Angel Investor

Advisor to Uber, Evernote, Shopify, Automattic (WordPress.com), etc. Early investor in Twitter, Facebook, and 20+ others. Longer list here: https://angel.co/tim

Principal

Crown/Harmony (Random House), Amazon Publishing,  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)

Author

BrainQUICKEN LLC

I founded this sports nutrition manufacturer and distributor (12+ countries at highest market saturation) in 2001 and sold it to a private equity firm in January of 2009.

Senior Director

TrueSAN Networks

Account Manager

Tim Ferriss has been listed as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People.” He is an angel investor/advisor (Facebook, Twitter, Uber, Nextdoor, Alibaba, etc.) and author of five #1 NYT/WSJ bestsellers, including The 4-Hour Workweek. Find his current antics at www.tim.blog.

2007 - Present -
Host of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, the first business-interview podcast to pass 100M downloads and selected for "Best of iTunes" three years running. Author of five #1 NYT/WSJ bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans, and Tribe of Mentors. Latest experiments and writing at http://www.tim.blog

2003 - Present - 
Guest Lecturer at Princeton University, High-tech Entrepreneurship (Electrical Engineering)

2001 - Jan. 2009 -
Co-founder and Senior Director of BrainQUICKEN LLC, neurological and sports nutrition development firm with distribution in 15+ countries.  Sold to private equity firm.

Specialties: Business: Consumer product design and marketing, social entrepreneurship and metrics (conversation, cost-per-acquisition, etc.), multivariate testing, infrastructure and manufacturing.



Tim Ferriss

“Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul’s resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger. Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.”
​— William James ​

Author of 5 #1 NYT/WSJ bestsellers, Creator of COYOTE card game with 300M+ viral video views (coyotegame.com), Tim Ferriss Show podcast with 1B+ downloads

“‘What is the secret of your serenity?’
Said the Master, ‘Wholehearted cooperation with the inevitable.’”​
— Anthony de Mello​

Metropolitan Business Association

I'm leading the Metropolitan Business Association (MBA), an organisation dedicated to developing an English-speaking business community of small business owners and entrepreneurs in Barcelona and empowering its members to achieve sustainable growth through a network built on respect, collaboration, and mutual success.

President & Co- Founder

Ask Maria Kelly

As Fractional Chief Strategy Officer, I help businesses scale with confidence by providing the strategy, structure, and skills they need to grow smoothly and sustainably.

✅ Business Strategy & Growth Coaching: Partnering with entrepreneurs to develop clear strategies that drive sustainable growth.

✅ Leadership Development: Empowering leaders to enhance team performance and navigate challenges effectively.

✅ Process Optimisation: Streamlining operations to improve efficiency and scalability.

✅ Team Training Workshops: Conducting customised training sessions to build cohesive and high-performing teams.

Founder & Principal Consultant 

North Paddington Food Bank

Implemented and managed the on-boarding and DBS vetting of 400 new volunteers to respond to the high demand of home deliveries for people self isolating or vulnerable in the wake of Covid-19. Tested and integrated a volunteer software program to manage the process going forward.

Senior Volunteer

Sotheby's

Leading the Division’s Auction & Private Sales Business. 
Consolidated the core activity of both divisions ensuring global consistency & synergies within regions and departments. 
Led the Middle East development launching the first Watches Auction in Dubai.

Global Deputy Managing Director Jewellery & Watches Division

Working alongside the Managing Director, created the  Luxury & Lifestyle Division & successfully delivered <$500 million of aggregated auction sales.

Deputy Managing Director Luxury & Lifestyle Division

Business lead for two Global Departments: Jewellery and Watches

International Division Director Jewellery and Watches

Management of the North America regional specialist departments: 
24 Departments split across three divisions: Fine Arts, Decorative Arts and Asian Arts.
Led the integration & partnership with RM Sotheby’s (cars)

Senior Vice President, Head of Regional Specialists

Management of the North America Regional Fine Arts Division
Guest Speaker at the Sotheby's Institute of Art Summer Study Program

Senior Vice President, Division Director

Led all Financial, Operational, HR & Administrative functions in Switzerland. 
•	Compliance Officer Switzerland
•	Deputy Money Laundering Officer Switzerland
Officer Promotions:
•	Senior Director 2012
•	Director 2007
•	Deputy Director 2006

General Manager & Business Director Switzerland

Lead the Swiss Administrative group, the Shipping Department, Security and Risk in Geneva. Oversaw the client experience.

Office Manager

Organised the physical movement of all Works of Art, Jewellery and Watches in and out of Geneva for annual values exceeding $ 300 million. Managed Security, Risk and Building Maintenance.

Shipping Manager

Effectively ran the administration of the Geneva Import & Export Department. Coordinated shipments of consignments and purchases of high end jewellery, watches and works of art for auction.

Shipping Coordinator

Split between the Shipping Department and the Sales Administration Department.
Assisted the Shipping Deputy on all administrative tasks, including Inventory management and SAP and invoice procurement and administered the auctions.

Sales Administrator & Shipping Assistant

CAMAIEU INTERNATIONAL

Camaïeu is a French retail clothing company which manufactures and sells its own collections of women's clothing.

Sales Assistant

EMS Eynard-Fatio  Retirement Home

Gave daily care to elderly "end of life" patients

Health Care Assistant

Fondation Baur, musée des arts d'Extrême-Orient

Museum Assistant

🚀Accelerate Your Leadership Transition in 90 days 💥Growth Strategist for Leaders Who Care 🎯Executive & Corporate Coaching 🎯Career Coaching For Frustrated Professionals Who Want to Get Unstuck

You didn’t start your business to feel stuck, stressed, and overwhelmed. But here you are, you’ve hit a wall. You’re busting your chops, yet things aren’t coming together. Your business is running you instead of the other way around

You had a vision: freedom, growth, & work that truly mattered. But somewhere along the way, things got complicated:

‼️ You’re working hard, but growth isn’t happening fast enough
‼️ Your team should be your biggest asset, not your biggest challenge
‼️ Decisions are piling up, you feel stuck & scaling seems impossible

What I Do

I work with entrepreneurs and business owners hitting a wall in strategy, leadership, or processes. I deliver a clear, practical plan so you can stop second-guessing & start scaling

No vague advice. Just clarity, confidence, and action

How We Make That Happen

✅ 1:1 Business Strategy Coaching – Get unstuck, simplify decisions, & confidently move forward

✅ Fractional Chief Strategy Officer: People | Processes | Leadership – High-level strategic support to optimise your team, streamline operations & strengthen leadership

✅ High-Impact Team Training Days – Hands-on workshops to improve communication, collaboration, & performance

What You Can Expect

✔ No cookie-cutter solutions. Just practical, tailored strategies that work
✔ A clear, actionable plan for your business & you
✔ A trusted partner to help you scale with confidence

Why Trust Me?

With 25+ years of experience in business strategy, leadership, and operations, I bring real-world expertise, a global perspective, & a results-driven approach

Key Credentials

⏩ Triple-Accredited Professional Coach
⏩ Senior Executive Leader (Sotheby’s, $500M+ in annual sales)
⏩ Co-founder & President, Metropolitan Business Association 
⏩ Member of the Professional Speakers Association Spain
⏩ Officer of 22@ Toastmasters Barcelona Club 

What Clients Say

"Maria’s insight made a tangible, emotional, & financial difference to the company." 
— Zoe Loveday, Managing Director, SSK

"Maria’s intervention was critical in accelerating awareness around opportunities ahead, resulting in significant positive change."
— Bruno Vinciguerra, CEO, Bonhams

Beyond work? You’ll find me

🤝 Speaking at Toastmasters
🌍 Building the Metropolitan Business Association 
🐶 Hanging out with my husband, Yann, & our jack-a-bee, Cookie

📞 If you’re ready to stop spinning & start scaling book a call to talk about how I can support you

Your business should serve you, not consume you. Let’s fix that!

👉 Get my best business tips in your inbox: https://askmariakelly.ck.page

Maria Kelly

It's Saturday, so today's AI Advent Calendar gift is pure play!

Because AI can be useful, and it can also be ridiculous in the best way.

I've been trying out Pika for short video generation, and the results are... well, you'll see below. 😂

You don't need every AI tool to be serious or productive. Sometimes experimenting with the silly features is exactly what helps you get past the feeling that you need to master AI.

So here's your Day 14 gift:

Sign up for free and take ten minutes this weekend to play with a tool like Pika. Create something that has absolutely nothing to do with your business. 

You'll thank me later.😉


More small gifts coming each day until the 24th ✨

🚨Template give away ALERT!!!

This week, we talked about teaching your AI assistant who you are, and then keeping it updated when your business evolves.

Now, we're building on it, because this is the question that comes up every time: “What do I actually write in the Personalisation box?”

So here’s today’s gift.

A simple template you can copy, tweak, and paste straight into ChatGPT (or wahtever LLM you use)

In Chat GPT: You can put up to 1,500 characters in your “Custom Instructions” box, and another 1,500 in your “More About you” box. If it doesn’t all fit, split it across the two. (You find these by clicking on the bottom left of your screen and clicking on "personalization").

Here’s an example to get you started. 

Your Custom Instructions Template: 

✅ Voice
e.g.: Warm, upbeat, direct, efficient

✅ Tone
e.g.: Optimistic, grounded, thoughtful, approachable, high-energy, optimistic, calm

✅ Style
e.g. Straightforward and conversational. Short lines, strong hooks, confident statements. Everyday language, simple phrasing, relatable examples.

✅ Structure
e.g. Logical flow with clear conclusions.
Use bullet points, numbered lists, or tables to help with clarity.
Finish with a clear takeaway

✅ Guidelines
e.g. Avoid empty phrases.
Use UK English at all times.
Minimise adjectives and adverbs.
Do not overexplain.

✅ Formatting
Replace em-dashes with a dot to start a new sentence or a comma to continue. Mark any assumptions with an [Assumption] tag. (this will flesh out any hallucination)

✅ Words to avoid
Do not use any of the following at any time.
ensure, crucial, vital, uncover, unleash, not just, elevate, navigate, indulge, unlock, dive, delve, tapestry, daunting, game changer, stark, contrast, any phrase or expression such as “But here’s the truth”.

Your “More About You” Template: 

You can add your bio and make sure to say who your clients are.

“I work with [your audience]. My work focuses on helping them achieve [your outcome]. I value [ X ]. Prioritise clarity over creativity, and directness over flourish. When assisting me, keep my client base in mind and write as if speaking to thoughtful professionals who appreciate structure, honesty, and efficiency.”

This turns your LLM into a far more accurate assistant because it finally knows how you want to sound and how you want it to work with you.😉

---------------------------------

AI Advent Calendar Day 10 done! 
More daily gifts are coming until the 24th.
See you tomorrow for the next one.

Every December, I used to race towards the 24th like my life depended on it.

I'd frantically try to tie up every single loose end with a perfect bow. Answer every email and tick off every goal. All so I could waltz into January feeling ready.

Want to know what actually happened?

I'd end up sick, burnt out and one memorable year with a dislocated knee (happened while I was decorating my tree, don't ask...).

Turns out, cramming a year's worth of undone things into three weeks of December is insane. I was putting impossible pressure on myself, and I didn't even realise it.

Now I know better.

So this year, my final newsletter of 2025 isn't about what you should be doing.

It's about what I'm not doing, and how you too can give yourself permission to end the year standing tall instead of collapsing at the finish line.

Oh, and I've tucked in some gifts for you, 🎁 because you deserve something lovely to close out the year. 😉

Want the final issue (and the gifts)?
Click here →  https://lnkd.in/daTCiBhm



📸 made with Chat GPT

This morning I tried something I’ve wanted to do for years.

I love books. I have shelves full of them, in English and French, and I’ve always wanted a complete list, so I knew exactly what I owned, especially for authors I collect. (also because I’m a bit of a Monica)

As an example: Agatha Christie. I have most of them, but not all. I could never figure out which ones were missing. She wrote over 80, and I have around 70.

So this morning I tried a simple experiment.

I took a photo of that section of my bookshelf and asked Chat GPT to:

✅ list every title
✅ identify the French vs English versions
✅ compare the list to the full Agatha Christie catalogue
✅ tell me which books I still don’t have

It did all of that in about five minutes!

Now I’m off to do the same with the rest of my library.
Once I have everything listed, I’ll export the titles into a Notion dashboard so I can sort them by author, genre, language and even create a little recommendations list for friends.

I feel so productive for a Sunday morning!!
You see, AI isn’t only for business. 😉


------------------------
Day 15 done.
More small gifts are coming each day until the 24th.
See you tomorrow for the next one.

The first time I really paid attention to AI wasn't a chatbot.
It was a note taker.
I remember seeing one in action during a call and thinking "Wow! I need that".

At the time, I was spending hours every week taking notes during client calls, then more hours afterwards typing them up, cleaning them, polishing them, and making sure nothing important was missed.

It was exhausting, and it pulled my attention away from the very people I was meant to be listening to.

Using an AI note taker completely changed that. 

Now, during a call, I don't look down, I don't scribble, and I don't worry about missing something, I can be fully present with my client. And that's a win-win.

For anyone who coaches, consults, or spends a lot of time on calls, this is a real time saver, AND it improves the quality of the conversation itself.

The ones I've tried and recommend are Fathom.ai, Otter.ai, and Grain. 
They're reliable and easy to use.

⚠️ One important privacy note though: 
If you copy transcripts or summaries into  into an LLM, take a beat to remove anything personal or sensitive.

What I do: 
- paste the call transcript into Word 
- use find and replace (ctrl +H) to find sensitive data to remove it
e.g. swap client names for "client" or remove anything identifiable 

It only takes a minute but it will garantee your and your clients privacy.

For me, that AI note taker wasn't just a productivity upgrade, it was the beginning of my AI journey. If you're looking at where to start with AI, that's a good place. 

And if you need help? That's what I do, so don't be shy and drop me a message 😉

---------------
Day 16 of my AI Advent Calendar done. 
More daily gifts coming until the 24th.

The AI space is exhausting right now.
Every week something new pops up. It’s hard to keep up!

But what I keep telling my client is that most of us don't need more tools. We need the right tools, the ones that actually fit how we work.

So today's AI Advent Calendar gift is designed to bring some clarity.
It's a prompt that helps you figure out what's worth using based on YOUR needs.

It will be like having a practical productivity coach in your pocket (basically a mini me 😉).

Here it is:
You are my AI productivity coach. I’m an experienced [coach/consultant/designer/etc.] running my own business, and I feel overwhelmed by the volume of new AI tools, features, and advice out there.
My current goals are to [insert 1–2 goals, e.g. streamline content creation, save time on admin, improve client experience]. I work mainly with [briefly describe your audience or clients], and I’m trying to stay strategic without getting distracted by hype. Please help me prioritise the most useful, relevant AI use cases for my work right now. I’d like a shortlist of 3–5 focus areas or workflows where AI could make a real impact based on what you know about my role and goals. Keep the suggestions practical and clear, no unnecessary extras or new tools unless they directly solve a core problem.


Use this whenever you start to feel pulled in five directions by the latest "must-have" tool. 

It brings you back to the real question: What do I actually need right now?
And the answer is: Something that fits your business and your goals.


------------------
That's it. Day 11, done!
More daily gifts coming through until the 24th. I'm really enjoying creating these for you.
See you tomorrow for the next one.



📸made with AI

taplio

The Battle

Tim Ferriss

Maria Kelly

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Performance ScoreTim Ferriss's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Tim Ferriss

Maria Kelly

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Tim Ferriss's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMaria Kelly's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreTim Ferriss's LinkedIn Performance