Like many Dyslexic entrepreneurs, Aggeliki Pappa was blessed with a set of skills and a head full of ideas that didn’t quite fit into an established job role. So like many entrepreneurs that had come before her, Aggeliki was forced to build a business, to create the perfect role, to allow her to hire herself.

Not only did Aggeliki build a one of a kind business that allowed her to reach her full potential. She’s established herself as a driving force for change in her industry as a whole.

Creativity is often seen as the preserve of artists, musicians and writers, but Chris Arnold, founder of ad agency The Garage, sees creativity as an essential aptitude needed to make it in the world of business.

With dyslexia and creativity tightly linked, Chris put his money where his mouth is and courted controversy when he posted a job ad stating, ‘Only dyslexics need apply’! Find out what happened next in this episode of  The Codpast.

As a kid, while her friends were watching TV dreaming of being the next 80’s pop star or Sunderland United pinup, Emma was watching the news, dreaming of being a Westminster Politician.

The problem is, the children of shipyard workers from northern industrial towns don’t become politicians.  But as we all know, building the coping strategies to deal with dyspraxia or dyslexia gives us the tenacity to know, that a problem that seems impossible to some may just need some one to look at it from a slightly different point of view.

In this episode of The Codpast, Emma Lewell-Buck, Labour MP for South Shields, shares how with a little dyspraxic thinking, she bucked all the trends.

For Lauren, acting had always been the perfect outlet for her to explore her talent for turning words on a 2D page, into the 3D characters that inhabited her drama classes. When, ‘just for experience,’ she decided to audition for a top Hollywood casting director, she never imagined she’d land a role in the latest summer release buy Hollywood legend Tim Burrton. Hear how Lauren went, from stressing out about her A –Level revision to spending her gap year acting opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Dame Judi Dench.

Author, performance poet, theater maker and broadcaster Luke Wright joins us in the studio. This was an interesting one for me, as I often hear people that were diagnosed with dyslexia as a child; say in later life dyslexia is no longer a problem. One of the myths we at The Codpast want to bust, is that dyslexia has to be a problem that gets in the way of our ambition and stops us achieving our dreams. Initially Luke thought dyslexia was something that no longer influenced his life, but it soon became clear that Luke might be a little more dyslexic than he first thought. Rather than being a barrier, dyslexia seemed like more of a rudder that guided Luke through his journey to a successful career.

In this episode of The Codpast, stand up comic Michael Fabbri explains how his struggles in education and frustration in the workplace were the best grounding for a career in comedy. Michael's comedy career has seen him perform on some of comedy’s most famous stages, write for Channel 4 ‘Stand Up for the Week’, perform five solo comedy shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and get his two part radio series commissioned for BBC Radio 4.

There are still employers that see dyslexic employees as resource hungry disruptors, rather than individuals that can bring a fresh approach to their business. Graham’s story clearly illustrates the benefits that are brought to a business when it makes a decision to support diversity. If you are an employer, manager or HR professional. By the end of this episode, you’ll be in no doubt about why investing in a diverse work force makes good business sense.

It’s been said that focusing on reading writing or spelling is not the best way to help dyslexics thrive. For many, confidence is the biggest barrier that dyslexic individuals have to climb. In this months episode of The Codpast, we here the story of business development manager, Hannah Lord and her experience from both sides of the confidence divide.

Hannah and her brother are both dyslexic and had almost identical journeys through work and education. The only difference was a small change in how they were taught before they started school. This one variable set up a series of events that shaped the way dyslexia and confidence combined, resulting in a drastic effect on their perceived intelligence throughout the rest of there lives.

Dub Poet Benjamin Zephaniah has some impressive strings to his bow; writer, author, musician and professor of Humanities and Arts at Brunel University, to name a few. What’s even more impressive is that he managed this all without ever going to university, college or even finishing high school. However far from being an ambassador for the university of life, Benjamin maintains that a formal education is the only path to a brighter future.

This episode takes us on a journey through some of the most influential times recent, politics, music and art, from the point of view of someone at the center of the action.

A look back on a great year of podcasting