063 Be Bold. Be Brave. Be Beautiful. – The Journey Nobody Sees

What happens when the host becomes the guest?

In this special episode of Journals of the Information Entrepreneur, Andrea McIntosh takes over the host's chair and puts Jacqueline Stockwell in the hot seat for an honest, unfiltered conversation about entrepreneurship, leadership, resilience and what it really takes to build a business in today's economy.

As a dyslexic entrepreneur, bestselling author and founder of Leadership Through Data, Jacqueline shares the highs, the lows and everything in between. From writing to the BBC, ITV and Netflix, trying to partner with Microsoft, sending her book to MPs, The King's Trust and The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and relentlessly championing the information management profession, this is a story of persistence in the face of rejection.

In this episode, we discuss:

✅ The realities of running a business during challenging economic times
 ✅ Why sales cycles are longer and budgets are tighter than ever
 ✅ The importance of investing in yourself, even when times are tough
 ✅ Building a personal brand and creating visibility for your profession
 ✅ Leadership lessons learned from years of entrepreneurship
 ✅ Why great leadership doesn't happen by accident – it happens by design
 ✅ How to create greater impact, influence and value in your organisation

If you're an information leader, records manager, data professional, entrepreneur or aspiring leader, this episode will inspire you to keep going, keep learning and keep showing up.

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🎁 Stay Until The End!

Don't miss the surprise at the end of the episode.

As a thank you for supporting the podcast, five lucky listeners will receive a special gift designed to help accelerate their leadership journey.

Connect with Jacqueline

🎧 Subscribe to the podcast
 ⭐ Leave a review
 🔄 Share this episode with a colleague
 💜 Join Jacqueline's LinkedIn Live sessions every Wednesday

Because together, we can raise the profile of information, data and records management.

Be Bold. Be Brave. Be Beautiful. 💜

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Hello and welcome to today's show. I'm Jacqueline Stockwell, CEO and founder at Leadership Through Data. I inspire and motivate information leaders across the world.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Hi everyone, and welcome to the Journals of the Information Entrepreneur. I bet you that you are expecting Jackie at this point, but I'm gonna flip things on its head. I'm Andrea McIntosh, General Manager at Leadership Through Data, and Jackie's business partner, and recently moved to the UK. I've had the privilege of working alongside Jackie for a number of years now, and we've built programs, we've supported information leaders around the world. So today I want to do something a bit different, flip the script and ask Jackie some questions. So welcome Jackie to your own podcast, and I hope you're feeling comfortable here and ready to answer some questions. The first thing that I want to talk about is your story. What we know about you is the titles and the awards. So who are you beyond those things?

SPEAKER_01 1:04

So beyond the job title and the awards, I am a mum of one. I am a mum of a pony. I love to craft. I enjoy upcycling things. I enjoy gardening. I get a lot of um groundingness from growing things, especially fruit and vegetables. I do like spending time in my allotment. I do like a paint by numbers, anything crafting, book cre creating book pencil uh pencil cases on my sewing machine. So they're kind of the key things to keep myself busy. I love going down the gym and pumping some weights. I do like open water swimming, and I have been partial to a few triathlons.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Oh wow, wow. I can um attest to the pencil cases. So I've got a beautiful pencil case here with me in Milan at the ISO meetings that everyone is admiring, Jackie's. I know that you're dyslexic. This is part of who you are, and you're really authentic about your dyslexia. I just want to know what was it like for you growing up dyslexic, and how do you think that shaped the leader that you are today?

SPEAKER_01 2:10

So growing up as dyslexic, I wasn't diagnosed until I was 21 at university. I was the problem child at school. I was always the one that was the loudest, always the one that was not doing what I was supposed to be doing, shy away from reading. My reports used to say Jackie has Jackie's very capable if she applied herself, which isn't the kind of standard line, which then flows into the AD. It was a real challenge for me reading, very much so. We used to have to sit and read out loud at school in front of all the class, and I used to hate it, get very overwhelmed, very stressed about it. My handwriting was beautifully neat for the first line, and then I would get bored and it would my hand would hurt, my physical hand would hurt. I didn't really get much support at school, managed to get through school and then went to college, went to catering college, so I dubbed my hand in cooking because I do like cooking as well. Then I went to performing art school, then I left that and went and got a job in a catering industry. So if I'm ever in a restaurant, I've obviously delivered served and poured wine, so I have my my standards that I expect from a restaurant. And then I decided I wanted to do something with my life. I I then moved from catering to a financial investment company and then thought I really want to go to university, I just want to make my dad proud because I was always that problem child. So I self-funded myself through university, so that was Ritual College, and I got a BA on a 2-1 degree. And that was when they picked up that dyslexia. Um, and that was when I got equipment to phones, read and write software that um replies it back to me, additional times in exams, so that was revolutional.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Well, that's an amazing story, Jackie, and I I can relate to the whole disruptive in class, must try harder. I think that neurodiversity gives us some incredible ways of thinking, but it doesn't fit the mould. And so when we try and push up against that mould, you know, that's when we get into trouble. When you first started leadership through data, nine years old now. So when you first started leadership through data, what was your vision?

SPEAKER_01 4:25

I wanted to change the way data protection and information management training was delivered. Being neurodiverse, being dyslexic, I'd been to a lot of previous training courses because I had to get myself educated and by 9 30 I was dead. It was just deaf by PowerPoint, lots of reading. I felt like an empty box. I wanted to be the female-led information management uh training company, data protection company in the world. And I just wanted to give people good training that they could take away, learn something, and actually go away and apply what they'd learn rather than here's a textbook, read it, and good luck and go go and interpret it yourself if you come on the information asset register course, like start to complete an information asset register because you start to do something as as you go forward.

SPEAKER_00 5:14

When I first uh started with leadership through data a few years ago now, that's one of the things that I really applauded was the way the approach to training, it's not just death by PowerPoint, it's really engaging and really active. And uh that's where where I found the fit really. So starting a business is is hard and often we reflect on doing things differently. So if you could go back and speak to yourself when you first started leadership through data, what would you tell yourself? It's such a good question this one.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

So I went to university and got a BA honours in business management degree, and then I had a nine-year period where I worked for the NHS. So I'm very much the type of person, if somebody gives me a good idea, I'll be just like, yeah, yeah, hey, I can do that and and work out what's the worst that could happen. I did spend three months on brandings, the logo, the colour, uh, profile, the vision and and the and the values, and obviously, as we've we've talked about what I wanted to achieve as an outcome. So I spent some some time on that. But the question that you're asking me is what would I tell myself is that I would go straight into from a business perspective, I would go straight into a recurring revenue model and function there so the dips in the business aren't up and down. I would make sure that I had the right team uh by my side at the time. Uh Laura joined me and she was very good at sort of accelerating and outreach. Whereas I was struggling with my confidence at that time, and I probably would have pushed myself a little bit more to show up more, to be that leader. I've only started doing that in the last, I think, about two years, but I would definitely say I was lacked too much confidence to actually say, I'm Jackie, I'm here to stay, this is my business, this is what I stand for. Whereas I had reliance on other people in the professions, like trainers and people booking because of the trainers.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

I think it's something that we we struggle as as women to show up in a male-dominated world. Um, I know the likes of Amelia Sordell and Co. That's a very powerful thing, Jackie, for you to mention that we've got to show up, we've got to be brave and bold, and that's something that you're all about in the work that you do. Um I it's just kind of led led me on to another question. People think about entrepreneurs, think about a luxurious lifestyle and money flowing out of taps in their mansions. What's the biggest misconception that that you feel around being a successful entrepreneur?

SPEAKER_01 7:49

I think running a business is really hard, certainly from a global business. I mean, I get bored, so I'm just have a good idea and I'll, you know, go and set up a business in another country, which is pretty much where we head up with Australia and North America. The hardest thing I think for an entrepreneur is to have a really good idea and then have someone to help you execute it. I talk a lot about strengths and weaknesses, and you need to know your strengths and you need to know your weaknesses. You need to make sure you've got the right support network around you and financially as well. There's never a good time to start a business, just start it. If you've got a good idea, then just do it. You know, most people just spend time thinking about things and think, oh, this is a good idea, dab their hand in it, and then think, oh no, I've got to stop now because it's not it's not gonna go anywhere. So just use those ideas. But an entrepreneurial lifestyle style on one hand is sincerely amazing. I get to bring my own boss, I get to bring my own ideas, I get to empower, motivate, and educate. But trying out is the risk, the financial, and they come with it stress. I mean, I've definitely got a few more grades than I had when I was in the NHS, if I'm honest.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

So you've talked a bit about how tough business what's what's happening out there in the market in terms of investment and training or or people engaging in the work that LTD do?

SPEAKER_01 9:16

So for the last couple of years, there's been some big changes in America, in the economy as well, it impacts training companies. Because it's one of the biggest things that organizations just say, Oh, quick, I can make a quick buck and I can just cut training budgets. They don't understand the investment opportunity of training, which actually, if you invested in the training, you didn't cut the budgets, you continue to train your staff, you keep your staff, you continue to keep going forward with the growth of the business. Big things right now is I think I'm quite a bit more innovative than the industry is itself. So we launched 522 droplets as a subscription service because everyone pays for Netflix and pays for Disney Plus or gym memberships, and it was trying to put all the information management training on a platform, and then from there getting all the GDPR data protection, information management, records management training. We've now got the Empower Accelerator. So that links from my international best-selling book, which are the chapters in the book, but it's basically a leadership program. The it runs alongside your job, and people are under mess underestimating actually what that is because they think it's professional development and they think it's training when it's not, it's an accelerate program that allows you to get information management things on like migrating. You can utilise that platform, get yourself trained, speak to an expert, and coaching. You utilize that within the program so you can accelerate. I think my brain works a lot quicker than everybody else's, so but that's the superpower of dyslexia. I can see the gaps, I can see what's plugging, and you know, my book has been hugely successful. My publisher said it's the it's the best-selling book that they've got, which is absolutely amazing for an information management book. Definitely want to change the word with that, Andrea.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

I'm biased, obviously, because I work in the Empower Accelerator with you. I love it. If I could talk to my former self now when the accelerator was available 15 years ago, I'd definitely sign up because it's it's incredible to have the support. And I think in our profession, we lack that support. We lack the investment in really good professional development. And we we need to stop downplaying what it is that we need in terms of leadership, even change management training as part of that.

SPEAKER_01 11:39

Yeah, and it's so interesting because organizations are spending money on technology, spending uh, you know, on AI, like millions of pounds worth, but they're not they're not looking at, you know, AI runs off bad information. You can use the accelerator to deploy AI or clean up, you know, your Microsoft Purview training is now on the on the platform. But that's where I think my brain and that's where struggling with the industry, but from an entrepreneurial's perspective, I'm always looking for the gaps to keep reinventing the business, to keep pushing forward to seeing being more modern and current from a business perspective. I'm doing all the right things. I've just got to make sure the industry follows me.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

So you've talked about the empower accelerator. What does success look like for that accelerator? But what does success look like for people on the accelerator?

SPEAKER_01 12:30

So success looks like a global information management platform that accelerates your information management practices in 12 months so you can achieve things and get stuff done, like business classification schemes, your information architecture for Microsoft 365, your business cases over the line. Anything that an information manager would need to do, you can utilize that accelerator from soft skills like public speaking and branding, because that's a huge thing that we've got to do. Personal branding and also information management branding. From a global perspective, I just want to, you know, continue to help change the world and continue to change the information management practices. We are such a beautiful bunch of people, and there's so many things, so many hats that we wear. I'd like the accelerator program to be one of those go-tos of nice, oh, I need to jump on a leadership program and I need to accelerate my information management practices. And whilst doing that, I'm gonna do some professional development with myself to be a growth growth leader. So that's where I want the viewpoint. But I also think we go back to that particular learning methods that leadership through data focuses in. The program allows you a global platform to share with other information leaders across the world. And I have a good analogy Follow the Sun, so Australia and New Zealand are very much more advanced with their records management uh practices. Then you go to the UK and the US. So why would we not be sharing that as a global community?

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Yeah. And and community's the word, right? So that's at the heart of this accelerator. It's around not only just having that professional development, like the masterclasses and that ability to bring stuff into it and have the Q ⁇ A's, but it's that wonderful community that we have got wrapped around us that it's a platform to engage in that. So one thing that I want to ask you just to wrap us up here. I don't like talking about people's legacies because I don't like to think about people leaving our profession or leaving the planet. It's important to understand from you what legacy do you want to leave the information management profession?

SPEAKER_01 14:41

I want to change the way the information management is viewed go globally. So I want information leaders to have the resources, I want them to have the capabilities to support organisations with their information management practices because information is gold. You know, we know it's laid effect right now, you've got AI, technology, and then information is kind of at the bottom, dusty, murky kind of seas. And I I want to bring that to the forefront, and I want people to be thinking information first, then technology, and that's the legacy that I want to bring. I want to show the world, and I will say the world, that we are here and we are around to stay. Um, but I can't do that alone, Andrea. I need people to support me, support leadership through data. If they like what I do, don't just like it and follow me, comment, share, recommend, you know, buy products and services as well, because I can't do it on my own. So I need the support of the community. And if that's the legacy that I'm happy to bring, then obviously I need the community around us to support uh me and the business as well. I'm very happy to be bold, be brave, and be beautiful. I've written to the King, I've written to MPs, I've written to Netflix, I've written to BBC, I've written to everybody physically possible to try and get more and more movement in information management, certainly when AI is taking over, but that's so focused on you know, AI is, and I'm gonna swear, absolutely shit if your information is is crap, right? It just pumps out crap, and then you use it again, it pumps out more crap. So you know, move us from the muddy waters up to the top seas on the waves, and I can only do that with the support of everybody else. So if everybody likes what I do, from podcasts to LinkedIn Lives to leadership through data, you know, want me to help show up, you make those introductions, support the business and me, and then um I will promise you I'll continue to do what I am trying to achieve globally, and that will be my legacy, Andrea.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Okay, I'm gonna give away five of your books right now, Jackie. So as part of your legacy, I'm gonna steal your books and give them away. So I'm gonna say first five people to comment on this uh this episode on LinkedIn get a book. So first five people get the book, and there we go. So I've taken over your podcast, I've given away some of your books. My work here is done.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Amazing. Thank you so much, Andrea. It's been uh it's been really nice to be interviewed, actually. I appreciate it, appreciate it today. Listeners, reach out to me via LinkedIn. I've got LinkedIn lives every Wednesday at 12 o'clock. Great British time, they're recorded so you can catch up. I'm now live on TikTok as well, Andrea, Facebook, so some of the wider social platforms as well. So please like, share, get people talking about what we're doing in the industry and help me achieve what I can for you guys. So very grateful for you interviewing me today, Andrea, and I'll see you all next week. Thank you for spending your time with me today. If there's one thing I'd love you to take away from today's conversation, it is this great leadership doesn't happen by accident, it happens by design. The most successful information leaders, data professionals, records managers, and business leaders don't wait for change to happen to them. They take a step back, assess where they are today, and make a conscious decision about where they're heading next. That's exactly why I created Leadership Through Data, the Empower scorecard. In just a few minutes, you'll receive a personalised assessment of where you are across the key areas of leadership and the Empower program. Most importantly, you'll discover the opportunities that could help you increase your influence, visibility, information management processes, and value within your organization. So if you've been asking yourself, how do I become a more strategic leader? How mature is my organization's information and data capabilities? Then the scorecard is the perfect place for you to start. Head over and complete the Leadership Through Data Empower scorecard today. It's complete free, takes just a few minutes, and you'll walk away with amazing insights and a report that you can use immediately. And if you found value in today's episode, please help me spread the word. Subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, share this episode with your colleague or friend, and join us at one of my LinkedIn lives every Wednesday. Remember, guys, be bold, be brave, and be beautiful. I'm Jacqueline Stockwell and I'll see you next week at the journals of the information entrepreneur.