The James Smith Show

Andrew Jenkins, the Traitors star, joins James Smith for a raw conversation about resilience, identity, and rebuilding a life after everything is taken away. At 21, Andrew was pronounced dead at the scene of a catastrophic car accident, lost half his skull and over half his blood, and was told he'd never walk, talk, or recognise anyone again. He walked out of that hospital and then spent 15 years suffering in silence behind a good body, a nice house, and a successful banking career.

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Andrew Jenkins On Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/andrewjenkinsofficial/

Andrew Jenkins On YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@andrewjenkinsofficial

Andrew Jenkins's Website – https://www.andrew-jenkins.co.uk/

He explains:

◼️ Why failure is how you learn and why cotton-wool parenting is failing kids

◼️ How he attached his identity and his father's love to a rugby ball

◼️ Why the people with the biggest smiles are often struggling the most

◼️ How to get to the root cause instead of papering over the cracks

◼️ Why talking doesn't make you weak it makes you stronger

Chapters:

00:00 The Hidden Cost of Success

01:13 First Impressions from The Traitors

01:50 The Real Problem With Resilience

02:37 Why Business Owners Are Terrified to Fail

03:22 No More First, Second or Third at School

04:29 The Coach Who Told Him the Brutal Truth

06:43 The Dream of Playing Rugby for Wales

06:54 Attaching His Dad's Love to Rugby

08:08 James's Rugby Days and Welsh "Supplements"

09:14 The Catastrophic Car Accident

11:02 Told He'd Never Walk Again

11:56 "I Guarantee I'll Walk Out of Here"

12:40 Brain Injury, CTE and Rugby

13:37 The Other Four People in the Car

14:38 Living With the Trauma

15:52 Great on the Outside, Hating Himself Inside

16:25 Losing His Identity and His Dad

18:39 How One Concussion Can Change a Person

19:30 His Son's Concussions and a Parent's Fear

20:45 Finding Another Outlet for Competition

23:12 Sport, Business and Meritocracy

24:11 Climbing the Wrong Ladder

25:36 Does More Money Make It Worse?

28:01 Why One Bad Day Can Wreck the Privileged

29:26 Growing Up in the Graveyard of Ambition

30:43 James Being Locked Out of Australia

32:35 Happiness Is an Internal Job

35:57 Happiness vs Pleasure and the Hedonic Treadmill

37:31 Why Every Goal Feels Empty

38:59 Talking Yourself Through Your Emotions

40:08 Root Cause Analysis for Mental Health

42:02 The Chimp Paradox and Self-Awareness

42:58 Environment vs Brain Chemistry

43:54 Menopause, Women and Suicide

44:26 TRT, Testosterone and Low T

47:24 Crashing Your Estrogen — The Male Menopause

48:38 James's Own Low Testosterone Story

49:58 Talking to His Son About Drugs

52:36 The Four Ways He Measured Masculinity

53:35 Telling His Parents the Truth

55:08 Being the Responsible One

55:55 Why We Should Educate Kids Honestly About Drugs

57:39 The Truth About Ketamine

58:26 Alcohol vs Everything Else

1:01:54 Psychedelics as Mental Health Treatment

1:03:23 Amsterdam After His Mother Passed

1:04:52 LSD in the Park and a Friend's Breakthrough

1:05:42 Acid at a Wedding

1:07:35 Closing Advice: Believe in Yourself

1:09:03 Creating a Second Path

1:10:14 Surround Yourself With the Right People

1:11:00 Breaking Stigmas — Talking Makes You Stronger

1:12:36 Meeting the Man Who Saved His Life

1:13:07 Where to Find Andrew
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Tom Hawley joins James Smith to expose the deliberate machinery behind a cost-of-living crisis most people don't even know is happening to them. The co-founder of Azura Financial, one of Australia's top 10 brokerages and a three-time Residential Broker of the Year, Hawley argues that inflation isn't a natural force but a policy choice, a quiet tax on your purchasing power that hits lower and middle-income earners hardest precisely because they can't see it.

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🧪 Check your Test: https://www.manual.co/smith

📝 Business Mentoring: https://www.jamessmith.business

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Tom Hawley on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/tom_hawley_/

Azura Financial – https://www.azurafinancial.com.au

Chapters:

00:00 The Hidden Tax Nobody Voted For

01:13 What Is Inflation Really?

04:11 Why Governments Want Your Money to Lose Value

06:44 Capital Gains: How the Goalposts Just Moved

08:01 Why High-Growth Investment Gets Punished Most

09:08 James's Plan to Dodge the Tax Man

10:30 Is the Stock Market Even Worth the Risk Now?

13:35 Are Australia's Politicians Thick or Deceptive?

15:35 Did Labor Politicians Just Commit Insider Trading?

16:50 Pulling the Ladder Up on Negative Gearing

19:42 Australia Is in Economic Trouble

22:43 The Immigration Trap: Six Years Locked Out

27:59 The 457 Visa That Vanished Overnight

31:18 What GDP Growth Actually Hides

32:37 The Festival Trick That Explains the Economy

35:24 Printing Money Is Just Diluting You

38:03 Government Waste and the $70,000 Plaque

41:14 Three Tiers: Government, Employment, Self-Employed

45:09 The Curse of Never Switching Off

47:59 Chasing a Billion-Dollar Exit for Neutonic

50:02 Why the Journey Beats the Payday

53:03 A Petrolhead's Defence of Buying the Car

57:31 Why Ripping It for Ten Kids Is Worth It

01:00:00 Smiles Per Mile vs Saving It All

01:02:25 The Revolver Logic of Retirement

01:04:20 Should You Buy a House or a GT3?

01:08:02 Why Buy When the Market Feels Worst

01:11:48 The Leverage Play Explained

01:13:18 Will Gen Z Just Inherit It All Anyway?

01:15:00 Are We Heading For a Death Tax?

01:17:08 The Welfare Trap: Better Off Not Working

01:21:33 You Get Less of What You Tax

01:23:49 Will Australia Lose Its Entrepreneurs?

01:24:54 Tall Poppy Syndrome vs the American Way

01:27:38 Closing Advice for the Everyday Punter

01:28:51 What the Government Must Do to Save the Australian Dream
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Diren Kartal joins James Smith for an honest, often hilarious conversation about what running a small business actually does to you once the money is coming in but the freedom isn't. Diren is a personal trainer and Turkey's number one fitness coach with over 1.2 million followers, and despite bringing in hundreds of thousands a year he can't shake the feeling that none of it sticks. Together they unpick the tax trap that's bleeding British high-earners dry, the brutal "valley of death" stage of scaling, his secret ADHD diagnosis, and why the two of them keep eyeing the exits to Australia, Dubai and Turkey.

👁️ Try Neutonic: https://www.neutonic.com/jamessmith

🧪 Check your Test: https://www.manual.co/smith

📝 Business Mentoring: https://www.jamessmith.business

🏋🏼‍♂️ Online Coaching: https://www.jamessmithacademy.com

Diren Kartal's YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/DirenKartal

Diren Kartal On Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/diren.kartal/

He explains:

◼️ Why he can earn hundreds of thousands a year and still not feel a penny of it

◼️ The HENRY trap, and why earning over 100k in the UK can quietly leave you worse off

◼️ The secret ADHD diagnosis and meds that finally turned the noise off and let him focus

◼️ Why the rich borrow against their assets instead of selling, and never pay the tax

◼️ Why short-form scrolling left him "depressed and disgusted" and long form is the real comeback

Chapters:

00:00 The Problem With Running A Small Business

01:25 Bringing In Hundreds Of Thousands And Feeling Nothing

01:52 HENRY: High Earner, Not Rich Yet

03:21 The Cost Of Living In London Right Now

04:07 Every Tax Under The Sun

05:25 Why The Shops Keep Shutting Down

06:27 Business Rates Are The Real Killer

07:39 Going All-In And How Tough It's Been

07:56 Is AI A Disruptor Or A Distraction?

09:00 Why AI Still Can't Replace The Human Bit

10:27 The Real Reason People Stopped Posting

11:58 Living It vs Looking Like You're Living

12:51 The Steven Bartlett Problem

14:19 Being Unapologetically Yourself

15:10 Short Form Is Dying, Long Form Is Back

17:00 The Will Kennedy Trust Lesson

18:03 The Diren Kartal Experience

20:27 Thinking Fast And Slow: Give Him An A-Task

22:00 Why Men Talk Shoulder To Shoulder

23:54 The Front End Is Easy, The Back End Breaks You

25:36 Long-Term Memory, Terrible Short-Term Memory

26:23 The Pressure Nobody Warns You About

27:45 You Don't Want Your Son To See You Fail

28:28 Council Estate Vibes And The Fear Of Going Back

29:25 Getting The Psych Test

30:25 Six Months On ADHD Meds

32:20 Manufacturing Stress To Motivate Yourself

34:30 Is There A Real Return On The Meds?

35:35 Escaping The Desk Job To Build Another One

36:53 The 150 Grand Website Regret

37:50 Australia Is Bad, The UK Is Worse

40:04 289,000 Businesses Set To Fail This Year

41:20 Boomers Hate To Hear How Good They Had It

43:50 Why Earning More Can Leave You With Less

45:12 Your Favourite Part Of Britain Is Leaving It

46:23 Do The Elites Just Find The Loopholes?

47:04 Stop Making The Top Earners Feel Like Villains

49:05 Why Hating Landlords Makes No Sense

51:32 How Politicians Punish The Young To "Help" Them

53:16 Will He Stay In Australia?

53:43 How The Rich Borrow Against Assets And Pay No Tax

55:01 The Stuff They Never Teach You In School

56:17 The Money Chat That Changed Everything

57:43 The Valley Of Death: 12 To 30 Employees Is Hell

58:38 If He Did It Again He'd Stay Small

59:06 We're Both Hypocrites About Debt

01:00:17 Tripling The Money As An Investor

01:02:20 The Adapt Story And Building A Brand With Mates

01:04:26 What's Missing From Jiu Jitsu

01:07:28 Just Wanting To Look Good On The Mats

01:08:35 Taking The Piss Out Of Jiu Jitsu Culture

01:09:06 Becoming The Joe Wicks Of Turkey

01:10:47 Should You Get Assessed For ADHD?

01:11:33 Meds, Music And Feeling Like You're On Psychedelics

01:12:36 Raising A Son Without The Noise

01:13:23 Wrapping Up



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👁️ Try Neutonic: https://www.neutonic.com/jamessmith

🧪 Check your Test: https://www.manual.co/smith

📝 Business Mentoring: https://www.jamessmith.business

🏋🏼‍♂️ Online Coaching: https://www.jamessmithacademy.com

Chris Voss's YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@NegotiationMastery⁩

Chris Voss On Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thefbinegotiator/

Chris Voss joins James Smith for a masterclass on the psychology of negotiation, trust, and getting what you want without ever splitting the difference. A former FBI hostage negotiator and the bestselling author of Never Split the Difference, Voss breaks down why most people negotiate badly, how loss aversion quietly runs the room, and why the goal is never to win the moment but to build something that lasts.

He explains:

◼️ Why splitting the difference leaves everyone feeling cheated

◼️ How to catch a liar off guard and then get them to tell the truth

◼️ Why predictability, not charm, is what actually builds trust

◼️ The grocery store move that turns a stranger into an ally

◼️ Why walking away only works when you genuinely mean it

Chapters:

00:00 The Problem With Splitting the Difference

02:23 Why We Overreact to Loss

03:26 The Emotions You're Born With

03:59 Loss Aversion, Jiu Jitsu and the Submission

05:20 Catching Liars in Their Own Web

06:14 How a Polygraph Really Works

08:01 Shu Ha Ri and the Art of Mastery

10:34 Sending Students Into the Wild to Practice

11:15 The Three Commodities in Every Negotiation

12:36 The Broccoli Sprouts Masterclass

13:30 Priming and the Power of Pattern Interrupt

15:10 Why Using Someone's Name Defuses Violence

18:33 The Hardest Part Isn't Catching the Lie

20:25 Short Term Loss vs The Loss That Kills You

22:32 Why Entrepreneurs Make Weak Negotiators

23:18 How to Actually Ask Your Boss for a Raise

26:03 The Hidden Power of Deference

27:21 The Sales Tricks That Have Been Weaponised

29:49 Why Honest Sellers Win More Deals

31:33 Predictability Is Trust in Disguise

33:15 Inside the Black Swan Community

35:47 Buying a Car With Empathy Instead of Ego

37:19 Is Walking Away a Skill or a Bluff?

40:29 Relationships Are Ongoing Negotiations

42:17 Never Be So Sure You'd Miss Something Better

44:50 Cadence, Silence and Sounding Important

46:08 Using Humour to Disarm a Cold Room

48:25 Deactivating Fear Instead of Fighting It

50:10 Negotiation, Dating and the Renewals Process

52:11 Should You Ever Touch During a Negotiation?

53:13 Where to Start If You Want to Get Good

55:35 The 48 Hour Challenge That Will Change Your Day
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Sonny Webster joins James Smith for an honest conversation about what training, money and ambition actually look like once you hit your 30s. A British Olympic weightlifter who competed at Rio 2016, Sonny is now a fitness entrepreneur building global training platforms, and he doesn't hold back on the realities of optimisation culture, the TRT debate.

👁️ Try Neutonic: https://www.neutonic.com/jamessmith

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📝 Business Mentoring: https://www.jamessmith.business

🏋🏼‍♂️ Online Coaching: https://www.jamessmithacademy.com

Sonny Webster's YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/@sonnywebsterGB

Sonny Webster On Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sonnywebstergb/

He explains:

◼️ Why training after 30 becomes a completely different ball game

◼️ How peptides and GLP-1s are quietly reshaping the fitness industry

◼️ What moving to Dubai really costs (and why money evaporates faster)

◼️ Why handing over money is the thing that actually makes people change

◼️ Where testosterone sits for the everyday athlete who'll never compete

Chapters:

00:00 The Testosterone Debate and Sonny's WADA Ban

00:57 Why Training After 30 Hits Like a Brick Wall

02:10 Olympic Lifting for Longevity, Not Platforms

04:15 Going Sober and the Death of the Wild Weekend

05:07 Peptides, TRT and the World of Optimisation

06:26 Why GLP-1s Make You Hate Alcohol

07:50 Grabbing the Low-Hanging Fruit First

08:32 Becoming a Slave to Your Wearables

12:24 How Dubai Changed Sonny's Physique

16:22 Tax-Free Living and the Money That Evaporates

18:45 Going Back to the UK and Embracing London

20:54 Why Your Friendship Circle Shrinks in Your 30s

23:31 Sonny's Goals: Minimal Effective Dose

26:27 Body, Business, Relationships, You Can't Have All Three

28:05 The Power of a Business Coach and Cutting the Noise

30:16 Why Paying for Something Makes You Actually Do It

31:00 Why Free Codes Create the Worst Clients

32:32 No Transformation Without the Pain

34:48 As Close to 50 as I Am to 23

35:34 Testosterone, the Enhanced Games and Masters Lifting

38:28 The Track Car Logic of TRT

40:34 The Double Standards of Optimisation

41:31 Are We the Peak Optimisation Generation?

43:34 Relationships, Freedom and Finding Hannah

44:56 Having Kids and Knowing When You've Got "Enough"

49:30 The Fair Points Podcast and Missed Opportunities

51:52 Taboo Topics and Creating a Safe Space

52:36 Building a Legacy in Dubai

56:14 Speed Cameras, Statham and Going Bald Gracefully

59:14 The Russian Banya Near-Death Experience

01:01:45 Scaling The Lifting Zone and the Clothing Brand

01:03:09 Wrapping Up
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