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How do you know if customers will actually buy your product before you launch? Juliet talks to Froot Pops founder Ana Martins about testing an idea with real customers, spotting genuine demand and knowing when you have enough proof to scale. Ana first tested Froot Pops through Pantree, her existing self-service retail business. Today, Froot Pops manufactures from its own facility in London, is stocked by major retailers including Ocado, Morrisons and Tesco, and has raised £1.1 million in external investment. In this episode: (02:00) How to spot the first signs that your idea has commercial potential (06:00) How to test a product with real customers before you launch (07:00) What does genuine customer demand actually look like? (10:00) Testing your pricing and product before you scale (12:00) What you only learn once your product is in customers' hands (20:00) How to stay focused on your business when facing competition (21:00) When is it time to raise investment to grow your business? Find out more: Instagram: @wearefrootpops FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. https://www.fallowfieldmason.com Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at [email protected] or DM us on Instagram @fallowfieldmason. MUSIC CREDIT: Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

How do you turn an audience into a loyal, paying community? If you're building a newsletter, working out when to monetise a community, or wondering whether a paywall is the right call, this episode is for you. Juliet talks to yoga teacher and Substack creator Jo Hutton about rebuilding her business after burnout, growing 47,000 Substack subscribers from zero with no mailing list transfer, and why she ditched a fixed paywall for a pay-what-you-feel model.  They cover Substack's open rates versus other platforms, the 'say what you do, do what you say' rule for growth and retention, and why Jo treats Substack as one spoke in her business rather than the whole wheel.  After 16 years as a yoga teacher, Jo hit burnout in 2022 and rebuilt around Yoga For Tired People - now 47,000 Substack subscribers, a 42% open rate, 177,000 Instagram followers, her podcast Before The Work Begins, and a debut book with Bloomsbury. In this episode: (04:40) When burnout forces you to rethink your business model (09:20) Starting again and building an audience from scratch (17:00) How to grow a Substack without relying on an existing audience (22:00) When does an audience become a paying business? (23:30) What turns an audience into a community that stays? (27:15) How to price a paid community and know what to give away for free (40:20) Why growing a business means growing as a founder Find out more: Jo Hutton Instagram: @johuttonyoga Yoga For Tired People Substack: https://happyyoga.substack.com/ FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. https://www.fallowfieldmason.com Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at [email protected] or DM us on Instagram @fallowfieldmason. MUSIC CREDIT: Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

How do you turn viral attention into lasting business growth? Juliet talks to Little Moons co-founder Vivien Wong about what happens when a brand suddenly goes viral, how to scale without compromising your product, and how to turn a moment of visibility into long-term customer loyalty. Vivien co-founded Little Moons with her brother Howard in 2010, spending years building demand for mochi ice cream through restaurants before taking the brand into retail. Today, Little Moons is sold in 38 countries and valued at more than £100 million. In this episode: (02:00) How Little Moons built demand before moving into retail (05:30) What actually happens when your brand suddenly goes viral (10:00) How to turn viral attention into lasting customer growth (12:30) How Little Moons built a social-first marketing strategy (18:20) What founders should do when their brand goes viral (22:00) Why building a successful business is often about 1,000 boring things (27:00) What personality traits to look for when hiring Find out more: Vivien Wong: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivien-wong-07804123/ Little Moons: https://littlemoons.com/ FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. https://www.fallowfieldmason.com Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at [email protected] or DM us on Instagram @fallowfieldmason. MUSIC CREDIT: Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

Joe talks to Juliet about what founders should really look for when hiring, where traditional recruitment falls short and how to use AI without losing the human judgement that helps you spot exceptional people. If you're making your first hires, struggling to spot real potential or wondering how AI should fit into your recruitment process, this episode is for you. Joe Woodward is co-founder of Vizzy, a hiring platform reimagining the CV for the next generation of talent. Four years in, Vizzy has raised around £7 million in backing, built a talent pool of 120,000 people and works with major clients including Burberry, Virgin and the LVMH group. In this episode: 00:00:00 Why the traditional CV could be costing you the best candidates 00:06:00 The hiring signal that can matter more than qualifications or experience 00:09:00 The biggest hiring mistakes founders make 00:10:30 When growing your team could actually be the wrong decision 00:23:00 How to use AI in recruitment without losing what only a human can spot Find out more: Vizzy: https://home.vizzy.com/ Joe Woodward: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-woodward13/ FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. https://www.fallowfieldmason.com Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at [email protected] or DM us on Instagram @fallowfieldmason. MUSIC CREDIT: Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

One of the biggest pieces of advice you'll hear as a founder is to find a gap in the market. But what if the real opportunity isn't finding a gap at all, it's solving a problem you've experienced yourself? After more than a decade in the wine industry, Bethan Higson became frustrated by the alcohol-free options available during her first pregnancy. Rather than trying to recreate wine or spirits, she wanted to create something entirely different: a drink that delivered the same complexity, ritual and sense of occasion. Two years of experimenting at her kitchen table led to Mother Root, a fiery non-alcoholic aperitif made using ginger and apple cider vinegar.  Today, Mother Root is the UK's fastest-growing drinks brand and has rapidly expanded from a direct-to-consumer start-up into major retailers, while scaling even faster in the US than in its home market.  In this episode, Bethan shares what it was really like appearing on Dragons' Den, how she secured investment offers from three Dragons, why she ultimately chose Steven Bartlett, and why the deal never completed. We also explore category creation, hiring exceptional people, building momentum with retailers, preparing for explosive growth, and why saying no is one of the most important skills any founder can develop. Bethan's Advice: Build your business around solving a genuine customer problem, rather than chasing a growing market.Adopt a test-and-learn mindset to make faster decisions and reduce the pressure of getting everything right first time.Prepare for success as much as failure by building the systems and team you'll need to handle growth.Hire people whose strengths complement your own, and don't hesitate when you find exceptional talent.Prioritisation is fundamental, stay focused on the opportunities that genuinely move the needle.Learn to say no to those opportunities which won’t further your business in the long term - but do it respectfully.Chapters (00:00) Why finding a gap isn't enough (01:10) Meet Bethan Higson & Mother Root (02:00) Building a business around a real customer problem (05:00) Convincing retailers to back a new category (07:15) Turning a kitchen-table idea into a business (10:00) Founder fears, boundaries & obsession (14:00) Behind the scenes of Dragons' Den (19:15) Choosing Steven Bartlett as an investor (22:00) Preparing your business for explosive growth (26:00) Scaling Mother Root in the UK & US (28:00) Why every founder should "test and learn" (29:30) Hiring exceptional people (30:30) Why saying no is a founder's superpower (32:00) Finding the right COO & business partner (34:00) Bethan's question for the next guest FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. https://www.fallowfieldmason.com Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at [email protected] or DM us on Instagram @fallowfieldmason. MUSIC CREDIT: Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

Before Kate Halfpenny designed wedding dresses, she dressed Kate Moss, Rihanna and Cate Blanchett for a living. That client list didn't just shape her design eye, it built her a reputation before she'd designed a single dress for the public. When a commission for actress Emilia Fox in 2005 became the foundation of Halfpenny London, Kate already understood something most founders take years to learn: proximity to the right person, at the right moment, is one of the most powerful and least controllable forms of PR there is. Kate's Advice:  Build a reputation through consistently exceptional work, not just advertisingPaid marketing creates visibility, but trust has to be earnedWord of mouth can't be controlled. Focus on creating work people genuinely want to recommendChoose collaborators because they're the right fit, not because they're famousAudiences can feel the difference between genuine love for a brand and being paid to wear itBe crystal clear about who your brand is for. It protects you from the wrong partnershipsOne great PR moment opens the door, but consistency is what keeps people coming backNever compromise the integrity of your product simply to gain attentionBring experienced external leadership into your business sooner than you thinkTreat mistakes as part of building a business. They're lessons, not failuresProtect time for your personal life before your business takes all of itDon't compare your journey to everyone else's, especially on social mediaChapters (00:00) Why reputation beats advertising (01:25) Meet Kate Halfpenny (02:00) Building a brand through reputation (05:00) How Emilia Fox launched Halfpenny London (08:15) Why authentic celebrity PR is priceless (10:05) Choosing the right influencers (13:00) Celebrity marketing mistakes founders make (15:00) Turning one PR moment into a 20-year brand (18:00) PR, social media and luxury branding (20:30) Founder storytelling and personal brands (23:00) Growing Halfpenny internationally (24:30) The leadership mistake Kate would change (28:00) Work-life balance as a founder (29:30) Kate's question for the next guest FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. https://www.fallowfieldmason.com Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at [email protected] or DM us on Instagram @fallowfieldmason. MUSIC CREDIT: Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

Every guest on this podcast talks about looking after yourself and your sleep when starting a business so I was keen to speak to someone who has first hand experience in losing it, how to get it back & making a business from it too.  Hayley Dawes spent years designing beautiful, calming homes for other people. She couldn't find a moment of that calm for herself.  A mother of four and a long-time entrepreneur, Hayley battled chronic insomnia that began to affect every part of her life. The thing that finally shifted it was broad-spectrum CBD and plant actives, used properly and consistently. That personal discovery became Dreem Distillery, a science-led luxury sleep brand now known for its award-winning Night Drops Sleep Oil and, this year, a new magnesium body butter, Dreem Melt. This is a story about building a business out of a problem you genuinely couldn't solve any other way, and what happens when your professional skill and your personal life are pulling in completely opposite directions.  Hayley's advice: Protect your sleep as fiercely as you protect your businessWorking harder works... until suddenly it doesn'tSmall daily habits ("micro moments") can have a huge impact on your nervous systemDon't underestimate the power of a daily walk, movement and natural daylight to regulate your nervous systemBuild a business around solving a genuine problemWork with experts when you're entering an unfamiliar industryNever compromise on quality – from your product to your branding and packagingBuilding a business teaches resiliencePrioritising yourself allows you to perform better in every area of your lifeFF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at [email protected] or DM us on Instagram @fallowfieldmason. MUSIC CREDIT: Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

Laura Butler-Madden is an award-winning interior designer with 14 years of expertise restoring and transforming period properties. Laura hasn't left her design career. She's simply added a second one.   For anyone starting a business, this may feel like a lot given how many hats you’re already wearing, so I was keen to chat to her about why and how she decided to do this. Keep listening to hear a practical guide on how to build a second career alongside your first. Laura's advice: Just because you can do something well doesn’t mean you should be doing itGo for what makes you happy and contentedAnd simultaneously look for a gap in the marketWhen you are in control of a business, you can shed the extra processesAs long as you have the basics - like understanding spreadsheets - you can manageYou don’t need a big team - but it also means you have no support groupSo you do need to be resilient to do everything yourselfPatience and resilience are vital - just keep going!At first, there may be more lows than highsThe big plus is the freedomMake sure you relax sometimesAnd acknowledge how far you’ve comeFF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2024 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.  Email us at [email protected] or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.  MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link &  Licence Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

Most founders start with an idea & go looking for an ingredient. The Taylor sisters started with the ingredient and had to build everything else around it. Their family has farmed plums in Northern California for four generations. For most of that time, the plum pits were just waste. Le Prunier turned them into the hero ingredient of an organic, luxury skincare line that now sits in goop, Anthropologie, Neiman Marcus & Bloomingdales. Allison came in from fashion and brand development, having worked at Giorgio Armani and MOTHER Denim. Jacqueline is a UCLA grad with a science background and culinary training. And rounding out the trio is their sister Elaine, who brings experience from two previous CPG brands and heads up finance and operations. This is a story about vertical integration before it was a trend, about patience in product development, and about what farming actually teaches you that business school doesn't.  Jackie's advice:  FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2024 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.  Email us at [email protected] or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.  MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link &  Licence Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

Jo Glynn-Smith is a coach & specialises in leadership growth, career transition and personal transformation, working with people to navigate change. Alongside her coaching practice she hosts The Midlife Entrepreneur podcast, which explores the shift from corporate life into entrepreneurship, so is perfectly placed to guide us through how to pivot in mid-life & address how listeners might honestly assess whether they are ready to do the same.  Keep listening to hear a practical guide on ‘how to pivot’  Jo's advice:  When considering a career change or starting a business in mid-life, be wary of a dramatic move which can be riskyConsider your reasons for wanting changeMake a list of the pros and cons of your current jobIdentify the aspects of your work you love the most/dislike the mostConsider taking a sabbaticalConsider whether it’s the pace of your current work/the way you currently work that is making you unhappy - not the work itselfCoaching can help you identify the problemsYou will need to plan ahead financially and work out how long you can manage without an incomeOnce you know this you can make a plan - Retrain? Have coaching? Undertake research?Be self-aware: will you be happier with a co-founder or a partner?Find people doing what you’re interested in, and talk to them at lengthMany skills are transferable - you will be competent in various fieldsGrowth and learning are constant in everybody’s livesSelf-belief can be the hardest attribute to find; use a coach to help you examine your successesThink about: what you love/what the world needs/what you can get paid for/what you are good atFinding your new identity and building a reputation takes time - expect thisCreate your own brand storyEnjoy your autonomy FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2024 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.  Email us at [email protected] or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.  MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link &  Licence Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

According to the Office for National Statistics, only around four in ten UK businesses live to see their fifth birthday. And for most of the ones that do make it, the bottleneck isn’t the market - it’s the founder.  Our guest today learned that the hard way. Thea Brook spent over a decade as a CFO scaling startups into the tens of millions, built her own restaurants and product brands, and then ran the conventional playbook of working harder and growing faster straight into burnout and a brain haemorrhage.  She rebuilt from scratch, and founded CALMM - now giving more than 250 founder-led businesses senior leadership brains on tap across strategy, ops, marketing, people and finance.  Her blunt lesson: the skills that got you here are rarely the ones that get you past here.  Thea's course can be found www.theabrook.com/workshop  Thea's advice:  When scaling, look inside your own business to find solutions: keep looking withinMake the most of what you have already and your assetsRecognise that it’s not all about starting a business and being an entrepreneur, it’s about owning a businessThe visionary side of things can be stimulating and fun - but the operating, the actual doing, can be hardAllow yourself strategic thinking time: assess your thinking and your doingAlways accept you’re learning and never be afraid to ask questionsFF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2024 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.  Email us at [email protected] or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.  MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link &  Licence Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

In this episode I'm joined by Emmie Faust, serial entrepreneur, investor in over 30 women-founded businesses & founder of Female Founders Rise, the 11,000-strong UK community supporting female entrepreneurs.  Emmie is also the author of the newly published RISE Report, the largest independent study of female entrepreneurship in the UK & this is the first time she's sharing its findings on a podcast. We talk about why she built Female Founders Rise after a post-COVID breakdown, why she believes peer networks matter more than funding & why she is, very purposefully, a solo founder on her 11th business. What we cover: Why Emmie started Female Founders Rise after a breakdown, and why she never intended it to become a businessThe four pillars of Female Founders Rise: community, funding, fundamentals and awarenessKey findings from the RISE Report, including the £310 billion opportunity for the UK economyWhy 80% of young people can't name a female entrepreneur, and what the ecosystem needs to do about itLoneliness as the single biggest challenge for one in seven female foundersWhy peer networks outperform family, friends and even funding as the most valuable founder supportThe case against co-founders, and how to build a support structure without oneWhy "networking" is a dirty word, and what to call it insteadEmmie's advice for first-time female founders: build in public, stay curious, and launch before it's perfect If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. It genuinely helps other founders find the show. How To Start Up is produced by Fallow, Field & Mason.  If you'd like help launching your own podcast, or doing your own PR in-house, visit fallowfieldmason.com. Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

Charles Brun, co-founder of IZIPIZI, talks about how to start a brand from a simple idea and grow it into a global consumer business without losing sight of the initial values. This episode is about spotting overlooked opportunities, building a brand around design and accessibility and scaling internationally while staying true to the original idea. Keep listening to hear how IZIPIZI turned an everyday functional product into a global lifestyle brand - and what founders can learn about how to start a brand that truly resonates with consumers. Charles’ advice: Considerations like carbon footprint, sustainable delivery routes, general effect on the environment all contributed to our decisions and led to gaining B-corp certificationWe also find it important to consider the team and the staff and make sure this company is a great one to work for, with a positive atmosphereOur customers need good value/good quality product/good design; we need a good place to workFrom the outset we intended to make this product in a good way; we need the team to be happyWe consider each other and make allowances for each other’s personal needsWe had great mentors who gave us an education in producing and marketing somethingIt’s important to keep talking to each other - sharing both the good things and the problemsIt’s also useful to network and meet other foundersAlways look around and consider other brands and the competitionTake your time choosing your partners and have a strong partnership agreement in placeStart marketing your product through the right outlets; be selectiveEvery so often take a break with your partners away from the business and discuss long-term plansAlways put the team before the productFF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2024 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.  Email us at [email protected] or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.  MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link &  Licence Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

Nick Croft-Simon, is the co-founder & CEO of White Rabbit, the UK’s largest gluten free pizza brand & the No.1 contributor to growth in the category.   But this is a conversation about more than pizza.  It’s about how to build a truly consumer-led business. From building their own gluten free bakery to making the controversial data-led decision to introduce meat SKUs after starting as veggie and vegan this episode is about ownership, agility and listening hard when your customer speaks. If you want to understand what “consumer-led” really means in practice - not just in a pitch deck - keep listening. Nick's advice: Always listen to the consumerAim high and don’t compromiseYou need your consumer to come back a second timeOnce convinced, your customers will spread the word and be your best advertisementTrust is everythingTrade events can be useful if you choose very specific onesA consumer panel has been good for us; invite them to look closely at new products / question them exhaustively / listen to their answers.  Honest feedback is goldAlways put quality before everything elseFF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2024 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.  Email us at [email protected] or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.  MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link &  Licence Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show

In this episode Dan Cray, founder & CEO of PHIZZ, talks about how to scale without losing your North Star, stay focussed and go global. After raising capital, PHIZZ had the opportunity to go broad early. New markets, new use cases and major international interest created momentum - but also complexity. Dan shares how chasing too many opportunities diluted focus, and why returning to a laser focus became the foundation for faster and more sustainable growth. This episode is a lesson in timing, discipline and knowing when to say no. Keep listening to hear how PHIZZ found clarity through focus and what founders can learn about leadership, restraint and long-term growth. Dan's advice: Start with observation, not ambitionBuild credibility early, partnerships with trusted brands created momentum before mass awarenessInvestment creates pressure to scale, but chasing growth too broadly can pull you away from your coreFocus is a growth strategy, cutting revenue generating products and markets can accelerate long term performanceSay no more as you grow, shifting from a yes culture to disciplined decision making is key to scaling wellNail your home market first, global expansion only works if your core business is strong and stableFF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2024 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.  Email us at [email protected] or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.  MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link &  Licence Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show