May 21, 2025 • 40 mins
Anna Iverson, founder of the Sovereign Revenue Trust Entity, talks about her journey from financial law to creating a new way of supporting innovators.
We discuss how her platform challenges traditional investment models by prioritising creative intention over pure financial gain, ways innovators can protect their vision and values, and what it takes to build structures that let ideas grow without losing their heart.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-women-in-business-radio-show--1228431/support.
Created and hosted by Sian Murphy with regular co-hosts Michele Yianni Attard, Kay Best, Rachael Bryant and occasionally Adelle Martin.
Find out how to be a guest or patron of the show at https://thewomeninbusinessradioshow.com
We discuss how her platform challenges traditional investment models by prioritising creative intention over pure financial gain, ways innovators can protect their vision and values, and what it takes to build structures that let ideas grow without losing their heart.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-women-in-business-radio-show--1228431/support.
Created and hosted by Sian Murphy with regular co-hosts Michele Yianni Attard, Kay Best, Rachael Bryant and occasionally Adelle Martin.
Find out how to be a guest or patron of the show at https://thewomeninbusinessradioshow.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Women in Business Radio Show with Sean Murphy,
connecting women in business around the globe.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome back into the Women in Business Radio Show studios.
So I'm going to welcome my co host, Hello, Hello, you.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Can say you are that day, Mikhail Yannia.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
So, Michael is Oh.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
She's the CEO of Future Insight, Accountancy, Bookkeeping, property Strategy,
all sorts of things. She is also a sponsor and
speaker at the Women in Business Big Show. So involved
in lots and lots of stuff also around the radio show.
And our guest in the studio today is Anna Iverson. Now,
Anna is someone who doesn't fit neatly into any box,
(00:50):
and that sort of you know that, that really is
exactly the point. So after a successful career as a
financial lawyer, she's now forging a path in the health
and well being sex. So what we're saying is you
haven't just sort of shifted careers. You're reshaping everything you do,
aren't you everything in your life and the way that
you approach everything.
Speaker 5 (01:09):
Absolutely yes, And I don't like boxes. But the interesting
part as well is that I am going full circle
because I'm tying back a lot of the things I'm
relating what I've been doing in the health and well
being sacked back to what.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
I was doing the financial Isn't it odd?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Sometimes happens how we go off and what we think
is a completely separate path, offer a tangent, and then
suddenly it comes back and you go, oh, Okay, now
I see how it all fits together.
Speaker 6 (01:40):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I think what we're going to do is start off
and with your story. So let's find out sort of
where you've come from, what you're doing now, and who
you do it with.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Goodness me, So how far far back do you want.
Speaker 6 (01:54):
Me to go?
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Well, we only the show. We only have an hour
for the show.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
So if you.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Go back to where you were born, that's going to
take some time, I think. I think if you start
with just your your your what your financial career looked
like before, before you left, before you before you shifted,
what were you doing?
Speaker 6 (02:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (02:17):
So I was working in the city as a financial
services lawyer, and I guess I had many moments of
kind of figuring out or finding out that this is
probably not going to be my career forever. And one
of the pivotal moments was when I started a family
and I really could feel that there was a shift
(02:38):
in my kind of internal focus. It doesn't mean that
I wanted to devote all my time to just being
a mother, but I felt that there was more outside
of this, and I need to, you know, find something
that keeps me fulfilled in it in a different way.
Then we had the financial crisis in two thousand and eight,
and again I had this moment where I felt, Yeah,
(03:01):
the kind of fun, sort of fast moving doing transactions
and all that kind of stuff didn't feel the same anymore,
because suddenly a swath of new regulation came in and
I was wondering why the regulation looked the way that
it didn't really make much sense to me because ultimately
(03:21):
wasn't really protecting the end users, and I thought that
that's a bit strange. And I just felt that the
kind of passion for what I was doing shifted as
a result. And then finally, the kind of nail in
the coffin of that career trajectory was that both my
parents had cancer and I spent a year traveling back
and forth to Sweden, where originally come from. Whilst I
(03:44):
had two small children at home and I was a
career and a career and all that kind of stuff.
And I spent that whole year very much in survival
mode because I was not home enough with my family.
I wasn't, you know, kind of being able to focus
on my career and my work, and I was doing
(04:05):
my very best to keep my parents, you know, as
comfortable as I could do from a distance, and then
traveling to see them as often as I could. So
what I was really doing during that whole year was
not doing any research, not doing any fact finding about
(04:25):
cancer or any other horrible metabolic disease that you can imagine,
because I felt that the more I learn about something,
the worse is going to get. Completely false logic. But
I became the ostrich who put you know, I put
my head in the sand. And it was only right
towards the end of that journey, when my mother was
(04:47):
literally on her deathbed that for some obscure reason, I
found myself holding a book. And it was a book
that opened my mind up to the fact that disease
doesn't just come and present itself to you. It's something
that evolves because of the things that happen in our life. Okay,
(05:07):
And I'm not saying that as some kind of you know,
your sentence to cancer. Now, that's not at all what
I mean, But I mean that we are actually much
more in control of our health and wellbeing than what
we perhaps think because we're so used to you know,
we go to someone, they say they're an expert, the
expert tells us what to do when we do it,
whereas the process really should be that we take control
(05:29):
of our own health and wellbeing and then we find
whatever support experts of different kinds to get us through
that journey to better health.
Speaker 6 (05:40):
And that book was.
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Just the kind of door opener to me realizing right
then and there I really knew.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Can you remember what book it was?
Speaker 5 (05:49):
Yes, it's a book called Entripping Over the Truth by
a he's a scientific writer, so journalist, and I think
it's called Travis Christofferson. And it didn't really necessarily have
to be that book, but it was just.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
It was at that time, it was that book.
Speaker 6 (06:07):
It was absolutely and.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
It just made me realize that all these different diseases
that we have, you know, those endless chronic diseases out there,
they all have more or less the same foundations. I'm
not saying that they all are caused by the same thing,
but they're all fixable, and they can be fixable in
sometimes in very similar ways. But it's all about taking
(06:31):
back your power really and initially I probably also, yeah,
I devoured so many books. I have a whole bookshelf
at home just with health and you know, health related text.
And I really did feel that I needed to gain
as much knowledge about this because if I was changing
(06:54):
my career, which I knew as soon as I read
that book, this is what I need to change my career,
then I also needed to gain some kind of expertise.
And I was one book just led to the next,
and there was no stopping me. And that's when I
ditch novels. And I love reading novels, but you know,
I haven't really come back to them, to be honest,
I haven't had time.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
So where are you now?
Speaker 6 (07:17):
That's where am I now? So I.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Was here on this show about five six years ago
talking about my main project at the time, which was
to create a light therapy booth. And my objective has
always been to make any kind of healing easy and
accessible but also affordable, because it's great if you can
(07:44):
offer things to high end individuals, but that doesn't really
solve the problems of the world.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
You know, you want things that.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Everyone can afford, access and afford definitely. And my concept
that I dreamt up was to have booths that you
walk into and then you get red and near in
for red light through using the booth. And I designed
a prototype for it. So everything from how you access
(08:15):
the booth through an app, through to you know, how
the panels switched on and switched off, and how they
would be serviced and all that. So it was all
ready to go, and I was exploring different avenues for
how to get these out there because my vision was
they should be in every single office. You know, we
have lots of office workers and I think that's what
(08:35):
we talked about last time, but also in public places. Yeah,
so imagine a train station or an airport or all
these places were you know, there are people everywhere. It's
exhausting and you just want sort of a quick pick
me up, a bit of a boost. It's like, you know,
imagine a battery charger. You know, we have our cars
(08:55):
and we plug them in and then you charge the car.
But imagine we do the same to ourselves and we
have these booths everywhere. So that was so much fun
to work on. But then I was struck by the lockdowns.
And in a way, I think it had to happen
(09:17):
also when it came to the booth, because at the time,
I don't think people the general public were really quite
ready for that kind of therapy in that kind of format.
But now everyone and well not everyone, but a lot
of people have heard of red light therapy. A lot
of people have bought masks or little panels or all
(09:37):
sorts of different gadgets are out there. And what I
was trying, what I could see back then is that
there were people in very select communities that we're using
these tools. I was talking about biohackers remember last time,
and there were you know, these health nodes. Basically they
do everything they can to optimize their health and well
(09:59):
being in every single way. They would be able to,
you know, embrace this immediately because you know that's the
world try exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yes, there's no I'm going to call it an intellectual barrier,
but there isn't that sort of barrier of understanding and acceptance.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
Yeah, and even though there are thousands of publications in
showing how wonderful this therapy is, it's still not something
that's commonly known, and I think the common you know,
making something common knowledge is a process, okay, The educational
piece really does take the time it needs to take
to trickle through. And now we're there, So it's interesting
(10:43):
perhaps the timing is starting to get ripe again to
get that kind of concept out because I have to say,
I love the whole idea of you know, being able
to walk into booth and get recharged.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Okay, So where are you now with that project? Is
that still an ongoing project for you?
Speaker 5 (10:59):
It's still nice and it will be a nice for
the time being, but it will be revived, is the
way it is looking right now. But what I've been
doing in the meantime is I've been working together with
a number of different startup businesses, startup to scale up businesses,
(11:23):
all within the health and wellbeing space, and most of
them employing some kind of novel technology. And what I've
discovered in that process, and also something that I keep
on going back to is the tricky bit. For many
of these businesses that have something have a real creative
(11:46):
okay want you know, want to bring something new out
there exactly, they find it difficult when it comes to
getting the financial resources in place, and it's not just
getting the funding, but it's getting the funding on the
terms that work for you. Because if you think about it,
(12:07):
when you're going out and seeking investment or it's always
the investors who are driving.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Are in the driving seat. Yeah they are.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
And that's no criticism to the to the investors at all,
But it's just that.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
It's the reality, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Well, it's what we've come to expect. And that's where
the thinking out of the box really comes to. It's
for because just because we've come to expect something to
be a certain way doesn't mean that it necessarily has
to be that way. And how about if we reimagined
things and thought about how we could all have the
same intentions from the very beginning, and then we can
(12:50):
perhaps create a win win situation for everyone.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Okay, so you're working with startups that are having that
have good ideas, and they may well have the technology
behind their ideas, but their challenge is getting the funding.
How are you working with them?
Speaker 4 (13:12):
What are you? What are you doing? How are you
how are you helping them?
Speaker 6 (13:17):
Well?
Speaker 5 (13:18):
I have for many years been the kind of the
jack of all trades in these businesses, making sure that
you know, the ideas become more than just ideas. You know,
so it's creating a business that you know functions and
having a product or a service that you know comes
(13:40):
to as such a level that you can prove that
it actually works and that it has there's a market
for it. Yeah, because it's important of course that you know,
whenever you have a concept or you know something that
you want to bring out there. It could be as
you know, something that perhaps you think is the most
wonderful thing ever, but if no one else is interested
in it, it's not really.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
So are you helping them? You helping them put, if
you like, structure and explanation into what they're offering so
that other people can understand it and perhaps start to
look at funding opportunities through it.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Well, that's what I've done for a very long time.
But then if we now trace back to the financial
peace and how I come into that. I became very
inspired in September last year when I listened to a
podcast interesting Enough with the lady over in the States
(14:33):
called Barbara Gooth, who I now work with, who has
been spending many years on a journey of seeing how
we can look at creative financing for creative endeavors and
protecting innovators and seeing that the starting point is really innovation,
(14:56):
and you know, the innovation is what is really sacred
and not you know that, Oh how much is am
I going to get out of this?
Speaker 6 (15:04):
Now?
Speaker 4 (15:06):
What's my return on investment? On my return on investment?
Speaker 5 (15:08):
And there's nothing wrong about you know, returner investment of course,
you know, why would you invest in something if it's
not making money sense? But to turn it around and
and to think, okay, so what are we bringing out
into the world yep? And how can we make this work?
And and and therefore figure out, you know, how can
(15:31):
we be true to whatever we're bringing out into the
world rather than compromising the concept from the very beginning.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
So you you brought your your background is as a
financial lawyer, legal financial How how is that now feeding in?
Because I was quite interested that you thought you were
going off in a different route and actually you're sort
of not. It's it's come back and you're now you
using this I don't know what could we call it?
(16:02):
Like base of knowledge and experience and professional qualifications as well.
I mean, there is a process that went into this
isn't there you would have gone to university and qualified
in all of this as a profession. How is that
now feeding into all of this? What skills are you
bringing in and how does that feel as well? So
(16:25):
to be coming to be circling back into that from
something that you left.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
Yeah, No, it's very interesting because I can now once
you step out of the box, then you can also
observe things with and have a neutral stance, and that
means that you can actually pinpoint the issues that are
(16:52):
that are quite become quite apparent, because I think if
we're in the middle of it, it's very difficult for
you to actually see the problems are because you're so
wedded to it when you're part of it, and that
means that, yeah, you can't really objectively take a look.
(17:13):
And I think what you can do when you're on
the outside is have that ability to see things that
people who are inside can't see.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
So if I come to you now with an innovative product,
how would we work together, what would that look like?
What would we be doing?
Speaker 6 (17:32):
Well, first of all.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
We have to get to together with the team that
we have formed is to create the platform, which is
called the Sovereign revenue trust entity, and this platform will
allow the innovators to be protected so that we.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
When you say protective, can you explain how I'm going
to make an assumption that it's their design.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
And if you're like, yeah, they're design that's being protected,
but I may be wrong.
Speaker 6 (18:09):
So can you know?
Speaker 5 (18:12):
Because if you think about lots of different inventions that
we've brought out, if you're not careful as the inventor,
that invention suddenly becomes something quite different. And especially when
you're looking at the inventor capital, then you are looking
at timelines. You're looking at the only way in which
investors who have got involved can benefit from it is
(18:36):
to have a sellout at some point. Yeah, so there's
are you know, there's a timeline you're working out. So
that means that you're not taking the steps that otherwise
would have taken if you'd had if you'd been able
to stay in the driving seat and say, Okay, this
is this is how I think we should be using
the money to get to where we are. Okay, I
(18:58):
don't want anyone to take my concept. If you just
think about, you know, all the chains we're seeing. Now,
that's an easy comparison to make you know, you can
talk about any brand if you remember the early days
of the brand, you know it's very authentic, or the
things are produced in a certain way, or the service
(19:19):
is provided in a certain way, and suddenly you have
someone come in and say that's a brilliant concept. Let
let's make twenty of those, and then then two hundred
and then two thousand, and then you know, suddenly it's
a worldwide concept and the whole soul is gone.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Yeah, so let me put this into words that perhaps
I can understand. I just want to make sure that
I've got this correct because this is not my area
at all, So I want to make sure that I've
got the right thing. So, as a creator, an inventor,
and innovator, where you've produced something, you could have produced
that to solve a particular problem in a particular way,
(19:54):
but in actual fact, that could be shifted, bastardized, and
suddenly it may well solve that problem. But actually, let's
make it broader, Let's take it out to other people
and do it in a different way. So it's now
being the tool is now being used for something totally
different that may not have been in your ethical how
(20:16):
you wanted that, how you saw it being used, and
how you saw it helping people. It's now just doing
something which has gone beyond your Yeah, your your values,
your your own personal values and what you wanted to achieve.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Exactly right.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Okay, So I was thinking in terms of you've invented
something like a new vacuum cleaner, you've invented a new tool,
and you're protecting the design. But what you're talking about
is actually protecting the intention.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
Absolutely. It is the intention. Of course, the design can
come with yes, yes, it's part of it, but it
is the foundation of it. It's the intention that you know,
because it's that's the cornerstone of the whole creative process.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Okay, yeah, Right, do you speak to people that are
inneratively inventors, that have patents their items already so that
you can take them to that next level when you
protect their design?
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Exactly Okay.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
Yeah, So it's all about making sure that the creation
itself is honored, you know, from the very beginning, and
that everyone then is in unison and says okay, well,
I want to be on board with this project as
the finance party to honor this creation because I can
see that it brings something good into this world, okay,
because we're so used to it's kind of upside down
(21:34):
the whole the world we live in. And it's understandable
because it is a zero sum game, you know, the
system that we're kind of caught in, and I'm not,
you know, it's just how things are, you know, right now.
So our driving force is very often that, Okay, I
need money to survive. I need money to maintain my lifestyle.
(21:56):
And it doesn't matter if you're a millionaire or if
you have, yeah, not a single penny in your pocket.
Speaker 6 (22:02):
The considerations are the same.
Speaker 5 (22:03):
We're kind of trapped in whatever world we've created for ourselves.
But then to turn around and say, okay, well, if
we're bringing something good into the world and we're honoring
the creative intention of the people who are innovators, and
we set it up for success together, yeah, rather than thinking, okay, well,
(22:25):
you know, in five years time, we have to you know,
be at this point, and it becomes a very rigid
structure that's all driven yeah backwards. It is really you
know that we're putting the cart before the horse, and
we're not allowing the horse to run.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Yeah, No, that's fair enough.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
And I think, you know, if we turn that around,
we we we open up, and I think that we
will what we will see is that we can create
so much more.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Really, so you say it's an innovative, so they've done
a product, Do you also do ideas and services as well?
Speaker 5 (22:58):
No, not ideas and service as such, but being that
person that they can hold someone's hand and help them
guide them through their process, you can do that.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Yeah, I suppose in a way.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
So I don't have products as such, but I'm not
sure if this is relevant. Once again, it's about me
sort of trying to understand where this is coming from.
So with the Women in Business Big Show, I get
quite a lot of pressure, but quite a lot of
comments that I get are that I need to charge more?
Speaker 4 (23:30):
Is charge more? It's too cheap.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
You need to make more money doing this, and in
order to do that, you need to charge more for
the tables. But actually that's what That's not why I'm
doing it. I'm doing it so that people can afford
people who wouldn't normally be able to make that investment,
either physically with money or mentally, because it's a bit
of too much of a leap for them wouldn't join in,
they wouldn't come along, and if they did, they wouldn't
(23:55):
feel comfortable because they'd be such a pressure on them
to I've got to get this money back. I've got
to get this money back. I've got to make the
best of it. That we wouldn't have the atmosphere environment
that we have. And so I have this vision which
if I charge more, just charge more, I'm.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Going to lose.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
What the values and why I set it up and
why I get pleasure from it. And to some extent
that stops me in many ways getting investors in because
they have what they want to see is they want
a percentage back of whatever. And in order to do that,
let's start mucking about with you know, let's stop mucking
about with these forty pound tables. Look at the people
that are in here. Everything. The starting point needs to
(24:34):
be three to four hundreds on these. But it's not
the same. We've lost it. It's not the same event.
And that is a conflict for me. And now I
can see how it's not that much of a conflict because.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
I ain't doing it.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
It's a challenge that I need to overcome and find
a different way of perhaps doing something, but I'm not
doing it, and that's it because it's not me and
it's not what I want to achieve. And I can
now see this, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (25:00):
You're ripping the soul up.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
Exact and we have to go back to, I think,
finding the soul and then getting people around that to
support that soul in its growth.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
And it's a real back it's a real tricky balance
for me, it really is, because I also need to eat,
you know, I need to at some point along the way.
I need to make money. I need to not only
cover the cost, but I need to pay for my time,
and I need to make a profit. But if the
only route open to me is actually I'm not going
to say sell my soul, but to sell the soul
(25:32):
of the event, I might as well just stop doing it, mightn't.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
I The decisions we make becoming fear based. And that's
what the problem is, because of course, we do need
to feed our families. We do need to make sure
that we have enough, and we need to propel forward.
So we have to find a way of doing that.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
And just to sort of explain it from my understanding,
so I do have a community interest company that sits
underneath it, But there are compromises with that that I
don't want.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
This is my.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Project, is my stuff, Sorry, but it is. And I
could see that being very similar with a product that yes,
it may well be that you could bring it out
as a what would be the you know, like a
community a community interest company or community project. But once again,
you're you're bringing other people into the mix who potentially
have a say on what you're doing, and then you
(26:24):
may well lose the whole thing. Isn't yours at the
end of the day. Anyway, You can't sell it or
give it to your children or something if you decide
you don't want to do it anymore, So you've lost
your part of that and your involvement in it. And
I'm guessing this is a similar thing with a product
exactly because a lot of them may have a community
(26:46):
a community benefit, or a world benefit.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Is that what we're talking about.
Speaker 6 (26:51):
It's exactly that.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Okay, So when you take I'm going to assume that
really what you're doing is based on people producing products.
So when you take that and you put them into
your platform, how do you help them get that funding?
Speaker 4 (27:04):
Who is this?
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Who are these people who do who do the funding
where they're happy to let you run with your social
part of it and your own values and get money
out of it in a different way. How does it work.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
Well, I do think that there is a shift in
consciousness happening right now. And I think that if you
just listen to the words people use nowadays and compare
it two five years ago, there is a difference. And
I think a lot of people are starting to feel
that some of the structures that we have perhaps don't
(27:39):
serve us anymore. And I think that there are plenty
of investors who feel that way, that they actually want
to bring something that benefits humanity. That sounds very grand,
but that actually, you know, are not there just to
put some money in and then get.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
Whatever what they're.
Speaker 5 (27:57):
Expecting get on milestonestone and targets and timetables and all
that kind of stuff. But are seeing, Okay, this is
a really important thing that I think that the you
know the world would really benefit from. I want to
get involved in that and that, you know, let's find
a way of you know, making that happen.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
So how do we draw the line here between investments
and donation.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
Well, donations could of course always be good but I
think what's good about having people invest is that you
also get engagement because you might actually want the investors
to play some kind of role in the venture.
Speaker 6 (28:35):
It's not like.
Speaker 5 (28:37):
It's one thing to have the creation retaining its integrity
and and they you know that is sacred. But the
innovator may not have all the skills.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
They may not have the business skills exactly.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
Okay, So that's where the investor can become in handy.
So what, of course donations could be.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
No, what I was saying was if if you have
money there, okay, but you don't necessarily you don't want
to donate, So we're not talking about that. You are
an investor, how do you need to look at things differently?
And what what expectations can you have of actually getting
your getting a return on your investment.
Speaker 5 (29:18):
It doesn't necessarily have to be getting equity in the business,
for example, the other ways of structuring it not that
having equity in the business. It could be the right way.
It depends on.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
So something like a loan and then interest charges on
top and being paid back.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
Or a piece of the revenue, yeah to how the business.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Grows, Yeah, definitely, So sitting on the side of it,
sort of sort of being an investor and this is
not my area, So forgive me if I'm looking at
this in a bit of a naive way, well actually
completely naive way. But if if if an investor is
sat that they have a lot of money that they
(30:00):
are actually looking to invest, they sort of need to
be is it riskier? Is it that they are now
the whim of the values of the innovator or is
this where your platform comes in.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
That's where the platform brians. Okay, because.
Speaker 5 (30:20):
You could liken us to being the stewards of the
project or the creative endeavor, but that doesn't and it
doesn't mean just because you're honoring the creation that's there
as the central focus point, doesn't mean that you're going
to be ditching the investors. It's all about creating the
you know, basically unity amongst the people who are involved.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
So are you giving them that?
Speaker 6 (30:44):
Having conflicting interests.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
So are you are you giving them a structure where
the innovator has a way of communicating effectively with potential
investors and then the investor or investors that they take
on board, so that there is a common meeting ground
as to what is being trying to achieve here, you know,
the values that they're bringing into the project. So everybody
(31:07):
understands each other and nobody's pushing any boundaries here.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
That's right, yeah, okay, right, okay?
Speaker 3 (31:14):
So is it just the UK markets or do you
investors want to invest internationally too.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
So that the initial seeds of it have actually been
in SOD in the US. Okay, But that doesn't mean
that the United States does only market at all. I
see that as something that, you know, okay, could happen
anywhere in the world.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
So tell us the name of the platform again.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
It's the Sovereign Revenue Trust.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Entity, so the sovereign So if I was an innovator,
what does this platform look like? How do I how
do I get started? What do I do? How do
I find out about you?
Speaker 5 (31:50):
Well, you can start off and look at the website
which is sad SRTE dot com. I spell that to
you s A G E double a E s r
t E dot com.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
So, so, as as an innovator, I would go on
there and there will be some sort of goot guidance
or a route. Do I do I then join or
do I apply?
Speaker 5 (32:18):
Or at this moment in time I think these is
just to get in touch, to start the conversation.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
Okay, and as an investor, is that the same process?
Speaker 6 (32:27):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
But this is of course how I see this developing.
It it's a movement, you know. So it is really
you know, inspiring people do things slightly differently and seeing
if we can make shifts in in the boxed in
world that we have now. And that's not to just
any of you know, anything that's out there, but there
(32:50):
might be a different way that could actually lead to
better results for everyone. And the way in which I
always see things is I think that we have for
generations now compromised on what we're bringing to the world
because we are confined by these structures.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Okay, right, so I think I've got an idea now
on what it is that you are trying to achieve.
Speaker 6 (33:16):
You're looking very excited when you're saying.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Well, I should do number one. I'm quite I'm quite
surprised I actually understand it, but I think I do
if it's okay, If it's okay with you, what I
would like to do now is shift the conversation a
little bit around from this is what you do and
(33:38):
this is what you do, and this is what you
have been doing and building. But having read some of
the sort of information because we do ask our guests
to send in a little bit of background, I think
you are in a very similar situation to the one
that I very often find myself in with being I
know sort of what I do. I can describe what
(34:00):
I do. I'm just not quite sure who I am
or how I tell people I'm this. And I also
there was something in what you put down about having
a very big vision and that we can make big changes,
like big global changes. But sometimes it doesn't feel like,
(34:21):
you know, here we are. You know, i'm when neither of.
Speaker 4 (34:24):
Us are presidents, and that includes you. You're not a president.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
You know, we're not running governments, when we're not commanding armies.
You know, I don't know about you, but I don't
have a you know, a community of you know, twenty
five million people following me along, and so sometimes I
don't know, you tend to think I'm actually do you know,
I can't do that. Other people do that. Other people
do those massive have those massive global changes that really
(34:50):
affect lives of millions and millions of people. But what
you've put is that actually we can do that, and
we need to have a shift to accept that we can.
And I just like to get your thoughts on that.
Speaker 5 (35:03):
Absolutely, And I think we'd always have this tendency to
downplay ourselves and what we're capable of doing. And I think,
you know, dreaming big is something that we all should
be doing much more often. And dreaming big doesn't mean
that we were kind of ending up in La la
land and quite but I think we vision came up
(35:33):
to me when I was sitting on the train coming
over here because I was listening to the podcast we
did five six years ago. And I don't know if
you've ever seen the Incredible series, mister Incredible when he's
stuck in this little gray cubicle in the insurance office
doing absolutely you know nothing, he's not following his passion
(35:56):
and he's looking so great and so miserable.
Speaker 6 (35:59):
And I used to use that little gift, you know,
for many years.
Speaker 5 (36:04):
When I was presenting the fact that you know, we
could come to accept, you know, our health in the content.
You know, we reach a certain age and we think, okay,
well I'm forty fifty whatever, so I'm supposed to be
like this. This is the way it's supposed to be.
I'm supposed to get a little bit decrepid.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
I supposed to have two pieces.
Speaker 6 (36:23):
Exactly little buttons of the middle.
Speaker 5 (36:26):
And we do the same with kind of the the
the choices that we are kind of gently and perhaps
not always so gently nudged into. So we're letting go of,
you know, what we really dreamt of. You know, if
you speak to a toddler, isn't it wonderful? They just
jump up and down and then the sting out what
they want to be and no hesitation and whatsoever. And
(36:48):
then we go through life and we are kind of
channels channel into different professions.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
For example, it's always this cliche there when you get
to forty or fifty, can you change where you're going?
Like you were saying about the Invincibles. Could he change
because he's got the children, he's got family at home
and the commitments. Can he do it? And obviously yes,
you can, yes, you know, but people, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
I think there's different levels here. I think there are
people who believe they can change, but the change is
actually quite small. It seems big, but it's quite small.
And then there are changes that are global. So I
left corporate and bimbled around doing I have no idea
(37:42):
what really it was in business goodness, that's what I
was doing. And now I run events and I have
a radio show, and so I sort of what I'm
doing is actually quite not shallow, but it's on quite
a small scale. I'm not operating globally, I'm not campaigning,
(38:02):
I'm not changing millions of lives. And I think it's
I think I think people can make very often a
small step, even though it may seem huge, but then
there's actually a gigantic step. Now I certainly haven't made
that gigantic step, and I'm not sure that I can
see that gigantic step.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
You may not see it. But with the domino effect,
if you do one one thing, that person's going to
go along and it's going to do another thing.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
And I think it's about the belief of making it.
It is the belief of being able to get that
vision exactly.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
You can't see it in front of you, so you
think it's smaller than it could actually be.
Speaker 5 (38:40):
And it's that limiting belief thing, and it's such a
insidious thing that really takes over it.
Speaker 6 (38:47):
It isn't everything.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
It is and we've only we've only got a few
minutes left, and I think this is such a This
is such an interesting topic because you know, what is
the difference between say, me and I don't know. I
can't think of somebody who was a you know, really
sort of having a global impact. What is the difference.
(39:09):
It's probably belief and perseverance and consistency.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
Like you said before in the beginning, dream big.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Yeah, but it's about having the position. It's about having
I would say, the permission to dream big, but allowing
yourself to dream to dream big, and actually not putting
a ceiling on what you can achieve.
Speaker 5 (39:30):
And stop making assumptions that the structure and the order
that we see today is going to last forever, because
I think that's one of the things that it's back
to the box again. We think this is the only
way we can do it. So why is this the
only way we can do it?
Speaker 6 (39:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (39:45):
Yeah, we have not a lot of time left, so
I'm going to cram this in quickly, and you will
not have seen this question and you would not have
heard it before, so.
Speaker 4 (39:55):
That I quite like that.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
In fact, there are three qui and you're just going
to fire these off of me because we're going to
run out of time. What's your top tip for being
in business?
Speaker 5 (40:06):
Tip for being business? Ye, stay true to yourself.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
And what do you know now that you wishuld have
known when you started out?
Speaker 5 (40:12):
That everything every journey you think is going to be
fast is going to take a lot longer.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
I like, And this one is how are you changing lives?
Speaker 5 (40:20):
I am changing life through my dreams.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
Brilliant and iverson. Thank you so much for coming back
and being a guest on the show again. Thank you
to my lovely co host Michael, and we will all
be back. Well, we'll have you back on the show
in a few weeks, won't we you will. Michael's is
my regular lovely co host. I'm Chel Murphy. This is
Women in Business Radio show, and we will sort of
see you all again very very shortly, and please have
(40:44):
a fantastic time in the meantime.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
Tune in next week to the Women in Business Radio
Show for more stories, ideas and inspiration to help you
grow your business.
Welcome to the Women in Business Radio Show with Sean Murphy,
connecting women in business around the globe.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome back into the Women in Business Radio Show studios.
So I'm going to welcome my co host, Hello, Hello, you.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Can say you are that day, Mikhail Yannia.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
So, Michael is Oh.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
She's the CEO of Future Insight, Accountancy, Bookkeeping, property Strategy,
all sorts of things. She is also a sponsor and
speaker at the Women in Business Big Show. So involved
in lots and lots of stuff also around the radio show.
And our guest in the studio today is Anna Iverson. Now,
Anna is someone who doesn't fit neatly into any box,
(00:50):
and that sort of you know that, that really is
exactly the point. So after a successful career as a
financial lawyer, she's now forging a path in the health
and well being sex. So what we're saying is you
haven't just sort of shifted careers. You're reshaping everything you do,
aren't you everything in your life and the way that
you approach everything.
Speaker 5 (01:09):
Absolutely yes, And I don't like boxes. But the interesting
part as well is that I am going full circle
because I'm tying back a lot of the things I'm
relating what I've been doing in the health and well
being sacked back to what.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
I was doing the financial Isn't it odd?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Sometimes happens how we go off and what we think
is a completely separate path, offer a tangent, and then
suddenly it comes back and you go, oh, Okay, now
I see how it all fits together.
Speaker 6 (01:40):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I think what we're going to do is start off
and with your story. So let's find out sort of
where you've come from, what you're doing now, and who
you do it with.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Goodness me, So how far far back do you want.
Speaker 6 (01:54):
Me to go?
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Well, we only the show. We only have an hour
for the show.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
So if you.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Go back to where you were born, that's going to
take some time, I think. I think if you start
with just your your your what your financial career looked
like before, before you left, before you before you shifted,
what were you doing?
Speaker 6 (02:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (02:17):
So I was working in the city as a financial
services lawyer, and I guess I had many moments of
kind of figuring out or finding out that this is
probably not going to be my career forever. And one
of the pivotal moments was when I started a family
and I really could feel that there was a shift
(02:38):
in my kind of internal focus. It doesn't mean that
I wanted to devote all my time to just being
a mother, but I felt that there was more outside
of this, and I need to, you know, find something
that keeps me fulfilled in it in a different way.
Then we had the financial crisis in two thousand and eight,
and again I had this moment where I felt, Yeah,
(03:01):
the kind of fun, sort of fast moving doing transactions
and all that kind of stuff didn't feel the same anymore,
because suddenly a swath of new regulation came in and
I was wondering why the regulation looked the way that
it didn't really make much sense to me because ultimately
(03:21):
wasn't really protecting the end users, and I thought that
that's a bit strange. And I just felt that the
kind of passion for what I was doing shifted as
a result. And then finally, the kind of nail in
the coffin of that career trajectory was that both my
parents had cancer and I spent a year traveling back
and forth to Sweden, where originally come from. Whilst I
(03:44):
had two small children at home and I was a
career and a career and all that kind of stuff.
And I spent that whole year very much in survival
mode because I was not home enough with my family.
I wasn't, you know, kind of being able to focus
on my career and my work, and I was doing
(04:05):
my very best to keep my parents, you know, as
comfortable as I could do from a distance, and then
traveling to see them as often as I could. So
what I was really doing during that whole year was
not doing any research, not doing any fact finding about
(04:25):
cancer or any other horrible metabolic disease that you can imagine,
because I felt that the more I learn about something,
the worse is going to get. Completely false logic. But
I became the ostrich who put you know, I put
my head in the sand. And it was only right
towards the end of that journey, when my mother was
(04:47):
literally on her deathbed that for some obscure reason, I
found myself holding a book. And it was a book
that opened my mind up to the fact that disease
doesn't just come and present itself to you. It's something
that evolves because of the things that happen in our life. Okay,
(05:07):
And I'm not saying that as some kind of you know,
your sentence to cancer. Now, that's not at all what
I mean, But I mean that we are actually much
more in control of our health and wellbeing than what
we perhaps think because we're so used to you know,
we go to someone, they say they're an expert, the
expert tells us what to do when we do it,
whereas the process really should be that we take control
(05:29):
of our own health and wellbeing and then we find
whatever support experts of different kinds to get us through
that journey to better health.
Speaker 6 (05:40):
And that book was.
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Just the kind of door opener to me realizing right
then and there I really knew.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Can you remember what book it was?
Speaker 5 (05:49):
Yes, it's a book called Entripping Over the Truth by
a he's a scientific writer, so journalist, and I think
it's called Travis Christofferson. And it didn't really necessarily have
to be that book, but it was just.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
It was at that time, it was that book.
Speaker 6 (06:07):
It was absolutely and.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
It just made me realize that all these different diseases
that we have, you know, those endless chronic diseases out there,
they all have more or less the same foundations. I'm
not saying that they all are caused by the same thing,
but they're all fixable, and they can be fixable in
sometimes in very similar ways. But it's all about taking
(06:31):
back your power really and initially I probably also, yeah,
I devoured so many books. I have a whole bookshelf
at home just with health and you know, health related text.
And I really did feel that I needed to gain
as much knowledge about this because if I was changing
(06:54):
my career, which I knew as soon as I read
that book, this is what I need to change my career,
then I also needed to gain some kind of expertise.
And I was one book just led to the next,
and there was no stopping me. And that's when I
ditch novels. And I love reading novels, but you know,
I haven't really come back to them, to be honest,
I haven't had time.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
So where are you now?
Speaker 6 (07:17):
That's where am I now? So I.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Was here on this show about five six years ago
talking about my main project at the time, which was
to create a light therapy booth. And my objective has
always been to make any kind of healing easy and
accessible but also affordable, because it's great if you can
(07:44):
offer things to high end individuals, but that doesn't really
solve the problems of the world.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
You know, you want things that.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Everyone can afford, access and afford definitely. And my concept
that I dreamt up was to have booths that you
walk into and then you get red and near in
for red light through using the booth. And I designed
a prototype for it. So everything from how you access
(08:15):
the booth through an app, through to you know, how
the panels switched on and switched off, and how they
would be serviced and all that. So it was all
ready to go, and I was exploring different avenues for
how to get these out there because my vision was
they should be in every single office. You know, we
have lots of office workers and I think that's what
(08:35):
we talked about last time, but also in public places. Yeah,
so imagine a train station or an airport or all
these places were you know, there are people everywhere. It's
exhausting and you just want sort of a quick pick
me up, a bit of a boost. It's like, you know,
imagine a battery charger. You know, we have our cars
(08:55):
and we plug them in and then you charge the car.
But imagine we do the same to ourselves and we
have these booths everywhere. So that was so much fun
to work on. But then I was struck by the lockdowns.
And in a way, I think it had to happen
(09:17):
also when it came to the booth, because at the time,
I don't think people the general public were really quite
ready for that kind of therapy in that kind of format.
But now everyone and well not everyone, but a lot
of people have heard of red light therapy. A lot
of people have bought masks or little panels or all
(09:37):
sorts of different gadgets are out there. And what I
was trying, what I could see back then is that
there were people in very select communities that we're using
these tools. I was talking about biohackers remember last time,
and there were you know, these health nodes. Basically they
do everything they can to optimize their health and well
(09:59):
being in every single way. They would be able to,
you know, embrace this immediately because you know that's the
world try exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yes, there's no I'm going to call it an intellectual barrier,
but there isn't that sort of barrier of understanding and acceptance.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
Yeah, and even though there are thousands of publications in
showing how wonderful this therapy is, it's still not something
that's commonly known, and I think the common you know,
making something common knowledge is a process, okay, The educational
piece really does take the time it needs to take
to trickle through. And now we're there, So it's interesting
(10:43):
perhaps the timing is starting to get ripe again to
get that kind of concept out because I have to say,
I love the whole idea of you know, being able
to walk into booth and get recharged.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Okay, So where are you now with that project? Is
that still an ongoing project for you?
Speaker 5 (10:59):
It's still nice and it will be a nice for
the time being, but it will be revived, is the
way it is looking right now. But what I've been
doing in the meantime is I've been working together with
a number of different startup businesses, startup to scale up businesses,
(11:23):
all within the health and wellbeing space, and most of
them employing some kind of novel technology. And what I've
discovered in that process, and also something that I keep
on going back to is the tricky bit. For many
of these businesses that have something have a real creative
(11:46):
okay want you know, want to bring something new out
there exactly, they find it difficult when it comes to
getting the financial resources in place, and it's not just
getting the funding, but it's getting the funding on the
terms that work for you. Because if you think about it,
(12:07):
when you're going out and seeking investment or it's always
the investors who are driving.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Are in the driving seat. Yeah they are.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
And that's no criticism to the to the investors at all,
But it's just that.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
It's the reality, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Well, it's what we've come to expect. And that's where
the thinking out of the box really comes to. It's
for because just because we've come to expect something to
be a certain way doesn't mean that it necessarily has
to be that way. And how about if we reimagined
things and thought about how we could all have the
same intentions from the very beginning, and then we can
(12:50):
perhaps create a win win situation for everyone.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Okay, so you're working with startups that are having that
have good ideas, and they may well have the technology
behind their ideas, but their challenge is getting the funding.
How are you working with them?
Speaker 4 (13:12):
What are you? What are you doing? How are you
how are you helping them?
Speaker 6 (13:17):
Well?
Speaker 5 (13:18):
I have for many years been the kind of the
jack of all trades in these businesses, making sure that
you know, the ideas become more than just ideas. You know,
so it's creating a business that you know functions and
having a product or a service that you know comes
(13:40):
to as such a level that you can prove that
it actually works and that it has there's a market
for it. Yeah, because it's important of course that you know,
whenever you have a concept or you know something that
you want to bring out there. It could be as
you know, something that perhaps you think is the most
wonderful thing ever, but if no one else is interested
in it, it's not really.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
So are you helping them? You helping them put, if
you like, structure and explanation into what they're offering so
that other people can understand it and perhaps start to
look at funding opportunities through it.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Well, that's what I've done for a very long time.
But then if we now trace back to the financial
peace and how I come into that. I became very
inspired in September last year when I listened to a
podcast interesting Enough with the lady over in the States
(14:33):
called Barbara Gooth, who I now work with, who has
been spending many years on a journey of seeing how
we can look at creative financing for creative endeavors and
protecting innovators and seeing that the starting point is really innovation,
(14:56):
and you know, the innovation is what is really sacred
and not you know that, Oh how much is am
I going to get out of this?
Speaker 6 (15:04):
Now?
Speaker 4 (15:06):
What's my return on investment? On my return on investment?
Speaker 5 (15:08):
And there's nothing wrong about you know, returner investment of course,
you know, why would you invest in something if it's
not making money sense? But to turn it around and
and to think, okay, so what are we bringing out
into the world yep? And how can we make this work?
And and and therefore figure out, you know, how can
(15:31):
we be true to whatever we're bringing out into the
world rather than compromising the concept from the very beginning.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
So you you brought your your background is as a
financial lawyer, legal financial How how is that now feeding in?
Because I was quite interested that you thought you were
going off in a different route and actually you're sort
of not. It's it's come back and you're now you
using this I don't know what could we call it?
(16:02):
Like base of knowledge and experience and professional qualifications as well.
I mean, there is a process that went into this
isn't there you would have gone to university and qualified
in all of this as a profession. How is that
now feeding into all of this? What skills are you
bringing in and how does that feel as well? So
(16:25):
to be coming to be circling back into that from
something that you left.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
Yeah, No, it's very interesting because I can now once
you step out of the box, then you can also
observe things with and have a neutral stance, and that
means that you can actually pinpoint the issues that are
(16:52):
that are quite become quite apparent, because I think if
we're in the middle of it, it's very difficult for
you to actually see the problems are because you're so
wedded to it when you're part of it, and that
means that, yeah, you can't really objectively take a look.
(17:13):
And I think what you can do when you're on
the outside is have that ability to see things that
people who are inside can't see.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
So if I come to you now with an innovative product,
how would we work together, what would that look like?
What would we be doing?
Speaker 6 (17:32):
Well, first of all.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
We have to get to together with the team that
we have formed is to create the platform, which is
called the Sovereign revenue trust entity, and this platform will
allow the innovators to be protected so that we.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
When you say protective, can you explain how I'm going
to make an assumption that it's their design.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
And if you're like, yeah, they're design that's being protected,
but I may be wrong.
Speaker 6 (18:09):
So can you know?
Speaker 5 (18:12):
Because if you think about lots of different inventions that
we've brought out, if you're not careful as the inventor,
that invention suddenly becomes something quite different. And especially when
you're looking at the inventor capital, then you are looking
at timelines. You're looking at the only way in which
investors who have got involved can benefit from it is
(18:36):
to have a sellout at some point. Yeah, so there's
are you know, there's a timeline you're working out. So
that means that you're not taking the steps that otherwise
would have taken if you'd had if you'd been able
to stay in the driving seat and say, Okay, this
is this is how I think we should be using
the money to get to where we are. Okay, I
(18:58):
don't want anyone to take my concept. If you just
think about, you know, all the chains we're seeing. Now,
that's an easy comparison to make you know, you can
talk about any brand if you remember the early days
of the brand, you know it's very authentic, or the
things are produced in a certain way, or the service
(19:19):
is provided in a certain way, and suddenly you have
someone come in and say that's a brilliant concept. Let
let's make twenty of those, and then then two hundred
and then two thousand, and then you know, suddenly it's
a worldwide concept and the whole soul is gone.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Yeah, so let me put this into words that perhaps
I can understand. I just want to make sure that
I've got this correct because this is not my area
at all, So I want to make sure that I've
got the right thing. So, as a creator, an inventor,
and innovator, where you've produced something, you could have produced
that to solve a particular problem in a particular way,
(19:54):
but in actual fact, that could be shifted, bastardized, and
suddenly it may well solve that problem. But actually, let's
make it broader, Let's take it out to other people
and do it in a different way. So it's now
being the tool is now being used for something totally
different that may not have been in your ethical how
(20:16):
you wanted that, how you saw it being used, and
how you saw it helping people. It's now just doing
something which has gone beyond your Yeah, your your values,
your your own personal values and what you wanted to achieve.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Exactly right.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Okay, So I was thinking in terms of you've invented
something like a new vacuum cleaner, you've invented a new tool,
and you're protecting the design. But what you're talking about
is actually protecting the intention.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
Absolutely. It is the intention. Of course, the design can
come with yes, yes, it's part of it, but it
is the foundation of it. It's the intention that you know,
because it's that's the cornerstone of the whole creative process.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Okay, yeah, Right, do you speak to people that are
inneratively inventors, that have patents their items already so that
you can take them to that next level when you
protect their design?
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Exactly Okay.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
Yeah, So it's all about making sure that the creation
itself is honored, you know, from the very beginning, and
that everyone then is in unison and says okay, well,
I want to be on board with this project as
the finance party to honor this creation because I can
see that it brings something good into this world, okay,
because we're so used to it's kind of upside down
(21:34):
the whole the world we live in. And it's understandable
because it is a zero sum game, you know, the
system that we're kind of caught in, and I'm not,
you know, it's just how things are, you know, right now.
So our driving force is very often that, Okay, I
need money to survive. I need money to maintain my lifestyle.
(21:56):
And it doesn't matter if you're a millionaire or if
you have, yeah, not a single penny in your pocket.
Speaker 6 (22:02):
The considerations are the same.
Speaker 5 (22:03):
We're kind of trapped in whatever world we've created for ourselves.
But then to turn around and say, okay, well, if
we're bringing something good into the world and we're honoring
the creative intention of the people who are innovators, and
we set it up for success together, yeah, rather than thinking, okay, well,
(22:25):
you know, in five years time, we have to you know,
be at this point, and it becomes a very rigid
structure that's all driven yeah backwards. It is really you
know that we're putting the cart before the horse, and
we're not allowing the horse to run.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Yeah, No, that's fair enough.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
And I think, you know, if we turn that around,
we we we open up, and I think that we
will what we will see is that we can create
so much more.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Really, so you say it's an innovative, so they've done
a product, Do you also do ideas and services as well?
Speaker 5 (22:58):
No, not ideas and service as such, but being that
person that they can hold someone's hand and help them
guide them through their process, you can do that.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Yeah, I suppose in a way.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
So I don't have products as such, but I'm not
sure if this is relevant. Once again, it's about me
sort of trying to understand where this is coming from.
So with the Women in Business Big Show, I get
quite a lot of pressure, but quite a lot of
comments that I get are that I need to charge more?
Speaker 4 (23:30):
Is charge more? It's too cheap.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
You need to make more money doing this, and in
order to do that, you need to charge more for
the tables. But actually that's what That's not why I'm
doing it. I'm doing it so that people can afford
people who wouldn't normally be able to make that investment,
either physically with money or mentally, because it's a bit
of too much of a leap for them wouldn't join in,
they wouldn't come along, and if they did, they wouldn't
(23:55):
feel comfortable because they'd be such a pressure on them
to I've got to get this money back. I've got
to get this money back. I've got to make the
best of it. That we wouldn't have the atmosphere environment
that we have. And so I have this vision which
if I charge more, just charge more, I'm.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Going to lose.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
What the values and why I set it up and
why I get pleasure from it. And to some extent
that stops me in many ways getting investors in because
they have what they want to see is they want
a percentage back of whatever. And in order to do that,
let's start mucking about with you know, let's stop mucking
about with these forty pound tables. Look at the people
that are in here. Everything. The starting point needs to
(24:34):
be three to four hundreds on these. But it's not
the same. We've lost it. It's not the same event.
And that is a conflict for me. And now I
can see how it's not that much of a conflict because.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
I ain't doing it.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
It's a challenge that I need to overcome and find
a different way of perhaps doing something, but I'm not
doing it, and that's it because it's not me and
it's not what I want to achieve. And I can
now see this, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (25:00):
You're ripping the soul up.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
Exact and we have to go back to, I think,
finding the soul and then getting people around that to
support that soul in its growth.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
And it's a real back it's a real tricky balance
for me, it really is, because I also need to eat,
you know, I need to at some point along the way.
I need to make money. I need to not only
cover the cost, but I need to pay for my time,
and I need to make a profit. But if the
only route open to me is actually I'm not going
to say sell my soul, but to sell the soul
(25:32):
of the event, I might as well just stop doing it, mightn't.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
I The decisions we make becoming fear based. And that's
what the problem is, because of course, we do need
to feed our families. We do need to make sure
that we have enough, and we need to propel forward.
So we have to find a way of doing that.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
And just to sort of explain it from my understanding,
so I do have a community interest company that sits
underneath it, But there are compromises with that that I
don't want.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
This is my.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Project, is my stuff, Sorry, but it is. And I
could see that being very similar with a product that yes,
it may well be that you could bring it out
as a what would be the you know, like a
community a community interest company or community project. But once again,
you're you're bringing other people into the mix who potentially
have a say on what you're doing, and then you
(26:24):
may well lose the whole thing. Isn't yours at the
end of the day. Anyway, You can't sell it or
give it to your children or something if you decide
you don't want to do it anymore, So you've lost
your part of that and your involvement in it. And
I'm guessing this is a similar thing with a product
exactly because a lot of them may have a community
(26:46):
a community benefit, or a world benefit.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Is that what we're talking about.
Speaker 6 (26:51):
It's exactly that.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Okay, So when you take I'm going to assume that
really what you're doing is based on people producing products.
So when you take that and you put them into
your platform, how do you help them get that funding?
Speaker 4 (27:04):
Who is this?
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Who are these people who do who do the funding
where they're happy to let you run with your social
part of it and your own values and get money
out of it in a different way. How does it work.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
Well, I do think that there is a shift in
consciousness happening right now. And I think that if you
just listen to the words people use nowadays and compare
it two five years ago, there is a difference. And
I think a lot of people are starting to feel
that some of the structures that we have perhaps don't
(27:39):
serve us anymore. And I think that there are plenty
of investors who feel that way, that they actually want
to bring something that benefits humanity. That sounds very grand,
but that actually, you know, are not there just to
put some money in and then get.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
Whatever what they're.
Speaker 5 (27:57):
Expecting get on milestonestone and targets and timetables and all
that kind of stuff. But are seeing, Okay, this is
a really important thing that I think that the you
know the world would really benefit from. I want to
get involved in that and that, you know, let's find
a way of you know, making that happen.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
So how do we draw the line here between investments
and donation.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
Well, donations could of course always be good but I
think what's good about having people invest is that you
also get engagement because you might actually want the investors
to play some kind of role in the venture.
Speaker 6 (28:35):
It's not like.
Speaker 5 (28:37):
It's one thing to have the creation retaining its integrity
and and they you know that is sacred. But the
innovator may not have all the skills.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
They may not have the business skills exactly.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
Okay, So that's where the investor can become in handy.
So what, of course donations could be.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
No, what I was saying was if if you have
money there, okay, but you don't necessarily you don't want
to donate, So we're not talking about that. You are
an investor, how do you need to look at things differently?
And what what expectations can you have of actually getting
your getting a return on your investment.
Speaker 5 (29:18):
It doesn't necessarily have to be getting equity in the business,
for example, the other ways of structuring it not that
having equity in the business. It could be the right way.
It depends on.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
So something like a loan and then interest charges on
top and being paid back.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
Or a piece of the revenue, yeah to how the business.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Grows, Yeah, definitely, So sitting on the side of it,
sort of sort of being an investor and this is
not my area, So forgive me if I'm looking at
this in a bit of a naive way, well actually
completely naive way. But if if if an investor is
sat that they have a lot of money that they
(30:00):
are actually looking to invest, they sort of need to
be is it riskier? Is it that they are now
the whim of the values of the innovator or is
this where your platform comes in.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
That's where the platform brians. Okay, because.
Speaker 5 (30:20):
You could liken us to being the stewards of the
project or the creative endeavor, but that doesn't and it
doesn't mean just because you're honoring the creation that's there
as the central focus point, doesn't mean that you're going
to be ditching the investors. It's all about creating the
you know, basically unity amongst the people who are involved.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
So are you giving them that?
Speaker 6 (30:44):
Having conflicting interests.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
So are you are you giving them a structure where
the innovator has a way of communicating effectively with potential
investors and then the investor or investors that they take
on board, so that there is a common meeting ground
as to what is being trying to achieve here, you know,
the values that they're bringing into the project. So everybody
(31:07):
understands each other and nobody's pushing any boundaries here.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
That's right, yeah, okay, right, okay?
Speaker 3 (31:14):
So is it just the UK markets or do you
investors want to invest internationally too.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
So that the initial seeds of it have actually been
in SOD in the US. Okay, But that doesn't mean
that the United States does only market at all. I
see that as something that, you know, okay, could happen
anywhere in the world.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
So tell us the name of the platform again.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
It's the Sovereign Revenue Trust.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Entity, so the sovereign So if I was an innovator,
what does this platform look like? How do I how
do I get started? What do I do? How do
I find out about you?
Speaker 5 (31:50):
Well, you can start off and look at the website
which is sad SRTE dot com. I spell that to
you s A G E double a E s r
t E dot com.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
So, so, as as an innovator, I would go on
there and there will be some sort of goot guidance
or a route. Do I do I then join or
do I apply?
Speaker 5 (32:18):
Or at this moment in time I think these is
just to get in touch, to start the conversation.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
Okay, and as an investor, is that the same process?
Speaker 6 (32:27):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
But this is of course how I see this developing.
It it's a movement, you know. So it is really
you know, inspiring people do things slightly differently and seeing
if we can make shifts in in the boxed in
world that we have now. And that's not to just
any of you know, anything that's out there, but there
(32:50):
might be a different way that could actually lead to
better results for everyone. And the way in which I
always see things is I think that we have for
generations now compromised on what we're bringing to the world
because we are confined by these structures.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Okay, right, so I think I've got an idea now
on what it is that you are trying to achieve.
Speaker 6 (33:16):
You're looking very excited when you're saying.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Well, I should do number one. I'm quite I'm quite
surprised I actually understand it, but I think I do
if it's okay, If it's okay with you, what I
would like to do now is shift the conversation a
little bit around from this is what you do and
(33:38):
this is what you do, and this is what you
have been doing and building. But having read some of
the sort of information because we do ask our guests
to send in a little bit of background, I think
you are in a very similar situation to the one
that I very often find myself in with being I
know sort of what I do. I can describe what
(34:00):
I do. I'm just not quite sure who I am
or how I tell people I'm this. And I also
there was something in what you put down about having
a very big vision and that we can make big changes,
like big global changes. But sometimes it doesn't feel like,
(34:21):
you know, here we are. You know, i'm when neither of.
Speaker 4 (34:24):
Us are presidents, and that includes you. You're not a president.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
You know, we're not running governments, when we're not commanding armies.
You know, I don't know about you, but I don't
have a you know, a community of you know, twenty
five million people following me along, and so sometimes I
don't know, you tend to think I'm actually do you know,
I can't do that. Other people do that. Other people
do those massive have those massive global changes that really
(34:50):
affect lives of millions and millions of people. But what
you've put is that actually we can do that, and
we need to have a shift to accept that we can.
And I just like to get your thoughts on that.
Speaker 5 (35:03):
Absolutely, And I think we'd always have this tendency to
downplay ourselves and what we're capable of doing. And I think,
you know, dreaming big is something that we all should
be doing much more often. And dreaming big doesn't mean
that we were kind of ending up in La la
land and quite but I think we vision came up
(35:33):
to me when I was sitting on the train coming
over here because I was listening to the podcast we
did five six years ago. And I don't know if
you've ever seen the Incredible series, mister Incredible when he's
stuck in this little gray cubicle in the insurance office
doing absolutely you know nothing, he's not following his passion
(35:56):
and he's looking so great and so miserable.
Speaker 6 (35:59):
And I used to use that little gift, you know,
for many years.
Speaker 5 (36:04):
When I was presenting the fact that you know, we
could come to accept, you know, our health in the content.
You know, we reach a certain age and we think, okay,
well I'm forty fifty whatever, so I'm supposed to be
like this. This is the way it's supposed to be.
I'm supposed to get a little bit decrepid.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
I supposed to have two pieces.
Speaker 6 (36:23):
Exactly little buttons of the middle.
Speaker 5 (36:26):
And we do the same with kind of the the
the choices that we are kind of gently and perhaps
not always so gently nudged into. So we're letting go of,
you know, what we really dreamt of. You know, if
you speak to a toddler, isn't it wonderful? They just
jump up and down and then the sting out what
they want to be and no hesitation and whatsoever. And
(36:48):
then we go through life and we are kind of
channels channel into different professions.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
For example, it's always this cliche there when you get
to forty or fifty, can you change where you're going?
Like you were saying about the Invincibles. Could he change
because he's got the children, he's got family at home
and the commitments. Can he do it? And obviously yes,
you can, yes, you know, but people, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
I think there's different levels here. I think there are
people who believe they can change, but the change is
actually quite small. It seems big, but it's quite small.
And then there are changes that are global. So I
left corporate and bimbled around doing I have no idea
(37:42):
what really it was in business goodness, that's what I
was doing. And now I run events and I have
a radio show, and so I sort of what I'm
doing is actually quite not shallow, but it's on quite
a small scale. I'm not operating globally, I'm not campaigning,
(38:02):
I'm not changing millions of lives. And I think it's
I think I think people can make very often a
small step, even though it may seem huge, but then
there's actually a gigantic step. Now I certainly haven't made
that gigantic step, and I'm not sure that I can
see that gigantic step.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
You may not see it. But with the domino effect,
if you do one one thing, that person's going to
go along and it's going to do another thing.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
And I think it's about the belief of making it.
It is the belief of being able to get that
vision exactly.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
You can't see it in front of you, so you
think it's smaller than it could actually be.
Speaker 5 (38:40):
And it's that limiting belief thing, and it's such a
insidious thing that really takes over it.
Speaker 6 (38:47):
It isn't everything.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
It is and we've only we've only got a few
minutes left, and I think this is such a This
is such an interesting topic because you know, what is
the difference between say, me and I don't know. I
can't think of somebody who was a you know, really
sort of having a global impact. What is the difference.
(39:09):
It's probably belief and perseverance and consistency.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
Like you said before in the beginning, dream big.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Yeah, but it's about having the position. It's about having
I would say, the permission to dream big, but allowing
yourself to dream to dream big, and actually not putting
a ceiling on what you can achieve.
Speaker 5 (39:30):
And stop making assumptions that the structure and the order
that we see today is going to last forever, because
I think that's one of the things that it's back
to the box again. We think this is the only
way we can do it. So why is this the
only way we can do it?
Speaker 6 (39:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (39:45):
Yeah, we have not a lot of time left, so
I'm going to cram this in quickly, and you will
not have seen this question and you would not have
heard it before, so.
Speaker 4 (39:55):
That I quite like that.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
In fact, there are three qui and you're just going
to fire these off of me because we're going to
run out of time. What's your top tip for being
in business?
Speaker 5 (40:06):
Tip for being business? Ye, stay true to yourself.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
And what do you know now that you wishuld have
known when you started out?
Speaker 5 (40:12):
That everything every journey you think is going to be
fast is going to take a lot longer.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
I like, And this one is how are you changing lives?
Speaker 5 (40:20):
I am changing life through my dreams.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
Brilliant and iverson. Thank you so much for coming back
and being a guest on the show again. Thank you
to my lovely co host Michael, and we will all
be back. Well, we'll have you back on the show
in a few weeks, won't we you will. Michael's is
my regular lovely co host. I'm Chel Murphy. This is
Women in Business Radio show, and we will sort of
see you all again very very shortly, and please have
(40:44):
a fantastic time in the meantime.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
Tune in next week to the Women in Business Radio
Show for more stories, ideas and inspiration to help you
grow your business.
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