#139: When it’s time to explore the other side of fear and chase a dream with Ant Duckworth

Another Door Stories

"I made the decision to jump off that entrepreneurial ledge, which was incredibly intimidating at the time… But, I was so compelled to see what was on the other side of fear, which was leaving full time, gainful, fantastic employment and chase a dream"

In today's episode, we have Ant Duckworth, the co-founder of Dear Coco.

I’ve been following Ant’s journey and the evolution of ‘Dear Coco’, his award winning coffee truck, since the dream started. We all have these tiny ideas, small dreams, but how many of us decide to take action and step into trying, and giving it a go.

Ant shares the moment he decided to go for it, and how he now navigates each step to be very intentional with where his business goes. He shares the importance of setting rules and guiding values for yourself - he has his Five Codes he lives by. The first rule being ‘owning the dark’ - the concept of acknowledging the most defining, meaningful work happens in the dark away from the spotlight when no one is watching.

Ant has made that corporate to entrepreneur leap, from director at American Express to owner of a coffee truck in a side street in London. Dear Coco is growing, and continues to make its mark in the competitive coffee market. It's a story to encourage you to take tiny steps to action your small flickering flame of an idea, and when the moment is right, back yourself to make it happen.

Here are the highlights:

06:05 Launched renowned coffee truck as side hustle.

10:19 From surfing to serving London's best coffee from a truck.

20:43 Coffee truck work: it’s hard, challenging but extremely rewarding.

31:10 Maximize life through personal code and improvement.

36:06 Relatability attracts non-coffee followers online.

43:48 Confront fears; make the jump despite resistance.

The things that helped Ant navigate change.

Music: Jack Johnson

The one piece of advice: “There is something great and powerful sitting on the other side of fear. Maybe fear is stopping you from reaching out and grabbing the door handle and walking through. But know that there is something very valuable on the other side of that fear for you.”

More about Ant

Ant is Founder & CEO of Dear Coco Coffee, former International Marketing Director for American Express, Australian surfer, father of three daughters and coffee lover.

Ant spent 16 years leading International Experiential Marketing teams within some of the world’s most powerful brands. In 2021, during a global pandemic Ant built Dear Coco as a side hustle to his corporate career. He built the business as a love letter to his youngest daughter, Coco.

In three years, Dear Coco became the world’s most popular and successful coffee truck, with a cult local and global following. It is the most followed coffee truck in the world on Instagram.

Ant is now full-time Founder & CEO growing venture-backed Dear Coco into the world's next great coffee company and enabling other coffee entrepreneurs.

Instagram @dearcocolondon

Website www.dearcoco.com

More about the host Eleanor

Eleanor supports individuals, teams and organisations through change. Whether it’s 121 coaching or large scale organisational change through communications and training. Eleanor’s work centres around how we, as humans, work through change, embracing the messy bits, the role of playing, with the aim to see opportunity. “Too often we get stuck in the change happening to us, when just through that next door is an exciting next chapter.”

Eleanor is the founder of Another Door and the author of Why losing your job could be the best thing that ever happened to you.

Instagram:instagram/anotherdooruk

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-tweddell/

Website: eleanortweddell.com

Produced by winteraudio.co.uk