Paul Westlake (Westy) is on a mission to make learning actually work – not just tick boxes.

As Digital Director at PeopleUnboxed and Customer Success Director at BentoBot (BentoBot.com) – a spaced repetition solution that makes learning stick – Westy transforms how organisations develop their people.

He also hosts the popular PeopleUnplugged podcast, where he unpacks what really works in L&D.

But here's the thing: Westy didn't start in a boardroom. He spent five years in the trenches delivering face-to-face leadership training before leading McDonald's UK through a complete digital L&D transformation – designing learning experiences for 120,000 employees who didn't have time to waste on forgettable training.

That experience taught him something crucial: great learning solutions need to work for both the L&D team and the people actually using them. It's like designing a car that's brilliant to drive but also easy to maintain – both sides matter.

After his McDonald's decade, Westy moved supplier-side with Kineo, where he designed award-winning learning solutions for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Compass Group, and Mitchells & Butlers. He also hosted Kineo's "Stream of Thought" podcast, proving that learning geeks can be entertaining.

His superpower? Combining analytical and creative thinking to challenge the status quo. He doesn't just ask "what training do you need?" – he asks "what actually needs to change?" Then he builds blended solutions that genuinely shift behaviours and deliver results.

When he's not empowering L&D teams to be heroes, Paul's an award-winning wedding photographer whose company sponsors a race car. So his weekends are an unlikely mix of grease, spanners, running shoes, camera lenses, and bass guitar riffs. He lives with his wife and two daughters, who've learnt that Dad's enthusiasm for digital learning is matched only by his enthusiasm for... pretty much everything else.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/westyphotography/

PeopleUnboxed: https://peopleunboxed.co.uk/

BentoBot: https://bentobot.com/

Katrena Friel is an internationally recognised Business Mentor and networking catalyst for women in business. With over 25 years of experience, Katrena has dedicated her career to helping women build powerful professional networks that unlock opportunities, accelerate growth, and create lasting impact.

Known as the “Business Mentor to the Awakened,” Katrena’s approach is all about connection. Connecting women to their strengths, to each other, and to the strategies that drive real results. As an award-winning author, sought-after speaker, and TEDx presenter, she has inspired thousands to step confidently into leadership, leveraging relationships as the foundation for personal and professional success.

Katrena’s signature “Done for You Program” is more than a business accelerator, it’s a networking incubator, bringing together ambitious women who support, challenge, and champion one another. Her clients don’t just build businesses, they build communities, creating 7 distinct streams of income and a network that supports them for life.

With a reputation for fostering authentic lifelong relationships, Katrena empowers women to move beyond self-doubt and into collaborative action. Whether on stage, in a mastermind, or during her 1:1 mentoring, she shows women how to turn every conversation into an opportunity and every connection into a catalyst for growth.

For women ready to expand their influence, elevate their network, and thrive in the new world of business, Katrena is the “how” you've been waiting for, offering clarity, strategy, and a genuine soul's mission to support your journey.

Website:

http://www.becomingtheexpert.com.au

Offer:

Organise your Free Discovery Session

https://www.becomingtheexpert.com.au/service-page/free-discovery-session-1

Laurie Kozan is a brand and marketing strategist who helps founders, experts and independent consultants attract more of the people they really want to work with, by learning what to say about what they do.

Laurie’s work is built around the conviction that the way we communicate has real power — to create clarity, community and change. Using her background in PR, marketing, graphic design, and intuitive coaching, she develops brands that align expert perspective with audience desires, so selling feels easier + business works better.

A mother of three, Laurie is especially good at spotting synergies, coaxing order from chaos, and taming competing priorities. Like any good parent, what absolutely lights her up is helping others figure out what they uniquely contribute to the world — and setting them up with the tools to do it really, really well.

You can connect with her on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriekozan and on her website https://www.sourcemarketingstudio.com

Anna Scaife is a founder of Anna Lou of London jewellery brand and nervous system regulation specialist who brings a fresh perspective to business networking. After more than two decades building and scaling a product-based brand, she’s learned that growth isn’t just about strategy , it’s about regulation.

Having navigated high-stress personal and legal challenges and domestic abuse while running a business, Anna became deeply interested in how the nervous system affects confidence, decision-making and relationship-building. She now speaks on regulation-based leadership and why in-person networking works not just strategically, but physiologically.

In this episode, she shares why sustainable business growth starts with a regulated founder , and how understanding your nervous system can transform the way you show up in rooms, build partnerships and create long-term success.

Connect with Anna:

LinkedIn: @annascaife

Instagram: @annalouwellness

Instagram: @annalouoflondon

Anna Brand is obsessed with one question: Why should anyone care about your brand? She helps founders get clarity and confidence in how their brand shows up, without overcomplicating it. No bloated processes. No buzzwords. No BS. Blending psychology and straight-talk brand thinking, Anna helps create brands people actually feel something for. She also hosts B. with Anna Brand, a podcast featuring honest conversations about work, identity, failure, and the messy human stuff behind success.

https://annabrandcreative.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-brand/

Josh Harris is an Ex-Big Four accountant and founder of Doc2, a contract automation platform helping businesses streamline while staying compliant.

He finds that networking at industry-specific events brings the most return on time investment, and recently Doc2 hosted their own event alongside a partner from the financial services sector.

Doc2.co

https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-w-harris/

Jane Parslow is a retirement coach and one of the founders of 'Retirement Pathways'. They are specialists in retirement, using a ‘Wholistic’ approach that empowers people to tackle the challenges and adjustments needed to make a successful transition to retirement.

Jane finds that most of her clients come to her via networking, one way or another.

www.retirementpathways.co.uk

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeparslow/

Sarah Luong is a Performance Anxiety Coach who helps small business owners move from being fearful of interacting with strangers to the heart of the networking conversation. As a former nervous networker herself, Sarah understands the dread of walking into a room where you don’t know a soul. After mastering the art of confident pitching, she now specialises in helping others find their unique networking voice. Whether you’re terrified of the 60-second pitch or just aren't sure how to start a conversation, Sarah provides the practical tools to help you show up, speak up, and grow your business with confidence.

www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-luong-58859b106