Diren Kartal joins James Smith for an honest, often hilarious conversation about what running a small business actually does to you once the money is coming in but the freedom isn't. Diren is a personal trainer and Turkey's number one fitness coach with over 1.2 million followers, and despite bringing in hundreds of thousands a year he can't shake the feeling that none of it sticks. Together they unpick the tax trap that's bleeding British high-earners dry, the brutal "valley of death" stage of scaling, his secret ADHD diagnosis, and why the two of them keep eyeing the exits to Australia, Dubai and Turkey.
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Diren Kartal's YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/DirenKartal
Diren Kartal On Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/diren.kartal/
He explains:
◼️ Why he can earn hundreds of thousands a year and still not feel a penny of it
◼️ The HENRY trap, and why earning over 100k in the UK can quietly leave you worse off
◼️ The secret ADHD diagnosis and meds that finally turned the noise off and let him focus
◼️ Why the rich borrow against their assets instead of selling, and never pay the tax
◼️ Why short-form scrolling left him "depressed and disgusted" and long form is the real comeback
Chapters:
00:00 The Problem With Running A Small Business
01:25 Bringing In Hundreds Of Thousands And Feeling Nothing
01:52 HENRY: High Earner, Not Rich Yet
03:21 The Cost Of Living In London Right Now
04:07 Every Tax Under The Sun
05:25 Why The Shops Keep Shutting Down
06:27 Business Rates Are The Real Killer
07:39 Going All-In And How Tough It's Been
07:56 Is AI A Disruptor Or A Distraction?
09:00 Why AI Still Can't Replace The Human Bit
10:27 The Real Reason People Stopped Posting
11:58 Living It vs Looking Like You're Living
12:51 The Steven Bartlett Problem
14:19 Being Unapologetically Yourself
15:10 Short Form Is Dying, Long Form Is Back
17:00 The Will Kennedy Trust Lesson
18:03 The Diren Kartal Experience
20:27 Thinking Fast And Slow: Give Him An A-Task
22:00 Why Men Talk Shoulder To Shoulder
23:54 The Front End Is Easy, The Back End Breaks You
25:36 Long-Term Memory, Terrible Short-Term Memory
26:23 The Pressure Nobody Warns You About
27:45 You Don't Want Your Son To See You Fail
28:28 Council Estate Vibes And The Fear Of Going Back
29:25 Getting The Psych Test
30:25 Six Months On ADHD Meds
32:20 Manufacturing Stress To Motivate Yourself
34:30 Is There A Real Return On The Meds?
35:35 Escaping The Desk Job To Build Another One
36:53 The 150 Grand Website Regret
37:50 Australia Is Bad, The UK Is Worse
40:04 289,000 Businesses Set To Fail This Year
41:20 Boomers Hate To Hear How Good They Had It
43:50 Why Earning More Can Leave You With Less
45:12 Your Favourite Part Of Britain Is Leaving It
46:23 Do The Elites Just Find The Loopholes?
47:04 Stop Making The Top Earners Feel Like Villains
49:05 Why Hating Landlords Makes No Sense
51:32 How Politicians Punish The Young To "Help" Them
53:16 Will He Stay In Australia?
53:43 How The Rich Borrow Against Assets And Pay No Tax
55:01 The Stuff They Never Teach You In School
56:17 The Money Chat That Changed Everything
57:43 The Valley Of Death: 12 To 30 Employees Is Hell
58:38 If He Did It Again He'd Stay Small
59:06 We're Both Hypocrites About Debt
01:00:17 Tripling The Money As An Investor
01:02:20 The Adapt Story And Building A Brand With Mates
01:04:26 What's Missing From Jiu Jitsu
01:07:28 Just Wanting To Look Good On The Mats
01:08:35 Taking The Piss Out Of Jiu Jitsu Culture
01:09:06 Becoming The Joe Wicks Of Turkey
01:10:47 Should You Get Assessed For ADHD?
01:11:33 Meds, Music And Feeling Like You're On Psychedelics
01:12:36 Raising A Son Without The Noise
01:13:23 Wrapping Up
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