People Doing Things

Joe Benn. Founder, advisor, connector, AND FMCG fanatic. He's had over a decade of experience working with fast growth disruptive businesses, including co-founding UGLY drinks back in 2015. UGLY was a truly original challenger brand that won fame and fortune across both the UK and in the US, rebranding sparkling water as the soda drink of choice, before others followed suit.  In 2020, Joe stepped...

Say hello to Hermione Underwood on the show today. A founder, serial entrepreneur, recovering workaholic and newly appointed CEO of J.S.Vitamins in the UK and Europe.  Starting off with LVMH in Australia, Hermione went on to start her own PR agency The H Collective. But that wasn't enough. This experience and network enabled her to co-found jewellery brand, a leather goods brand and a wine brand i...

Say hello to Deniz Ficicoglu. She co-runs BettaF!sh, heating up the alternative seafood space with a 100% plant-based tuna made from seaweed and fava beans. The Berlin startup is part of a growing fish-free category that netted $116mn in VC funding last year.    BettaF!sh kicked things off a year ago when they launched their three flagship TU-NAH Sandwiches across 4,000 ALDI stores in Germany. Thi...

Introducing George Frost. He runs Duppy Share, a London based, Caribbean born drinks business inspired by rum folklore.  A brand so synonymous with rum in the UK, that you'd be hard pressed to remember that they're only seven years old. No doubt you've tasted their blends of Jamaican and Barmudan rums, on the streets of Notting Hill carnival, mixed your own at a house party, or danced the night aw...

Introducing Digby Vollrath on the podcast. He co-runs Feast It, the UK's leading digital event marketplace, connecting party planners with over 1500 of the best suppliers, from food and drink, through to florists, photographers and marquees in just a few clicks. Launched in 2017, on a mission to simplify organising events, they've become a go-to destination for weddings, corporate parties and fest...

Introuding Huw and Becky, business partners and partner partners on the podcast. They run Paynter, a clothswear brand selling limited edition jackets, in batches, four times a year. Launched in 2019, each jacket is made-to-order, taking 6-8 weeks to be made, operating a no waste business model. But if you thought getting your hands on one of these jackets was easy. You'd be mistaken. Each batch is...

Say hello to Kate Hamilton. She co-runs Sonder & Tell - a brand strategy and story agency fighting for words to be considered as early as possible in the brand building process.    Working with the likes of Rude Health, Mindful Chef, Bumble and AirBnb, they help brands find their voice and tell their story. Their newsletter, The Word, floods copywriters' inboxes all across London and the world.   ...

Say hello to Robyn Nicholl. She is the co-founder of Step - The app for finding, saving and sharing your favourite places. Launched in 2021, this new app allows you to share all your top recommendations with friends and family while also connecting you with travel tips from knowledgeable millennials and experience focused GenZers - or as they call them on the platform "Culture Curators".    The in...

From growing up on a farm in Devon to running a chain of upmarket kebab restaurants, Sam & Elliot Day are two brothers on a mission to rebrand the frozen meal aisle with their latest venture, Field Goods .    Born in 2021, they deliver a range of frozen meals to your door or local farm shop store. Slow cooked beef chilli,  cauliflower butter masala, sustainable fish pie - their menu is a winner fo...

Introducing Dan and Harvey. They run ᵒSmall World, an on-demand marketing agency tailored for start-ups and scale-ups. Their focus: to use the power of challenger brand thinking to build, grow and scale new businesses.    The story began, when Dan (a strategist) and Harvey (client services) were furloughed from advertising agency Dark Horses, at the beginning the Covid pandemic. After a week-long...

Say hello to Danny Giacopelli, Editorial Director of Courier , a magazine telling stories of modern business, inspiring people to work better and live smarter.   Launched by Jeff Taylor as a free paper in 2013, it has since grown to a readership of over 100,000 people worldwide. Danny himself joined a few years later from Monocle, ready to bring his editorial skills and cultural insights to the ta...

Welcome Ivo. He co-runs Sapling Spirits, a Climate Positive British Spirits company selling vodka and gin to some of the world's best restaurants, retailers and countryside connoisseurs.    Each bottle plants a tree; on a mission to plant 1 million by 2027, using their clean, creamy, and smooth cocktails to persuade people into toasting for the planet. You can even track your own tree using their...

Say hello to Sam. He runs Guardian Angel, a UK-based death tech start-up helping people plan for and manage death.     For Sam it all started with the tragic loss of his mother to a road accident. She was still young and like most of us just hadn't got round to sorting out a plan. Grief was tough but the admin was overwhelming.    Drawing on his own personal experience, Sam's on a mission to rattl...

Say hello to Duncan Keith. He co-runs Days , a truly alcohol-free  brewing  company.    Launched back in October 2020, this Scottish 0.0% beer startup is riding the wave of moderation. Starting as mainly a direct-to-consumer brand they're now in over 500 physical locations, having sold over 1/4 million bottles   to date.    Having recently raised £1mn to help fuel their growth with investors such...

Introducing Lottie Unwin. She runs The Copy Club, a micro community for marketeers and founders looking to grow their network, share their knowledge and up their skills. They run monthly social events, run their own courses and have a super engaged slack channel. They also do mentor matching for marketeers starting out and run their own recruitment service.    To date they have done 150+ events in...

Introducing Max   Whicher . He runs Spin Brands, a social media agency dedicated to delivering scale through social.    Spin Brands work with 100's of brands including the likes of LVMH, Tango, Funky Pigeon, Google and LoveHoney - ranging from strategy and creative to organic, ambassador and paid.    What they're doing is clearly working. The agency recently announced a client freeze. After 250 ne...

Cheers to Fabian and Rohan. They run Quarter, a light gin with quarter the alcohol and quarter the calories.    The pair are tapping into the massive boom for no & low alcohol alternatives, driven by people looking to reduce their alcohol consumption and make better choices.    Quarter provides the perfect refreshment without compromise. Why have one when you can have four?   Not only is the produ...

Say hello to Neil   Tanna . He runs  Howbout , a socialising app, on a mission to change the way people get together no matter whether it's a beer, holiday or a zoom get-together. Since they started they've made some serious headway raising over 650k, being used in over 40 countries and helping organise over 40,000 events every week. Their aim is to make organising getting together easier, taking...

Say hello to Nicole Compen. She runs Raye The Store, a travelling grocery store shining a spotlight on some of the most innovative, up and coming new food, drink and wellness brands.    Raye's current pop-up on the King's Road features &SODA, KYOOT, SOLO, MOTH as well as friends like THIS!, QUBA, NUISANCE and many many more. The carefully curated line up ranges from Kombuchas and fermented hot sau...

Introducing Kaew (Kay) Suppamas on the show today. She runs Leafage, a terrarium company on a mission to inspire inner growth by nurturing through nature. Think Patch Plants meets Headspace, selling DIY terrarium kits and doing team building workshops with the likes of Facebook, Slack, Nike & ASOS.    The brand was born in 2017, a year after the tragic loss of her father, where Kaew realised the i...

Introducing Barry Darnell for this special mentor edition. He runs one of my favourite studios, Analogue. He also runs one of my favourite drinks brands &Soda.    The studio started very humbly back in 2006 doing posters in Leeds for bars and record labels. Since then they've grown to work with the likes of Nickelodeon, MTV, Universal Records, Portobello Road Gin, Netflix and Coca Cola, always bri...

Say hello to Hugo   Tilmouth , co-founder of The Up, on a mission to upgrade every hospitality experience.    Now you might not have heard of The Up, but I bet you've most likely used one of their products.    Ever run out of battery in a pub or restaurant? That's Charged Up - their mobile charging power banks, allowing you to charge up on the go.    Ever used the sanitisers on public transport? T...

Say hey to Noor, founder of Kyoot - a super fun, super sustainably all organic, gluten-free, vegan chocolate brand.    So Noor is pretty cool. She's a former chemical engineer with a lifelong chocolate obsession turned chocolate founder. Putting her skills in the lab to work in the kitchen.    But it doesn't stop there she has a mad colourful style that comes to life through her brand. It's super...

Say hi to Hector Hughes. He co-founded Unplugged  back in 2019, on a mission to get people off their phones, spending more time in nature. They're building a network of off-grid cabins and offline experiences across Europe.    Their journey is underpinned by the belief that our constant screen time is putting a heavy cost on our productivity and wellbeing with traditional remedies like silent retr...

Introducing Anthony Rose. He founded Seed   Legals  back in 2016 -  the world's first  legal  automation platform for startup funding. They help founders start, raise and grow their business by providing them with all the  legals  they need to get going. They are now the largest closer of funding rounds in the UK, having helped launch over 20,000 UK startups to market.   After having started, sold...