He couldn’t read. Couldn’t write. And was told he had no chance of running a business.

So he started one anyway.

Decades later he runs a £30 million-plus portfolio: commercial property, a luxury wedding venue, a mastermind for business owners stuck at the two million pound mark, and a growing personal brand.

In this episode of Screw It Just DO It, I sit down with James Martin to unpack the full story. From cutting grass on a mower with a swapped-out engine to walk into contracts, to buying back his own tree surgery company from a receiver for fifty grand after a corporate buyer destroyed it, to building an entire business model around neurodiverse thinkers.

We talk about growing up in a pub with a dyslexia diagnosis that felt like a life sentence, why he treats his teacher's words as fuel rather than scars, how he learned to run a business without being able to read a book, and what he now tells every founder who is stuck getting out of the van.

If you are building something and feel like the system was not designed for you, this one is for you.

Key Takeaways

Why being underestimated can become leverage

The role of defiance in early entrepreneurship

Why traditional paths don’t fit everyone

How failure tolerance changes decision-making

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My Teacher Said I’d Never Become Anything

Screw It Just DO It with Alex Chisnall