A WALTON businessman has created a podcast to champion ‘talented’ small businesses in Warrington in the hopes that it can raise the profile of the town across the UK.
Mark Dickson, 54, started making the Local Heroes podcast in April after a piece of his clothing from his small skateboarding business, Liberalis, was spotted by Prism Studio.
A contractor by trade, Mark has been working on his business for around seven years and was inspired to create a podcast highlighting the work of other entrepreneurs in Warrington.
“It struck me around the value of people who are giving it a go,” he said.
“When you see things like shops which have closed, that’s the end of someone’s dreams and people don’t really see that.
“But then what you realise is everywhere in Warrington there are people who are running businesses out of their back garden.
“There is so much talent in Warrington.”
Seven episodes of the podcast have been released so far (Image: Prism Studios)
So far, seven episodes of the podcast have been released, all featuring a different person from Warrington talking about their story.
Mark feels that he isn’t just interviewing the people he has on the podcast, but that he has learnt something from each of them too.
“There is one consistent theme that runs through everyone, be it the sportspeople, nutrition people or even those that run a pet store – it’s about being committed and really focussing on one thing well,” he said.
“If you’re not committed and you’re not willing to focus, the business will never succeed."
The podcast is primarily recorded in a studio in Warrington (Image: Prism Studios)
Moving forward, Mark hopes that he can continue to platform small businesses and champion their success stories, helping make people from across the town and beyond aware of the talent in Warrington.
“I would like it to be a really buoyant collaborative voice for the talent in Warrington,” he said.
“Perhaps the Local Heroes podcast might direct you to a gym that you know are trusted because they’ve been on the podcast.
“Hopefully we can raise the profile of Warrington nationally.”
A new episode is recorded every Tuesday, and anyone wishing to go on the podcast themselves should message the Local Heroes account on Instagram or email mark@liberalisx.com.
The podcast is available to listen to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Amazon.
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