Episode 8

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Published on:

29th Jan 2026

Ep 8 - Turning Redundancy into a New Beginning

with Alec Pearson, Lizzie Cousins and Chelsea Dickinson.

In this episode, Alec Pearson speaks to Lizzie Cousins and Chelsea Dickinson from C&D Debt Recovery to uncover how a moment that could have stopped their careers instead sparked a bold new chapter.

After finding themselves redundant, Lizzie and Chelsea took a leap many think about but few commit to — building a business of their own. What follows is a grounded conversation about resilience, partnership and the practical realities of starting again.

In this conversation we explore:

  1. How redundancy became the catalyst for launching C&D Debt Recovery
  2. The early decisions, preparation and homework that set them up for success
  3. Why communication and shared values are the backbone of their partnership
  4. The leadership qualities they lean on most — honesty, integrity and confidence
  5. The balance between working in the business and building on it
  6. Strategy, growth and the importance of taking steady, sustainable steps
  7. What they’ve learned — and what they want others to know before making the leap

Whether you're considering a business of your own, navigating uncertainty or simply curious about the realities behind a start-up story, this episode offers encouragement, insight and practical takeaways.

You can find out more about C&D Debt Recovery at: https://candddebtrecovery.co.uk/

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About the Podcast

Beyond Leading
Beyond Leading explores leadership as it really happens. Across self, teams, organisations and the boardroom. Decisions, pressures and situations that rarely fit neatly into a framework. Hosted by Executive Coach & Non-Executive Director Alec Pearson.
Leadership is never only about the leader.


Beyond Leading is for people who want to understand what is really going on when leadership gets complicated — when teams get stuck, decisions aren't clear, businesses change, relationships become difficult or the usual leadership advice simply isn't enough.


Hosted by executive coach and Non-Executive Director Alec Pearson, the podcast explores the whole leadership system — from self-awareness, confidence and behaviour, through trust, conflict and team dynamics, to decision-making, accountability, organisational performance, executive leadership and the boardroom.


Each episode is designed to make you think differently about the situations you are dealing with. Not by offering another neat five-step formula, but by looking beneath the surface, challenging assumptions and asking the questions that are easy to miss.


Through solo episodes and conversations with leaders, business owners, coaches and specialists, Beyond Leading helps you make better sense of yourself, your team and the organisation around you.


Because what happens in one part of the system rarely stays there.

🎙 Beyond Leading — and everything in between.

About your host

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Alec Pearson

I'm Alec Pearson, Non-Executive Director, Board Advisor and Executive Coach, with more than 30 years' experience across professional services, law, technology, manufacturing, transport and founder-led SMEs.

I've spent much of my career working in and around leadership, leading teams, advising businesses, coaching senior leaders and working with boards on the decisions, relationships and challenges that shape organisations.

Today, I work with boards, executives and business leaders when the stakes are higher, the answers are less obvious and clarity matters. My approach combines independent board-level thinking with a coaching lens: pragmatic, people-aware, challenging when needed, and grounded in the realities of leadership and business.

Beyond Leading grew out of that experience.

It's the podcast I wish had existed earlier in my career. One that looks beyond leadership theory and explores what is really happening across the whole leadership system: ourselves, the people around us, our teams, our organisations and the boardroom.

Some episodes are reflections on the patterns I see in leadership and business. Others bring together leaders, business owners, coaches and specialists with experience and perspectives worth exploring.

The aim is not to offer another neat leadership formula. It's to ask better questions, challenge assumptions and make sense of the situations that rarely fit neatly into a framework.

That's what Beyond Leading is about — leadership as it really happens, and everything in between.