As heard on Radio Woking!

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Time to read: 4 minutes

Well, 2024 got off to a fun start this week as Smiles At School founder Danny Higgins appeared on the Voice of Business radio show on Radio Woking, hosted by the epic Nell Op de Beeck!

And what a show it was! A full (unplanned) two hours of chatting School Photography, getting the best from your School photographer,  how to run a growing business whilst raising two children, and the good and bad of Disney movie tunes! No stone was left unturned…

You can listen to Danny on ‘The Voice Of Business’ by visiting Radio Woking on Mixcloud

And the bonus hour, if you’re hungry for more

Smiles At School radio interview
Danny & Nell about to go live!

A first for Smiles At School

Whilst Danny has appeared once before on radio (an interview for Radio Milton Keynes talking about vintage makeover photoshoots many moons ago), this was a first for promoting Smiles At School. And what a way to do it! Minutes from arriving, the lovely presenter Nell Op de Beeck cheerfully announced that, due to the next presenter, Roy, being off ill, our 1 hour show would in fact need to be 2 hours! Was Danny up for staying on?

Well, in for a penny… we all know Danny could talk for many hours about his passion for School and Nursery photography, so into the studio they went and after a tune selected by Danny (Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai in case you were wondering) it was headphones on and microphones at the ready…

Big red microphone in the studio
Big red microphone at the ready

What did they talk about?

As a business coach extraordinaire, it didn’t take long for Nell to dive into the history and ambitions of Danny and Smiles At School photography. From humble beginnings in Aylesbury, to running an independent school photography company in Surrey with 5 photographers and hundreds of happy clients, Nell quizzed Danny on how he had built a stable and successful business and how he balanced this with bringing up two small children. But Nell being Nell, the conversation often strayed into the more personal elements of life and those all important questions such as ‘Dogs or Cats’ and the pros and cons of Disney film soundtracks! Nothing was off the menu it seemed!

Rocking out

Not only was Danny able to opine on his business journey and passions, Nell also gave him free rein of the music selection! With 2 hours to fill, tunes were plucked from the virtual jukebox in a ‘Desert Island Discs’ style soundtrack to Danny’s life (a bit of music from his wedding, a tune which reminded him of escaping the corporate world for running his own project), and few off-the-cuff choices which, in retrospect, riffed off the fact we were covering for a poorly DJ (Bad Medicine, anyone?) Anyone who knows Danny well could see how this could get out of control… but Nell kept on top of things, thankfully!

The future

The epic transmission finally drew to a close with the future plans of Smiles at School Photography – a business that is growing fast and has its sights set on more photographers, and more collaborations with their wonderful clients. And as the two left the studio finally at 10pm, a plan was hatched… maybe a return conversation in a year or two to catch up on how Smiles At School continues to bring smiles to even more Schools and Nurseries… and whether Danny’s kids’ Disney preferences have progressed beyond Spidey and Frozen…. time will tell!

Danny Higgins and Nell Op de Beeck on Radio Woking
Danny Higgins and Nell Op de Beeck on Radio Woking

LISTEN AGAIN

You can listen to Danny on ‘The Voice Of Business’ by visiting Radio Woking on Mixcloud

And the bonus hour, if you’re hungry for more

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