An Honest Review of “A Diary of a CEO Live”

For those of you who don’t know him, Steven Bartlett is an entrepreneur, author, podcaster and the newest dragon on BBC’s Dragons Den. The founder of social chain, he has gone on to produce one of the world’s most popular podcasts, The Diary of a CEO and has become a household name among the ambitious, self-realization crowd. It is one of my favourite podcasts to listen to when I’m working, driving and even exercising. Put simply, it is a must listen.

Recently, I had the opportunity to see the live version of a Diary of a CEO and it was an experience I will never forget. Without further ado, here is my honest review of The Diary of a CEO Live.

Manchester, England. Sunday, March 13th 2022. People are bustling through the doors of the Palace Theatre, eager to take their seats in the auditorium. Most of us have no idea what to expect. The stage is dim with a handful of deep blue lights shining out on us. The silhouette of stools and musical instruments on the stage. At 19:30 sharp, it starts.

What followed this scene was 3 hours of speech, music and an experience that wowed the senses. The polar opposite of what you would expect a live podcast to be. There was no guest for Steven to interview. Instead, this was both a story and a journey of his personal experience, blended with the phenomenon that are the House Gospel Choir.

This performance saw Steven take the audience through his journey of growth, realization and self-belief. It was open, honest and thought provoking with countless lessons shared along the way. He discussed the impact that dropping out of university had on his relationship with his mum, the tough lessons he learned through sacrifice when growing his multi-million pound company and opened up on his relationship in a way that I have never heard him do so before.

The story of Steven was accompanied throughout by the House Gospel Choir (and guests). I have never heard music like I did that evening. It was, for lack of a better term, breathe taking. This group of people oozed talent, with every word sang sending shivers down my spine. It was a jaw-dropping and emotional performance from a group of people destined for greatness.

Having gone into this experience with no expectations, my mind was truly blown. This was a unique, thought provoking show, conducted in a format I have never seen before. This was Steven Bartlett in his purest form, opening himself up to the 2000 people sitting in the audience. In my opinion, it was a masterpiece. A must see show that sends shivers down your spine with every word spoken and every note sang.