YOUTUBE DESCRIPTION:

In 2022, Craig Maxwell OBE was told he had a rare form of cancer and 12 months to live.

Most people would stop. Craig accelerated.

In this extraordinary episode of Inside the Maverick Mind, Craig — a former Welsh Rugby Union executive and one of the youngest commercial directors in world rugby — sits down to talk about the moment that changed everything. The diagnosis. The fear. The clarity that followed.

But this isn't just a story about facing death. It's a story about what you choose to do with the time you have.

Since his diagnosis, Craig has run marathons, cycled across countries, climbed mountains, and walked the entire Welsh coastline — all while undergoing treatment. In doing so, he has raised over £1.7 million to fundamentally change how cancer is diagnosed in Wales. So that others are found in time. So that no one else hears the words "we can treat it, but we can't cure it" when it's already too late.

In this conversation, Craig talks about:

• The moment he received his diagnosis — and what happened in the hours that followed
• What he's most afraid of, and the things no one can prepare you for
• How a terminal illness made him a better husband, father and friend
• What "keep going" really means when the stakes are as high as they get
• The £1.7 million mission to save lives through early cancer detection
• What he wants his children to know about who their father was

This is one of the most remarkable, thought-provoking and life-affirming conversations we have ever recorded.

Please watch. Please share. It could save a life.

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations with people who think differently when the stakes are real.

CraigMaxwell #CancerAwareness #EarlyDetection #TerminalCancer #Podcast #WelshRugby #LungCancer #Mindset #Legacy #InsideTheMaverickMind

What does it take to build a premium national brand when you couldn't write your name at age 10?

Chris McNamara, founder of The Brogue Trader, is living proof that instinct and resilience can outrun any traditional path. In this raw and refreshingly honest conversation, Chris opens up about struggling with dyslexia and ADHD in a school system that didn't know what to do with him, moving into a council house at 19 with a newborn, a bean bag, and a borrowed microwave - and somehow building a shoe brand with stores from Cardiff to Edinburgh.

But this isn't just a business story. It's a story about a boy who chose work over school at 14, who nearly got involved in a post office robbery out of desperation, who survived a heart attack and an armed confrontation at Le Mans - and who has never once stopped moving forward.

We explore:

• Why The Brogue Trader was built on experience, not just footwear
• How a car sales training process still drives his shoe business today
• The mentor who told him "it's okay to be skint - it's not okay to look skint"
• Why family is the true foundation of everything he's built
• What a heart attack at the peak of his success taught him about vulnerability

Whether you're an entrepreneur, a parent, or just someone who's ever been told they're not enough - this one will hit home.

🎙️ Inside the Maverick Mind - exploring the thinking behind people who refuse to follow the expected path.

What does it take to captain your country on the pitch, then go on to shape how that country governs itself?

This week, we sit down with Professor Laura McAllister CBE - former Wales women's football captain, Vice President of UEFA, co-chair of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, and one of the most compelling voices in Welsh public life.

Laura takes us from kicking a ball with her grandfather in the Llynfi Valley to sitting at UEFA's top table as the only woman in the room. She talks candidly about what sport taught her about leadership, why she never had to choose between football and politics, and why Wales is far better regarded abroad than many at home dare to believe.

We cover the Euros breakthrough for Cymru women, the slow grind of gender equality in global sports governance, the real risks facing Welsh democracy, and why she thinks "authenticity" as a leadership concept is mostly nonsense.

This is a conversation about quiet power, honest challenge, and what it really means to represent your nation - on the pitch and off it.

Topics covered: Women's football in Wales | UEFA governance | Constitutional future of Wales | Welsh identity & independence | Public service broadcasting | Leadership, legacy & the maverick mindset