Alternative Exit
Alternative Exit is a dedicated to educating small business owners about the possibilities, benefits, and challenges of transitioning to an employee ownership model.
There are over 200m SMEs with an owner who will be retiring in the next 10 years, many of which will never find a buyer for their business, forcing them to close their doors.
There is an alternative. This show will explore various the different forms of employee ownership and best practices for successful transitions.
Each episode features interviews with experts in employee ownership, business owners who have made the transition, and consultants who facilitate these changes.
Episodes
45 episodes
Alternative Exit #42 | Eric Strickland on Employee Ownership & Innovation
What happens when you combine employee ownership with human services? In this episode, I sit down with Eric Strickland, CEO of 3TLs—a purpose-driven group of 18 employee-owned companies with nearly 700 employee owners across five states. Eri...
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49:55
Alternative Exit #41 | Redefining Succession: Embracing Employee Ownership with David Owen
In this episode of Alternative Exit, Andy Farquharson sits down with legal industry veteran David Owen (formerly CEO of Oliver & Co Solicitors) to unpack the real-world exit journeys from law practice, the shift to employee ownersh...
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41:04
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Alternative Exit #40 |The Data Behind Employee Owned Success with Rutgers' Adria Scharf
What drives a founder to sell their company to employees instead of outside investors? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Adria Scharf, Project Director of the Curriculum Library for Employee Ownership (CLEO) at Rutgers University, to explore...
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39:05
Alternative Exit #39 | The Power of EOTs: Creating 3,500 Employee Owners with Christian Wilson
What does it really take to transition a business to employee ownership—and what happens after you sign on the dotted line? In this episode, I sit down with Christian Wilson, a specialist solicitor with over 25 years of experience in business l...
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42:39
Alternative Exit #38 | Karen McGuire's Succession: A Deep Dive Into Employee Ownership in Northern Ireland
What happens when personal loss becomes the catalyst for transformative business change? In this episode, I sit down with Karen McGuire, founder of Relinea, a successful GRP manufacturing company in Northern Ireland that transitione...
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53:02
Alternative Exit #37 | Redesigning Capitalism : How Share Tribe Built A Purpose-First Company
What happens when a tech startup realizes that traditional venture capital doesn't align with its mission to democratize platform ownership? In this episode, I sit down with Juho Makkonen, co-founder and CEO of Sharetribe, a Finnish marketplace...
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44:49
Alternative Exit #36 | Building Legacy Through Employee Ownership: A Conversation with Robert Postlethwaite
What drives a successful corporate lawyer to abandon the mainstream legal world and dedicate their career to democratizing business ownership? In this episode, I sit down with Robert Postlethwaite, partner and managing director of Postlethwaite...
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Episode 36
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39:21
Alternative Exit #35 | From 15 to 340: How Scotland Built a Global EO Powerhouse
How do you transform an entire country's approach to business succession? In this episode, I sit down with Glen Dott, a specialist advisor in employee ownership at Cooperative Development Scotland, part of Scottish Enterprise. Glen shares the r...
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42:37
Alternative Exit #34 | The Future of Employee Ownership and Financial Wellness | John Hoffmire
What happens when a 9-year-old's sense of justice grows into a $2.2 billion investment banking career dedicated to employee ownership? In this episode, I sit down with John Hoffmire, research associate at Oxford's Center for Mutual...
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42:45
Alternative Exit #33 | Employee Ownership vs. Traditional Capitalism: Insights from Ian Hiscock
What happens when you flip the traditional business pyramid upside down? In this episode, I sit down with Ian Hiscock, founder of IHC Limited and a seasoned voice in the UK employee ownership sector. After 30 years at the iconic John...
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44:21
Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership Series - Day 3
Host Andy Farquharson closes out Day 3 of the Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership with quick hits from the field. From the human side of ownership and employee wellbeing, to governance trade-offs in one-person-one-vote systems, to fin...
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7:57
Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership Series - Day 2
Join Andy Farquharson as he hosts a special series live from the Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership. Day two was filled with deep dives into various forms of employee ownership and impact investing, featuring insightful conversations with i...
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10:16
Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership Series - Day 1
Join us as we delve into the highlights of the Employee Ownership Symposium, featuring insights from industry leaders like Karen McGuire, Chair of Employee Ownership Ireland, and Pascal Nieuwland-Jansen, Director ...
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9:45
Alternative Exit #32 | The Honest Truth about Employee Ownership: Lesson from Founder Turned Advisor
What happens when a founder realizes they're no longer the most passionate person in the room about their business's future? In this episode, I sit down with Chris Maslin, who made the bold decision to transition his accounting firm Maslin to a...
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38:58
Alternative Exit #31 | How to Exit Without Leaving: Tim Rettig’s Playbook for Purposeful Ownership
Alternative Exit #031 | How to Exit Without Leaving: Tim Rettig’s Playbook for Purposeful OwnershipWhat happens when you witness the worst possible exit scenario and vow never to repeat it? In this episode, I sit down with Tim Ret...
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37:19
Alternative Exit #30 | From Ownership to Legacy: Barry Horner’s Journey to Employee Empowerment
What happens when a traditional exit strategy feels like value destruction rather than creation? In this episode, I sit down with Barry Horner, co-founder and executive chair of Paradigm North, one of the UK's leading financial planning firms. ...
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Episode 30
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50:21
Alternative Exit #29 | The Exit That Gives Back: Mike Brady on Selling Without Selling Out
What happens when a strategy consultant turns social entrepreneur and then becomes a champion for employee ownership? In this episode, I sit down with Mike Brady, co-founder of 40 Million Owners, to explore his fascinating journey from PWC stra...
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Episode 29
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40:48
Alternative Exit #28 | Building an Ownership Culture with Dr. Ellen Frank-Miller
Episode Summary:In this episode of The Alternative Exit Podcast, Andy Farquharson is joined by Dr. Ellen Frank-Miller, a seasoned expert in workforce research and organizational development. Ellen, the founder and CEO of the Workf...
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Episode 28
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48:54
Alternative Exit #27 | From Awareness to Action: Scaling EO Through Tech and Trust
Episode Summary:What if small business owners could explore employee ownership with clarity, confidence, and tools built just for them? In this episode, I’m joined by Sonali Kothari, Co-founder, Chief Product Officer, and Chief Operating Of...
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Episode 27
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40:13
Alternative Exit #26 | Leading with Heart: Arabella Lewis-Smith on the Power of EO
What does it take to let go of your business—and hand it over to your team? In this episode, I sit down with Arabella Lewis-Smith, founder and managing director of the creative agency Salad, to explore her journey from sole owner to 100% employ...
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Episode 26
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39:27
Alternative Exit #25 | Turning Scraps into Soil and Shared Power: The Rust Belt Riders Story
Episode Summary:Ever wondered what it really takes to turn a grassroots composting hustle into a thriving, worker-owned enterprise? This conversation with Michael Robinson, co-founder of Rust Belt Riders, takes us inside that transformat...
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Episode 25
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39:51
Alternative Exit #24 | Unlocking the Donut Economy Through Employee Ownership
Episode Summary:In today’s episode of The Alternative Exit, I’m joined by Erinch Sahan, Business and Enterprise Lead at the Donut Economics Action Lab. Erinch brings a bold new lens to our conversations on ownership, rooted in his work w...
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Episode 24
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34:23
Alternative Exit #23 | From Employee to Owner: Igniting the Entrepreneurial Mindset
Episode Summary:Today’s episode offers a fresh perspective—from the employee’s seat. I’m joined by the brilliant and energetic Sam Moles, who brings a front-line view into what employee ownership actually looks like day-to-day. As a Tru...
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Episode 23
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39:26
Alternative Exit #22 | Building a European Future Through Employee Ownership
Episode Summary:In this episode of The Alternative Exit Podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Tej Gonza—researcher, author, and co-founder of the Institute for Economic Democracy in Slovenia. Tej is a powerful voice in the global employee o...
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Episode 22
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47:22
Alternative Exit #21 | Scaling Employee Ownership, One State at a Time
Episode Summary:For today's episode of The Alternative Exit Podcast, I'm joined by Steve Storkan, Executive Director of the Employee Ownership Expansion Network (EOX). With over 25 years of experience in the employee ownership sp...
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Episode 21
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34:25
