Did you just listen to the Yes, And podcast with Avish and Jacob? Yowsers, what a variety of conversations we had!
From my full-time travel family, to remote speaking and coaching, to keynotes including Don’t Waste a Good Recession and The Conference Raconteur where I improvise your closing-session keynote as the most exciting speaker you’ve ever engaged.
I love a good podcast chat, but they’re rarely as much fun as the discussion I just had with Yes, And.
People used to ask me all the time about my Guinness World Record; I had to pack up my whole family and go travel the world full-time just to give them something more interesting to discuss!
And that’s what we did at the start of 2025 – though it was many years in the making (our 2019 travels were cut short due to the pandemic).
If you’re mostly interested in some travel pictures, our Instagram is @theharmonyfamily; most people are interested in how we manage to run and grow our coaching business while travelling full-time and worldschooling our daughter.
That’s a big topic, but we are proof it can be done. I share some personal stories (as well as business articles) in my Friday newsletters, and you are always welcome to contact me if you are thinking of living the same dream and would like some suggestions from those already on the road.
Don’t Waste a Good RecessionI was excited that Avish was so interested in this topic – even during a recession most people don’t want to discuss the topic, and when we spoke the S&P500 was at an all time high.
But they’re called economic CYCLES for a reason, and business owners need to understand them not fear them. More opportunity is created in a downturn than at any other point in the economic cycle, and over the past 20 years (3 official recessions) I’ve honed the solutions that small business owners can embrace.
After the Coronavirus Recession in 2020, my work on this topic for audiences in Europe and North America saw me nominated for the Virtual Speakers Hall of Fame, only the second speaker outside the United States to receive that accolade.
The Don’t Waste a Good Recession podcast is currently in mothballs, waiting to see what will happen next. Good times don’t last forever – and if they shift, rest assured my subscribers and the organisations who invite me to speak about recessions for SMEs will know what to monitor and (most importantly) how to respond.
From November 2017 until June 2019 (when I set off to travel the world with my newborn daughter) I produced and recorded 134 episodes of the business leadership video series Blackboard Fridays.
Every short episode was designed as a 5 minute burst of insight into a specific topic relevant to succeeding on your business journey. We revisited some important topics, and ultimately explored every topic of my business advisory methodology across 16 categories.
You can view the whole catalogue here, or enjoy the two relevant topic videos below before scrolling further to learn more about Jacob Aldridge the work I do.
A deep generalist, provocative strategist, and accomplished business advisor, my global perspective and deep insights have given the competitive edge to thousands of businesses.
For more than 20 years I have travelled Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America as an international business advisor and keynote speaker.
Working at depth with more than 400 companies from 14 different countries, and haven spoken to thousands more, my specialties are:
I wholeheartedly recommend Jacob to any business. His passionate, realistic and forward-thinking style was invaluable.
Working with Jacob, I have clarity on each of the steps I need to take, and an action plan I am now implementing.
I would recommend Jacob to anyone who wants to have absolute confidence that the right things will get done and, have a good time doing it.
When seeking the best mix of capability and personality to work with your business, geography is a limiting belief not a limiting factor.
I call myself an international business coach, but as you’ll see in that link pure business coaching is a waste of money. Your team already demand you have all the answers – only a muppet would pay someone to bring them just more questions. That’s why I adopt a hybrid approach, to provide personalised consulting or training solutions as well as the coaching approach to help rapidly transfer business skills.
And while I am in Malaysia when I spoke with Avish, my location changes every 2-3 months and my clients are truly international. That means travelling to speak at conferences and internal events, as well as leveraging the virtual speaker expertise that saw me nominated for the Virtual Speaker Hall of Fame.
And my small number of ongoing coaching clients have been all around the world – mostly Canada and the USA, the UK, and Australia, but also in places as far-flung as Dubai, Hong Kong and Fiji. My clients want the best in the world, not the best in their zip code.