He Turned Down His Dream Car. Do the Right Things When No One's Watching | Graeme Kelly

Graeme Kelly turned down his dream car in January 2020. Two months later, Covid hit. Because he hadn't taken the dividend, he was able to pay every single member of his staff their full wage for the entire duration of the pandemic. Nobody left the business. Nobody was let down. He didn't tell anyone at the time. He just did it because it was the right thing to do. That's the kind of leader Graeme Kelly is. In episode three of Football for Breakfast, Jim Johnson sits down with Graeme in the greasy spoon cafe to talk about football, people and what happens when you put both at the heart of everything you do. They start in the mid-80s at Anfield - Graeme's first game, Liverpool versus Nottingham Forest, a two nil win against a side still carrying the DNA of Brian Clough's greatest teams. It opens up a brilliant conversation about Forest's place in football history, back to back European Cups, the rivalry that existed outside of United and Everton, and what it means to have that kind of pedigree stitched into a club's identity. From there they move through the 2005 Champions League run - the Chelsea semi-final that Graeme describes as the only time he has ever been genuinely scared at a football match, the atmosphere wound up by Mourinho, the ghost goal - and then Istanbul. Two days after Liverpool's extraordinary comeback against AC Milan, Graeme found himself at a Kenny Dalglish charity night at the Grafton. A bin bag went round. He put his name on a fiver three or four times. Andy pulled his name out. He won a Nike Total 90 Premier League ball signed by the entire Champions League squad. He brought it to the table. In the second half, Graeme talks about a career built entirely around one belief - that without people, you can't do anything. From running a bookmakers as a community hub for older residents during his university years, to turning around a 100-staff engineering business during the 2008 recession and growing it 60% while the country was on its knees, to quadrupling a packaging business under a mentor who could dictate a professional letter at 90 miles an hour on the M6 without missing a beat. The through line in every chapter is the same. Do the right things when no one's watching. Look after your people and they will look after you. Jim asks him at the end whether football taught him any of that. His answer is worth the price of admission alone. This is Football for Breakfast. Cafes. Clubs. Communities. Culture. ⏱ CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 00:33 Welcome to Football for Breakfast 01:00 Football programmes and what we've lost 06:10 Time added on, VAR and the human element in football 09:13 Graeme's earliest football memory - Liverpool v Forest 12:55 Brian Clough, Derby, Forest and back to back European Cups 14:47 European royalty - Forest, Villa and what pedigree means 16:15 Hillsborough, Liverpool v Forest and a minute's silence 18:10 What football means - family, community and the great equaliser 22:00 Why Liverpool and a family of red, white and blue 24:40 Graeme's grassroots team - Ashville FC in the early 90s 26:43 OSS Security - presented by OSS Security 27:38 How Graeme got to where he is today 29:02 Running a bookmakers as a community hub at university 31:44 Turning around a 100-staff engineering business in recession 33:08 Growing 60% during the 2008 crash 34:07 Being headhunted into the packaging industry 35:27 A mentor who could sell anything - and what Graeme learned 37:31 Paying it forward - what his team would say about him 38:53 Turning down his dream car in January 2020 39:40 Covid hits - and why that decision changed everything 41:46 Did football teach you any of this? 44:31 The signed Champions League ball from the Grafton 47:42 Penalty shootout - five quickfire questions 48:07 The one result Graeme will never get over - and it's not Istanbul 49:30 Graeme becomes a Good Companion 🎙 ABOUT GRAEME KELLY Graeme Kelly is a business leader with a career spanning retail, engineering and manufacturing. He has grown businesses through recession and crisis by putting people at the heart of everything. His philosophy is simple: do the right things when no one's watching. 🔗 LINKS OSS Security: osssecurity.com Football for Breakfast newsletter: footballforbreakfastpod.com/newsletter 🎧 LISTEN ON SPOTIFY & APPLE PODCASTS Search Football for Breakfast or find us via the links in the bio. Football for Breakfast is a production by The Good Companions, presented by OSS Security. New episode every Tuesday morning. #FootballForBreakfast #GraemeKelly #FootballPodcast #Liverpool #LiverpoolFC #Istanbul2005 #Leadership #BusinessPodcast #FootballCulture #PeopleFirst #GoodCompanions