The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius

'The King of Networking!' LinkedIn Samurai (!) Mark Walmsley! Arts & Culture Network Curator with circa 140k Members, on Top-Tips of Storytelling, Personal Brand + The Art of CONNECTION!

• Chris Grimes - Facilitator. Coach. Motivational Comedian

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Curious about how to break free from traditional job roles and foster connections that truly matter? Join us on the Good Listening To Show as Mark Walmsley, the mastermind behind the Arts and Culture Network with a vast LinkedIn following of 140,000, spills the secrets to storytelling and networking success. 

Mark shares what he calls your "operator word," a powerful tool that invites curiosity and conversation, and reveals strategies to enhance Personal Branding through creativity and curiosity. Listeners will gain insightful lessons on avoiding the confines of conventional job descriptions and crafting connections that lead to meaningful collaborations.

Our conversation takes a nostalgic and inspiring turn as we explore key influences that have shaped both personal and professional journeys. From the digital adventures of the early '90s to the enchanting playfulness of wordcraft, you'll discover how early exposure to technology and a love for language have fueled Mark's innovative spirit. We also unpack frameworks like "Parella" and "DBR equals NRT," inspired by Seth Godin, which are pivotal for anyone looking to make a lasting impact through branding. These concepts not only guide our discussion but also form the basis of workshops designed to elevate brands to new heights.

The episode wraps up with a heartwarming and humorous mix of personal anecdotes and business insights. From thrilling tales of playing Batman at a live event to the whimsical joys of hot tub relaxation, Mark shares stories that highlight the importance of maintaining a childlike curiosity amidst strategic thinking. We touch upon legacy and inspirations, leaving you with valuable lessons on how to connect with the show, become a guest, or even gift an episode to someone special. Whether you're drawn to the arts, intrigued by storytelling, or eager to enhance your personal or professional brand, this episode offers a treasure trove of wisdom and wit.

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'. If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening!

Speaker 1:

Welcome to another episode of the Good Listening To Show your life and times with me, chris Grimes, the storytelling show that features the Clearing, where all good questions come to get asked and all good stories come to be told, and where all my guests have two things in common they're all creative individuals and all with an interesting story to tell. There are some lovely storytelling metaphors a clearing, a tree, a juicy storytelling exercise called 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, some alchemy, some gold, a cheeky bit of Shakespeare and a cake. So it's all to play for. So, yes, welcome to the Good Listening To Show your life and times with me, chris Grimes, are you sitting comfortably? Then we shall begin. And there we have it. We shall indeed begin with an auspicious day in the Good Listening To Show clearing.

Speaker 1:

This is the storytelling podcast and radio show in which I invite movers, makers, shakers, mavericks, influencers and also personal heroes into a clearing or serious happy place of their choosing to all share with us their stories of distinction and genius sorry, distinction and genius. And this is the adorable and incredibly talented Mark Wormsley, who is the proud curator of the Arts and Culture Network, which I congratulate you for, because actually you've created a monster of awesomeness because it has 140,000 members through LinkedIn and your ability to network, and also your generosity and warmth within what you transmit and omit, is something to conjure. So, mark Wormsley, you are extremely welcome to the Good Listening To Show.

Speaker 2:

I'm delighted to be here. Thank you very much, Chris.

Speaker 1:

And you just had the sound of one man clapping there. You're welcome, no extra charge, although we are streaming across the interweb globally as we speak. So how's morale? First of all, what's your story of the day, please, mark?

Speaker 2:

Story of the day Cold, I would think, but morale is good because it's sunny. Yeah, it's always great to get. I don't know if it's an age thing, but fridays seem to come around a lot quicker these days. Yes, school holidays felt summer. School holidays were seven weeks, but felt like a year. And and now look at us, you start work on monday morning and and suddenly it's friday afternoon. But I'm very well, thank you, chris, I'm I'm very.

Speaker 1:

And I'm really, really excited to curate you through the journey and the story of the Good Listing 2 show. But first of all, just a really deliberately obviously clunky networking question that we all get asked, and you should be a samurai at how you answer this. You know, the most awful, clunky question we've all got to navigate in our lives is oh hello, what do you you do, so what's your favorite way of avoiding or answering that question? You are the samurai of networking, so we're all, we're all listening with bated breath, but how do you like to avoid or answer that question mark?

Speaker 2:

I love to avoid that question and I advise people to avoid the question or evade the. And evade it, yes, because once you tell people what you do, you're in a box that they've created in their head, to which they under, and they understand to a greater or lesser extent what that means, and if that box is not something that they find attractive, compelling and interesting, you've lost the chance to be liked by them before they put you in that box. So I try to evade that. I've had some lovely introductions from people. I met a young lady at a networking event and I'm afraid I did end up asking her what she did and she said I count other people's money. It was a lovely way to introduce herself as an accountant, but, um, I call myself the chief of staff, um I. My job is to create connections that start conversations and result in collaboration.

Speaker 1:

That's, that's my job and you have something very silky that I like in terms of silky skills. You've got something called an operator word which I hope you will talk about in. Yes, do you want me?

Speaker 2:

to mention that about in yes law they. Do you want me to mention that now?

Speaker 1:

well, just before you do. You know, you asked me before we started. Can you hear my fan? I think I can hear your fan, so if you don't mind your toes getting less toasty, yep, that's.

Speaker 2:

That'll turn up in 30 seconds.

Speaker 1:

There we go so if you end up with frostbite during the course of this, I apologize. So sorry, that was just me getting you to turn the technology of the fan off. But yes, um, you can either talk about the, the operator word, now or whenever you like. What do you operate a?

Speaker 2:

word yes for those. Uh is, for those who not familiar with it, it's the word that goes before the word that they understand. That gets them asking more questions. So forensic accountant, for example, preventative osteopath, visual tribute artist, something that creates a little bit of cognitive dissonance there that allows people to. I call it the wait what moment? Wait what? Yeah, love that, yes. I call it the wait what moment? Wait what? Yeah, love that, yes. So when people think they know, so I'm an abstract oceanic artist, wait what I get the artist bit yeah, I understand abstracts and oceanic, but I need to know more. So, yeah, I call it the opera and it's based around somebody's identifying characteristic as a person or a business or a brand.

Speaker 1:

And in fact that came about for me. We've had wonderful conversations in our time together but, um, not because of you, but also endorsed by you, I call myself a motivational comedian. There's that just sort of hook word that gets us into, as you say, the operator word. And your, your ability to help people get clearer about their proposition and their brand is something I know you also specialize in. So we'll get you on the open road for you to go as deep as you like, where you like and how you like, into the structure of what we're going to explore together. So shall we get you on the open road of the construct of the good, listening to show.

Speaker 1:

Yes looking forward to it. There is going to be a clearing, a tree, a lovely juicy storytelling exercise called 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. There's going to be a couple of random squirrels, a cheeky bit of Shakespeare, a golden baton and a cake. So it's absolutely all to play for. And so let's get you on the open road. As I say, interpret the shaking of the canopy of your tree in a moment however you like, but on the open road, first of all, energetically. It all takes place in a clearing or serious happy place of my guests choosing. So, mark warnsley um, proud curator of the arts and culture network. Where do you go? Where is your clearing? Where do you go to get clutter free, inspirational and able to think?

Speaker 2:

it's kendall park in hullbridge, onouch in Essex. So a couple of years ago my wife and I downsized. When our last child left the house. We changed the locks and put the house on the market and downsized to a very small riverside property in rural Essex on the River Crouch, and between us and the river is a nature reserve, a small park called the called kendall park, and in there there's a a fallen tree and somebody's um carved kendall park into the side of it and that's where people sit down occasionally but there are very, it's very, it's really quite um, it's not remote but it's a little bit of a hidden secret there. So kendall park next to the river crouch in hullbridge in essex would be my clearing space oh, I love that you found your own little dingley dell in kendall park.

Speaker 1:

And who? Who carved the tree, I wonder?

Speaker 2:

I imagine it was the wonderful people who I meet a lot. They've they've done a very clever thing they've used crushed um seashells to create luminous paths in the park because, um, it's not lit, obviously, um, but these white shells clearly, are clearly visible and they do a great job of of laying those down. I imagine they did this this with a chainsaw, um, rather quickly, um because it's the only thing about graffiti and trees.

Speaker 1:

If you take the time to look, there are people having carved, you know, swark or hearts that sometimes are hundreds of years old, which is really fantastic to see yeah, so kendall park would be my clearing space lovely and, being in essex, you're probably quite a close neighbor of jamie oliver, I imagine, because he lives in Essex. You're probably quite a close neighbour of Jamie Oliver, I imagine, because he lives in Essex too.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and his father. I don't know if he still does, but in Pagelsham, very, quite close to us, pagelsham, it's his father's pub. So yeah, there's that connection.

Speaker 1:

And I grew up in Southend-on-Sea I I know that's Essex as well. So I'm just tinging, I'm making connections with you. Do you see what I'm doing there?

Speaker 2:

I love it. And did you know, then, that the South End is actually called South End because it's the south end of Prittle One?

Speaker 1:

Ah no, and I lived there for all those years and I didn't know that there was a joke about South End and that when the tide goes out it's sometimes called the turd goes out. I remember that that, yeah, that's giving them a harsh reputation. But then the joke that went along, that is that the, the breaststroke, was developed in south end. Anyway, I'm not trashing south end, it was.

Speaker 2:

oh no, we, I think we've got a blue badge now or whatever, a blue flag, um, and we have the longest pleasure pier in the world.

Speaker 1:

So what an act. The longest pleasure pier in the world, wonderful. So here we are, then, in your wonderful dingy dell in kendall park. I'm now going to arrive with a tree within your clearing it could even be the very tree that has kendall park sort of hewn into the bark. And now you're going to um shake your tree to see which storytelling apples fall out. How'd you like these apples?

Speaker 1:

And this is where you've been kind enough excuse the comedy props that will come out at various points, but this is where you've been kind enough to interpret the five, four, three, two, one which you'll see on the bark of the tree, although it's slightly obscured by our lovely faces too. So this is where you've had five minutes, uh, mark walmsley, to have thought about four things that have shaped you, three things that inspire you, two things that never fail to grab your attention, and that will be where the random squirrels come in. Borrow from the film up. And then the one is a quirkier, unusual fact about you. We couldn't possibly know about you until you tell us it's not a memory test, but my invitation to you now is to interpret the shaking of the canopy of your tree as you see fit. So over to you would you like?

Speaker 2:

there were two anecdotes that sprang to mind, that kind of hit that probably fall into the four or the three, that the things that inspired me. Um, stop me if I go on, because I can, okay that's why we love you.

Speaker 1:

That's great.

Speaker 2:

You're going on beautifully already I don't know if I told you the buddy rich story when we last met, but when I was nine I'd been learning to play the drums for two years and my teacher said to my father you really should take Mark to see Buddy Rich play, but I can't because I'm on tour with the Philharmonia Orchestra. So dad said, ok, I'll take him. So dad then ended up away on business. So mum took me, nine years old, I had a suede jacket on with tassels, I remember it. So there I was sitting at Ronnie Scott's at the age of nine and on came the band. And it was wonderful.

Speaker 2:

Ronnie Scott's is a lovely venue because it's so intimate. You feel close to the musicians. And Ronnie Scott comes out at halftime when the band are taking a break to tell rather blue jokes, which he didn't think I ought to hear. So he asked one of his helpers to take me backstage to meet Buddy Rich. So off we went, my mother and I, and this mountain of a man was sitting there with towels all over him at halftime. And this mountain of a man was sitting there with towels all over him at halftime, and he reached up to above the wardrobe next to him and pulled out a pair of sticks and said if you can play a paradiddle on my knee, you can keep the sticks. A paradiddle, yes, yeah. Do you know what a paradiddle?

Speaker 1:

is? I think I do. But tell us what is a paradiddle, please?

Speaker 2:

it's right, left, right right left, right, left left say that again.

Speaker 2:

I'm glad I asked you what's a paradiddle right, left, right, right, left, right, left, left ideally you know fast, uh, with bouncing. So I did and he said that's good enough, you can keep the sticks. So I then went back to my seat and we watched the second show, which was great and I loved it and that would be an inspiring moment for me. One of them I went on to study percussion and drums and played in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra played the drum kit in West End shows, so that was an inspiring moment. Just before he died, he played the Cliff Pavilion in South End. Um, so that was an inspiring moment just before he died.

Speaker 2:

He played the Cliffs Pavilion in South End. Ah, yes, and I went to that one. I also knew somebody at the Cliffs Pavilion which helped um. I got to meet him again and I said you won't remember this, but I met you at Ronnie Scott's in 1975 uh, no, 1972, um, and I was wearing a suede jacket with lots of tassels and you said to me if, if I and and I met you and you get, it was great, he said. I said you won't remember that and he said um, has your paradiddle got any faster?

Speaker 1:

ah unless he's always given away the sticks on the old paradiddle, but, but? But you know that's such a precious story. I have seen a beautiful clip with him and roy castle in parkinsonland, way back when and he he was renowned for being able to do paradiddles on anything, wasn't he? Yes, oh, yes, yeah. What an extraordinary story of of thanking someone that influenced you all those years later yes, it was.

Speaker 2:

That was great. Um, what are my five things? Five minutes, four things that shaped me. So, music that that takes the music box. Um, digital technology has shaped me.

Speaker 1:

Um, I just commend you for take to the music box.

Speaker 2:

That's great storytelling right there because of our music boxes yes, oh, I didn't mean that, I'm just instinctive, um, so, yes, my father, I have my father to thank because I, we didn't have computers in schools. When I was at school, the only thing that remotely resembled it was probably an electric typewriter in the secretary's office, um, but my dad's realized, I think, um, he died when I, uh, when I was 25, he was 50, um, but back then he, um, he realized that computers were going to be important and so he bought me a quite significant expense compared to today's prices, over 500 pounds, I think back in the 80s, early 80s, um, um, an Amstrad 8512 green screen word processor, and so I was largely well, uh, self-taught. And I'm he, he, I wrote a program for him in basic which catalogued his music collection, and so I got the bug for digital then and, and many people my age or around my age didn't have that opportunity and have felt a little bit left behind so can I just say you, you've conjured up a memory for me too.

Speaker 1:

We must be a very similar age, because as I left school I saw a cursor just winking on an MS DOS thing. I thought, oh, what's that? Then I had to leave school.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, must be about the same time. And so in 93, when I wanted to experiment with email, I could, and in 94, when I wanted to teach myself web design, I could, but I couldn't have done if my father hadn't given me that leg up.

Speaker 1:

So that would be dad, dad, dad and digital would be that lovely alliteration and I'm very sorry you lost him so early yes, it's very strange.

Speaker 2:

Now I'm I'm 11 years older than he ever was, so all the whenever I see a photograph of him, I'm older than him oh, we are the same.

Speaker 1:

I'm very. I'm going to be 62, for heaven's sake, in about a week's time. Oh, congratulations, I'm just, I'm just slightly ahead of you. I think I'm 61, yes, so, um, technically so, am I just to be pedantic?

Speaker 2:

because yes, well, there we go. Yes, what a great vintage.

Speaker 1:

I'm 62 in 62 um. Anyway, it's not about me, it's about you. So back to you. Yes, sorry um other ones I think I've always been.

Speaker 2:

I've always loved writing or thinking and playing with words, so I think that that has shaped me. I've read an awful lot as a, as a child um, and I love that word. Play, um. I think my favorite at the, the favorite output of that would be when I was asked to provide a name for a flower stall in a hospital and I came up with stem cell. It's that kind of advanced is the wrong word, but rather fluid, thinking about the way that words play together and using lovely words that can mean different things like inspired, um, I use a lot because something it's so or inspiring is even better. Inspiring great stories, yes, is both a to do a doing thing and a natural thing.

Speaker 1:

So and I I'm. I have experienced directly your brilliant word play. I know you've got a delicious acronym of parella, which is um. I think it's a south american, did you say where?

Speaker 2:

did you say it was from parella, parella p-a-r-e-l-a is a brazilian boy's name, meaning breathing spirit. Yeah, um, but for me it's the acronym I created for the chronology of customer engagement. So it's perception, awareness, recall, engagement, loyalty and advocacy, and arguably all businesses and brands need to try and get from one end to the other and if they do, like Nike Harley-, nike Harley Davidson and Apple, they could probably double their prices and halve their marketing budget and still have a viable business. Most of us are stuck at perception and awareness.

Speaker 1:

We don't know what we are and nobody knows that otherwise and I know in a conversation we had as well, I know you. You thought you worked backwards. You had the name, then you worked out the acronym, which is incredible. Sorry, you had the name. Then you worked out how to ally it to a customer journey proposition.

Speaker 2:

Yes, in effect, yeah, it's a. It's a nice uh aid memoir, perilla, um so, and I've I've had people contact me months or years afterwards and say I still remember that thing you do called Pirella. It's a nice hook for people to think about.

Speaker 1:

And, if I may also, your DBR equals NRT is awesome as well in the world of acronyms, so I hope I'm not stealing any thunder from what you were going to talk about anyway, no, no, no.

Speaker 2:

Dbr equals NRT is my formula for Pirella brand success, effectively, whether that's individual or business, um, it's, it's an acronym for different, better and remarkable equals, noticed, remembered and talked about. And if you can get that right, everything else you subsequently do is amplified in its impact. So, um, and that forms part of a workshop that I do, um called the brand discovery workshop. So, yes, if you're not different, you're invisible. If you're not perceived as better, they'll be promiscuous, and if you're not remarkable in some way, they won't talk about you to their friends. So that's a. It was largely inspired by the marketing philosopher set Godin, whose meetup London meetups I used to organize.

Speaker 1:

So, yes, I hope you're going to pass the golden baton to Seth Godin later on. Obviously I would love to. Yes that'd be great but I commend your acronyms to the house and I think that's that's. I loved it when I heard it, because it's just really intriguing and hooking. Coming full circle back to your operator word, I think you're full of, you're suffused with, with things that hook or make us feel wait, what?

Speaker 2:

which is what you said is your, yeah and, and all of that comes together in what I call super passion, um, which is a cross between a superpower and a passion, and what you love is not necessarily what you're good at, but when, as was it, um john ruskin said, when love and skill come together, expect some magic. So the the suit that, and so my super passion seems to be making connections that work, um, and I'm a music, arts and culture um fanatic, so connecting people in that sector makes perfect sense to me. I'm in the best job in the world, so that would be the four things that have shaped me, I guess.

Speaker 1:

Delicious answer. Thank you very much, and if there's any overlap don't worry, but we're on to three things that inspire you. As I say, if there's overlap doesn't matter, because you're actually interpreting the canopy beautifully, because you're weaving in and out of the back the boughs of the tree um, three things that have inspired me.

Speaker 2:

My wife, um, inspires me. Um, without wanting to um delve too deeply, she was, uh, a single. We met. We grew up in the same road as teenagers. Um, uh, I hit her radar, but she didn't hit mine, because there was three years between us, and that makes a difference when you're she's 16 and I'm 19. But our parents were good friends and we lived in the same cul-de-sac together. We went off our separate ways, married other people, both got married to other people in the same year, not knowing. We had no contact during that time at all and I moved back to Hockley in Essex in 2010. And we bumped into each other and then we've been married. That was 11 years ago. We married seven um, and we have a lovely blended family now.

Speaker 2:

But, um, her story is inspiring for me in that she was, um, living in a kind of park home with no job, car, with two young children on her own, um 20 odd years ago no, 25 years ago perhaps. Um, she's now um, having pulled herself through that whole experience and I wasn't there to help, like we've only been together for the last 10 years. She's now um, which she now has an mba. She's a fully qualified accountant, a microsoft accredited excel expert, um working on some lovely projects, know delving into formulas and spreadsheets and loves it, and she's been using Excel since it, since it started. So the transition that she's created for the benefit of two of our children is inspiring to me, and so she is, she's an inspiration um. So she is um. She's an inspiration um. Fatherhood has become an inspiration um, and being and having two grandchildren now, which I love, I take Wednesday afternoons off to spend with them, both on my own, which is brave how old are our grand?

Speaker 1:

how old are the grandchildren?

Speaker 2:

um. Hallie is two and Alfie is 12 months, so just under a year.

Speaker 1:

So I must just say I love the story of you grew up in a cul-de-sac. She was part of your DNA. You went your separate ways and then you came back to the cul-de-sac almost. I just think that's wonderful yeah, and we did.

Speaker 2:

We bought a house back in that same road, um, and that was the one that we downsized from to here.

Speaker 1:

So the expression as well. What's meant for you won't pass you by. You did pass each other by for a bit, but you were still meant to be, and so what? What was meant to be didn't pass you by.

Speaker 2:

Yeah again with the word play. We were out on holiday in france and my wife joe said how would you sum up our relationship in two words? And I my reply was effortless companionship. Wow, and if you've got that?

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

Everything else is a bonus, you know. So that's something.

Speaker 1:

And what did she say as her two words? She didn't, she couldn't match that. Yes.

Speaker 2:

So, yes, so, being a grandparent, I love. I love being a grandparent because it reminds you of bringing up your own children, but you can give them back at the end of the day. Yes, I do all the dangerous things that that my daughter won't let Hallie do. When she's with her, you know, I will encourage her to rock climbing yes, up, you know, climbing here, there and everywhere. Horse riding yes, you know all of the things that Amy's terrified to do with her. I do with her. So, yes, that's great fun.

Speaker 1:

Presumably, you draw the line at crack cocaine.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we don't do that, and then again, I think, then Mahler, gustav Mahler. I remember when I was playing in the percussion section of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for 10 years I was fortunate enough to do so when Simon Rattle was conducting Sir Simon, sorry Simon. And when we opened Symphony Hall in Birmingham, we played Mahler's Second Symphony, and the last 10 minutes of that are a glimpse of heaven, or the equivalent musically. We also played that same piece in his last concert as artistic director, about 10, 12 years later, um, and so that has stuck with me enormously in that inspiration. Um, I don't know if we spoke about this last time, but sorry, chris, was it?

Speaker 2:

just a glimpse of heaven was beautiful, and and just say the name of the movement again so people can look it up it's the last movement, it's the last 10 minutes, effectively, of uh marla's second symphony, called the resurrection um, and it'll be on youtube, it'll be on you, it is on youtube and spotify, and I'm playing on both of those tracks, which makes it even more, and the resurrection is obviously religious and Spotify and I'm playing on both of those tracks, which makes it even more.

Speaker 1:

And Resurrection is obviously religious and Glimpse of Heaven is that your own moniker for it?

Speaker 2:

Yes, I'm not religious, but for those who are, that would be it.

Speaker 1:

And I promise you we'll texture some of that music into the soundscape when this is now produced as a podcast.

Speaker 2:

I think that's lovely. Please do, and I'll look forward to the royalty for playing the cymbals at the end. Okay, um, yeah, so it's wonderful. In fact, that's one of the pieces in a playlist called joy that I used when I? Um. I don't know if we discussed this last time, but a couple of years ago I had a cancer scare and I was very lucky. I went from diagnosis to all clear in eight weeks without chemo or or radio may I ask what it was?

Speaker 1:

was that it was colon colon?

Speaker 2:

cancer. Wow, um, there is a funny, there is humor in these things. So I went to I spotted something I that shouldn't have been there in the loo and thought I better go and check this out. So I insisted on a colonoscopy and it turned out that polyps were causing what shouldn't have been there in the loo. But the guy said while we're here we'll have a look around. So he went further up and found the tumor. So it wasn't actually the tumor that was causing. So he went further up and found the tumour. So it wasn't actually the tumour that was causing what shouldn't have been in there in the loop. But as I left still rather dazed and confused about learning that I had cancer, that's another lovely music mention there, dazed and confused.

Speaker 1:

That's in the Teflon, I think.

Speaker 2:

I was still fascinated by having just seen inside myself with that camera and I didn't really sink in. But as I was leaving, he said Mark, I've been doing this for 35 years. I'm afraid that's a tumour Onwards and upwards, and I thought only somebody who did colonoscopies. I was very lucky.

Speaker 1:

And bless you for embracing your inner hypochondriac. That's a great message for the world. Anyway, I think you need to be hyper vigilant about your own instincts when you have a hypochondriac moment which absolutely, if in doubt, check it out if in doubt, check it out.

Speaker 1:

Love that, yeah. Um, we could be on to two things. Do you feel we've done the inspirations now? Yeah, so borrow from the film up. This is a bit, oh, squirrels. You know what never fails to grab your attention, irrespective of anything else that may be going on for you in your awesome life mine are rather um parochial.

Speaker 2:

Perhaps I don't know, but um smugglers den is one of them. The smugglers den is. The smugglers den is is a pub on the river, literally two minutes from our house, and it used to be a haunt for smugglers who would bring contraband into the river crouch. Then it became a private members club and now it's a pub. But most people think it's still a private members club. So it's quite, it's nice, you know?

Speaker 1:

yes, um, can I just ask you live on air. Can I please invite myself around to the smugglers den and we shall enjoy an imbibing of beer together yes, we, yes, we must do that, and you must come on a wed evening which is open mic.

Speaker 2:

Unusually in our area, and wonderfully, on our doorstep, they have live music three or four times a week at the Smuggler's Den, and it's a quirky place, right. It's like if you imagine a 1970s Butlins clubhouse with too many ornaments in it. That's the vibe, but it is pirate, it is have they ever considered that for their brochure.

Speaker 1:

That's a really good way. What's it like in the smuggler's den? It's not Butlins and it's got too many ornaments.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but wonderful music, especially on a. I've never seen more guitars in one place at the same time, and it's a wonderful quirky institution and I can't walk past it while it's open, so that's why it's distracting.

Speaker 1:

And explains your drink problem.

Speaker 2:

Yes, so that would be one. We're a little bit, we're a bit of a hot tub couple, um, um. So we, we've, we've got one here. I can see it there it's in. We have a bath house there which is like a covered area, which is nice last time we had a conversation, you had a badger in your hot tub. I oh yeah, we had a badger around the back of the hot tub.

Speaker 1:

Yes, that wasn't yeah, we've all had a badger in our hot tub.

Speaker 2:

But, um, my wife and I were in there four or five times a week. It's um an early evening treat, especially when it's rainy and cold. Um, that's our moment where we just catch up, chat, make decisions, decide on advice to give children, notice badgers. Yes that's our collective clearing.

Speaker 1:

So you qualify that as a squirrel, your happy distraction of the blissful moments in the jacuzzi.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yeah, that's a distraction when we're not at the smuggler's den.

Speaker 1:

You also explained last time we spoke that you perceive your jacuzzi repair person as being different, better, remarkable, noticed, remembered, talked about as well.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and they've been back since you and I last spoke and did a fantastic job, put a lever on it. Yes, they're always. This prompted an idea for a business, actually. But this kind of level of responsiveness? I read somewhere that if you respond to an inbound inquiry within an hour, you are 60 times more likely to get it. Wow, Because most people don't. And if you can be responsive when somebody is expressing an interest in what you're doing, the implication is that you'll be responsive throughout the duration of an engagement.

Speaker 1:

Yes, because you I suppose you accelerate to trusted advisor status straight away, because you've been respectful and responsive.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and if somebody is shopping around and they're happy with having spoken to you, they stop shopping around. Yes, so the sooner you get in, if you're the first person to respond, in those circumstances the three other people on the list might not get a call because they'll think okay, let's see if it works out with mark and if it doesn't, then I'll call the other ones. So it did um it. I wanted to create a kind of emergency response unit business for those who it used to be a phone answering service. Okay, but that's not how they come in. Now they're coming in with Facebook messages, they're coming in with LinkedIn requires. So there is a role for somebody out there who wants to start a business be the person who monitors your clients channels and responds within a minute, because if you do that, it's money in the bank.

Speaker 1:

So it's like an oxygenated jacuzzi of customer service, if I may say yes, yes, most to the inverse of that. When it all goes wrong, when, if you pardon this expression, someone's taking a dump in the jacuzzi, we need to get out. Yeah, I've got a bell for rabbit holes. Cashier number three, please. I went down a rabbit hole, which I'd like to apologize for. There I I talked about things floating about in a jacuzzi which had nothing to do with what you were saying. I apologize. So your two squirrels are lovely squirrels. And now a quirky, unusual fact about you, mark war Wormsley, proud curator of the Arts and Culture Network, that we couldn't know, unless you tell us.

Speaker 2:

I once did a very dangerous stunt on live television dressed as Batman. Would you like the backstory? Tell us more please? I used to run an event company and I was called up by Warner Brothers in Regent Street because they were hosting the launch of a Batman Forever video game store in Regent Street. Into a bat cave, invite 300 journalists, have lots of big music and bangs and crashes, and for Batman to fall in through a full ceiling onto the proceedings, onto a stage, just at the right moment to launch the Batman Forever video game Rehearsal. Perfectly fine Stuntman turned up.

Speaker 2:

The stunt coordinator wasn't quite what I expected. I was expecting a kind of drag mechanism like you see on movies. It was a scaffolding pole, gardening gloves and a harness. That was it, and the scaffolding pole was suspended across this round atrium of stairway. We built the the the bat cave ceiling with the logo on spinning on the glass, and the intention was that the stuntman would be lowered down, push his feet through the glass, drop onto the stage, under which was a fan blowing air up, and he would open up his cape with the old and then go walk about. And it would be a complete surprise. Suddenly he's there.

Speaker 2:

The next night was the hottest June day in living memory, I remember that. And the stuntman didn't turn up and the only person there who could get into the suit, who didn't have another job to do, was Muggins Muggins, it was Val Kilmer's suit from the film. It had all the bits that. It was wonderful. Uh, it did take a little bit of talcum powder, but shall we change? Yes, and so there I was, suspended, two stories up in this suit, um, looking down. Um, I was that I had produced the event, so I knew when it needed to happen. And I said to the stunt coordinator I'll give you three, two, one, lower me down. When you hear my feet go through, drop me and I'll fall the next few feet to the stage. Um, that's not quite what happened, because as I was looking down through my legs, I realized I wasn't over the right place, so I had to start swinging to do that.

Speaker 1:

What could possibly go?

Speaker 2:

wrong and I said right, three, two, one, and he must have just gone. I took out the whole of the structure. I was meant to fall through the glass, fake glass ceiling. I took the whole structure out, timber, and all landed on my ass on the stage, stood up quickly, fortunately everybody. Then everybody then went oh there's batman 300 journalists and tell me it was sugar glass.

Speaker 1:

It wasn't actual glass. Was it good glass?

Speaker 2:

yes, yeah, yeah what we hadn't anticipated, though, was that, when the fan came on and because I'd taken the structure out rather than just the glass these splinters were coming flying up from beneath my feet, so bits of wood were going bing, bing, bing so rather than sort of three two one, delicately lowered, it was three two one incoming, and then yes, so I I had to do a walkabout and I thought right, I'm keeping the suit, sod it, I'm having this suit.

Speaker 2:

Yes, um, I kept the suit and then on thursdays the production company rang up and said mark, have you got the batman suit? And I said might have um. They said you can either bring it to us today or you can go and open toys r us in aberdeen on saturday. So I chose the latter. So we've got time because this is um the last part of the. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've um. So there I was. They said oh, you're I. I charged them a thousand pounds to try and price myself out and they said yes. So they said you're flying up with um two power rangers mighty mouse and barbie Two Power Rangers, mighty Mouse and Barbie. I thought OK. So I went to the airport the afternoon before and, like an idiot, I was walking around looking for Power Rangers.

Speaker 1:

Was that because you went to the airport in your Batman suit? I didn't, I didn't.

Speaker 2:

I wish I had. So I got there. So we got there, I did actually meet. I saw somebody who looked like she could be Barbie and I risked it and I was right, and so we got up early. Once we flew to Aberdeen they took us to the hotel, got up early, got to the store, dressed up Barbie did look magnificent. And so the chap who was the manager said right, you're neither American nor Scottish, please don't speak. He said just hover around, run around a bit, wave your cape, stand by the merch and it will be done by four. And I thought this is the easiest £1,000 I've ever earned.

Speaker 1:

It sounds a bit like Darth Vader. They never wanted him to speak because it was that chap who had a really squeaky voice.

Speaker 2:

Yes. So I was standing there like this doing a human statue next to the little, tiny little plastic models of me in Toys R Us, and this family came past and this young kid was clearly a Batman fan. He had a Batman hat on and he knew Batman was going to be there. So I sort of mentioned it and he said Dad, can we have one of those? In a Scottish squeaky accent he said no, it's a, that's a pound son. I'm sorry, can't afford that today.

Speaker 2:

And I thought, bloody hell, I'm sitting here standing around doing bugger all um earning a grand. So I so I went to the manager and I said, um, I'd like to give that little one pound stature of me to this little boy. And the manager said, no, you can't do that, they'll all want one. But I thought I said, well, I'll pay for it. And he said, no, still can't do that, you know um anyway. So he, that kid, was in and around me most of the day, um another family came past um nearly towards four o'clock and, um, I was like this again, so I couldn't see what was happening down there, and the young son decided to wallop me in the utility belt and his and his mom came up afterwards and said I'm so sorry about that, and rubbed my arm and she said is that leather?

Speaker 1:

It's escalating.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, anyway, to finish the story, I'd been running around a bit, I thought I've got to weigh with this. Over the tannoy comes the uh, the uh, the announcement with all the superheroes please come to the aberdeen radio. Aberdeen, stand in the car park for the superheroes dancing competition. And I got out there and I thought, oh my, and sitting right at the front was little lad, your best fan, yeah, best fan, your bat fan. And the DJ said and the prize today is a Batman bike worth 200 pounds, and whoever wins the dancing competition can give it to anyone in the crowd. They won. So I grabbed Barbie and we seltzed and they did a clapometer and I won and I picked up the bike and it was like a great pleasure.

Speaker 1:

I gave it to this little kid only moments before slapped you in the utility belt, got a free bike.

Speaker 2:

I love that no, it was a different child who slapped me in the utility belt oh, okay, he was.

Speaker 1:

It was the hero child who you desperately wanted to give the one pound statuette to belt. Oh, okay, he was. It was the hero child who you desperately wanted to give the one pound statuette to that got the bike yes, it was yeah, holy generosity, batman, that was fantastic.

Speaker 1:

Well done to you. So we've shaken your tree beautifully, and now we stay in the clearing which is kendall park. Near that lovely tree, luminous eggshells. I don't mean eggshells, I mean shell shells. And now we're going to talk about alchemy and gold. So when you're at purpose at mark walmsley, what are you absolutely happiest doing in what you're here to reveal to the world?

Speaker 2:

happiest doing. Um, it could be a number of things. I think it's at the moment it's grandchild related. Um, I was walking with my granddaughter, ali we, we passed a shop in which was a bike, ironically, and she said I want one of those ran ran because she calls me ran ran. Um, I said, well, it's I would like because I want, doesn't get anything and that will have to be for your birthday. And she thought about it for a while. She's two and she said Ran Ran, it's my birthday, so it's out of the mild. You know, I love the Buddhist concept of Shoshan, which is to approach a subject with the mind of a child, which we can do and computers can't, and she is a walking example of thinking differently and all that lovely creativity that's in there. So I'm at my happiest at the moment my granddaughter and, of course, ideally with my wife and children, as well, lovely, within your jacuzzi with a with a badger floating nearby.

Speaker 1:

That's beautiful, lovely stuff. Um, I'm going to award you with a cake now. So this is uh, do you like cake? Uh, mark warmly, I do. Look, I do like cake, yes. So, apologies, it's at this point only a metaphorical fate, but when you take me from a pint at the smugglers den, I'll bring you a cake. So what type of cake would you like?

Speaker 2:

I'd like um a fruit cake made by my my grandma.

Speaker 1:

That'll be harder for me to organize, but that's good. I love that. Okay, now you get to put a cherry on the cake, and this is stuff like what's the favorite inspirational quote? First of all, that's always given you sucker and pulled you toward your future seek first to understand.

Speaker 2:

Um, I find myself saying that a lot. Um, we often leap to conclusions, try and find the answers before we fully understand either somebody's emotions or a professional's challenges. Seek first to understand. I ask one. There's a question I ask in when I'm interviewing people which separates strategists from tacticians, and that is how would you go about designing a spice rack for blind people to use? And the vast majority of people answer ooh, braille, heat position. They leap straight to the tactics and the answers. But when somebody answers, do you know what? I think I'd probably go and speak to some blind people and ask them what would work for them. If anyone answers like that, I hire them on the spot. Wow, yes. So seek first to understand.

Speaker 1:

Lovely answer, Gorgeous in fact. And now, what notes, help or advice might you proffer to a younger version of Mark Walmsley?

Speaker 2:

Whoa, start a pension, spend more time cleaning the lower jaw of your teeth than the upper. Yeah, those were the times. Learn an instrument. As I said to my son, being a good stockbroker won't make you a good pianist, but the opposite is the case. And yeah, be creative and try to hang on to that childish curiosity that we have and find the third way. And I also, I would remind, I would tell myself of the decision making process I now go through.

Speaker 2:

When I've got a decision to make, I ask myself three questions, and if I can't answer yes to all of them, I'm not making a good decision. And those questions are are we addressing the real need? Have we thought of all the options and have we thought all of those options through to their logical conclusion? If you can't answer yes to all of those questions, arguably you might not be making the best decision. We want jam, but we need bread. My wife is the queen of the third way. I'm a rather binary decision maker. It's either either this or that. But she can say well, what about this? Of course, why didn't I think of that, you know? And then, having decided on what's the best option, think it through. What's likely, you know what then? What then? What then? So I would give that bit of advice to my younger self, I think and brush your lower teeth more.

Speaker 1:

Great would give that bit of advice to my younger self, I think. And brush your lower teeth more great answers. And I've I've heard the uh what then? What then? What then? Described as something called a pre-mortem as opposed to a post-mortem. You know, we can all do it better with hindsight, but pre-mortem it's okay. What could go wrong with this if we decide in this way?

Speaker 1:

I loved that okay, now we're ramping up to shakespeare in a moment to talk about legacy. Okay, that in a second, but just before we get there, this is the past, the golden bat moment, please. We're going to say seth godin, obviously, but now you've experienced this from within. Who would you most like to pass the golden thread of the storytelling along to in your network? Sorry, that gesture is a bit thrusting, reminds you of your colonoscopy, no doubt. Who would you most like to pass the golden baton along to?

Speaker 2:

I would like to suggest you. The golden baton goes to james matthewson in jersey, um. He's a longtime friend. He is involved with all sorts of fine art and nfts, and and NFTs and luxury terribly well-connected, inspiring chap. So that's who I would suggest, james.

Speaker 1:

Mathewson, thank you for that gift and your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to furnish me with a warm introduction to James Mathewson, please. And now, inspired by Shakespeare and all the world's stage and all the bed and women, billy players, this is the actual Shakespeare. It's not a first failure, but the actual book I bought myself when I went to the Russell Oldwick Theatre School and it says in the cover Chris Grimes, 16986. So it's the actual great works. I won't read the whole book we haven't got time for that, but this is borrowed from the Jacaree speech, like it about the seven ages of man. So how, when all is said and done, uh, mark walmsley, would you most like to be remembered?

Speaker 2:

love that. Um, I I heard the story once about a chap who went to a funeral in his dream and it was his own funeral and he had to listen to the speeches that people made who wanted to talk about him wife, children, friends, work colleagues, um, and the challenge was to write down what you would like those people to say about you in those circumstances. And that's really, that's a wake-up call. It really is. You know, um, you might have a cup that says best dad ever, but it's not the only one, um, so, um, I think my legacy is built into the arts and culture network in that I'd like to get to become, by the end of the decade, um, this is my jfk like mission um, I'd like it to become um, a global arts and culture support foundation, donating lots of money to um people who need it in the arts and culture sector, nominated by members, without an application form.

Speaker 2:

That deters most people. So what are you doing? That sounds good. If we get more of that than we get. That here's the money. Go make your art, and I'd like that to carry on after I've put my feet up lovely answer and, if I may, was that also?

Speaker 1:

you said a JFK, but did you mean MLK, as in Martin Luther King? I have a dream. Sorry, I wasn't being pedantic, all right or JFK for the.

Speaker 2:

By the end of the decade we're going to put a man on the moon.

Speaker 1:

Um, thank you, I'm so glad I asked, and also I have a dream reincorporated, so when you put your feet up it will kick on. I don't doubt that legacy is secured, mark Wormsley, as this has been your moment in the sunshine. Oh, actually, it's one of the questions before that. Where can we find out all about Mark Wormsley and everything you're up to on the old interweb, please?

Speaker 2:

Fortunately on the old interweb Wormsley is an unusual surname so I'm easily found. Using Mark Wormsley or Arts and Culture Network will find the Arts and Culture Network. But yes, mark Wormsley will normally find me.

Speaker 1:

And Arts and Culture Network, I have to say, is just a goldmine of fellow. Your vibe attracts your tribe. I'm delighted to be part of your network and I've also been delighted in the conversations we've had. They've always made me feel full up with with warmth. So thank you very much. My pleasure, as this has been your moment in the sunshine, in the good, listening to show stories of distinction and genius. Is there anything else you'd like to say?

Speaker 2:

mark warmly um, we should always regret the things we do in life, not the things we don't do. That would be my parting shot.

Speaker 1:

Always regret the things we did do.

Speaker 2:

Yes, Regret the thing. If you're going to regret it, make it something that you tried rather than didn't try. So would be my. You know it's, you know we're. What's that lovely saying I'm here for a good time, not a long time? Um and um, depending on your levels of faith, um, make the most of it, um, and don't be afraid to try. Um write your. Write a press release 10 years hence, looking back at what you've achieved can I just say you've been an absolute dream guest.

Speaker 1:

That was just a delight and a privilege to curate you through the journey of this show. Thank you so much. So, ladies and gentlemen, you've been listening to mark walmsley. Don't forget to join as a fully paid up man of the arts and culture network to achieve the mlk jfk dream that mark walmsley has. If you'd like a conversation about being my guest in the show too, you don't have to be past the golden baton, as james matthewson was, but check out the good listening to showcom. And, of course, this is all about, uh, helping you to well tell your story and amplify what you're up to. So thank you so much, mark um. Would you like to say anything else now?

Speaker 2:

uh, no, thank you you. This has been a delight. I'm normally the interviewer, as you know, so it's always a pleasure to be on the receiving end. But, chris, this is a great show. Thank you so much for all of the work you do to entertain and inform us and meeting the lovely people that you have on the show. So thank you very much.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening, thanks for watching Good night. You've been listening to the Good Listening To Show with me, chris Grimes. If you'd like to be in the show too, or indeed gift an episode to capture the story of someone else, with me as your host, then you can find out how care of the series strands at the goodlisteningtoshowcom website. If you'd like to connect with me on LinkedIn, please do so. And if you'd like to have some coaching with me care of my personal impact game changer program, then you can contact me, and also about the show at chris at second curve dot UK on X and Instagram. It's at that, chris Grimes. Tune in next week for more stories from the clearing and don't forget to subscribe and review wherever you get your podcasts.