How To Start With No Experience, Andy Varley, Insanity Group

Andy Varley started Insanity at just 17 years old & has since grown it into a multifaceted business spanning artist management, brand partnerships, music publishing and content production.

Stay tuned to hear Andy’s journey from teenage entrepreneur to leading one of the UK’s most respected entertainment companies. We talk about how to find support when you’re starting out & the lessons he’s learned about staying relevant in an ever-changing media and cultural landscape.

Andy's advice:

• Start building networks as early as you can.  Meet as many people as possible in your chosen field to make contacts
• Find your gap in the market, but most of all love what you do
• Entrepreneurship can be lonely; ideally have someone to share the decision-making process with
• Try to surround yourself with with advisors (accountants, lawyers perhaps) who can act as mentors
• There are many mentorship programmes available
• BCorp is a force for good and will be a guiding influence on your employees
• Kindness and sympathy are vital leadership qualities
• Lead in a way your team will respect
• Understand you can’t do everything yourself! Trust your employees

FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts.

Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2026, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.  

Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason. 

MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod.  Link &  Licence

Transcript

Andy Varley: [00:00:00] my fundamental view is that the entertainment industry is going for a complete industrial revolution. linear television is being overtaken by streaming path. Platforms, social media is now flooded with AI content and it's hard to know what's real and

music consumption is changing pretty rapidly, and all of this means that we're having to constantly change our strategy to ensure that our talent are best positioned to continue to grow their career. In today's episode, we are joined by Andy Varley, founder and CEO of Insanity Group, 

Speaker 2: Andy started insanity at just 17 years old, well, actually, as we found out at 12, and has since grown it into a multifaceted business. Spanning artist management, brand partnerships, music publishing and content production. Stay tuned to hear Andy's journey from teenage entrepreneur to leading one of the UK's most respective companies.

Speaker 2: Okay, so my name's Andy Vallie. I'm the founder and CEO of Insanity. We are a 360 degree global entertainment [00:01:00] company. We have three key kind of pillars within the business. the core business is in talent representation where. We manage a whole bunch of clients across the areas of entertainment, creators, music and podcasting.

Andy Varley: we also have a brand partnerships function within the representation side of the business. We have a content studio, insanity studios that was born out of many years of. Managing high profile podcasting clients. and we now have in-house capabilities here at Insanity. we have a physical kind of studio space, and we have a small production team that are working on a blend of audio and visual content properties.

And then the third pillar of insanity is music. we have a record label that's been responsible for breaking, Many exciting music artists over the past 10 years, and those three parts of the business form the Insanity group.

Juliet Fallowfield: how long have you been doing. Insanity for,

Andy Varley: I started Insanity 28 years ago. I [00:02:00] was 17 at the time, and Insanity Entertainment. Was initially born as a, live events and slightly more music skewed company. But actually it does go back slightly further than that. I was 12 years old, believe it or not, when I launched Insanity in its first iteration.

which was, As a computer games business, I grew up in a very working class household. My parents, bought my brother and I a computer for Christmas one year. but it was caveated with the fact that. Yes, they bought me the computer. but we couldn't have every game that we would love to have played.

that just wasn't possible. so I had to figure out a way of making money for myself. And we were on a camping holiday one year. I would've been 12, 13 at this point. I have an older brother who's three years older than me, him and my cousin, who's two years older than him.

We're talking about this idea of, creating a computer game business, which was essentially taking [00:03:00] public domain software, so games that could be. Legally copied and then sold on. I quite like the idea of this. it was actually my brother who was like, oh, maybe we'll call this insanity public domain, like a bit of a crazy name.

and then unbeknownst to my brother, I had then spent some. Time around doing my homework, figuring out how I could start this business as like a, yeah, 12, 13-year-old kid. and that's when Insanity started. So I guess at that very young age, I had to, learn about tax and profit margins in between doing my homework and I think the sort of fundamental thing.

For me, when you are, when you're just starting out in those kind of early days, is that I guess found in a company, starts with an idea, but the success comes from the strategy behind it and the relentless commitment to trust in the process. And that's something that I really stand, by today.

Juliet Fallowfield: so at 12, with or without your brother, did you move it forward?

Andy Varley: This was without my [00:04:00] brother. yeah, it started with me. I. I just decided to run with it. I spoke to my brother. I was like, I like this name, insanity pd. I'd always had like part-time jobs from a really young age, whether that was like selling programs at the local football club or later in life, working in a shoe shop.

in between kind of, running insanity. but yeah, that, that's essentially how it started. It was me on my own in my bedroom. Copying computer games legally, selling them on for a profit. And I think by the time I was maybe like a year, 18 months in, I'd started to advertising in a national computer magazine.

and by the age of 14, I was, selling computer games to about 20 odd countries, around the world. So yeah, it was a proper operation.

Juliet Fallowfield: That is a proper operation. And did you just, there's so many questions I have around this because most 14 year olds are not doing that For you, did you feel very comfortable just cracking on and learning as you went? Or did you feel like, oh, actually I need to pause this, go off and do a [00:05:00] degree and do my education and come back to it?

Was it just instinctive for you?

Andy Varley: It was definitely instinctive. I come from quite a long line of entrepreneurs, like my great-grandfather, had a bike shop, which over time evolved into an electrical business. My grandfather then took over the family electrical business, valley Electrical based down in, Kent, where I grew up. My father then took over that family electrical business, and I think it was a pretty obvious choice that at some point I was going to, take over, the company, but electrical goods, 

they weren't really my vibe. so really. I say that insanity became insanity, when I turned 17 and I really got into music and entertainment, and insanity. Entertainment was founded officially on the 27th of November, 1997.

Juliet Fallowfield: So you put yourself through your own apprenticeship scheme if you, this is a million dollar question, but if you could have your time again, would you do it any differently?

Andy Varley: you know what? I probably wouldn't, I think for [00:06:00] me, I've really loved. Building insanity over a prolonged period of time. I think there's been lots of opportunities like along the way to potentially sell some equity or to take in external partners. And for one reason or another that hasn't ever happened.

So I think we're a rare example of a British company that has grown very organically over almost three decades now, and I think. From my perspective, it's been about, trust in my gut, and trust in the process really. And it's been very difficult at times. but I think from those sort of challenges, you really channel them back into,the strategy and the belief of where you're going to take the company.

And ultimately, I feel very proud of where we've got to today, and I feel very proud to still be fiercely independent.

Juliet Fallowfield: a lot of people I meet, so I started nearly six years ago, and people are like, oh, you're gonna scale. You take investment. Like, Idon't know if I want to take [00:07:00] investment. I don't know if I want to scale. I don't know anything. I'm just starting literally off the back of redundancy with an idea.

Andy Varley: I just want to keep the roof above my head was my first week's goal. And then I was like, well, what do I want to achieve with this? which I wondered, did you ask yourself that in your teenage years of what am I trying to achieve? I think there's two answers to that question actually. When I started in the computer games business, obviously all those years before, I think at that point I was very young, very naive. and if I'm honest, I just wanted to figure out a way of, having more games to play with my family and friends and the.

The computer game business was just a kind of means to an end to raise some money and to collect more gains. 

Juliet Fallowfield: Most people go and do a milk round, Andy, they ain't found a company.

Andy Varley: I was actually doing that as well. I was doing the paper round at the same time as doing all of this. But there was this thing from quite a young age where I would go to, my grandfather's shop on a Saturday and I'd see him behind the.

The counter kind of serve and I'd hear the [00:08:00] till ringing. And I quite liked that idea of creating money for myself and creating an opportunity for myself. I come from a very supportive family and whilst my background and my upbringing was very working class, one thing that my parents were able to give me was a huge amount of loves.

Support and encouragement. And so even at that young age, the day that Insanity Entertainment started back in November, 1997, it started with a live music event. And we just literally celebrated our 28th anniversary. just a week or so ago. And, I messaged my mom that day. I was like, mom, it was 28 years ago today.

You were there. running the catering stand, selling. Burgers and hot dogs to all these like young kids that were there to watch bands and experience kind of entertainment. And and I think that was really what my parents were able to gimme was yeah, that, that sort of,the love and support.

I'm not sure if I'd necessarily, imagined at that stage that it would become what it's ultimately become [00:09:00] all these years later. But I think for me. On the entertainment side, I love the idea of seeing bands that I'd start working with really early on. Go on to, have varying levels of success.

And obviously back then success looked very different to what it looks like now. Back then it was like, oh, great, I sign a band and I get 'em a gig in the local pub. Brilliant. They get paid 150 pound. I take a commission from that and I'm walk walking away with 30 pounds in my pocket. So that for me was success.

All these years later, watching an artist like Tom Grennan, who we signed super early on in his career, who's just celebrated his third consecutive number one album and a sold out arena tour. Success looks very different now. but I think it's all relative.

Juliet Fallowfield: And also you have to start somewhere, and that's what I'm so fascinated about is that your expectations of the business and of yourself in your teenage years will obviously evolve as you into your twenties. And on. If someone's sitting on an idea to start a business, but they [00:10:00] have no experience in business or that sector, what would you advise them to do first?

Andy Varley: Yeah, it's a really good question because I think ultimately you have to have that idea in the first place. I think one of the things that was really important to me was building up my network super early on, and I

Juliet Fallowfield: Again, there's early and then there's really early.

Andy Varley: exactly. But I would, I'd go to lots of events. I'd go to lots of parties.

I'd go and watch panel discussions. I'd read lots of books. I would try and meet as many people as possible. And obviously I'm talking about the sort of the late nineties here. And so, I guess social media wasn't a thing at that point. the internet was a thing, but it certainly wasn't as readily available as it is now.

And so ultimately my network was everything to me. So it was like a case in the early stages of almost like faking it to make it, I was this. Yeah. 17, 18-year-old kid who had a dream of growing, at that point, a predominantly music based company. And the [00:11:00] only way that I saw that I was gonna be able to do that was to,to understand as much of the music industry as possible, to consume as much kind of music content as I could.

Which again, back then it was like. Going to Woolworths and our price at the weekend, buying, cassettes and CDs and later mini discs and listening to as much music as possible. my, my dad,was a sort of part-time kind of dj. By that he had a mobile DJ business, which was him and his best friend going and playing kind of birthdays, weddings, and getting paid some money to go and do that.

But I guess there was always music in the house, there was always lots of, records. My dad my,brought us up on kind of Tamela Motown records and the Beatles. And, my mom was a. Big fan of the carpenters and, status quo. And so we grew up on all of that. So there was always music in the house and I just figured out a way of turning this kind of love of music into a [00:12:00] career.

Juliet Fallowfield: You were obviously dedicated to the cause and really investing your time in getting to know the music industry, and a lot of people think they can start a business and then do five other things at once.

You, you were all in and at the age of 17, did you go on to a higher education or further education, or did you go straight fulltime into the business?

Andy Varley: Yeah, I did. I, it was really important to, to me and also important to my parents, I think as well, that I would see through my education. So, I've got the GCSEs that I needed to do, the A levels that I wanted to do. It all come as no surprise that kind of media studies and business studies were subjects that I really, thrived in.

But, ironically given that I'd started a computer game company when I was much younger, computer science was perhaps not a world for me. but then I got the grades that I needed to be able to go to, to university, but. As I was already running insanity at this point, and as things had really started to pick up and grow with the business, I said to my parents, I was like, look, I've got my place at university.

I'm sure I'm gonna come back [00:13:00] to that at some point. But I'd really like to give the business a go kind of full time. So I fi finish my A Levels. The family electrical business did come in handy because my dad gave me,he, well, actually, he tasked me with the job. He was like, if you want some office space, then you need to get up to the attic in, in the shop.

You need to clear that out. We'll, paint it and decorate it together. And that can be your office for your, year out before you go to uni. And so that's what I did. And I, the company went from strength to strength. I signed more bands. I was booking more shows for those bands. I'd set up a whole bunch of kind of ancillary music businesses from like fan club management to, to booking agency, to management company.

but fundamentally, I knew I wanted to go to uni. For life skills experience and to, again, build out my network. So, I took that year out and in, in the September of 2000, I started a three year business degree at the University of Canton Canterbury. Again, it'll come as [00:14:00] no surprise that I became the music editor of the University magazine again. That was all around building out my contacts and my relationships. I started to meet record labels for the first time. I, there was a whole kind of plethora of amazing DJs and artists that would be touring the university circuit.

And I go and consume a lot of, Music and entertainment in my spare time. So 

Juliet Fallowfield: I was gonna say spare time. you were doing your degree and continuing to run insanity at the same time.

Andy Varley: Okay, so this is the crazy part. So I was doing my degree, I was running insanity, from my, dorm room at university. And I also had two part-time jobs. I was, working in a shoe shop and I, was working at a football club. So, so the weekends fri Friday through Sunday was the part-time jobs.

 and the rest of the week was,building insanity and studying for my degree. So there was very little downtime, although I'm quite a sociable, outgoing person, so I [00:15:00] very much made the most of, everything that the social life of being at university could bring.

So yeah, it was. It was a pretty wild three years from 2000 to 2003, but I'm so glad that I did it and I made so many friends and contacts, along the

way, and obviously came out with a degree.

Juliet Fallowfield: And, but I remember that about university. I learned more about people and living with people and working with people than I did about my actual degree subject. But I, it was, it felt like such a luxury in the fastest three years of my life. But I wasn't running a company and I had a part-time job, but not to.

But it sounds like You were very clear that insanity was going to work and that you needed to fuel that. What would you advise a founder who's uming and ing around their idea? Like how should they flesh out to know that it is a really good idea that they should go all in on to make it work?

Andy Varley: Yeah, you know what? I think it's a really interesting question because ultimately it has to start with that idea and it has to start with, something that you feel really passionate about. So it might be that you've identified, [00:16:00] a gap in the market. It may well be that you've seen somebody else create a company, but you actually think that you could provide that.

Product or service,in a more interesting, exciting, and compelling way. But I talk about this kind of, ideology around like trusting the process a lot. 

but I think ultimately. it's gotta come from that place of like passion, because obviously the stats are against you. so many companies start and they're very lucky if they get past that first year, let alone five years, 10 years, or for me now being 28 years in, which is mind blowing really.

but I think if I didn't love what I started all of those years ago, then perhaps I would've lost interest by now because I think the world of running a company, being an entrepreneur, can be pretty lonely at times. Like quite often it's you in those early stages by yourself trying to make the decisions, trying to balance the books, [00:17:00] deliver a marketing strategy, ensure 

Juliet Fallowfield: solving the whole time without a sounding board. 

Andy Varley: Totally. And I think one of the things that I very much learned, particularly as recently as the last 10 years actually, is the importance of shared decision making. As you grow a business and as you start to employ people, you really want to be at a place whereby. The onus isn't purely on you, like Insanity is now a large diversified company with 70 employees and 250 plus clients like

Juliet Fallowfield: And a B Corp I think as

Andy Varley: Exactly. Yeah. and it's every day is challenging, but we shared. Decision making. we have a really fantastic leadership team and between us,we run the company, but obviously in the early stages you don't have that. It's you and you on your own. So one thing I would advise when people are starting out is to try and surround themselves with Interesting smart advisors, whether that's a great accountant, a great [00:18:00] lawyer, if you're fortunate enough to have, access to mentors. It's something that I spend a fair amount of my time doing now. sometimes officially, sometimes unofficially, is spending time with young founders, giving them advice on my journey and mistakes that I've made over the years, and how they can potentially avoid those mistakes themselves as they grow their own business.

Juliet Fallowfield: It's almost like your now self looking back to your old self, looking out for those young starts that are coming through. Because I think something in the UK economy is 98% of the GDP of the UK SMEs and then 78% of that service-based businesses.

There's a lot of entrepreneurship in the country that we don't recognize. How do you vet a good mentor or a good coach? So I went through three accountants before I found the one, and I realized every single podcast guest has said two things.

Be okay with a rollercoaster and get a good accountant. And good is defined differently by everybody. So for you, how would [00:19:00] you vet that support network?

Andy Varley: It's a brilliant question and I, it's such a, a timely question as well, given that I was in a meeting this morning talking about,an individual's experiences with bad accountants and bad business managers, and quite often these things, make it to the price as well, but I've been pretty lucky.

Over the years I had, I've only ever had three accountants. I had, a family accountant when I first started out, and, they were a local based company. they'd looked after our family, businesses and, my

Juliet Fallowfield: So recommended.

Andy Varley: Exactly. Personal recommendation I think is really important. I then, as the company grew, we took on a more established, music accountancy company.

And again, their track record spoke for itself. They were running. The financial affairs for some of the biggest artists in the world. And I guess I felt that if they could be, keeping these big bands and globally successful music [00:20:00] artists in check, then they should be able to, deal with,with me and my company.

 we were with them for many years. and as the company became more diversified into other areas of the entertainment industry, we made one final switch and we're with a great firm now that helps us to deal with everything. But I think it's having any kind of a professional advisor in a business, I think the best place to start is through that personal recommendation.

I think if you've got people in your, in your network. that can validate, and authenticate the relationship with a business advisor, then that's probably a good place to start. And on, on the mentor front. It's really interesting. I feel like when I first started out. It didn't feel like there were many kind of mentorship programs that you could be a part of, whereas I feel like now there's, certainly in the entertainment industry, there's a whole bunch of brilliant, mentorship programs, some that perhaps work more closely with, people from [00:21:00] Challenging and diverse backgrounds. Others that are just really great kind of starting points if you are young aspiring executive that wants to have their big sort of break in the industry. and I think also there's been a lot of changes in legislation under UK government, to prevent.

Young people from being exploited in the workplace. When I first, was trying to get my foot in the door, there were, you'd hear horror stories of people that had been working for free, for companies for years,

Juliet Fallowfield: Oh, you're speaking to someone that's in pr so starting out on the unpaid internship, which now is illegal.

Andy Varley: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. and I feel really proud that as a company over the years, that we've really lent into some amazing programs. Like many years ago, we lent into a program called Small Green Shoots that gave young people from, diverse and underprivileged backgrounds the opportunity to take.

a paid job, in the music industry predominantly. and we had one particular shoot who came in and she ended up being my, my [00:22:00] assistant for many years. And she's gone on to work for some really incredible companies and I feel very proud of that. And then more recently, we've partnered with a amazing organization called Shadow to Shine, and we've recently completed our third, 

work placement,and work-based training, program with Shadow to Shine and we've seen some amazing executives that have come through that. we also.

Juliet Fallowfield: also great 'cause people can get some experience and test the water. 'cause if they're not entirely sure, and I think I probably only worked out about four years ago what I wanted to. Do with my life and I'm in my mid forties, but I've learned and worked since I was 15 in different jobs in different sectors.

That has taught me what I don't want and maybe what I do want. And ultimately any job, it all comes down to the people who are surrounded by. But the same thing, we were so privileged to have one of the graduates from, the MA in podcasting, that the city university join us for six months and then she went on and got a full-time job at Louisa Ru.

So I was like, great, we've trained you well.

Andy Varley: Exactly.

Juliet Fallowfield: But it's so wonderful to see these people go on and succeed or you, they join [00:23:00] your company as well. But for you as a founder, looking at what you've achieved over nearly three decades, you have grown the business and diversified as well. How have you rolled with the punches of the media landscape, changing the way people consume, music's changing?

How have you continued to educate yourself and keep up with it and even lead the way with it?

Andy Varley: Yeah, totally. I think for us, we are a people and a service based business, so I think for in, in the world of like talent representation, the industry does move incredibly fast and it's really important for us to. Ensure that we stay culturally relevant. And we do that by, constantly looking at our roster to ensure that the roster feels broad and balanced and ultimately trends and tastes really can change, overnight.

And it's really important for us to stay, one step ahead of the curve. So I think when you are at.

Juliet Fallowfield: isn't it? 'cause you are starting a business. You are doing something you've [00:24:00] never done before. You're probably doing a business that hasn't been done before either. And the business is changing itself and evolving in technology and everything else is changing. So you are constantly all moving forwards, but it feels a little bit rabbit in the headlights sometimes with how much change there is.

Andy Varley: Yeah, totally. look, my, my fundamental view of that is that the entertainment industry right now is going for a complete industrial revolution. It's like linear television is being overtaken by streaming path. Platforms, social media is now flooded with AI content and it's hard to know what's real and what's, AI these days.

music consumption is changing pretty rapidly, and all of this means that we're having to constantly change our strategy to ensure that our talent are best positioned to continue to grow their career. And so I think in a slightly strange way, Because every talent strategy looks so different.

In a way, I almost see my role as not just being the [00:25:00] CEO of one company, insanity. You are essentially the CEO of 250 companies that all have individual needs that all have different expectations and all have to have a unique strategy. So it's, yeah, it's exciting, but also very challenging.

Juliet Fallowfield: The joy of working in a business that involves people. 'cause I think everyone says is the. People are the hardest part. And it's like,okay, I've really done a number myself. 'cause I employ people, I talk to journalists who are people I talk to, podcast hosts who are also people. And then the dynamic of how people behave in work is fascinating.

But sometimes I just want a day off humans. It's like, well, I wouldn't have a business if I did that.But yeah, managing people and then managing yourself as well, because you are leading, you have to be your own best motivator. How do you manage that? Do you ever have a, like a down day where you're just like.

How do you yourself?

Andy Varley: Yeah. It's a, again, it's a great question because I, I think that. I'd be lying if I didn't say that. You have those like tough [00:26:00] days where perhaps you've had to have a really difficult conversation with somebody, or, you've had to restructure a part of your business, which has sadly meant that you've had to let somebody go, or, perhaps there's been like a disciplinary situation.

and I think ultimately that's inevitable as you grow a business and particularly as you. Get larger and you scale up and 

Juliet Fallowfield: interestingly, you mentioned, B Corp, and that's something that I feel very proud of. we started our B Corp journey three years ago. we found a amazing company that acted as our critical friend throughout the process and

Can I ask which one? 'cause we work with Sid Connects who are game changing for us. Who

Andy Varley: Yeah, we use seismic change and they were fantastic and they continue to be great partners of ours now as we continue even post certification. but it's really interesting because when we started that process, you get kinda like a preco. So they will, come into the business.

they'll score you against the B Corp [00:27:00] criteria. And actually we scored really highly in the, in the people category, which wasn't completely unexpected, but I think there was a lot of stuff that we were doing. Where I was like, oh, well we've got a fantastic, like maternity and paternity policy.

Okay, well where is that documented? Oh, we've got an amazing kind of system so far as executive trading. Great. Where have you got, that written down? So, those first two years pre-certification, a lot of it was actually, revolving around,documenting all the great work that we were already doing.

But what I love about. B Corp. And the B Corp movement. And in fact, the UK has the largest B Corp community in the world. 2,600 plus B Corp, companies in the uk, which is amazing.

 but what I love about. B Corp is that it really holds you accountable so you don't just get certified and then it's great, you've got this like badge of honor and you can put your logo on your email signature on your website. There's so much more to it. You have to be re-certified every three [00:28:00] years.

Juliet Fallowfield: And you have to improve. You 

can't just sit on your laurels and be like, right, we've done it. 

Andy Varley: exactly. And we became B Corp certified, August, 2024. But, earlier on this year, B Lab in the US kind of changed the criteria for B Corp certification. So when we recertify. in 2027 we'll be recertifying against the new criteria, which means that we have to work even harder for, recertification.

So, so yeah,I love it. And what I really love now is on those occasions when you're walk, walking through the office and you overhear a couple of young sort of Gen Z colleagues being like, yeah, I've spoken to this brand today about this potential opportunity for my client, but it doesn't feel very B Corp.

And I'm like. Brilliant. It's so great that everybody on the floor is really considering people and planet before profit, which is what B Corp is all about.

Juliet Fallowfield: and it has to be, this is what I love about B Corp as well, is that you have to be a profiting company to be your B Corp. You can't be a charity, but because you [00:29:00] need. Success to effect change, but you can't put people in planet above that. so you have to put people in planet above that, but you need the means to the end.

And I'm the same for me as a small business, it gives me an anchor that I can have a sounding board and a framework And when you are a founder, you are lonely, isolated on your own, doing it all on your own. you are a little bit like, where are my answers?

But B Corp can give you those in that I am ethical, I am doing the right thing by my people and my clients and my pipeline. I'm completely with you on it. 

No, it's, it is been a real kind of, privilege and a pleasure to go through that process, and we're doing some amazing work now in terms of like collective action utilizing like our position as a company and the clients we represent and this amazing team of executives that we have that. Feel as passionately about the work that we do as I do, where we're all coming together to work on a plan for next year to really drive about some change, in the area of mental health.

Andy Varley: and I think [00:30:00] it's an area that I feel incredibly passionate about and that's happening because of the B Corp movement that we're such a significant part of.

Juliet Fallowfield: Well, speaking of mental health, I feel, I get the impression it fuels your sense of purpose with your business because the motivation factor, people advise me, it's like year one, you'll just be deluded. You'll just go everything. You'll have ridiculous energy. Probably year three you'll burn out and again, in year four, year five, you'll question everything is what you're doing.

If you make it to year 10 world, they were all quite Not pessimistic, probably realistic about it, that you really do need to look after yourself in this because if you are not functioning, your business won't. But for you, has it reinvigorated your sense of purpose with your business 28 years in becoming B Corp?

Andy Varley: Yeah. Yes. Last, well, actually earlier on this year, we sat down and we did a, purpose mission vision workshop, which was quite a significant piece of work for us as a business. And again, it all linked back through to our B Corp certification, but it was actually a really like [00:31:00] humbling. eyeopening and emotional, journey because we.

Invited everybody in the team to participate. we were overwhelmed with the amount of response that we had from the team, really wanting to lean into the discussions. on the day itself, I think we had in excess of 20 members of the team that came and attended the workshop. And being able to likesit back and to hear people's like opinions of the company, it's quite emotional because you.

Perhaps didn't quite appreciate until that point how much people cared about what we do as a company. And I think it was almost like a dream come true to, to reflect back on, that sort of almost three decade journey and thinking back to those like lonely days of me and my,home office trying to start this business to then being sat in this boardroom with, 20 amazing.

Executives that have chosen insanity to be the home for their career when there's so many other companies that they could have chosen, and to then be [00:32:00] sat there in the room painstakingly and thoughtfully considering what our. Purpose, mission and vision should be as a company, and to ensure that we can really stand , behind it.

that was a real emotional moment for me. but I really do. I care about what we do as a company, and I really do care about doing things differently. and I really do try and approach everything that we do with kindness. And I don't necessarily believe in this like slightly old fashioned, like draconian kind of ideology that,you have to, lead from the top in a way that feels, Yeah, like un unnecessarily aggressive or, unnecessarily unrealistic. And I think ultimately, if you want to get the best out of your team, you have to lead from the top in a way that your team really respect. And that doesn't mean to say that you are a,a walkover or a [00:33:00] pushover, as a leader.

I think for me, being authentic and coming to work every day, being myself is really important. And I'm fortunate, as I said earlier on in this conversation, that I've grown up in a family that. provides love, care, and encouragement and we try to provide that to our team and our talent on a day-to-day basis.

And I don't know, look, we don't have a particularly high turnover of executives or, represented talent. So, hopefully we're doing something well.

Juliet Fallowfield: You must be. Absolutely. And I love that also B Corp score you on that, they're looking. So something that we do is a question from our previous guest and her question for you was. What have you learned about yourself as you scaled your business? What surprised you about yourself as your business has grown?

Andy Varley: yeah,it's a interesting one. I think for me, I've had to. Understand that I can't do everything myself. You have to relinquish some of the responsibility as you 

grow, 

Which is quite hard. 'cause I think when you [00:34:00] are entrepreneurial, it could, you can get to that stage where you're like, okay, well I've grown this company from scratch.

I've made the mistakes, like as I go

Juliet Fallowfield: You've learn to 

Andy Varley: from those mistakes. Exactly. You roll your sleeves up, you get your hands dirty. you throw yourself into. Every facet of grow your business and then you start to get to this point where you are, you've got five people that work for you, and then 10 people and then 20, and then you, all of a sudden we had 50 people and I really had to, learn the art of delegation and not just telling people what to do, but delegating tasks to.

In some cases, more junior members of the team and trusting that they're gonna get the job done and they're gonna get the job done in a way that makes sense for them, but also ensuring that the job that they do fits in with our culture as a company. And I think it's even harder when you are working with people, as a service business as [00:35:00] opposed to a physical, like tangible product.

Juliet Fallowfield: so much trust involved.

Andy Varley: Exactly. If you're selling tins or baked beans, you can go through a quality control process before, ultimately the consumer,opens that can and eats your product. Whereas when you are dealing with people on a day-to-day basis, you really are having to delegate that responsibility of making sure that these.

Younger executives. and for us now we're a predominantly Gen Z workforce, that they're gonna be able to. Do the job in the correct way that stays true to your values as a business so that you are, protecting your culture and protecting your reputation. So there's a bit of a leap of faith there, but, but I think it just means that when we are hiring, we have to really double down on on that HR process to make sure that we bring really great people into the business.

Juliet Fallowfield: And people definitely make or break any business, any job, anywhere. And what would your question be for the next guest? Anything about [00:36:00] entrepreneurship? Anything you like?

Andy Varley: I think my question would be, if you weren't doing the job that you are doing now, what would it be and why? I've of people have often asked me that question and,I'm told that I make one of the best roast dinners in the land. So perhaps if I wasn't running insanity, perhaps there would be,perhaps I'd be a chef or be working in some way, shape or form in the, in the catering,

Juliet Fallowfield: I love that. Excellent. It's good to know your strengths in all areas of life. Thank you Andy, so much for your time today. It's been wonderful chatting to you about starting up with no experience and look at what success you can have when you do. It's amazing.

Andy Varley: No, thank you so much for having me. I've really enjoyed the conversation.

Speaker 2: If you'd like to contact Andy, you can find all of his details in the show notes along with a recap of the advice he has so kindly shared 

and tune in next week to hear the answer to his question about what the next founder would do instead.