Show notes
Hi there and welcome back to another edition of ScaleUp Radio, the podcast brought to you by Smart90, inspired by the Entrepreneurial ScaleUp System and designed to make navigating our ScaleUp journeys that little bit easier by learning from others' experiences.
I’m Kevin Brent, and in today’s episode I’m joined by Nigel Hughes, a former professional performer turned leadership advisor and founder of Outstanding Global.
Nigel’s journey is anything but ordinary. At just 13 years old, he chose ballet over the Marines — a decision that marked the beginning of a 20-year career on stage and eventually led him into the world of leadership development and sustainability advocacy.
We cover a lot of ground in this conversation, which is structured into three parts:
- First, we dive into Nigel’s business, the philosophy behind Outstanding Global, and where he is on his ScaleUp journey.
- Then, we explore Nigel’s unique approach to the challenges of scaling, including his thoughts on mindset, identity, and the ScaleUp Challenges Report.
- And finally, we round off with a few quickfire questions to get to know Nigel that little bit better.
One of the standout messages from this episode is Nigel’s call to “stand up for who you are” — a timely reminder for leaders navigating uncertain environments.
The one key thing I took away from this conversation?
If you want to lead effectively, you must shift from being a reactive victim to a proactive chooser — and Nigel shares exactly how to do that with a practical framework you can use right away.
👉 Quick heads-up — we’re looking for a handful of founders to test our new AI-powered Smart90 Lite app. It’s built to help you stay accountable and actually deliver on your goals — in just a few minutes a day. It’s free while we’re in testing, and your feedback will directly shape the final version. You can get access by emailing kevin@biz-smart.co.uk.
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For now, continue listening for the full discussion with Nigel.
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Nigel can be found here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigel-hughes-outstanding-global/
https://www.outstanding.global/
Resources:
Becky Hemsley Poem ‘Breathe’ - https://www.thethinkingproject.co.uk/poemsofathinkingenvironment/breathebybeckyhemsley