Navigating change, overcoming hardship, or trying to become the best version of yourself? Learn how top coaches and consultants across industries help people or organizations make significant positive change.
What 15 Years of Entrepreneurship Actually Looks Like | Ep 58
Community to create more sales opportunities using relationship-first business development habits: networkandsell.com (http://networkandsell.com/)
Ped’s career makes much more sense looking backwards than it did while he was living it.
In this behind-the-scenes episode of Change Champions, Riley talks with Ped about the path from studying theoretical physics to teaching, facilitation, consulting, entrepreneurship and, eventually, the work we do today with coaches, consultants and facilitators.
They unpack some of the less obvious turning points along the way: graduating without a job, deliberately building the skills his CV was missing, discovering facilitation through experiential learning, moving from education into corporate work, and learning business development through associate work and subcontracting.
Ped also shares what happened when years of referrals and being “busy and in demand” suddenly led to six months without new work, why the pandemic forced another rethink, and how accidentally finding a niche changed the way he thought about his business.
It’s a conversation about career pivots, identity, niching and the skills that compound over time, especially when your career doesn’t follow a neat plan.
And underneath all those changes, Ped shares the through line that has stayed remarkably consistent: helping people grow.
Timestamps:
00:00 Why Ped’s career story is worth unpacking
01:18 Why theoretical physics came first
02:55 Graduating highly educated and unemployed
05:00 Deliberately building the skills his CV was missing
06:00 Discovering facilitation through experiential learning
07:45 The email that led Ped into teaching
09:55 Why five years of teaching changed his direction
10:35 Realising corporate life wasn’t for him
11:38 Moving from teaching into leadership development
12:18 Building the bridge from education to business
15:40 How networking started opening doors
17:15 Going fully self-employed
19:05 How associate work built Ped’s business skills
20:55 Taking risks on proposals and unpaid work
22:45 When being busy and in demand suddenly stopped
25:20 The pandemic and the question of financial runway
26:10 Turning existing skills into digital transformation work
29:20 How Ped “niched by accident”
30:25 Designing a business around the life he wanted
32:30 Choosing what kind of work to do next
33:15 Why coaches, consultants and facilitators became the focus
34:25 From workshop design to helping clients sell their work
35:20 Looking back at the career through line
37:05 The “why” behind Ped’s work
38:40 Where Riley and Ped are today
9 Sept 2026
What to Do When You Don’t Have Time to Grow Your Business | Ep 57
Newsletter for stories, tips and resources: leverageaccelerator.co
There’s rarely a perfect time to build your coaching or consulting business.
Life happens. You move house. Family needs more of you. Work changes. Your energy drops. And sometimes you simply don’t have the capacity you had a few months ago.
In this behind-the-scenes episode of Change Champions, Riley and Ped talk about a different way to think about building your client pipeline: instead of treating business development as something you’re either doing or not doing, build the skills and habits that let you dial your activity up or down.
They unpack why waiting for more time can keep you stuck, what can go wrong when you rely entirely on agencies or lead generation services, and why learning to create your own sales opportunities gives you more control.
Ped also shares the practical minimum and stretch goals he uses for conversations and content, while Riley explains why maintaining some momentum matters more than repeatedly stopping and starting.
If you’re a coach, consultant, trainer or facilitator trying to grow a business alongside everything else happening in your life, this episode offers a more sustainable way to think about your pipeline.
Timestamps:
00:00 Why the “right time” may never arrive
00:29 When life competes with building your business
02:10 Why mindset alone can’t create more capacity
04:10 The problem with waiting or outsourcing growth
05:20 When more leads create a different problem
07:35 Taking control of your own client pipeline
09:35 Why you should understand the process before delegating it
10:25 Coaching is still a business
11:35 Finding opportunities in a tougher market
12:45 Learning to build your own pipeline
14:00 Dialling business development up and down
15:05 Ped’s two core business development activities
16:20 Minimum and stretch goals for outreach and content
17:15 Why stopping completely kills momentum
18:45 Authentic Outreach versus paid ads
19:40 A business development skill you can take anywhere
20:45 Pipeline Builder and where to learn more
5 Aug 2026
How Coaches and Consultants Can Create More Opportunities Before They Need Them | Ep56
Newsletter for stories, tips and resources: leverageaccelerator.co
Community to create more sales opportunities using relationship-first business development habits: networkandsell.com
Layoffs are rising, budgets are tightening, and more coaches, consultants, trainers, and facilitators are thinking seriously about how much control they have over their next opportunity.
In this behind-the-scenes episode of the Change Champions podcast, Riley and Ped unpack three practical ways to become more proactive about your work: get clear on who you want to help, review the relationships you already have, and build a simple system for staying in touch.
They also share real client examples, including one person who uncovered 250 potential contacts from past projects and another who booked more than 40 conversations after believing his network had dried up.
The conversation covers:
- Why marketability matters when you’re a proud generalist
- How to turn existing relationships into new conversations
- Why networking and sales are often the same activity
- How to structure a virtual coffee without making it feel forced
- What a simple CRM needs to help you stay organised
- Why being useful creates more opportunities than pushing for a sale
This is a grounded look at relationship-first business development for people who want to create more control over where their work comes from.
Chapters
00:00 Why layoffs and budget cuts matter
00:50 The risk of relying on job security
02:38 Why more people are creating their own opportunities
03:31 A client who replaced lost revenue quickly
04:22 Start by choosing who you want to help
04:56 Why generalists struggle with marketability
06:17 Claiming your corner
06:56 Review the relationships you already have
07:28 Finding 250 potential contacts
07:50 What happens when your network feels exhausted
09:00 Where marketing and sales become the same activity
10:04 How to structure a virtual coffee
12:50 Listen for problems, goals, and useful connections
13:39 Treat sales as an act of service
14:47 Replace “always be closing” with “always be serving”
15:37 Why you need a simple system
16:55 What a basic CRM should contain
18:07 How to track warm and cold opportunities
19:09 Why 250 contacts does not mean 250 conversations
19:34 The notebook habit that made sales more human
21:44 The three actions to take now
22:04 Final recap
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Spotify
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 16 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
32
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
0
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Guest appearances
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Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Questions about Change Champions
Who hosts Change Champions?
Ped and Riley host the show. Published by Riley McGhee and Pedram Parasmand.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes weekly, based on its RSS feed.
Does Change Champions take guests?
The show does not typically feature guests, based on episode analyses.
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