In this 6‑questions‑in‑7‑minutes interview, Professor Pete Alexander talks with Sam Sethi, a self‑described polymath who works as a podcaster, radio presenter, entrepreneur, coder, martial‑arts instructor, wine importer, Liverpool FC fan, and father. Sam explains that curiosity drives his diverse pursuits and that he finds joy in mentoring others, especially seeing students progress from white‑belt to black‑belt in his dojo. He argues that every company should read the "curiosity" chapter of a hypothetical business book, emphasizing lifelong learning. His advice to leaders is to keep reinventing skills, citing Charles Handy’s The Second Curve and the mantra “old dogs, new tricks,” illustrated with examples of older workers adapting to Zoom and iPads. Sam recommends fellow polymath Dr. Alan Watkins, founder of Complete Curiosity, as a future guest. He recounts his first job as a 16‑year‑old nightclub DJ, highlighting improvisation and boldness. Finally, he shares how listeners can find his current projects: the Sam Talks Technology podcast, the Podland podcast with James Cridland, and his newly launched commercial radio station River.radio in Berkshire, UK.
Chapters
This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Hi, Professor Pete. Thanks for having me. My name's Sam Sethi. I'm a polymath. Many people call me a maverick. Can't quite put me in a box. I'm quite pleased that they can't put me in a box. That means I'm doing something right. In a nutshell, though, let me try and explain. I'm a podcaster. I'm a presenter on the radio. I've been a successful entrepreneur. I code. I teach two martial arts. I'm a wine importer and connoisseur. I support Liverpool football team. For the Americans, that's soccer. And most importantly, I'm a dad.
Oh, you know, Sam, it is an absolute pleasure to have you on the show. Question number 2: What is something that makes you smile and/or laugh about working in your industry?
One of the things I love is I'm curious. Curiosity is what drives me at my core. And what I love to do is start something, learn it from basics, master it. But the key thing for me is to then extend that knowledge back to young people. And so what makes me smile is when I watch people develop. And let me give you one quick example. I can take a child who comes in as a white belt into my dojo, never punched, never kicked, has some very basic motor skills, you know, can't really coordinate. I guarantee you, if they are consistent and persistent through that time— and that's what martial arts teaches them more than anything else, that in this day and age, there's no quick answer. They will walk out as a black belt, but they will walk out as a decent human being. And that is what I love. They— you can mold these people. So what makes me smile is seeing people take opportunities that I can give them and come out the other end with skills I can hopefully share.
Oh, I absolutely love that. And, and it's just that passion that you have in your voice is, is infectious. I love it, it— the way you describe that as well. Question number 3. I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
I think the chapter on curiosity. That is really the only chapter they should read, by the way. It may be packed with other knowledge, but curiosity, for me, the future belongs to the curious. Never stop learning. Never ever. And that's one of the things I teach my children. I started out, you know, in one job and I've done multiple. You know, I've been an army officer, system engineer, entrepreneur. You always have have to keep changing. Albert Einstein said, "I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious." And I fully agree with Albert. Well, who wouldn't? And the point is, you know, that is what drives me. And, you know, I've got a stage of life where I am now, but I know in a few years' time, I'll start the next decade of my next project.
I love that. And, you know, it's so insightful because, you know, if you stop learning, you're just going to become stagnant. And there's a lot of negative things that can can come out of that. So I really appreciate you sharing that, and that's a fantastic chapter. Question number 4: Other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what advice would you give to other business leaders?
You can teach an old dog new tricks. Many people get stuck in their ways, you know, they fail to learn and reinvent themselves. Charles Handy's brilliant book, The Second Curve— highly recommend people read it— is all about starting your path on one skill, but as that skill is reaching its peak, start on the next path. And if COVID's taught us anything, it's taught us that, you know, we had to all learn to do Zoom calls, we all learned to work from home, we had to learn to be disparate teams and work together as one. And if I'd said that to somebody 2 years ago, this is how the future is going to be, they will say, oh no, it's the office-based life, you know, people get stuck in the mud. So I think Old dogs, new tricks. We can do it. And again, it goes back to my thinking on curiosity. Just keep learning.
I really think that that's excellent advice. And especially when I've seen it so many times before in organizations where they look at an older worker who, they think, oh, they're set in their ways, etc. But they miss all the other qualities that somebody like that can bring, like especially like dependability and getting things done. And, you know, they can learn. I mean, I'm now one of those old dogs myself, and I'm continuously learning every day.
Well, my father-in-law is 90, and we've got him to do Zoom calls, right? And he can learn it. And he uses his iPad and he's emailing. This is somebody who didn't grow up in the computer generation, but he's now comfortable, at least on the basic skills. Oh, sorry to interrupt.
Yeah, and it— you just reminded me my mom's the same way. She's 86 with the iPad, emailing, being on Facebook, what have you. So, and she certainly didn't grow up with it either. So wonderful, wonderful advice. Question number 5: What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
Now there's a fine young gentleman called Dr. Alan Watkins. I met him about a 18 months ago. He's a polymath like myself, but unlike myself, he's actually a very smart polymath. He's got multiple degrees. He runs a business called Complete Curiosity. So, you know, you can imagine we're quite aligned, but he does everything from HR to Parliament 2.0 to government to the way we're gonna vote in the future. Brilliant mind, brilliant person. I think he'll be a great guest.
Sure sounds like it. Thank you for that referral. And our final question, question number 6, please tell me about your first job.
My dad, being Indian, said, "Son, you're 16, you need to get out there and work." And I played rugby, and I hated the idea of a Saturday job in a supermarket. So I found a job in the days before the internet. They used to put jobs in windows in cards, you know, I'm that old. And it was to be a nightclub DJ, and I'd never DJ'd in my life. I didn't even own records. So I went in and borrowed a whole bunch of records I'd never mixed, and I went into this nightclub. I had more front than Harrods, and I said to this nightclub owner. Yeah, I've been DJing in New York. I'm 16. Of course he knew I hadn't. So I get up there and I practiced with about 3 records. I knew I could mix those, so I did that. But when I got up there, my, my friend's little 2 turntables turned into this flight Concorde desk where the DJ stand was. I didn't know what to do, so I simply said, you know, just show me the first bits. Anyway, he did. I mixed. I was so nervous. I didn't talk. But in those days there were no mobile phones. Thank God someone rang. He went to the back of the bar, picked up the phone, never listened to anything I did after the first two records, put his phone down and came back and said, you've got the job. And I went, great! That was it. That was my first job, 16. I firmly believe, blag when you can.
Oh, I love it. What a great story. And, and, you know, just truly manifesting, you know, to get a job that you didn't, you know, something other than a supermarket job. So I love that. So Sam, thank you so much for being on the show. How can people find you?
Oh, it's been a pleasure. Thank you, Professor Pete Alexander. Yeah, please find me. I do a podcast on technology leaders called Sam Talks Technology. I also do a podcast with a great guy called James Cridland. It's a podcast about the podcast industry called Podland. And I'm starting, because I love starting stuff, a radio station. Why wouldn't I? Called River Radio. And that's a commercial radio station covering Berkshire here in the UK. With that no knowledge of starting a radio station, I'm throwing myself in and it goes live on the 1st of March. So my gray hairs will get grayer. But if you want to find me there, please do. It's called River.radio.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
