Episode 84 - Penny Power - 'I'm Still Standing'

My guest in this episode is author, speaker & entrepreneur, Penny Power, OBE. I first met Penny in the late 90’s when she had just started the first Social Network, Ecademy with the declared aim of helping business people achieve success through online tools, community, and friendship. At that time there were a lot of people talking about online tools but very few talking about community, friendship and love , all of which have permeated Penny’s work throughout her career. The intro to her 2018 book ‘Business is Personal’ says ‘Penny has poured her heart into this book, and it is incredibly revealing’ and I feel very privileged that she did the same in our conversation. It would be easy for Penny to paint a rose-tinted picture of the journey she has been on, and she is the first to say she has much to be grateful for. But alongside that, life has thrown up some massive challenges, awful luck, and real tragedy. Penny takes us through both sides of that story in the open, honest, and authentic way that is her trademark and I find it genuinely inspirational. I always tell my guests:  ‘it’s completely up to you how you want to approach the episode and the story you want to tell. All episodes are a mix of music nerdery and life story but the balance between them is different for each guest/episode which is one of the joys for me. This is an episode that is more focussed on the life story, but Penny’s song choices enhance her story so much and I would be surprised if you don’t choke up to at least one of them (and I’m very glad I allowed Penny two songs from the same artist) Her song choices are: 60’s        Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da                                    The Beatles 70’s        Solitaire                                                                Carpenters80’s        One Moment in Time                                   Whitney Houston90’s        Get There                                                            Oleta Adams00’s        I Didn’t Know My Own Strength           Whitney Houston10’s        Just the Way You Are                                   Bruno Mars20’s        The Rose                                                              Bette Midler