with your thoughts
And share with your friends to help grow the podcast
90% of people that listen to the podcast are not subscribed rn
So if you have a second please follow on Substack, YouTube & any other platforms (links in YouTube description)
My goal is to hit 10,000 YouTube subscribers before the end of the year
Harvey Bracken-Smith
Host of Personable
Would love to hear any thoughts
Fantastic Harvey thank you for taking the time to share your learnings