Brand Growth Heroes

Tampons in an Ice Cream Tub In this episode of Brand Growth Heroes, I’m joined by Tara Chandra and Susan Allen, co-founders of Here We Flo, t he organic, sustainable period care brand turning one of the most shame-coded categories in consumer brands into something loud, funny, feminist and brilliantly visible on shelf. We talk about how two friends from LSE spotted a gap in women’s intimate produc...

We don't often hear about Challenger brands that are PROFITABLE...So let's do it! *** Find out more about the NEW Brand Growth Heroes September Sprint 4 week programme just launched June 2026 - applications are open through June and July*** In this fab interview, I chat with Helena Hills, co-founder of TrueStart Coffee, about how she and co-founder Simon have taken a once-niche healthy coffee idea...

Most challenger founders assume international expansion should happen in neat, logical steps. New Zealand → Australia → UK → US. But Lisa's view was different, and that's why it's so interesting: In fact, conventional FMCG wisdom tells us to prove your business in nearby markets first. But founder Lisa King of Free AF Drinks ignored that advice!  After building a 40% share brand in New Zealand, Li...

In this episode of Brand Growth Heroes, I’m joined by founder Bethan Higson and Alice Gallsworthy of Mother Root. Get this: Mother Root is already the UK’s number one non-alcoholic spirit brand in terms of revenue driven per product. Whoah. So what's the deal? This ginger-based non-alcoholic aperitif is different to most playing in food and beverage, as it only has one core SKU, but an incredibly...

In this episode, I’m joined by digital strategist Sara Wilson, who coined the term “digital campfires” in Harvard Business Review, to explore why community is becoming one of the most important growth channels for CPG challenger brands. Sara works with brands including Nike, Netflix, YouTube, Airstream, Yahoo, PopSockets and Prince Street Pizza, helping them understand how to show up inside the co...

In this week’s episode, I’m joined by Sarah and Michael Vachon, the founders of Citizens of Soil, one of the most exciting challenger brands in food and drink right now. We explore how they are transforming olive oil from a commoditised pantry staple into a brand built on transparency, craft, regenerative farming and fairer value for producers, while building a modern consumer brand with real emot...

Today, I’m joined by Emma Woods, Chair of Ancient+Brave, ex CEO of wagamama, and one of the most experienced growth leaders I know. Emma has done the full journey - Unilever, high-growth markets in Mexico, PizzaExpress, Merlin, Wagamama and now she brings all of that to the challenger brands who need it most, as a chair and board director. This isn't a conversation about corporate playbooks. It's...

This week, I’m joined by Henry Firth & Ian Theasby, the founders of BOSH!, to explore how an audience-first approach helped them build one of the most recognisable plant-based consumer brands in the UK. For founders scaling challenger brands, this is an incredible lesson in brand growth through content & community first. Long before their recent Tesco launch with their delish PIZZA, BOSH!...

Want a deliciously sharp lesson in brand growth , category creation and how challenger brands can win by bringing new shoppers into tired categories rather than fighting for share at the bottom shelf? Then dive into the insight served up in this episode by guest Rob Wallis , co-founder of MOTH Drinks, who takes me through how the brand created a new premium space in ready-to-drink cocktails and is...

What if I told you that there is a mathematical formula that separates those brands that scale really quickly and those brands that just tick along nicely? Well, there is one. I wish I had found out about it 25 years ago, but today the guest that we've got on the show (all the way from the USA) has studied this IN DETAIL, and comes on the show today to help YOU learn all about it. ***If you like t...

If you've ever heard me talk about Superconsumers, SuperGeos, or why you should Name, Frame, and Claim your new category - all of that thinking comes from today's guest, one of my heroes: Eddie Yoon. Eddie is one of the world's leading thinkers on category design. He's a longtime Harvard Business Review contributor, co-founder of Category Pirates (a top Substack you must subscribe to), and has spe...

Yep - we are at the start of a new world - a world where AI is going to be 'even bigger than the internet'. And as the leaders of challenger brands in CPG, we've gotta lean in. In this episode of Brand Growth Heroes, I’m joined by one of my oldest and best friends, Paul Adams, CPO & Marketing at a multi-billion dollar company, Intercom AND he is building Fin.ai. If you're not in 'Tech' you may...

David Lester is the co-founder of OLIPOP, one of the MOST FAMOUS challenger brands in the United States. After our first interview IN PERSON at Bread & Jam Fest, London, David returns to us at Brand Growth Heroes to delve deeper into what it truly takes to scale a challenger brand at speed in the US. (cont'd below) ============================================================ The Brand Growth H...

Why do so many of us founders try to do the equivalent of building a flatpack house without the instructions? And then beat ourselves up internally when it turns out to be harder than expected? Or when you make mistakes that anyone would in the same situation? Would you spend years trying to make it work with no instructions — just half-torn pages you’ve collected along the way, doing your best to...

I'm thrilled to be interviewing fellow Irish person, Phil Martin , founder of Blanco Niño , to explore how an obsession with quality turned a burrito bar frustration into a multi-million-euro tortilla brand.... (cont'd below) ============================================================ The Brand Growth Heroes Mini MBA 2026 is back. Built for founders, marketers and brand leaders who want to grow b...

This week, I am absolutely delighted to welcome Eoin Keenan , the founder of Goodrays , to the show. Goodrays is a UK functional beverage brand that is absolutely killing it in the challenger brand space. I loved talking to Eoin about his unique path to becoming a founder. We go right back in time to when he left university and travelled (and slept) in the back of a beat-up car in California, visi...

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably got a graveyard of supplements in a cupboard or under the sink, half-empty jars of vitamins that promised the world but now just gather dust. And when you do remember to take them, you’re faced with a mountain of pills of all shapes and sizes. Ugh. Well, my guest this week is here to save us from that nightmare. Jennifer O’Connell, a friend of mine from...

Today I’m absolutely thrilled to have Olivia Ferdi , CEO and co-founder of TRIP , join us once again on fhe show. Since her last appearance on Brand Growth Heroes , TRIP has skyrocketed from around £14 million in annual sales to a projected $100 million this year. In this episode, Olivia shares with me how she and her team have achieved incredible growth, from blending CBD drinks in their kitchen...

A few seasons ago, I invited Joanna Jensen , founder of Childs Farm , on the show to tell us how she built one of the UK’s most loved family skincare brands and how she successfully exited. You can find the original episode by scrolling back to season 7, or clicking here Since then, Joanna has written a brilliant new book called ' Making Business Child’s Play '. Brand Growth Heroes listeners can b...

YES! It's Part Two of our LIVE London event with Jake Karls of Mid-Day Squares and Shani Higgs of PerfectTed, hosted LIVE by our wonderful friends at Lucky Saint Pub, London. This episode is a recording of the audience Q&A that followed the live interview. And WOW! what a session it was. Founders and industry friends in the room asked some incredible questions, and the answers from Jake and Sh...

I am so thrilled to share this very special LIVE episode with you. I had the absolute joy of sitting down in London with Marisa Poster, co-founder of PerfectTed and Jake Karls, founder of Mid-Day Squares, for an unforgettable conversation about scaling challenger brands, radical transparency, and building community. And yes, I got to TASTE a Mid-Day Square and it's INCREDIBLE.  In fact, I actually...

Davina McCall is my daily running/dog-walking buddy (okay, okay... only in my earbuds), SO when I heard that she was promoting Ancient+Brave on her podcast, I just KNEW I had to see if I could get founder Kate Prince onto Brand Growth Heroes to find out just HOW she is scaling this incredible wellness business. Because a brand that gets (and can afford) someone like Davina on their *team* has got...

Founder-led doesn’t HAVE to mean being founder-run. What does it really take to step away from the founder grind and still stay true to your business? In this 5-minute short, Stu Macdonald, founder of ManiLife Peanut Butter, explains why so many entrepreneurs get stuck doing “an elite job they’ve never been trained for” and how he escaped the stress hole by changing the way he structured his busin...

In case you've JUST discovered Brand Growth Heroes podcast, we're digging into the treasure trove of our most downloaded episodes from our back-catalogue so YOU don't miss A SINGLE BUSINESS INSIGHT! From slow-burn visionaries to fast-moving disruptors, the show has featured founders of brands like Perfect Ted, Lucky Saint, Seedlip, Wild, Strong Roots, Oddbox, and global challengers like Waterdrop,...

We loved chatting to Stu....and you're going to love learning from this GOLD taken from our recent episode:  What happens when a founder steps back from doing everything and instead builds a team that can take the business further than they ever could alone? In this 5-minute clip, Stu Macdonald, founder of ManiLife Peanut Butter, shares why building their own factory was a turning point, not just...