Episode Guest:

Matt Callaghan is the Chief Operating Officer at easyJet Holidays, where he leads customer experience, operations, and long-term strategy. With a background spanning Deloitte, British Airways, and frontline leadership at Heathrow, Matt brings a rare blend of operational grit and strategic vision.

Episode Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

1:23 Why Matt Said Yes to My Duvet Flip

2:14 First Job at Next: Life Lessons from Retail

4:00 Why Students Should Get a Job While Studying

5:24 From No Plan to Deloitte Graduate Scheme

7:01 Taking the First Step Without a 5-Year Plan

8:20 What "All-In" Really Means

10:16 Work-Life Blend and Being Present

13:12 Failing Exams and Bouncing Back

14:43 What Working Hard Means to Matt

17:06 The Power of Curiosity — And Acting on It

18:59 Why Matt Left Deloitte for British Airways

21:00 Moving to London: Expectations vs. Reality

23:00 Feeling Stuck and Choosing to Pivot

24:57 Getting the Heathrow Operations Role Without Airline Experience

27:11 Falling in Love with Aviation

29:00 Why Matt Applied for a Job He Wasn’t Qualified For

30:45 From Terminal 5 to easyJet

32:11 A Global Role That Wasn’t Sustainable

33:02 Joining easyJet and Shaping Strategy

34:46 Building easyJet Holidays from the Ground Up

36:00 Why easyJet Holidays Is a Special Place to Work

37:43 Life Lesson: What Fostering Taught Matt About Leadership

40:18 Matt’s Duvet Flip: Creating Joy and Connection Through Travel

Episode Partners

📊 Compare the Market

Discover how you can make a difference at Compare the Market, the company behind one of the UK’s most popular comparison sites. From tech and data to marketing and operations, they’re on a mission to simplify decisions for millions.

https://bit.ly/4i53Svj

Disclaimer:

The content provided on Duvet Flip is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. The views expressed by hosts, guests, brands or contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the show's producers, sponsors, or affiliates. The information shared is not a substitute for professional advice, including but not limited to career counseling, financial guidance, legal consultation, or mental health support.

Listeners and viewers are responsible for their own decisions and actions based on the content provided, and Duvet Flip assumes no liability for any outcomes resulting from reliance on the information shared. By engaging with the show, you acknowledge and agree to this disclaimer.

If you’re struggling with debt, trusted advice and free support can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/debt-advice

If you’re struggling with mental health of any kind, you can find free support here: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/

Episode Guest:

Sam Sims is the Chief Executive of National Numeracy, with a career rooted in empowering individuals through confidence-building and lifelong learning. His work focuses on supporting those often overlooked to realise their potential with the right tools and encouragement.

Episode Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

0:32 Meet Sam Sims, CEO of National Numeracy

1:13 What National Numeracy does

1:54 Sam’s early work and first jobs

3:06 Lessons from the call centre

4:18 How Sam built confidence as an introvert

5:21 Honest talk on imposter syndrome

6:16 Why networking is Sam’s greatest professional tool

7:23 The right (and wrong) way to network

8:55 From research to running his own business

10:11 What his first company was really about

11:02 When business plans don’t go to plan

11:42 Discovering purpose through volunteering in the US

13:10 Helping a teenager unlock maths confidence

14:19 Why confidence is more important than skill

15:06 The long-term impact of belief and encouragement

15:52 Why Sam joined the charity sector

17:02 What keeps him motivated in the third sector

17:51 Why volunteering is the engine behind social impact

18:37 National Numeracy’s biggest annual campaign

19:45 The power of their partnership with Compare the Market

21:00 How number confidence connects to money

22:01 Why financial literacy is about mindset first

23:00 Sam’s biggest money regret

24:06 One money tip Sam wishes he knew at 18

25:00 Helping communities through local volunteers

26:04 What the charity sector gives back to professionals

27:13 The best work-life lesson Sam ever received

28:09 Sam’s final message on confidence and belief

29:00 What gets Sam out of bed in the morning — his duvet flip

Episode Partners:

📊 Compare the Market

Discover how you can make a difference at Compare the Market, the company behind one of the UK’s most popular comparison sites. From tech and data to marketing and operations, they’re on a mission to simplify decisions for millions.

https://bit.ly/4i53Svj

Disclaimer:

The content provided on Duvet Flip is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. The views expressed by hosts, guests, brands or contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the show's producers, sponsors, or affiliates. The information shared is not a substitute for professional advice, including but not limited to career counseling, financial guidance, legal consultation, or mental health support.

Listeners and viewers are responsible for their own decisions and actions based on the content provided, and Duvet Flip assumes no liability for any outcomes resulting from reliance on the information shared. By engaging with the show, you acknowledge and agree to this disclaimer.

If you’re struggling with debt, trusted advice and free support can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/debt-advice

If you’re struggling with mental health of any kind, you can find free support here: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/

Episode Guest:

Lukas Kaminskis is the CEO of Boom Training and Turing College, two organisations focused on transforming tech education across Europe. He’s a serial entrepreneur passionate about building learner-first experiences that unlock economic mobility.

Benas Sidlauskas is the Chief Business Development Officer at Boom Training and Turing College. A long-time co-founder with Lukas, Benas is driven by creating scalable education models that equip people for the future of work.

Episode Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

0:20 Meet Lukas and Benas: Co-Founders of Turing College

1:00 From debating rivals to co-founders

2:00 Lukas' first job: rats, grain, and coding bootcamps

3:20 Why Lukas turned down a political path

5:00 Benas’ first hustle: filmmaking at 14

6:15 The presidential film project that changed everything

7:30 Growing up in small towns, dreaming big

8:45 Turning down top universities to start something new

10:00 Investors said no — so they bootstrapped from scratch

11:20 Explaining bootstrapping: lessons and mindset

12:40 Organising events without a legal entity

14:00 Partnering with Harvard — and how Facebook helped

15:20 Getting government backing to bring CS50 to Europe

16:45 Flying to Boston and signing with Harvard

17:30 What Turing College actually does

18:40 Why AI and data skills matter more than ever

20:10 Scaling across 80+ countries

21:20 Impact stories from Uganda and Nigeria

22:40 Acquiring Boom Training and expanding in the UK

24:10 The apprenticeship system — and how they’re transforming it

25:20 Peer-led learning: the secret behind their model

26:30 What makes UK apprenticeships restrictive

28:00 Levy funding: what SMEs are missing out on

29:30 Why upskilling needs to go beyond senior leaders

31:00 What Europe must do to stay competitive in AI

32:00 Lukas on AI’s impact on the labour market

33:30 The financial mindset that helped them grow

34:20 Benas’ biggest money mistake

35:10 Lukas’ #1 advice on investing in yourself

36:00 Money tip: Spend first on “musts”, then “wants”

37:10 What success looks like in 5 years

38:20 Why education must evolve now

39:30 What’s broken in the system — and their fix

40:30 Their message to young people: take control

41:20 Their message to businesses: don’t forget the non-power users

42:20 Benas’ invisible success: resilience through rejection

43:20 Lukas’ invisible success: 10-year co-foundership

44:30 How they complement each other as co-founders

45:30 What gets Lukas out of bed: fixing the future of work

46:20 What motivates Benas: belief in Europe’s innovation potential

47:40 Jack’s reflections and final thoughts

48:40 Outro and thanks

Episode Partners:

📊 Compare the Market

Discover how you can make a difference at Compare the Market, the company behind one of the UK’s most popular comparison sites. From tech and data to marketing and operations, they’re on a mission to simplify decisions for millions.

https://bit.ly/4i53Svj

Disclaimer:

The content provided on Duvet Flip is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. The views expressed by hosts, guests, brands or contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the show's producers, sponsors, or affiliates. The information shared is not a substitute for professional advice, including but not limited to career counseling, financial guidance, legal consultation, or mental health support.

Listeners and viewers are responsible for their own decisions and actions based on the content provided, and Duvet Flip assumes no liability for any outcomes resulting from reliance on the information shared. By engaging with the show, you acknowledge and agree to this disclaimer.

If you’re struggling with debt, trusted advice and free support can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/debt-advice

If you’re struggling with mental health of any kind, you can find free support here: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/