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Someone sent Emma Mills a DM that stopped her in her tracks: "I hate email with a passion. How do I get rid of it so I never see another email again?"

This solo episode is the full, honest answer.

Emma — founder of Mi-PA and someone who spent an entire week in Milan training for a marathon without once opening her inbox — shares the exact mindset shifts and practical system that means email no longer runs her day. She covers the four shifts every business owner needs to make, why AI tools only scratch the surface, and the simple three-folder structure that lets her assistant handle everything so Emma only ever sees what genuinely needs her attention.

She also shares the story of a business owner leading a team of 80 — who was still personally managing 5,000 unread emails. The problem isn't the inbox. It's the belief that you need to be in it.

What you'll take away:

• Why 95% of your inbox is someone else's agenda — and how to stop letting it dictate your day
• The 4 mindset shifts that will transform your relationship with email
• Why AI is a small improvement, not the solution
• The three-folder system Emma's assistant uses to manage her inbox entirely
• How to run a business (and a marathon) without looking at your emails
• What to do if you don't have an assistant yet — and why it's the highest-leverage hire you'll make

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From a one-woman operation to a 7 Figure business 18 years of building, breaking, and rebuilding Mi-PA. What does it actually take to scale a business past £1 million and stay sane on the other side?

In this episode, Emma sits down with her business coach Mike Jones for one of the most candid conversations she's ever had on camera. No filters. No polished narrative. Just the real story. Emma walks through the full 18 year journey of Mi-PA from dropping out of university, becoming an EA, and launching a virtual assistant business in 2007 with nothing but drive and a phone, to navigating a recession, losing a third of her clients overnight during COVID, surviving a coordinated hate campaign on Glassdoor, and ultimately breaking through the £1 million ceiling that fewer than 4% of UK businesses ever reach.

This is the episode about the slog the years between £270k and £400k where everything felt like wading through concrete. The years where the right systems, the right coach, and the right team made the difference between a business that drained Emma completely and one that finally ran without her. If you're in that middle phase right now, this one's for you.

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Connect with Emma!

Get my personal weekly newsletter here - if you want to Win the Week, every week.

World Class Virtual PA support here: Mi-PA.co.uk

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Watch the Episodes on Youtube

EmmaMills.co.uk

Reviews and Feedback:

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Thanks so much for listening to Focus on the Fun Stuff Podcast! Let’s make business a bit more fun together! 🌟

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What if the moment you most want to quit is the moment you're actually closest to a breakthrough?

In this solo episode, Emma Mills delivers one of her most personal messages, a direct, honest conversation for any business owner who's wondering if they should keep going.

Drawing on her own near-quit moment in 2019 (revenue stuck at £390,000, burnout setting in), and stories from James Dyson, Colonel Sanders, Mr. Beast, Airbnb, and podcaster Sammy Ard King, Emma unpacks why success so rarely looks like what we expect and why the business owners who make it are simply the ones who didn't stop.

The hockey stick growth curve is real. The underground bamboo phase is real. And if you're in it right now, this episode is for you.

💡 What you'll take away:
• Why consistent effort almost always precedes breakthrough and how to spot which phase you're in
• The "encouragement folder" technique for staying motivated through the hardest stretches
• Real numbers that put your timeline in perspective (5,126 prototypes, 1,065 rejections, 5 years of near-zero views)
• Emma's own story: from £390K stagnation to seven figures in 18 months

🎧 Hit play if you need a reminder to keep going because the breakthrough might be closer than you think.

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Connect with Emma!

Get my personal weekly newsletter here - if you want to Win the Week, every week.

World Class Virtual PA support here: Mi-PA.co.uk

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Watch the Episodes on Youtube

EmmaMills.co.uk

Reviews and Feedback:

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Thanks so much for listening to Focus on the Fun Stuff Podcast! Let’s make business a bit more fun together! 🌟

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What does it really take to build a business that doesn’t rely on you?

In Episode 67, Emma Mills sits down with Steven Pettigrew, a business growth and exit specialist who went from the warehouse floor of a £35 million family business to acquiring stakes in over 20 companies worldwide.

Steven cuts through the noise around AI (spoiler: if it’s not generating cash, leads, or sales, stop), breaks down why founder dependency is the silent killer of most businesses, and explains why making your business “sellable” is the smartest move you can make whether you ever plan to sell or not.

This episode is packed with straight-talking insight, real-world experience, and practical strategies for business owners who want more freedom, more scale, and less landing on their desk.

🔑 Topics covered:
-Building a founder-independent business
-The only 3 questions to ask before using any AI tool
-Diversifying across 20+ companies
-The rise of fractional roles (and how to use them)
-Why Steven moved to Dubai and what UK business owners can learn from it

🎧 Hit play to hear the mindset shifts, decisions, and no-nonsense strategies that help business owners step out of the day-to-day and build something that runs without them.

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Connect with Emma!

Get my personal weekly newsletter here - if you want to Win the Week, every week.

World Class Virtual PA support here: Mi-PA.co.uk

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Watch the Episodes on Youtube

EmmaMills.co.uk

Reviews and Feedback:

Loving the show? Your feedback means the world to me and helps others find us!

Thanks so much for listening to Focus on the Fun Stuff Podcast! Let’s make business a bit more fun together! 🌟

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Everyone is talking about AI.
But no one is talking about the time it's quietly stealing.

Right now, business owners are in what Emma calls "magpie mode" distracted by shiny new AI tools while still doing everything themselves. And here's the problem: AI isn't going to fix that. Because if you don't have an assistant, you are one.

In this episode, Emma unpacks the real difference between an AI agent and an executive assistant and why even the most successful business owners she admires still have a human EA at their side. She then walks through the 5 signs you're still your own assistant in 2026, from managing your own emails to ending every week wondering where it went.

If you feel busy, distracted, or like your week disappears without real progress, this episode will bring you back to what actually moves the needle.

🎧 Hit play to hear the mindset shifts, lessons, and decisions that help founders use AI without losing their focus, protect their time, and start thinking like a CEO again.

Because in the age of AI, the most valuable thing you can reclaim in your business isn’t just time. It’s your attention.

Support the show

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Ready to reclaim your time? Grab our free guide and start delegating all of the things a business owner shouldn't be doing: 👉 The 106 Tasks You Must Delegate

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Connect with Emma!

Get my personal weekly newsletter here - if you want to Win the Week, every week.

World Class Virtual PA support here: Mi-PA.co.uk

Follow Emma on Instagram

Connect with Emma on Linkedin

Watch the Episodes on Youtube

EmmaMills.co.uk

Reviews and Feedback:

Loving the show? Your feedback means the world to me and helps others find us!

Thanks so much for listening to Focus on the Fun Stuff Podcast! Let’s make business a bit more fun together! 🌟

Send us Fan Mail

What happens when everything you've built disappears overnight, not because you failed, but because of a political decision you had no control over?

In this episode, I sit down with Christopher Kenna, entrepreneur, military veteran, and founder of Media Stream. After growing his diversity agency Brand Advance to £5.5 million in revenue, a US executive order banning diversity initiatives wiped out almost everything overnight, leaving him with just £500K.

But Christopher didn't stop. He's now building one of the UK's first sovereign AI companies, including Mother, the UK's first public large language model with data centres across the north of England and £120 million in debt finance raised.

This conversation goes far beyond business. We talk about growing up in care homes, joining the army on 9/11, the hidden risks of building on infrastructure you don't own, and why the UK needs to stop giving away the technology it invented.

💡 You'll learn:
• Why a single executive order destroyed a £5.5 million business
• What sovereign AI actually means in plain English
• Why most UK businesses are built on systems they don't control
• How Christopher rebuilt after losing his company, his team, and his revenue
• The mindset lessons from growing up in care and serving in the military
• Why he believes the UK can build a tech company to rival American giants

🎧 Hit play to hear one of the most powerful conversations I've had on this podcast, about loss, resilience, and building something designed to last.

Support the show

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Ready to reclaim your time? Grab our free guide and start delegating all of the things a business owner shouldn't be doing: 👉 The 106 Tasks You Must Delegate

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Connect with Emma!

Get my personal weekly newsletter here - if you want to Win the Week, every week.

World Class Virtual PA support here: Mi-PA.co.uk

Follow Emma on Instagram

Connect with Emma on Linkedin

Watch the Episodes on Youtube

EmmaMills.co.uk

Reviews and Feedback:

Loving the show? Your feedback means the world to me and helps others find us!

Thanks so much for listening to Focus on the Fun Stuff Podcast! Let’s make business a bit more fun together! 🌟

Send us Fan Mail

Most business owners think their biggest problem is time.

But what if the real problem isn’t time at all?

In this solo episode of Focus on the Fun Stuff,
Emma talks about the headspace problem, the invisible mental load every founder carries.
The endless list of tasks, decisions, and responsibilities that sit in your brain long after the working day is over.

From the “invisible to-do list” that wakes you up in the morning to the myth that delegation is only about saving time, Emma explores why so many entrepreneurs feel overwhelmed even when their business is growing.

Emma shares:
-Why founders struggle to think clearly when their head is full
-The real reason delegation matters more than productivity
-How lack of thinking time stops businesses growing
-Why you can’t think like a CEO when you’re thinking like an admin assistant
-A simple way to start getting your headspace back

If you’ve ever felt like everything in the business lives in your brain, this episode will feel very familiar.

Because sometimes the most valuable thing you can reclaim in your business isn’t time.

It’s the space to think.

🎧 Hit play to hear the mindset shifts, lessons, and decisions that help founders reclaim their headspace and start thinking like a CEO again.

Because sometimes the most valuable thing you can reclaim in your business isn’t time.

Support the show

Support The Show

--

Ready to reclaim your time? Grab our free guide and start delegating all of the things a business owner shouldn't be doing: 👉 The 106 Tasks You Must Delegate

--

Connect with Emma!

Get my personal weekly newsletter here - if you want to Win the Week, every week.

World Class Virtual PA support here: Mi-PA.co.uk

Follow Emma on Instagram

Connect with Emma on Linkedin

Watch the Episodes on Youtube

EmmaMills.co.uk

Reviews and Feedback:

Loving the show? Your feedback means the world to me and helps others find us!

Thanks so much for listening to Focus on the Fun Stuff Podcast! Let’s make business a bit more fun together! 🌟

Send us Fan Mail

What does it really take to build and sell a business - twice?

Emma sits down with Andrew Hulbert, founder of Pareto, who went from growing up on a council estate to building an £80 million recruitment business and exiting it not once, but twice in just 12 years!!!

In this episode you'll hear:
* The mindset behind two successful business exits
* The moment Andrew knew it was time to sell
* Why resilience matters more than talent
* How your background can become your biggest business advantage
* What entrepreneurs get wrong when building to sell

Andrew doesn't hold back in this one and it will change how you think about building a business with the end in mind.

If you're building, scaling, or already thinking about your exit….. this conversation is exactly what you need to hear.

🎧 Hit play to hear the mindset, lessons, and decisions behind building a business with a successful exit in mind.

Support the show

Support The Show

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Ready to reclaim your time? Grab our free guide and start delegating all of the things a business owner shouldn't be doing: 👉 The 106 Tasks You Must Delegate

--

Connect with Emma!

Get my personal weekly newsletter here - if you want to Win the Week, every week.

World Class Virtual PA support here: Mi-PA.co.uk

Follow Emma on Instagram

Connect with Emma on Linkedin

Watch the Episodes on Youtube

EmmaMills.co.uk

Reviews and Feedback:

Loving the show? Your feedback means the world to me and helps others find us!

Thanks so much for listening to Focus on the Fun Stuff Podcast! Let’s make business a bit more fun together! 🌟