From Dancing On Ice To Esports with Purpose - Connor Ball and Oliver Weingarten | PEP Talk S3 E7

Connor Ball is famously known for being part of The Vamps, and recently starred in ITV’s Dancing On Ice. He is also an avid gamer and YouTube content creator, and is taking his passion for gaming to the world of business where he can support E-sports brand LDN UTD be a force for good on their mission to combat social issues such as mental health, racism, knife crime, diversity, and loneliness. LDN UTD was co-founded by Oliver Weingarten in 2018, as an esports org that unites professional esports and grassroots gaming with a healthy lifestyle and social issues. The brand has previously held physical and online campaigns around racism, knife crime, diversity, nutrition, loneliness and education, working with stakeholders including the Mayor of London, the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, Bloomsbury Football, Matchroom Sport, and charities including Street League. LDN UTD also develops incredible players from all backgrounds and offers them a platform to play at their best, whilst using professional rosters to amplify and raise awareness around the most important issues in the world today. In this episode, Simon talks with Connor and Oliver about the future of esports, mental health, and how to hack luck. Connor: “People aren't stupid, people see through a lot of stuff. If someone sees something that isn’t genuine then they know it’s not genuine. That’s the same for business as well, people can tell if a strategy isn’t genuine. Being open and honest on social media is the way, and that’s how it’s always been for me.” Topics: 0:00 - Intro 1:40 - Who are Connor and Oliver? 3:50 - How LDN UTD got started 5:45 - Metaverse + NFTs 11:00 - How did you get into gaming? 12:00 - Lucky experiences and how they come about 16:20 - Investing in LDN UTD 17:50 - Mental Health + Social impact 22:00 - Building community 23:45 - The luckiest moments we've had LDN United: https://ldnutd.gg/ Connor Ball https://www.instagram.com/connorball/?hl=en Oliver Weingarten https://twitter.com/owein