The Natural Resilience Podcast

Founder First is Northern Ireland’s founder development programme. Ciaran May looks back on year one and explains why to join in 2027.In this episode of The Natural Resilience Podcast, Sean from 1620 Audio, the studio where the podcast is recorded, sits down with Ciaran May a year after the programme was first discussed on the show. Ciarán set out to build a founder operating system around health, wealth and freedom, and it started with a cohort of business owners in January 2026.Ciarán explains the thinking behind it: why athletes have an operating system, with data, recovery and a plan, and business owners often do not. He describes how the programme measures growth beyond revenue, including stress, relationships and physical and mental health, and why he would rather grow a business sustainably than fast at the founder’s expense.He talks about the community that formed, with founders in engineering, construction, consultancy, recruitment and software introducing each other, supporting each other’s events and doing business together. He explains the year ahead for new members: a diagnostic in January, a first day in person, a clear vision and quarterly rocks, systems, protecting capacity, and outside experts in areas such as finance, pensions and tax.IN THIS CONVERSATIONGoing from an idea in Ciarán’s head to a year of Founder FirstGrowing a business without breaking the founderWhat business can learn from elite sport: warm up, perform, recoverWhy data matters, and measuring more than revenueThe co-pilot model and accountabilityThe simple things founders remember most, and the community that formedPutting the plates down: capacity, systems and AIWhat the year looks like if you join Founder First 2027Founder First 2027 is capped at twenty founders. Want a clearer read on where you are as a founder? Take the Founder Scorecard: https://founder-first.scoreapp.comMORE FROM NATURAL RESILIENCEWebsite: https://natural-resilience.co.ukGet new interviews by email: http://eepurl.com/hhiFzrSubscribe to The Natural Resilience Podcast. The Natural Resilience Podcast explores how founders, leaders, elite performers and remarkable people build the capacity to perform, endure and live well.#FounderFirst #FounderDevelopment #NorthernIreland #BusinessOwners #FounderBurnout #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship #Belfast #NaturalResilienceCHAPTERS0:00 A year on: from an idea to Founder First8:03 Growing a business without breaking the founder15:06 What business can learn from elite sport20:01 Every athlete has an operating system25:03 Why data matters30:06 Success beyond revenue36:46 The co-pilot model and accountability41:40 The simple things founders remember most43:44 A community that supports each other50:06 Putting the plates down53:23 A mixed room that does business together58:23 Staying open to new ideas1:01:40 Using AI to save time1:05:55 What joining looks like: the diagnostic1:07:12 Day one in the room1:08:32 Clarity, vision and quarterly rocks1:09:57 Systems1:11:01 Bringing in the experts

Ross Lazaroo-Hood went from Larne's Seacourt estate to Lloyd's of London and a global family investment office.

In this episode of The Natural Resilience Podcast, Ciarán May sits down with Ross Lazaroo-Hood, Northern Irish entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist, and Founder and CEO of the Lazaroo-Hood Group, an international single-family investment office and Foundation.

Originally from Larne, Ross built a career in the London insurance market before founding his own global insurance company in 2016. After its exit, he moved into global investing. By his own account, his family office funds grew from a £15m personal investment to over £60m in 18 months, with a target of more than £100m in 2027.

Ross has dyslexia and is a vocal advocate for #dyslexiathinking, pushing for diversity, equity, inclusion and neurodiversity in business.

IN THIS CONVERSATION
- Growing up on the Seacourt estate in Larne
- Working up through the London insurance market to a Lloyd's syndicate
- Starting a business, and the months before it earned anything
- Selling the company and what changed afterwards
- Dyslexia, neurodiversity and business
- Investing in founders, and what makes someone backable

Want a clearer read on where you are as a founder? Take the Founder Scorecard: https://founder-first.scoreapp.com

MORE FROM NATURAL RESILIENCE
Website: https://natural-resilience.co.uk
Get new interviews by email: http://eepurl.com/hhiFzr

Subscribe to The Natural Resilience Podcast. The Natural Resilience Podcast explores how founders, leaders, elite performers and remarkable people build the capacity to perform, endure and live well.

#RossLazarooHood #FamilyOffice #AngelInvesting #NorthernIreland #Larne #LloydsOfLondon #Dyslexia #dyslexiathinking #Entrepreneurship #NaturalResilience

CHAPTERS
0:00 Northern Ireland's moment and why we need to shout about it
12:08 Growing up on a council estate in Larne
14:39 From Queen's to a business degree in Norwich
16:08 Knocking on doors for a job in the Lloyd's market
17:53 Becoming a class underwriter at a Lloyd's syndicate
20:05 Leaving the hamster wheel to start his own business
21:26 Eighteen months with no income, and the first binder
23:37 Giving away two thirds of the business and building the team
26:48 Lessons from scaling: people management
29:06 Getting ready to sell: the data room and due diligence
32:11 The late American offer and the exit
35:24 Life after the exit: emptiness and what to do with the money
37:38 Buying Clearer Water and the social enterprise
41:39 Dyslexia and neurodiversity as a superpower
43:11 Taking risks as an investor
46:04 Sport, athletes and money
49:55 Helping young talent get a break
53:02 What makes a founder backable
55:00 Adding value beyond the money
59:02 Why he loves what he does now

Performance psychologist Gerry Hussey works with Olympians and the Cork hurlers. As a boy, anxiety attacks crippled him.

How do you navigate change, find a purpose that is your own, and perform in line with your own values when the pressure is on?

In this episode of The Natural Resilience Podcast, Ciarán May sits down with Gerry Hussey in a conversation recorded live in front of an audience in Belfast.

Gerry has spent close to twenty years working in health and performance, preparing athletes and teams for Olympic Games, World Cups, Heineken Cups and All-Ireland finals, and working with leaders and organisations on how people perform under pressure. He is the author of Awaken Your Power Within, The Freedom Within and I Am, I Can, I Will, and a speaker in high demand with organisations and teams.

His story starts somewhere very different. As a young boy, Gerry was crippled by anxiety attacks. He talks openly about what that was like, how he found his way through it, and how it shaped the work he does today.

Gerry and Ciarán talk about why change feels so threatening, how to find a sense of purpose that belongs to you rather than one you were handed, and what happens to performance when the way you live and work lines up with what you value.

IN THIS CONVERSATION
- Gerry's childhood with anxiety attacks, and how he found his way through
- Why we resist change, and how to move through it
- Finding a purpose that is your own
- Living and performing in alignment with your values
- What Olympic and elite sport has taught him about pressure
- Building a life as a speaker, consultant and author from that starting point

TAKE THE FOUNDER SCORECARD
Gerry's point is that performance starts with knowing where you actually are. The Founder Scorecard is a good place to start. It takes a few minutes and shows you where you are performing well, and where you need more clarity, structure or support.
https://founder-first.scoreapp.com

GET THE LESSONS FROM EVERY EPISODE
We pull the most useful thinking out of these conversations and send it to our mailing list, so the ideas stay with you after the episode ends.
http://eepurl.com/hhiFzr

FIND GERRY
Soul Space: https://soulspace.ie
Books: https://www.gerryhussey.ie/books

MORE FROM NATURAL RESILIENCE
Website: https://natural-resilience.co.uk

Subscribe to The Natural Resilience Podcast for more conversations about leadership, resilience, entrepreneurship and the realities of building a meaningful life and business. New episodes twice a month, recorded in Belfast.

The Natural Resilience Podcast explores how founders, leaders, elite performers and remarkable people build the capacity to perform, endure and live well.

THANK YOU
This evening was co-organised with Jessica Higginson and the team at Podiem, and sponsored by Sam Shephard and The Juice Jar. Thank you both for making it happen.
Podiem: https://www.podiem.com
The Juice Jar: https://juicejar.com

#GerryHussey #PerformancePsychology #Anxiety #Purpose #Resilience #Change #Leadership #CorkHurling #Belfast #NaturalResiliencePodcast

Dr Stephen McCabe leads Momentum One Zero, the £70 million innovation centre built
under the Belfast Region City Deal.

What does it actually take to build psychological safety into a workplace, and can a
whole city region learn to do the same thing?

In this episode of The Natural Resilience Podcast, Ciarán May sits down with Dr
Stephen McCabe, Executive Director of Momentum One Zero, to talk about identity,
performance and psychological safety in high-pressure leadership, and how a £70
million innovation centre is helping bring the Belfast Region City Deal to life.

Momentum One Zero sits inside Queen's University Belfast and exists to turn research
and industry collaboration into real economic activity for the city region, backed by
the Belfast Region City Deal. Stephen talks through what building an institution like
that actually involves, and what it will mean for Belfast's technology and innovation
sector over the next several years.

The conversation turns personal. Stephen has spoken publicly before about his own
experience of anxiety and depression, and why psychological safety in a workplace has
to start with a leader who is honest about their own inner world before they can build
it for anyone else. Ciarán and Stephen talk through identity under pressure, what a
leadership persona costs, and what it takes to build a genuinely safe environment
around you rather than just saying you have one.

IN THIS CONVERSATION
- What Momentum One Zero is, and its role inside the Belfast Region City Deal
- Building psychological safety into high-pressure tech and innovation environments
- Stephen's own experience of anxiety and depression, and why he chose to speak about it
- Identity and the leadership persona: what has to change, and what has to stay constant
- What it takes to build a £70 million innovation centre, and what it means for the region
- Practical advice for leaders trying to build real psychological safety in their own teams

TAKE THE FOUNDER SCORECARD
Stephen is direct about needing to know your own state before you can lead anyone
else's. The Founder Scorecard is where that starts. It takes a few minutes and shows
you where you are performing well, and where you need more clarity, structure or
support.
https://founder-first.scoreapp.com

GET THE LESSONS FROM EVERY EPISODE
We pull the most useful thinking out of these conversations and send it to our mailing
list, so the ideas outlast the episode.
http://eepurl.com/hhiFzr

MORE FROM NATURAL RESILIENCE
Website: https://natural-resilience.co.uk

Subscribe to The Natural Resilience Podcast for more honest conversations about
leadership, resilience, entrepreneurship and the realities of building a meaningful
life and business. New episodes twice a month, recorded in Belfast.

The Natural Resilience Podcast explores how founders, leaders, elite performers and
remarkable people build the capacity to perform, endure and live well.

#StephenMcCabe #MomentumOneZero #BelfastRegionCityDeal #QueensUniversityBelfast
#PsychologicalSafety #Leadership #BelfastTech #NorthernIreland #Innovation
#NaturalResiliencePodcast

Kieran Kelly went from the family butcher's to CEO of Ubloquity, the Belfast firm
securing global supply chains.

What does it actually take to build a technology company from an unorthodox start,
and who do you need around you to do it?

In this episode of The Natural Resilience Podcast, Ciarán May sits down with Kieran
Kelly, founder and CEO of Ubloquity, to trace a route into tech that went through a
family butcher's shop and a bedroom building PCs before it arrived anywhere near a
boardroom.

Kieran describes Ubloquity as the trust protocol in the supply chain. It uses
blockchain to let goods move across borders without friction, and to prove where
something came from, what it is made of and who made it. He talks through the
company's work with Amazon Web Services, and a project with Lowden Guitars in County
Down that gave individual instruments a verifiable record of their own provenance.

The conversation turns to what scaling actually costs. Kieran is direct about the
cognitive load, the pressure, the stakes and the risk of building a start-up, and
about why none of it is survivable alone. His line for it is that it takes a village
to raise a start-up. Finding a tribe of founders who understand the work gives you a
support system, and people who will show you your own blind spots.

He closes on Northern Ireland's technology sector, and why the grit, the
determination and the genuine willingness to collaborate here amount to a competitive
advantage rather than a consolation.

IN THIS CONVERSATION
- From the family butchers, to building PCs, to founding a technology company
- What Ubloquity does, and what a trust protocol in the supply chain means
- Blockchain, frictionless borders, and proving provenance
- The work with AWS and the Lowden Guitars project
- Why scaling is high load, high pressure, high stakes and high risk
- Finding your tribe, and the blind spots only other founders can show you
- Collaboration as Northern Ireland's competitive advantage

TAKE THE FOUNDER SCORECARD
Kieran is clear that no founder gets there alone. The Founder Scorecard is where that
starts. It takes a few minutes and shows you where you are performing well, and where
you need more clarity, structure or support.
https://founder-first.scoreapp.com

GET THE LESSONS FROM EVERY EPISODE
We pull the most useful thinking out of these conversations and send it to our mailing
list, so the ideas outlast the episode.
http://eepurl.com/hhiFzr

MORE FROM NATURAL RESILIENCE
Website: https://natural-resilience.co.uk

Subscribe to The Natural Resilience Podcast for more honest conversations about
leadership, resilience, entrepreneurship and the realities of building a meaningful
life and business. New episodes twice a month, recorded in Belfast.

The Natural Resilience Podcast explores how founders, leaders, elite performers and
remarkable people build the capacity to perform, endure and live well.

#KieranKelly #Ubloquity #SupplyChain #Blockchain #BelfastTech #NorthernIreland
#TechFounder #Startup #LowdenGuitars #NaturalResiliencePodcast

CHAPTERS
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