People don’t leave because you proved them wrong
C.P. Ellis didn’t leave the Klan because someone won an argument. He left because he found somewhere better to belong. What that means for Britain now.
Coach · Writer · Podcaster · St Ives
Degrees are one way in. I coach the other one.
I’m Ed Goodman. I coach people building careers in AI and data, I write about why learning on the job deserves more respect than it gets, and I’ll happily tell anyone who asks (and a few who don’t).
What I believe
Four things I say a lot
01
University isn't the gatekeeper
I’m not anti-university. I’m anti the idea that a degree is the only ticket to a decent career, because I spend every week with apprentices who prove otherwise.
02
Nobody is "just" anything
Not “just” an apprentice, not “just” the new starter. Say it often enough and people start to believe it. Read the post
03
Who'll be senior in five years?
If AI swallows the entry-level jobs, where do tomorrow’s experienced people come from? Cutting early talent now is a problem with a delayed invoice (I call it the Talent Doom Cycle).
04
You can't teach someone to care
Hire for skills, by all means. But the people who carry a culture are the ones who make new joiners want to stay.
What I do now
Coaching people who learn on the job
Since November 2021 I’ve been a Cohort Coach at Multiverse. These days that means AI and data: apprentices on the AI for Business Value and AI-Powered Productivity programmes, Level 3 and 4 data and AI apprenticeships, and (since September) the AI and Data Accelerator for people right at the start of their working lives.
Most weeks I’m helping people turn what they do at work into evidence of what they’ve learned, getting them through to their final assessment, and reminding them they’re better at this than they think.
“You’re literally the best coach ever.”
A Multiverse apprentice
“I couldn’t have imagined making it to month 6 without Ed.”
Another one
The book
The Launchpad
Social media is full of motivational quotes that make you think “that’s nice” and then do absolutely nothing with them. The Launchpad is a workbook for your first 90 days in a new job, and it takes those quotes apart to find the bit you can actually use (on a Monday morning, with a new manager, and no idea where the kettle is).
It’s built on real stories from the apprentices I coach, and some of the proceeds will go to YoungMinds.
While you wait: play The Side Door →
Watch & listen
Where I think out loud
YouTube
Apprenticeships, vocational education, the odd “quote autopsy” on motivational nonsense, and my views on politics when I can’t keep them to myself.
Behind the Folk
Twelve episodes in 2020 with folk artists I love, including Iona Fyfe, Findlay Napier and Megan Henwood. A live song and James Lipton’s ten questions every time. Resting, not finished.
Hops and Recreation
I tell you about a beer and the brewery behind it, then I open it and drink it on camera. Somebody has to.
Side projects
Things I've built
Small, free tools I made with Claude and GitHub because I needed them (or someone I coach did).
The Side Door
A choose-your-path game about finding your first job. You’re 20, education’s done and the job boards aren’t replying. Based on UK data showing up to 80% of jobs are never advertised.
Fair Shares
Splits a shared takeaway or meal between families and friends. Add who paid what, tap who shared each bill, and it tells you who owes whom in as few payments as possible. No sign-up, and nothing you type leaves your phone.
Writing
Latest posts
School might be the only stage they ever get
For nearly half the kids in this country, school is the only place they’ll ever set foot in
Remembering Kanya King
I had the pleasure of meeting Kanya King in 2017. This week, sadly, she lost her battle with
Closer to home
Within a mile of St Ives Bridge
Most of what I do outside work happens near the bridge, which is handy because that’s also where one of them starts. In 2025 the Mayor of St Ives gave me the Volunteer of the Year award, which was lovely and slightly embarrassing in equal measure.
- Men.Walk.ChatA free walk for men on the first Sunday of every month, 9:30am from St Ives Bridge. You don’t have to be struggling to come for a walk.
- St Ives Youth TheatreCommittee member, programme-advert seller, policy rewriter and occasional scenery shifter.
- St Ives Folk & Acoustic SessionsWhich I organise.
- St Ives LivesThe friendly local Facebook group I set up and run.
Got a stage, a mic or a question?
I talk about apprenticeships, early careers and what AI means for people starting out. Events, panels, podcasts, or something to MC. Or just tell me what you thought of something I wrote.