The Unemeployables Podcast

Varun, co-founder of Magic AI, joins The Unemployables to share the story behind building the world’s first AI personal trainer and why nearly 150 investors rejected the idea before it became a multi-million-pound business. After transforming his own health, Varun realised personal training hadn’t evolved in decades. That insight led him to build Magic AI, an intelligent fitness mirror that analys...

James Noble, founder of MyFirst, joins us to share the incredible story of building one of the UK’s fastest-growing insurance businesses from absolutely nothing. Starting with just £10,000 from investors he met while caddying at Wentworth Golf Club, James left behind a career in professional golf to tackle one of the biggest frustrations facing young drivers: understanding insurance. What followed...

Frankie Bridge and Leah Meredith, founders of Faves, join us to share how they turned an engaged audience into one of the UK’s fastest-growing fashion, beauty and lifestyle communities. This isn’t just a social media success story. It’s a story about belonging. After years of working in industries where people often felt judged, excluded, or not “cool enough” to be part of the conversation, Franki...

George Taylor, founder of FRIVE, joins us to share how he went from addiction and chaos in East London… to building one of the UK’s fastest-growing healthy food brands. This isn’t just a meal prep business. It’s a company built around a much bigger mission: Fixing Britain’s relationship with food. At 23, George was at rock bottom. Struggling with addiction, lacking direction, and spiralling withou...

Eoin Keenan, founder of Goodrays, joins us to share how a personal struggle with anxiety led to the creation of one of the UK’s fastest-growing functional drinks brands. After discovering CBD during his time studying, Eoin became obsessed with understanding the science, policy, and potential behind it. That journey took him across the US and Canada, living out of the back of a Jeep, learning direc...

Charlie and Dan, co-founders of EXALT, join us to break down how they built one of the UK’s most exciting fresh nutrition brands… from a scrappy shed setup to supplying Premier League teams. This is not your typical “clean eating” brand. It’s a business built on:real ingredientshands-on productionand refusing to cut cornersEXALT started with a simple frustration… No genuinely fresh, healthy option...

Charlie Robinson, founder of Water2, joins us to break down how he built a £20M business with just 3–4 people… and why 1% of the UK now drinks filtered water through his product. It’s a business built on simplicity, leverage, and obsession with growth. Charlie dropped out of university within weeks…Started multiple failed ventures…And then found a problem big enough to build a generational company...

Nick Kleiner, founder of Sandwich Sandwich, joins us to share how a tiny sandwich shop turned into one of the UK’s fastest-growing food brands. This didn’t start as a big plan. It started during the credit crunch, when a struggling restaurant needed a new revenue stream. A 60 square foot shop next door became the testing ground. In this episode we cover:◼️ Starting Sandwich Sandwich from a tiny sh...

Jen Davidson, founder of Sleek Events, joins us to share how she built a £34 million events business, starting from a desk in her spare room. This isn’t a typical growth story. Jen didn’t build Sleek to sell it. She didn’t build it around numbers. She built it around people. From struggling with self-belief at school to navigating toxic workplaces early in her career, Jen’s journey is shaped by on...

Bethan Higson, founder of Mother Root, joins us to share how she built one of the UK’s most exciting modern drinks brands, redefining what it means to have a drink without alcohol. After a decade working in wine and spirits, Bethan saw a gap. When she stopped drinking, she realised something was missing. Not just an alternative, but a proper drinking experience. Something bold. Something complex....

Jake and Naynesh Karia, founders of Jake & Nayns, join us to share how they built one of the UK’s fastest-growing food-to-go brands. Founded in Leicester, Jake & Nayns was created to solve a simple problem: finding high-quality, flavour-packed food that’s easy to eat on the move. Inspired by their mother’s cooking and their passion for bold Indian flavours, the brothers developed their now...

Brothers Simmy and Jhai built Simmer from £10 of a student loan into a £30 million+ meal prep business, without raising a penny. It started in a university kitchen. What began as selling meals to students instead of ordering Domino’s became a nine-year grind of obsession, resilience and doing more with less. In this episode we cover:◼️ Starting with £10 and reinvesting every penny◼️ Scaling to £30...

Jack Smith, founder of Lovey, joins us to tell the real story behind one of the UK’s fastest growing business loan providers. A young lad growing up between two very different worlds. One week in a warm house where nothing was missing. The next, sleeping in a coat because the heating couldn’t go on. Then one day, Jack’s mum turned up at his flat with two suitcases and nowhere else to go. That was...

Wayne and James, co-founders of The Skinny Food Co, join us to break down how they built one of the UK’s most recognisable food brands, without investment, without a silver spoon, and without ever losing control. From launching in 2018 with a handful of syrups to now managing 376 SKUs across 18 categories, this is a story of graft, resilience and recalibration. Wayne grew up in a one-bedroom counc...

Cano Water co-founder Josh White shares how extreme personal circumstances led to the creation of one of the UK’s most disruptive purpose-led brands. Before Cano existed, life was already a battle. Josh’s early years were marked by instability, rejection and a constant search for purpose. What followed was a journey that took him from survival mode to helping build an entirely new category, canned...

Ivo Devereux, co-founder of Sapling Spirits, sits down with us to share how a tree-planting project in Scotland became one of the UK’s most purpose-driven drinks brands. What began as two childhood friends organising a community tree-planting “party” turned into a radical idea: use vodka as a vehicle for positive impact. With no background in spirits, Ivo and his co-founder Ed built Sapling around...

Richard Sutcliffe, founder of Passenger, sits down with us to share how a search for escapism led to one of the UK’s most emotionally connected outdoor brands, now turning over close to £100 million a year. What began with an Arctic trek and a desire to escape the noise became Passenger, a brand built on purpose, emotion and meaningful experiences. Alongside his wife Alexa, Rich bootstrapped the b...

Ellie Carlile sits down with us to share how a £2,000 lip balm experiment turned into one of the UK’s fastest-growing beauty brands, built almost entirely through storytelling and community. What started as a personal struggle with acne, confidence and cracked lips became a solution-led brand now stocked in Sephora, backed by a fiercely loyal audience and tens of millions of social views. Ellie bu...

Prime Time founders Harvey and Sam sit down with us to share how two lads who met over a beer on a train at 19 went on to build one of the UK’s fastest growing “better for you” beer brands. From Made in Chelsea mayhem to major supermarket shelves, their journey is a brilliant mix of disruption, graft and accidental chaos. What started as two mates frustrated with heavy beers holding back their tr...

Only Curls founders Lizzie and Hugo join us in The Founder Lock-In pub to share how a £500 kitchen-table experiment became one of Britain’s most trusted curly hair brands. What began with a single microfibre towel and a sewing machine has grown into a movement built on confidence, community and curls. From posting orders with a pram to becoming a top curly hair brand in Boots, their journey is as...

Solar Buddies founders Kelli and Laura join us in The Founder's Lock-Inn pub to share how two mums who’d only known each other three weeks built one of the UK’s most loved family-product brands. What started with a sun cream disaster in the school playground became a patented invention that caught the attention of Dragons’ Den and earned investment from Deborah Meaden. From makeshift prototype...

PerfectTed co-founder Marisa joins us in The Founder Lock-In pub to share how three family members turned a caffeine obsession into the UK’s fastest-growing founder-led brand. From matcha-fuelled library sessions to a £140M valuation, PerfectTed has exploded into supermarkets, cafés and global markets – without selling out the brand to the wrong retailers, and without losing their purpose. Marissa...

Suri founders Mark and Gyve join us in The Founder Lock-In pub to reveal how they built one of Britain’s fastest growing oral care brands, turning a simple toothbrush into a product people genuinely love. From exploding into the FEBE Growth 100 to selling out their first 5,000 units, nearly losing the company overnight, and emailing every angry customer by hand, this is a ruthless breakdown of wha...

MOTH co-founder Rob Wallis joins us in The Founder's Lock-Inn to share how a cocktail brand born from chaos became one of the UK’s fastest-growing drinks businesses. From bar shifts to building MOTH (Mix of Total Happiness), a brand now selling a can every five seconds... Rob opens up about the obsession, optimism and sheer persistence that turned a simple idea into a supermarket staple. He re...

MyoMaster founders Joe Gray and Lottie Whyte join us in The Founder Lock-In pub to share the journey from rugby to recovery empire revealing how they built one of Britain’s fastest-growing wellness brands and why they’ll never work for anyone else again. Joe Gray and Lottie Whyte are the husband-and-wife founders of MyoMaster, the performance recovery brand redefining how athletes and everyday peo...