We're all about championing business owners across Wales and getting to hear their business stories. This podcast is all about learning from business owners both experienced and those who have started their journeys.
Through storytelling we can encourage, motive & inspire people to achieve their potential. We all have a story to tell, and we believe we're all storytellers.
Episode 73: Breaking Barriers & Building Confidence with She Thrives Collective
What does it really take to build a business, overcome self-doubt and find your confidence?
In this episode of What's Your Stori?, James is joined by Crystal and Helen, the founders of She Thrives Collective, a community dedicated to supporting, connecting and empowering women in business.
From a chance meeting in a Swansea pub to building a thriving network of female entrepreneurs, Crystal and Helen share the story behind She Thrives Collective and why creating a supportive space for women in business matters more than ever.
The conversation explores their individual journeys through entrepreneurship, marketing and motherhood, including the challenges of returning to work after maternity leave, navigating redundancy and finding the confidence to pursue something new.
They also discuss the power of mindset, overcoming limiting beliefs, the importance of accountability and why networking doesn't have to feel intimidating.
In this episode:
- The challenges of balancing motherhood and running a business.
- Overcoming self-doubt, fear and limiting beliefs.
- Why community and accountability are so important for entrepreneurs.
- Practical advice for building confidence and making meaningful connections.
- The importance of showing up as yourself in business.
Whether you're starting your entrepreneurial journey, growing an established business or looking to build your confidence, this episode is a reminder that you don't have to do it alone.
🎙️ What's Your Stori? shares the journeys, challenges and experiences of business owners, entrepreneurs and creatives across Wales and beyond.
Everyone has a story to tell. What's yours?
Subscribe for more inspiring conversations and stories from the people behind the businesses.
9 Oct 2026
Episode 72 - Building Beacon Compliance: Food Safety, Risk & the Reality of Running a Business
What does it really take to keep a food business safe, compliant… and out of prison?In this episode of What’s Your Stori?, James sits down with Katie Watkins-Young, Founder and Managing Director of Beacon Compliance, to uncover the world of food safety and the story behind building her own compliance business.Katie’s career has taken her from environmental health and prosecuting businesses for food safety offences, to working within food manufacturing and eventually launching Beacon Compliance in 2018. Today, she helps businesses ranging from small independent cafés to multi-million-pound food companies navigate compliance, achieve certifications and avoid costly mistakes.But this conversation goes far beyond food safety.Katie speaks openly about the realities of entrepreneurship: growing a team, making expensive hiring mistakes, dealing with cash-flow pressures and questioning what success in business actually looks like. She also shares the influence her late father had on her career, the possibility of passing the business on to the next generation, and why she’s determined to find the right future for Beacon.It’s an honest conversation about food, family, resilience, leadership and the lessons you can only learn by building a business yourself.🎙️ In this episode:• Why Katie moved from environmental health into the private sector • The reality of food safety inspections and compliance • How Beacon Compliance was born • Going full-time just before the COVID pandemic • Why more staff and more turnover don’t necessarily equal success • The costly business decision that changed Katie’s approach to growth • Building a business that doesn’t depend entirely on its founder • Family businesses, succession and Katie’s hopes for the future • Why Beacon Compliance is like a lighthouse guiding businesses around the rocksWhether you run a food business, you're building a company of your own, or you simply want to know what really goes on behind the food we buy and eat, there’s plenty to take away from Katie’s story
8 May 2026
Episode 71 - Phil Evans: Financial Wisdom, Mentorship, and Preparing for Life’s Unknowns
In this episode of What’s Your Stori?, host James speaks with Phil Evans, a long-time business owner who works in financial services and describes his week as primarily “problem solving.” Phil shares how he wanted to be a carpenter but entered finance in his early twenties and has spent 41 years learning and helping others. They discuss how business owners often leave employment perks like pensions, death-in-service, and sickness benefits behind, yet underestimate personal risk, and Phil stresses planning for living too long, dying too soon, or becoming disabled. Phil and James explore money mindset, the importance of mentors, paying yourself first, tracking spending, surrounding yourself with the right people, building loyal friendships, delegating to a strong team, and using listening and humour in communication, including stories from comedy and a magician’s “breaking of the wand” funeral ritual.
Who has been a guest on What's Your Stori?
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Tom White
Gareth Harris
Lloyd Henry
Lloyd Evans
Max Howells
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
13,410,013
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Spotify
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 57 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
63
Social presence
0
YouTube
93
Engagement
32
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Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Questions about What's Your Stori?
Who hosts What's Your Stori??
James and James Owen and host host the show. Published by Stori Cymru.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes monthly, based on its RSS feed.
Does What's Your Stori? take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
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