What You Learn When The Ship Is Sinking

What can a magician teach us about leadership, resilience, and growth?

In this episode of Business Builders Podcast, Ciaran McCormack shares how his early lessons in crowd control and stage presence became the foundations for running one of Ireland and the UK’s most successful retail groups. From balloon animals to Apple, to steering a company through examinership and rebirth, this is a story about creativity, grit, and believing in possibility — even when everything’s on the line.

🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn:

– How a magician’s stagecraft became the foundation for leadership and communication
– What Ciaran learned moving from film school to Apple to the boardroom
– Why naivety can be a strength when stepping into your first CEO role
– How he led a company through examinership and came out stronger
– What it takes to scale from £17M to £210M without losing culture or drive

Whether you’re building a business, leading a team, or redefining what success means, this episode is packed with grounded, human insight on confidence, growth, and resilience.

⏱️ Timestamps / Chapters

00:00 – The queue-jumping lesson that started it all
03:00 – How a Paul Daniels magic set changed his life
07:00 – From film school to Apple: falling into leadership
13:00 – Becoming CEO at 34 and learning the hard way
18:00 – Rapid growth, self-belief, and imposter syndrome
22:00 – Steering a company through crisis and examinership
30:00 – Buying the business and rebranding for the future
36:00 – Acquiring DID Electrical & scaling to 312 million
41:00 – The juggling act of leadership and life balance
44:00 – What keeps him up at night, and what drives him forward
49:00 – The meaning of success and staying emotionally present

🎙️ Host: Conor Kearney

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Видео What You Learn When The Ship Is Sinking канала Business Builders Podcast