Good Journeys: What If the Messy Moments Are the Ones That Matter?

At this year’s Bath Digital Festival, we sit down with Ben Veal, founder of purpose-driven communications consultancy Second Mountain and host of the Good Journeys podcast, for a thoughtful fireside conversation about purpose, resilience and the unexpected paths that define our lives and careers.

Ben’s new book GOOD JOURNEYS brings together reflections and conversations with remarkable people from across the worlds of creativity, entrepreneurship, advocacy and media. From autistic author and advocate Pete Wharmby, to children’s writer Rachel Bright, broadcaster Chris Van Vliet, RHS Chelsea award winning florist Grace Farrimond and many others, the stories explore themes of identity, neurodiversity, leadership, grief, happiness and reinvention.

Many of the conversations began on the Good Journeys podcast, where Ben has spent the past few years asking a deceptively simple question: how do people find meaning and direction when life does not follow the neat path they imagined?

His own journey reflects that same question. After fifteen years in the communications industry, redundancy during the first COVID lockdown became the catalyst for a new chapter. Out of that moment of uncertainty came Second Mountain, a communications consultancy built around helping purpose-driven organisations tell their stories and create meaningful impact.

This session connects directly with the festival’s “What If?” theme. What if the moments of disruption we often resist are actually invitations to rethink what matters? What if success looks different when purpose, family and impact are part of the equation? And what if the stories we tell ourselves about our careers and our lives are still being written?

In conversation, Ben will share the thinking behind the book, the stories that stayed with him long after the microphones were turned off, and what those journeys reveal about navigating modern life with curiosity, honesty and intention.

This session is for anyone interested in the human side of ambition and creativity: founders, freelancers, leaders, storytellers and anyone who has ever found themselves asking what comes next.

Come for the stories behind the book. Leave with a few new questions of your own.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher TechSPARK