How To Start Up by FF&M

Selling any product is a skill but selling a product with a luxury price tag is a nuanced skill. As this season is focused on sales I wanted to interview people with experience in differentiating their product in a crowded market & find out how they managed to sell it. Molly Goddard & Joel Jeffery co-founded the luxury pyjama brand Desmond & Dempsey in 2014. Over a decade the couple ha...

PureGym reports that 66% of Britons don’t believe they look after their health as much as they should. Since good health is key to being productive, I wanted to hear from an expert about how founders can use fitness to boost their productivity.  Following his retirement as captain of the England boxing team, George Veness , Founder & CEO of JAB Boxing Club in London, launched his business to m...

Join Emily Austen, EMERGE & SMARTER , Anant Sharma: Matter Of Form & Eva Alexandridis, 111SKIN to learn their best productivity tips to help you achieve your 2025 goals.  On 27th January at 12.30pm GMT, Juliet Fallowfield , host of the How To Start Up entrepreneurship podcast, will moderate the panel. Book via this link . All ticket proceeds will be donated to Cancer Research UK.  We’ll be...

We know it’s important to rest, relax & recharge to ensure we’re as productive as possible, but how many founders actually prioritise this & how do we really achieve this?  Eva Alexandridis is a founder who has achieved that work / life balance. Having co-founded 111SKIN in 2012 with her husband Dr Yannis Alexandrides, Eva has not only built a globally recognised brand but has practised th...

70 % of us use phones for our work, yet we all know how much they distract us.  As productivity is crucial for any business I wanted to speak to an expert to help manage this necessary evil. Dr Kristy Goodwin is a neuro-performance scientist & Australia’s leading expert on peak performance in the digital age. Her book Dear Digital, We Need To Talk enables individuals & organisations to enh...

Amid a proliferation of workplace tech platforms, Unily reports 77% of UK employees consider notifications from digital tools distracting. Despite being valuable in many areas, clearly workplace tech is hindering focus & productivity.  So, I wanted to hear from an expert on how to stay focused at work. Phil Nayna is the Founder of Absolute Mind + Body : a coaching consultancy supporting busine...

The UK’s Chartered Management Institute has previously found that 41% of managers believe having direct reports increases their own productivity. So, I wanted to hear from someone who has built a strong team to help them achieve more.  Anant Sharma is the Founder & CEO of Matter Of Form , a leading luxury brand and digital agency based in London. Having founded his company in 2009, Anant and h...

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy found that 96% of UK entrepreneurs admit to ‘bottling up’ the stress of running their business. Many founders are clearly overwhelmed with too much on their shoulders, leading some to feel a sense of unproductive busyness.  So, I wanted to hear from a founder who has cracked the code of productivity. Emily Austen is the founder of leading P...

It’s challenging enough to be productive while building one company. However, productively building multiple ventures at once requires incredible focus & purpose. So, I wanted to hear from someone who has achieved this alongside several investor, advisor & board positions all while keeping purpose at the heart of every endeavour.  Asad Hamir is the Co-Founder of Klyk , the sustainable IT c...

CIPD research shows that 67% of UK working women aged between 40 and 60 with menopausal symptoms had experienced a negative impact on their work, with 79% reporting feeling less able to concentrate at work. Clearly, hormones play a large role in the lives of female founders of all ages.  I wanted to hear from a team with great experience in helping people overcome hormonal imbalances.  Margo Marro...

With Zippia reporting that happy workers are 13% more productive than unhappy workers, clearly it’s crucial to maintain a supportive and welcoming company culture as you grow your business. Not only will this keep your employees motivated, but you’ll also reap the benefits of higher productivity.  So, I wanted to find out how to grow a productive and happy team. That’s why I spoke with Katharine P...

The Department for Education found in 2022 that 63% of UK adults hold multiple roles, demonstrating the extensiveness of the portfolio career. However, how do you create multiple roles for yourself and, importantly, ensure you deliver across them all?  To answer this, I wanted to hear from an experienced portfolio career holder who manages several roles at once - as an M&A growth expert, angel...

UK productivity was ‘24% lower in 2023 than it would have been had it continued climbing at the rates seen before the global financial crisis’ according to the Economics Observatory . Given time is the most limited factor for any founder, for our eleventh season I’ve set out to find answers on how we can all improve our productivity in business. First up, I wanted to find out how to scale a busine...

Building, scaling and maintaining one brand is challenging. However, successfully creating multiple brands is a brilliant feat of focus and endurance. With this in mind, I wanted to learn from an expert brand builder. Hind Sebti is the founder of whind , a beauty brand that merges both science and sensoriality to deliver Golden Hour Beauty, inspired by her home of Morocco, in a high efficacy yet s...

With the UK fashion sector’s annual revenue estimated to be just under £60 billion, it is a highly competitive sector in which you need a strong brand to differentiate your offering. Given this, I wanted to speak with an expert about how to build a fashion brand that stands out from the crowd.  In this episode, I speak with Henrietta Rix , Co-Founder of RIXO , a leading British womenswear brand. T...

With 70% of respondents of a Forbes survey stating they believed personal branding is important, it’s clear that founders need to consider how they promote not just their business, but also themselves as individuals while starting their company.  Eshita Kabra-Davies is the founder and CEO of By Rotation , the UK's first peer-to-peer fashion rental app. Eshita founded the platform in 2019 to c...

Building an engaging brand is one of the most challenging parts of starting a company. This is especially true in competitive sectors where you need to cut through the noise to create connections with your target customers. So I wanted to hear from experts on how to build a brand from scratch.  Lucinda Chambers and Serena Hood are co-founders of Collagerie : a leading fashion, interiors, beauty an...

Edelman recently reported that ‘81% of consumers need to trust a brand to consider purchasing it’ so it is clear that brands which take time to build impact, education and purpose into their offering will also build trust with consumers and ultimately increase their sales.  In this episode, I hear from Titi Bello , Founder of Ori Lifestyle , the luxury hair care brand now stocked in Selfridges and...

With Protega Global reporting that 77% of UK consumers believe brands should use ‘as little packaging as possible’, it’s important for new brands to research how to reduce their environmental impact.  As packaging can be a huge barrier to entry, I wanted to speak to someone who has created a stunning brand package.  In this episode, I hear from Randi Christiansen , CEO & Co-Founder of Néccessa...

Defining your target audience is key when building your brand as it’s so important to know who you’re selling your products or services to.  In this episode, I hear from Aaron Chatterley , co-founder of teen beauty brand indu and beauty retailer Feelunique . Having co-founded Feelunique in 2005, Aaron and his team grew the business which was acquired by Sephora for £132 million in 2021. Since then...

With research showing 90% of marketers agree that brand language is vital for business success, your business needs to speak confidently and clearly. Given this, I wanted to learn from an expert on how you can differentiate your brand’s voice in an ever-crowded market.  In this episode, we hear from Millie Kendall OBE , renowned brand builder and founder of the British Beauty Council , Brandstand...

We often hear that print newspaper and magazine sales are declining as people switch to digital versions of their favourite titles. However, print still plays an important role in the publishing world and as ‘brand’ is such an important part of this I wanted to speak to someone who had started their own.  In this episode, I hear from Lucy Cleland , co-founder and editorial director of the renowned...

As defining your mission, vision and purpose statements is an important step when building a comprehensive brand for your business I was keen to speak to someone who has not only done this successfully but also recently.  In this episode, I hear from Julian Parmiter , co-founder and CEO of Create Academy . Founded in 2019, Create Academy offers beautifully curated video courses providing unprecede...

With Statista reporting there are 35 million Instagram users in the UK, social media platforms are a powerful tool to build brand awareness and convert followers into loyal customers.  Given this season is a focus on all things branding I was keen to speak to an expert content creator. In this episode, I hear from Estée Lalonde , CEO and founder of bodycare brand MIRROR WATER . The brand champions...

Creating a brand story is a central part of building your overall brand identity. It’s crucial that your brand story is coherent and resonates with your audience to attract loyal customers.  In this episode, I speak with Tom Marchant , Owner & Co-Founder of luxury travel company Black Tomato . Tom and his co-founders launched their business in 2005 after seeing first-hand how people had such l...