Karen O'Connor is one of the sector's most popular figures – a Cultural Enterprises Award for Outstanding Contribution in 2020 is testament to this! Hear how her journey took her to being Director of Commercial Enterprises at National Museums Liverpool after abandoning early dreams of a career making ballet tutus (no, really).

Cultural Enterprises Podcast

Journeys – Karen O’Connor, Director of Commercial Enterprises, National Museums Liverpool

In this open, honest, and passionate episode, Caroline Brown, Head of Commercial Services at the British Library, and Chair of the Association for Cultural Enterprises, tells us how growing up in a small, working class Welsh village helped shape her entire career...

Journeys – Caroline Brown, Head of Commercial Services, British Library

From the high street to cultural sector, Rita Rooney tells us all about her career, including planning for the Museum of London's future, the importance of making mistakes, and developing a range based on a fatberg!

Journeys – Rita Rooney, Retail, Buying and Merchandising Manager, Museum of London

The Sir John Soane's Museum. The Natural History Museum. The Southbank Centre. The Barbican. Kew Gardens. Hear how Adam Thow's career has taken him to some of the most spectacular venues in London, and what he believes is next for the cultural enterprises sector.

Journeys – Adam Thow, Head of Commercial Activities, Kew Gardens

Hear how an apprenticeship at sixteen took Matthew Henderson away from a potential career training owls for a living(!) and helped mould him into one of the sector's most creative and enthusiastic leaders...

Journeys – Matthew Henderson, Product Development Manager, Beamish

How did a law graduate end up developing sustainable ranges of crisps for English Heritage? It's fair to say Kingston Myles hasn't had the most traditional career path. From nightclubs and festivals to the cultural sector, hear how Kingston transitioned from the 5-9 to the 9-5...

Journeys – Kingston Myles, Head of Commercial Development, English Heritage

What impact has the pandemic had on sustainability in cultural trading, and what does the future hold? Can we take this opportunity to radically re-think cultural trading along more sustainable lines? To answer these questions, we welcome Dr. Jamie Larkin, Assistant Professor of Creative and Cultural Industries at Chapman University in California, to the podcast. 

Post-pandemic Sustainability in Cultural Trading

With cultural organisations starting to reopen, there is an opportunity to step back and reflect on some of our working practices, and consider making some changes. In this episode, Chris Snow, Head of Support Services at the National Theatre, looks at a few tools that can help Visitor Experience or Operations Managers to improve a team’s efficiency, the quality of the venue’s visitor experience, and ultimately make our working lives a bit easier.

Process Driven Thinking

What will Front of House operations look like as we reopen in 2021? Head of Visitor Experience at the Royal Opera House, and presenter of Series Two of the Cultural Enterprises Podcast, Gabriela Gandolfini, looks back at 3 lessons learned from 2020 and how to implement those 3 learnings in 2021.

The Future of Front of House

While some organisations were put in the difficult position of being unable to trade at all in the last year, others were fortunate (and entrepreneurial) enough to find new ways to generate income, stay connected with the community, and help shape the future of their enterprises. One of these organisations is Birmingham Museums Trust, and we are delighted to be joined by their Commercial Director, Alex Nicholson-Evans, who talks pizza pods, selling leftover food and completely revamping their online store...

Creative Commerce in Lockdown

After over 12 months of lockdowns, furlough, redundancies, closures, re-openings, and more closures, the level of uncertainty, on an organisation and individual level, has surely affected the mental health of every one of us. Vicki Cockman, Head of Client Delivery at Mental Health First Aid England, joins us to give some tips on how to best look after ourselves, and each other, in the coming months…

Mental Health in the Workplace

What will cultural retail look like when the sector re-opens? From conscious consumerism to the resurgence of the physical store, retail consultant and creator of The Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly, joins us to investigate what will be moulding cultural retail in the year to come.

Cultural Retail Trends for 2021

From dreams of being a tap dancer, to CEO of The Postal Museum, via nearly two decades at Tate, Laura Wright is the final guest of series two of the Cultural Enterprises Podcast. Laura speaks with honestly about how self doubt can be a positive attribute in leadership, why those who struggle with networking are the ones who need to do it most, and how your career should all be about following your passions.

An Audience with Laura Wright – CEO, The Postal Museum

Honest. Passionate. Inspiring. Gordon Morrison, CEO of ASVA (the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions) tells us about his career (including the mistakes he's made), the importance of visitor attractions to the cultural landscape of the country, and the skills needed to lead an organisation with close to 500 members. This one is unmissable.

An Audience with Gordon Morrison – CEO, Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions

In this fascinating episode, Arts Council England CEO and author, Darren Henley OBE, tells us all about his life and career, from his roots in radio and how how he got in to writing, to his unexpected ascent to lead Arts Council England. Darren also gives tips to both future and current leaders in the sector – you're never too important to make the tea! 

An Audience with Darren Henley OBE – CEO, Arts Council England

Cultural organisations are increasingly turning to trading to generate essential funds, and extend the visitor experience. This Podcast from the Cultural Enterprises Academy explores the latest thinking, with tips and tricks for people working in the cultural sector.

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Cultural Enterprises Podcast

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