Peter Kelly, Royal Marine & CEO at imployable

Land, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed Forces

“I lost my purpose at that point… I had no mission and I really started contemplating what I'd done wrong. I couldn't go back…”

A far cry from Entrepreneur of the Year, Peter’s transition from the Royal Marines to the business world was challenging, “I joined a company... my first foray into civilian world… it was a really toxic, horrible environment… probably the worst experience I could've had.”

Months of being unemployed followed leading Peter joined the Reserves, “I kept my rank. I went straight in… and they put me on the Royal Navy officer training team.… and I was basically just thrashing these Navy officers… because I was a drill instructor, so it kind of worked... and that saved me...”

Peter found the motivation to help himself and spent 6 weeks on YouTube learning how to build websites, then pitched to his first customer, “ ‘I'll do it for 50 quid’. He was like, ‘50 quid?!’ I was like, 'Look, mate, I'm gash… I'm not amazing, but it’ll be something that gives you a bit of presence…' and he's still got it!”

The entrepreneurial seeds were sewn, “… a load of lads started coming out of The Corps and I started building websites… I smashed them out quite quickly but it was a great little niche because people coming out of the forces couldn't afford a £2-3,000 website and they didn't really know anything about business to be able to start that side up… I always said to them, 'Look, I will build you a website, it will cost you between 5 to £700… but it will pay for itself within a month… the traction and the customers that you get, will pay that back…”

Fast-forward and Peter’s the 2018/19 Nat West Entrepreneur of the Year and co-founder of the ‘imployable’ App with £1.4 million of private investment. So how does a highly successful businessman end-up laying his soul bare on LinkedIn in the middle of the night, discussing the abuse he experienced as a child?
Listen on.

Hosted by Steve Bomford and Mike Davis-Marks.
Find out more about the Company of Makers or sign up to our newsletter.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
This podcast is supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Ch

If you’re a member of the Armed Forces community and need support with your mental health, Op Courage can help.
Or you could phone the Combat Stress Helpline on: 0800 138 1619
Company of Makers exists to support veterans and their families who are struggling on civvy street no matter how long ago they left the armed forces.
We do this by running a programme of Podcasts | Talks | Workshops.
Company of Makers are trying to reach, and better understand, all members of the armed forces community who are also gamers. We’re especially interested in those that have served in conflicts over the last 30 years.
To find out more contact us.