Empire Builders with Nick James

About Empire Builders with Nick James

Welcome to EMPIRE BUILDERS with CEO, entrepreneur, and International speaker, Nick James. Nick is probably best known for his ground-breaking ‘Expert Empires’ events in the UK. He's dynamic and daring in his approach to business, and genuinely loves to see his clients get results. In a world where self-awareness and humility are rare, you’ll find Nick’s ‘open and real’ style refreshing, challenging, and inspiring. On this podcast you’ll find a mix of: 1. Original content, recorded especially for ‘EMPIRE BUILDERS’ listeners. Nick will share his current (and often extreme!) views on all things business, including audience growth, lead generation, sales, and how to get the very best out of yourself every single day. 2. Exclusive interviews with some of the world’s best-known experts and authors, including David Goggins, Chalene Johnson, Trent Shelton, Lewis Howes, Ryan Deiss, and many more. 3. Keynote Speeches recorded live at Nick’s previous events, featuring high net-worth entrepreneurs like Gary Vaynerchuk, Lord Sugar, Grant Cardone, Tom Bilyeu, Ed Mylett, and others. If you’re committed to building an EMPIRE that makes a big difference in the world, AND helps you create vast personal wealth… you’re in the right place!

Publisher

Nick James

Category

business · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

17 Jun 2020

Latest episode

22 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

184 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Jul 2026

   Why You're Really Afraid to Speak (And How to Free Your Voice) — with Judith Quin

   In this eye-opening conversation with Judith Quin, Nick James dives deep into why so many of us hold our voices back — and what it really takes to speak with confidence in any room. A public speaking coach, vocal confidence specialist and best-selling author, Judith reveals that what we label a fear of public speaking is really three deeper fears — the fear of judgment, the fear of being seen, and the fear of the unknown — hardwired into us as a primal, tribe-era survival instinct. From why your voice reflects every experience you've ever had, witnessed, or even imagined, to the reframe that turned Nick's own Birmingham accent into a competitive advantage, Judith shares the inner work that sits beneath confident communication. She unpacks her core principle that "recognition creates release," the simple shift from asking "who am I?" to "who AM I?", and why the psychology of speaking must come before any slide deck or stagecraft. Whether you sell from the stage or simply want the courage to raise your hand in a meeting, Judith's holistic, honest insights will challenge you to stop hiding and start speaking as the whole of who you are. VALUABLE RESOURCES https://yourwholevoice.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/judithquinvocalconfidence ABOUT THE HOST Nick James Nick dropped out of university at the age of 21 and failed spectacularly with his first coaching business, which forced him to take a £16k/yr telesales job. Within 12 months he was the top performer and left to start his second business at 24. This time he discovered a winning formula and before long had a multi-six-figure company. He then made a huge mistake which nearly put him out of business and cost him £50,000 in personal cash! Fortunately, Nick kept it afloat, turned it around, and sold that business 2 years later in a seven-figure deal. He then co-founded a multi-million-pound marketing company, which he exited in 2015, and created Expert Empires. Today, Expert Empires is known as the UK's number one business event for Experts, with world-renowned celebrity speakers like Gary Vaynerchuk, Grant Cardone, Chalene Johnson, David Goggins, and Lewis Howes gracing the stage. Nick also specialises in helping Coaches, Consultants, Speakers, Trainers, and Authors take their businesses from zero to six figures and beyond through his Expert Empires Mastermind programme.

2. 

   15 Jul 2026

   Built A £2.5m/Year Business With Zero Ad Spend — Then Sold It For 6-10x EBITDA [Richard Willis]

   In this episode I'm joined by Richard Willis — someone I met at one of my events, who briefly mentioned what he'd built and exited, and I knew immediately I wanted to dig deeper. Richard built Salamander Soft, a software and services company in the education IT sector — helping schools integrate their systems with platforms like Active Directory, Microsoft 365, and Google Workspace. What started as "an accidental business" — Richard just wanted to work from home and support his family — grew into a company turning over £2.5 million a year, with zero ad spend, eventually reaching 60% of UK secondary schools and every school in Wales. We talk about the power of going niche (and why that made him impossible for bigger competitors to compete with on search), how he built the business almost entirely through existing contacts, online communities, and word of mouth, and the journey from "working, eating, or sleeping" as a one-man band to building a leadership team that eventually ran the business without him. Richard also walks us through the exit process in detail — including how the business was valued (a multiple of EBITDA), what nearly went wrong when one buyer tried to drop the price by £2 million two weeks before completion, and why having multiple interested parties matters so much when you're negotiating a sale. Now financially free, Richard's giving back — sitting on the boards of three startups as a non-exec director, in legal tech, environmental/biodiversity, and education. If you're building a business with an eye on an eventual exit — or you're in software/education and want to connect with someone who's been there — this episode is full of practical, honest insight. VALUABLE RESOURCES Connect with Richard on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/rpwillis ABOUT THE HOST Nick James Nick dropped out of university at 21 and failed spectacularly with his first coaching business, which forced him to take a £16k/yr telesales job. Within 12 months he was the top performer and left to start his second business at 24. This time he discovered a winning formula and before long had a multi-six-figure company. He then made a huge mistake which nearly put him out of business and cost him £50,000 in personal cash. Fortunately, Nick kept it afloat, turned it around, and sold that business two years later in a seven-figure deal. He then co-founded a multi-million-pound marketing company, which he exited in 2015, and created Expert Empires. Today, Expert Empires is known as the UK's number one business event for Experts, with world-renowned speakers including Gary Vaynerchuk, Grant Cardone, David Goggins, and Lewis Howes gracing the stage. Nick also specialises in helping Coaches, Consultants, Speakers, Trainers, and Authors take their businesses from zero to six figures and beyond through his Expert Empires Mastermind programme.

3. 

   8 Jul 2026

   £0 To £70k In 3 Months — How Two Property Investors Built A Coaching Business From Scratch [Manny & Gurj]

   In this episode I'm joined by Manny and Gurj from Noir Property Group — guys I've been working with for the past few months, who've been smashing it both in their property business and their newly-launched coaching business. We talk about why "flipping" is their number one strategy for building wealth — and why leaving cash sitting in the bank is actually costing you money every single day, not keeping it safe. Manny and Gurj walk us through their very first deal back in 2019 — bought for £50k, sight unseen, with £15k spent on refurb, refinanced for £70k, and revalued at £110k. Since then, they've completed over 50 flips. We also dig into how they took that property expertise and built a coaching business from a standing start — going from posting free content in October, to generating £70k in revenue by their first three months of selling, with no prior following beyond a couple of thousand followers. If you're an "expert" in something — whether that's property, fitness, relationships, or anything else — and you want to see exactly how to turn that following into paying clients, this episode breaks it down step by step. The guys have also created a free guide — Property Flipping Essentials — which they're gifting to our community. VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.noirpropertyclub.com/learn ABOUT THE HOST Nick James Nick dropped out of university at 21 and failed spectacularly with his first coaching business, which forced him to take a £16k/yr telesales job. Within 12 months he was the top performer and left to start his second business at 24. This time he discovered a winning formula and before long had a multi-six-figure company. He then made a huge mistake which nearly put him out of business and cost him £50,000 in personal cash. Fortunately, Nick kept it afloat, turned it around, and sold that business two years later in a seven-figure deal. He then co-founded a multi-million-pound marketing company, which he exited in 2015, and created Expert Empires. Today, Expert Empires is known as the UK's number one business event for Experts, with world-renowned speakers including Gary Vaynerchuk, Grant Cardone, David Goggins, and Lewis Howes gracing the stage. Nick also specialises in helping Coaches, Consultants, Speakers, Trainers, and Authors take their businesses from zero to six figures and beyond through his Expert Empires Mastermind programme.

Who has been a guest on Empire Builders with Nick James

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Vishen Lakhiani
• Paul Green
• Paul Mort
• Fearne Cotton
• Steven Bartlett

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 46 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

79

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

Contact Empire Builders with Nick James

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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