TWO school friends from Tudor Grange Academy in Redditch have set out to encourage people to take action with their new podcast which interviews a series of well-known business leaders.
Kyle Wakefield and Kian Foster, both 16, started the Meet The Great podcast in December 2023 after being inspired by a visit to their Redditch school from motivational speaker David Hyner.
The Midlands-based expert on goal-setting came to talk to pupils about revising for their GCSEs and how they would not achieve much if they did not take action.
The pair, who have known each other since middle school, decided the time was right to act on the idea of launching a podcast they had be mulling over for some time.
Kyle said: “After hearing David we realised that nothing gets done if you sit around and think about it, so after the assembly, we decided to approach him.
“We told him we wanted to start a podcast and asked if he would be our first guest.”
To the boys’ delight David agreed so they went home and got to work instantly building a podcast channel.
Following an interview with Mr Hyner, the first episode was uploaded onto the internet late on the evening of January 29.
Kyle said: “We woke up to find that the video had over 100 video views overnight, and thanks to us advertising all over TikTok and Instagram everyone in our school discovered it. We became ‘mini-celebrities’.”
The lads got to work straight away securing a second interview, this time with James Ainsworth, another motivational speaker on taking action. It proved to be another success.
A big break came when serial entrepreneur and angel investor Simon Squibb, who left school at 15 with nothing, agreed to be a guest. The founder of HelpBnk promoted the episode on his own extensive social media channels helping the Kyle and Kian gain more followers.
“Simon seemed impressed that we have amassed a large following over a short time,” said Kyle.
The Year 11 students have now finished their GCSEs and will be going their separate ways in September to continue with A levels. Both, however, are committed to releasing a new episode of their podcast every month.
Kyle said: “We decided, let’s do everything we can to help people, whatever their age, achieve their goals.
“It doesn’t matter where a person starts from, they can do anything. Your background does not determine your future, only you do. Words come cheap. It’s about the action.”
The latest episode of Meet the Great dropped last Saturday and features a chat with business coach and author Robin Waite. Search for Meet the Great on YouTube to find it or click here.
