Good Leaders Podcast Episode 2 – Susan Aktemel: 'I try super-hard to follow my gut instinct'

Post Reporters 16th December 2022

At Pioneers Post, we’re interested in a specific kind of leader: those who are both trying to make a difference and doing business differently. In our Good Leaders podcast, founding editor Tim West meets some of the best and brightest of social enterprise, impact investing and mission-driven business for a series of candid conversations – expect to be surprised. This month: award-winning founder of Homes for Good, Susan Aktemel.

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With nearly three decades of experience in social entrepreneurship, award-winning Susan Aktemel has blazed a trail as the founder and executive director of Homes for Good, Scotland’s first social enterprise letting agency. Founded in 2014, the company provides affordable, quality housing for people on low incomes in Glasgow and the west of Scotland; it has built a stellar reputation among social investors and attracted more than £15m in investment to date. Aktemel is now also a non-executive director at Social Investment Scotland, was part of the influential Adebowale Commission on social investment in 2021, and has been named one of the top women in social enterprise in our NatWest WISE100 index.

Gut instinct is not some nebulous feeling... it’s past experience that's telling you that this decision you’re about to make is maybe not the right thing

On the podcast, she opens up about starting her social enterprise on her own in a cafe, the dangers of burnout, and how experience can teach you to be a good leader.

Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts for the full conversation, and catch up on more episodes in this series.

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