Co-Chair & Founder KPMG Social Mobility Network | Podcast Host | 20th Most Entrepreneurial Scot | Ranked UK's 20th Top Accountant Under 35

What do I do? I trade in Origin Stories - the pivotal moments that turn ordinary into remarkable.

Mine started in a Glasgow council-estate bedroom, age 21, smack in the middle of lockdown. My mum had just passed away. Grief, zero network, less than zero confidence. So I did the only thing that felt like connection: I opened a laptop, hit “record,” and asked strangers to tell me how they got from there to here.

A few late-night edits and a mountain of imposter syndrome later, Origin Story was born.

🎙️ Since then, I’ve:
Unpacked the beginnings of Jimmy Carr, Seth Godin, Example, Sir Tom Hunter, Sinitta, Rory Sutherland, the Founder of Reebok - and even shared my own story with HM The Queen.

Now clocking 2,000,000+ listens and peaking at #3 in the UK charts.

Learned that the best “networking strategy” is radical curiosity and immense authenticity:


My badges that impress gatekeepers (but don't define me):

🤝 Founder & Chair – KPMG Social Mobility Network (1,200 members)
📰 Business Insider – 20th Most Entrepreneurial Scot
📰 Accountancy Age “35 Under 35” – #20
🏆 UK Social Mobility Awards – Winner
🥇 Management Consultancies Association Awards – Winner
🗣️ 100+ keynote talks on social mobility
🎭 Occasional stand-up comedian
📖 Seth Godin’s altMBA alumnus

Speaking/Keynote Enquiries: david@davidmcintoshjr.com

Most companies are looking for “diverse talent”.

Very few are building cultures where working-class talent actually thrives.

That’s the uncomfortable truth.

We talk about social mobility like it’s a recruitment issue.

It’s not.

It’s a storytelling issue.

If people from lower-income backgrounds can’t see themselves reflected in leadership…

If leaders can’t clearly articulate why opportunity matters to them personally…

If the narrative is corporate rather than human…

Then nothing really changes.

I remember hearing a few senior mentors of mine that about their background. They were Partners at KPMG.

Their storytelling enabled my career more than the technical knowledge I learned on the job.

My first role model, and subsequent podcast guest and friend, Sir Tom Hunter came to my school at 13 - his story is what made me realise that my poverty was a verb not a noun. 

I could do something with it.


Over the next year I’ll be speaking more about this :

• Origin stories - and how owning yours changes culture
• AI and Social Mobility: friend or foe?
• Social Mobility as a hidden talent strategy

Because when leaders explain what they’re doing and why it matters in a way people trust retention improves, innovation increases, and talent stays.

But most importantly people feel attunement to their work & colleagues.

I’ve spoken at Gymshark, bp, Taylor Wessing and across 100+ events, blending 150 podcast interviews with stand-up storytelling.

If you’re planning Social Mobility Day in June 2026 (or rethinking talent strategy entirely), I’m taking bookings.

But more importantly we need to get better at telling the truth about class at work.

It’s not just the data, it’s not just the policies, it’s not just the hiring campaigns.

It’s the lived experience in the workplace.

Heres a picture of me and my first role model Sir Tom Hunter in his castle 14 years since he shared his story with me..

David McIntosh Jr.

Host of Origin Story (4.5m+ streams) | 5 x Award-winning & 2 x 35 Under 35 Entrepreneur | Keynote Speaker

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Childhood Dog Named Struggle - A poem about poverty. 

I wrote this in a sauna
at the posh University of Glasgow gym,
listening to a GP and a surgeon
debating flavours of gin.

And I thought to myself,
what has my life become?

There’s a part of me that misses poverty.
When did it end — this childhood friend?
The chaos.
The hunger.
The dream of one day.
The heels dug finding a way
whenever I saw my housing decay.

Back then I was chasing survival,
and somehow that chase gave me meaning.
Each setback was scripture,
each bruise and scar worth keeping.

Now I live in Glasgow’s plush West End,
where markets are organic,
accents refined,
and the silence of comfort
rings louder than the noise I left behind.

I’ve got a desk job now — a comfy one —
surrounded by haves, not have-nots.
I don’t check when I spend,
just the balance now and then.

I know billionaires and celebrities.
My idols became friends.
This comfort crisis is my time’s disease.
I ran from struggle, begging for ease.

I spent my youth escaping rain,
only to crave the growing pains.
I was happier in pursuit
than I’ve ever been with the prize.
Happier starving for purpose
than full-bellied compromise.

So sometimes I whisper to the ceiling,
half a joke, half in prayer,
to meet an old friend:
Can something terrible happen again?

Give me another mountain,
another storm, another snare,
another Goliath at which to stare —
just to meet my courage there.
Because I’m addicted to the pressure,
the tremor beneath my skin,
when everything could crumble —
but somehow I still win.

Now David, your Goliath is gone.
Your inbox full.
Your racing pulse withdrawn.
Where’s your fight? You’re tame.
Where’s your flame?
Has comfort made you lame?

Maybe this is the new test:
to stay hungry when you rest.
After all, I am David, built to fight,
the underdog against the light.
Hands once dirty, now pinky-ringed,
but the calluses still visible beneath the bling.

I’ve played my cards a thousand ways,
turned them into aces,
made it look proper easy, made it art,
my work put posh peers in their places.
Every miracle takes its toll,
each victory a tax for the soul.

You smile through burnout, charm through pain,
make theatre from what should drain.
I’ve been strong so long I forgot to feel,
like a veteran remembering the battlefield.

Every triumph has teeth that bite,
it takes a piece of you each night.
But maybe strength is not the climb,
nor the war, nor the mountain time.

Maybe strength is the quiet art
of hearing peace inside your heart.
Not every story needs a fight,
not every day needs to prove you’re right.

Sometimes the bravest thing you’ll do
is live when the war is through.
The toll’s not paid in cash or crown,
but a childhood dog named Struggle
that needs put down.

— David McIntosh Jr.

I’m on the hunt for ORIGIN STORIES. 

You can tell a lot about someone by what they don’t put in their bio.

I’m interested in the bit before the title.

Before the CEO.
Before the founder.
Before the board.

I’m just flying out of London after interviewing a CEO (and a friend) whose origin story genuinely stopped me in my tracks when first heard it on a zoom call half a decade ago.

It’s been five years ive been mentored by him and finally I got to hear it in its full colour. 

In the conversation i realised..

There’s a version of leaders stories that boardroom has never heard.

Organisations and their culture are the sum these stories.

But they are rarely shared or known.

Especially the “scrappy” parts:

The first job.
The money stress.
The accent they softened.
The rooms where they felt it.
The pressure to prove themselves.

I host a podcast called Origin Story.

And I’m looking for CEOs, founders and senior leaders who built success from adversity - particularly those from working-class or non-traditional backgrounds who’d like to document the full journey.

Not to be sensational or viral.

But to leave something honest behind.

To help the next generation of people like me.

Just like one of my mentors did today in London. 

When leaders tell the truth about where they started, three things happen:
	1.	The next generation sees what’s possible.
	2.	People understands you differently.
	3.	Your legacy becomes bigger than your title.

If this could be you, message me.

If it’s someone you work with, send this to them.

The title isn’t the story.

The origin is.

Get in touch:

David@davidmcintoshjr.com

Thanks to everyone who engaged so warmly with this ❤️

The response reminded me why this conversation matters.

Over the next year, I’ll be spending more time speaking about social mobility, origin stories, and class in the workplace.

Because here’s the problem:

Companies say they care about attracting and retaining talent from lower-income backgrounds but most don’t know how to talk about it in a way that builds community internally or real world impact externally.

Policies alone don’t shift culture.
Data alone doesn’t inspire belief.
And generic DEI messaging doesn’t move people.

The solution?

Story.

When people understand the why behind opportunity when leaders can clearly articulate what they’re doing and why it matters culture changes. 

Retention improves. Innovation increases. 

Hidden talent rises.

That’s what I speak about:
	•	Origin Stories and how to own them
	•	AI and Social Mobility: friend or foe?
	•	Social Mobility: The Hidden Talent Strategy

I bring the experience of 150 podcast episodes, 100+ speaking engagements and 100 comedy gigs to create something emotive, human and practical not corporate theatre.

I’ve spoken at Gymshark , bp , Taylor Wessing,  and more.

I’m now taking bookings for June 2026 around Social Mobility Day, including Making The Leap  national day of recognition.

A chapter closed. A bigger one begins.

10 years ago I did work experience at KPMG through The Social Mobility Foundation.

I walked in as a scruffy kid from a low-income household who didn’t know anyone in business.

I walked out as a Chartered Accountant, AI consultant, award winner, twice recognised in 35 Under 35, having met The Queen and having helped grow a network of over 1,200 people internally by simply sharing my story.

KPMG didn’t just give me a career.

It gave me a platform.

By speaking openly about social mobility, ambition and imposter syndrome, I saw something powerful:

Stories build trust faster than traditional PR ever will.

I watched how one personal story could:
• kick-start National campaigns around social mobility
• spark conversations like meeting The Queen
• bring people across grades and backgrounds together

and create organisational trust from the inside out..


Trust in institutions is shifting and we are a real moment in time.

People don’t follow logos anymore.

They follow the people.

That’s why I’ve decided to launch naro. 

naro.  helps leaders explain what they’re doing and why it matters in a way people actually trust through a digital content engine & data driven insight.

We turn big outcomes into clear human stories and share them through podcasts and digital content so organisations take their clients, communities and their people with them.

This is delivered through world class digital content by my co-founder & creative director Howie James Gardner - a talent so good even The Diary of a CEO tried to acquire him!

My work is at the intersection of my commercial experience and my chart topping podcast experience.

My show Origin Story has reached 4 MILLION views and 150 episodes attracting the worlds biggest names delivered by our proprietary storytelling methodology and data driven insights.

I’m deeply grateful to KPMG for the foundations, the belief and the opportunities. Most importantly, the mentors & connections ❤️

Onwards!

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