This is Rebellion Podcast Ep1 Humble Beginnings

Welcome to This Is Rebellion Podcast: Real Talks on Business, Mental Health & Community

Join host Chris in the inaugural episode of the Rebellion Podcast, where he introduces himself and shares his journey as an entrepreneur, gamer, musician, and motorcycle enthusiast. Chris discusses his ventures, including a coffee shop and screen printing studio in North Cornwall, while candidly exploring the challenges of podcasting, mental health, and imposter syndrome. This episode establishes the core values of honesty, mental health, and community, promising realistic perspectives on business and life without false promises. Tune in for genuine connections and meaningful discussions on topics from business to hobbies like video games and motorcycles.

00:00 Welcome to the Rebellion Podcast
00:30 Meet Chris: Entrepreneur and Gamer
01:22 Passion for Motorcycles
01:55 Musical Journey
02:41 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
02:59 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
04:27 Trusting Your Gut in Business
05:04 Realistic Business Perspectives
07:43 Mental Health and Personal Struggles
09:03 Building a Supportive Community
09:33 Foundations of the Podcast
10:15 Conclusion and Next Steps

Thank you for listening. New episode every Monday.

Transcript

0:00

Hi, my name is Chris and This is Rebellion Podcast. So welcome to the first ever episode of This is Rebellion.. I think in this episode, I just want to introduce myself properly and talk about the ideas of this podcast, where I think this is going to go, or at least talk about the foundations. So I'll start by introducing myself. My name is Chris. I am an entrepreneur or what society would refer to as an entrepreneur. I don't feel comfortable with that word myself. I have a small coffee shop in North Cornwall called House of Chaplin and a screen printing studio called Rebellion Screen Printing Co. I am an avid gamer. I have been since, like, yay big, like tiny. I remember the spectrum ZX days when you put tape into the machine there and watch the screen for five minutes whilst it loaded, a little image would appear if anyone remembers that? The game would probably crash after about 10 minutes of playing but you did the whole thing again. It's a bit different now, when I get an opportunity to I'll probably hit the playstation 5, helps me chill out and unwind a bit. I love motorcycles. I have two. I have a Suzuki SV650 and a Triumph Bobber. The Triumph Bobber, I absolutely love. The SV, I love too, but it's like my everyday bike. The Triumph Bobber is kind of like a little buddy of mine. It's my get out of jail free card. I can just take half an hour or an hour and ride out somewhere. My head is completely reset and I'm able to approach things. And if I'm having like a bad day or something, I can reset that and yeah, get back to basics. I was a musician from the age of 17 for about 15 years. I started out in a grunge band. We were originally signed to like an indie label. Ultimately I ended up being a solo artist based in Oxford and eventually I released a studio album called Behind Horizons, which is on Apple Music and Spotify. If you would like to check that out, that would be nice! As the podcast goes on, I may refer to some of the times or some of the experiences I had during that time of being a musician. Like some of it was incredibly fruitful and enjoyable, whilst it was really hard at times. I don't regret it for a second. You can probably see in the back, I've got an acoustic there, I've got a couple of other guitars, but I don't really play much anymore. Like I used to, it used to be like my life passion. So at this podcast's inception, and since then I've had a lot of resistance within myself to do this and put this out. So if you're watching this, I've overcome quite a big hurdle there. A lot of feelings of imposter syndrome and like, why would you do that? Why would you put yourself out there and leave yourself exposed and vulnerable? I think there's a lot of positive things that can come out of this, not just for me, but maybe for other people who are early days entrepreneur starting a business, starting out and the kind of the ups and downs that brings. I was out there searching for content of somebody kind of this side of the fence. The ones that I've listened to and found so far on various social media kind of platforms are coming at the perspective of they've already made it and they're telling you how you can make it too. But a lot of them are pretty cagey about. How they got there and the things that they did. Most people talk about sacrifice. And obviously when it comes to owning your own business, there is a huge amount of sacrifice in life and it isn't always easy, but I would never be one to tell somebody not to do something or pursue something because of the possibilities of things going wrong or leading you down a certain path. Look, if it feels right to you, do it. It will always lead you to the place you need to be at that point in your life. If I'd listened to some of the people, when I started out, even close, friends and family, I wouldn't have done the coffee shop. I wouldn't have that coffee shop now. I wouldn't have the screen printing studio now. I wouldn't have the things that I have. I wouldn't even have the bike. So, whilst it isn't easy, I think following your gut and business is a massive thing and doing what feels right, listen to what that inner self is telling you and that will guide you down the right road, the right path. And I'm speaking from experience there. I still always have this feeling that I'm not doing enough and I need to push more, I need to grow, not just inside, not just in the business, but like altogether. I'm pretty hard on myself. Even doing this podcast stems from one of those feelings. This is another one of those things though that I was just talking about that feels right and feels like I should do. Whether it bites me in the ass or whatever else It will still lead me to the place that I need to be at that point in my life We'll get more into business as this podcast goes on I will be quite open and talk about that and where I stand. It will be coming from this side of the fence not from the perspective of a multi millionaire who's telling you to give up This and to focus on this and to be a better person to wake up work out do all these things You I'm coming from like a real kind of perspective. I have a family. I have two boys. I have rent to pay and all these things and staff. I'm going to come at this from Realistic this side of the fence and i'm not saying for a second that those people are wrong or Have a jaded perspective or a bit out of touch That's not what I would say about these people there, but they are speaking from a place of success and they are speaking from a place from somebody who maybe has sacrificed a lot and made those sacrifices and were able to make those sacrifices. Also, I want to point out and this is really important That there's a lot of bullshit out there too huge amount. Like when I started watching different kinds of business videos a lot more kind of the algorithm set and a lot more of these things started to pop up I clicked on a few and they're just like utter shite. When you see a thumbnail that is a person sitting on a million pounds or a hundred thousand pounds and they're saying, three months and you can achieve this. Man, good for you, but that's not what I'm selling here and I'm not going to be saying that. What you'll get from this podcast is honesty and what you'll get from this podcast is sincerity as well. You won't see me driving around in a Ferrari in three months time telling you that you can get this Ferrari in three months... because even if I did have the money, I just wouldn't do that. So, I think that's the business aspect covered to the podcast. I'm hoping it's not too wishy washy, but this is the first one. I need to do this, I need to get this out, because if I get this out, it's like a hurdle that I've crossed and I can then pursue doing more of these. Then maybe have more of a formula to them and talk about things that, a certain topic. At that moment or a certain topic for that whole episode. Right now even as I'm talking about this, it's like I don't remember what I've just said. The editing software is going to come massively in handy here. So the other side is quite a delicate side It's the mental health aspect. I would like to bring to you the podcast as somebody who experiences low moods and rough mornings and has to put extra effort in some days to get through. Again, there's a lot out there and a lot of content that's really helpful and luckily and thankfully a lot of charities out there now that help with mental health. I tend to try and white knuckle it myself and it doesn't always work. It leads me sometimes into holes and I have to get out of those. I just recommend doing what is right for you. If you do suffer from mental health issues and do struggle with low moods and whatever else. You need to do, what's right for you. I think mental health is one of those things. Like if I wake up and I'm feeling horrendous, I still have to leave the house and I still have to go and do what I need to do, even this morning. I woke up and I'd promised myself that I'd do this today, but I didn't want to, and there was more resistance then. But I'm still sitting here doing it. So the mental health aspect will come into this. I want to be honest and sincere, again. I think that's really important and I won't always get things right. I'm just talking from personal experience and I'm learning every day. Like, I'm 41 years old, but you know, still times have changed so quickly. I'm still catching up in a weird way. If you're lucky enough to have six people in your life or six friends that you can call upon and they'll help you out and they understand you, you can be yourself around them and. You're able to communicate on an extremely effective level... you're really lucky to have that. I don't see why that can't be scaled up. I don't see why we can't create a community here of people who are like minded, are honest and are positive, but still struggle sometimes. So to wrap up three things that I would like this podcast, the kind of foundations of this podcast to be set in. It would be, and in no order, no particular order: it would be business, it would be mental health, and it would be community. Those values, that's what I want the foundations to be. And whether we spark off and talk about video games, or whether I get a guest on that's got a business in surfboards, or whatever else? That is what it is, but those are the principles and those are the foundation of This Is Rebellion podcast. So in three months, I'll make you three million pounds. That's not going to happen here, but you will get honesty. It was a short one, but it's the first one and I want to thank you very much if you have listened to this and I hope to see you again in another episode and if you could and I promised myself I would never say this:"if you could like and subscribe, that'd be amazing". The journey starts here. Thank you very much.