From Council House To Company Builder: Lessons In Learning, Leadership, And Curiosity. PART 2.

What does it mean to build expertise without credential? Julian’s leadership was shaped by experience, not degrees. Discover how hands-on learning, curiosity, and independent thinking define his approach to fintech and regulation.

[In part 1, we figured how Julian’s early life shaped a leadership mindset rooted in systems, trade-offs, and responsibility.]

Learning by Doing, Deciding by Understanding

“I learn better by doing than by sitting in a classroom.” — Julian

Julian has never been motivated by qualifications for their own sake. Not because he dismisses knowledge, but because he respects understanding more than credentials.

At school, he absorbed what mattered and ignored what didn’t. He performed best in subjects where logic, structure, and clarity were required: Maths came naturally. Practical reasoning made sense.

But the real learning started when he entered the workforce.

From Filing to Fluency

Julian began in engineering at the lowest level, handling technical drawings. Most people would have stayed in their lane. He didn’t!

He asked questions. He followed processes end to end. He learned what the drawings represented in reality, how systems were built, where they failed, and why details mattered.

Without formal engineering qualifications, he became fluent.

“I’ve got no banking qualifications. I understand banking because I needed to.”

Not theoretically fluent. Operationally fluent.

That pattern repeated across industries: banking, compliance, blockchain, crypto. When answers aren’t clear, Julian doesn’t wait but rather researches. He compares viewpoints. He formes his own conclusions.

Conviction Built on Curiosity

In complex fields, borrowed opinions are fragile. Julian’s confidence comes from something else entirely: understanding.

“I don’t take opinions. I build my own.”

That’s why he’s comfortable being challenged. Why debate energises rather than threatens him.

His leadership isn’t loud. It’s grounded.

[Stay tuned for part 3: we’ll explore what makes Julian’s leadership style deeply personal, highly adaptive, and difficult to replicate.]