Welcome to How to Start Up , the podcast that goes beyond the headlines to uncover how startups really begin, straight from the founders who lived it. I’m Juliet Fallowfield, founder of FF&M, where we empower you to take charge of your PR and launch your podcast with confidence. In today’s episode, we’re joined by Chloë Luxton, founder of Bramley. With sustainability as a top priority, this company is providing customers with botanical magic through natural fragrances, bulk refill pouches, a...
Jul 15, 2025•32 min•Season 12Ep. 13
In today’s episode, we hear from Caragh Keane , founder of SUPERKEEN . A shock lupus diagnosis in 2021 turned her world upside down and sparked a radical shift in her lifestyle. Refusing to settle for a life dependent on medication and steroids, Caragh took matters into her own hands—turning to food as a tool for healing. What followed was not just a personal transformation, but the birth of SUPERKEEN: a brand on a mission to make healthier, natural food options more accessible, supporting gut h...
Jul 01, 2025•27 min•Season 12Ep. 12
Starting a business is tough & making sales in a challenging economic climate is even harder. So, resilience is key to keeping on track. But how can we manage rejection alongside the expected setbacks? To find out, I spoke with Lauren Currie OBE , Founder of UPFRONT , a global organisation upskilling 10 million women. Teams at Nike and Just Eat Takeaway have enrolled their teams in UPFRONT’s Bond course to transform their team culture. Keep listening to hear Lauren’s advice on developing res...
Jun 17, 2025•38 min•Season 12Ep. 11
Welcome to How To Start Up — the podcast that dives into the real stories behind the startups, side hustles & self-made successes. Jamila Brown is an American-German powerhouse who moved to London at 21 and after being told her life was “over” when she became a single mum at 24 — proved everyone wrong. From running Soho House’s global ESG programme to discovering her knack for freelancing during a sabbatical Jamila’s journey to founding her own impact agency is anything but linear — and that...
Jun 03, 2025•33 min•Season 12Ep. 10
In today’s episode, I’m joined by Emma and Kenny , the co-founders of HipPop — a gut-friendly drinks brand that’s shaking up the soft drinks aisle. While many might have pigeonholed their product as just kombucha, Emma and Kenny have taken a bold and intentional route: positioning HipPop as a go-to soft drinks brand, not a wellness niche. We talk about what it takes to enter a new market, how branding beyond a product category can be a superpower, and why really listening to your customer is key...
May 20, 2025•38 min•Season 12Ep. 9
Welcome to How To Start Up , the podcast for anyone looking to start & scale their own business. I'm Juliet Fallowfield & today we’re discussing viral marketing with Lucie Macleod, founder of the TikTok sensation, Hair Syrup. Founded in 2020 with no prior entrepreneurial experience, Lucie combined her understanding of consumer behavior with social media creativity, to turn a handmade hair oil into THE beauty must-have with over 350,000 engaged TikTok followers & rapid, 1,000% year-on...
May 06, 2025•41 min•Season 12Ep. 8
Building a direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand offers an incredible opportunity to connect with customers and foster long-term brand loyalty. But while the rewards can be significant, so too are the challenges and barriers to entry. That’s why I wanted to speak with someone who has successfully navigated this journey for our season focus on sales. From modest beginnings in a Shoreditch coffee shop in 2011, David Abrahamovitch has built Grind into one of the UK’s leading DTC coffee brands. Having buil...
Apr 22, 2025•38 min•Season 12Ep. 7
PWC reports that over 80% of consumers are willing to pay higher prices for sustainably produced goods so environmental responsibility is clearly a lucrative business as well as being the right thing to do. Laura Harnett is the Founder of Seep , the only B Corp-certified, plastic-free cleaning tool brand in Europe. Having raised a £50,000 Dragons’ Den investment from Trinny Woodall & Deborah Meaden, Laura & her team are on a mission to stop 1 billion plastic cleaning tools from entering ...
Apr 08, 2025•33 min•Season 12Ep. 6
Starting a business is a huge effort, but scaling it to new heights takes a great deal of skill. So, I wanted to hear from a serial founder who has not only grown and scaled a multi-million-pound business, but also decided to start from scratch and do it again. Guy Blaskey founded healthy pet food business Pooch & Mutt in 2007. Having scaled it to £30 million in sales, he sold the business in 2023 for £11.5 million. Since then, Guy has founded Detrash to upcycle waste products into high qual...
Mar 25, 2025•47 min•Season 12Ep. 5
When it comes to bringing a product to market, there are lots of aspects to consider before it reaches the shelves. To learn more, I wanted to hear from someone who has successfully launched products to market. Kinga Wilewska is the Founder & CEO of MUJO , the adaptogenic coffee alternative packed with vital nutrients. Having watched her dad lose his fight against cancer, Kinga developed a keen interest in adaptogens & set out to bring truly transformational products to market. Keep list...
Mar 11, 2025•35 min•Season 12Ep. 4
As any founder needs to conquer their fear of sales I wanted to interview a founder who rapidly grew a new sector. After overcoming chronic illness, Founder of LYMA , Lucy Goff , set out to redefine the wellness landscape and share her learnings. Since launching in 2017, LYMA has been at the forefront of science-driven wellness & health optimisation securing listings with Harrods & Harvey Nichols with its truly transformational & effective supplements. Keep listening to hear Lucy’s a...
Feb 25, 2025•32 min•Season 12Ep. 3
How to generate sales overseas? With only 11.9% of UK SMEs exporting their goods & services internationally, more support is needed to help businesses scale overseas. So, I wanted to hear from a founder who has generated millions in international sales. Thea Green MBE founded Nails.INC in 1999 at the age of 23 & has since revolutionised the UK nail care industry with her polishes & treatments. In 2013, Nails.INC was awarded a Queen's Award for Enterprise for international trade &...
Feb 11, 2025•35 min•Season 12Ep. 2
Thank you for joining us for How To Start Up’s first panel event & first live recording of the podcast! My name is Juliet, the host of How To Start Up & just wanted to thank you for listening & joining today too. We’re up to over 140 eps & having closed a successful season on all things productivity in December, I wanted to gather some of our guests together to discuss the topic & help listeners with theirs. I hope today will involve some myth busting on productivity plus tha...
Feb 07, 2025•56 min•Season 11Ep. 12
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 has redefined the concept of luxury sleepwear & secured listings in Harrods, Harvey Nichols & ...
Jan 28, 2025•38 min•Season 12Ep. 1
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 make elite performance accessible to anyone & inspire his members to take control of their health....
Jan 14, 2025•34 min•Season 11Ep. 11
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 hearing how these leading entrepreneurs structure their time to ensure they are productive, how they ...
Dec 31, 2024•54 sec•Season 12Ep. 10
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 the brand values in ensuring she also looks after herself as well as her business. Keep listening to he...
Dec 17, 2024•42 min•Season 11Ep. 10
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 enhance their performance & productivity in the digitally-intense world we live in & conquer tec...
Dec 03, 2024•48 min•Season 11Ep. 9
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 businesses to build high-performing teams, resilient teams. Having trained in performance psychology, neuro...
Nov 19, 2024•43 min•Season 11Ep. 8
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 his team work with some of the world’s leading brands including Aman, Belmond & Knight Frank. Keep...
Nov 05, 2024•34 min•Season 11Ep. 7
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 PR agency EMERGE and the author of SMARTER : 10 lessons for a more productive and less-stressed life ,...
Oct 22, 2024•43 min•Season 11Ep. 6
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 company helping businesses tackle e-waste & reduce their carbon footprint. Alongside Klyk, Asad is...
Oct 08, 2024•34 min•Season 11Ep. 5
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 Marrone, founder of The Organic Pharmacy and her daughter Roxy are the co-founders of eyeam , the solution-...
Sep 24, 2024•41 min•Season 11Ep. 4
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 Pooley , Founder & Executive President of her eponymous luxury interior design studio. As one of t...
Sep 10, 2024•32 min•Season 11Ep. 3
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 investor and advocate for inclusive leaders Nnenna Onuba founded her first business, LBB Skin, in 20...
Aug 27, 2024•42 min•Season 11Ep. 2
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 business efficiently. So I spoke with Nina Briance , Founder & CEO of CULT MIA , the online fashion ma...
Aug 13, 2024•37 min•Season 11Ep. 1
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 super indulging range of skin care, body care and fragrances, and the founder of Waldencast , a beaut...
Jul 30, 2024•43 min•Season 10Ep. 12
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. Together with her co-founder Orlagh McCloskey , the pair founded RIXO in 2015 to bridge the gap betwee...
Jul 16, 2024•36 min•Season 10Ep. 11
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 challenge the notion that ownership was not the only way to consume and enjoy fashion. Since then, she has ...
Jul 02, 2024•29 min•Season 10Ep. 10
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 and lifestyle marketplace. The former British Vogue editors founded Collagerie in 2019 and quickly buil...
Jun 18, 2024•39 min•Season 10Ep. 9
