FREYA TWIGDEN, FIX8 FOUNDER,
ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP
“GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE”
It’s all about your relationship to your comfort zone: you’ve got to be willing to get out of it. I was the youngest of four kids in our family and we were all encouraged to go beyond self-imposed limitations, to experiment and to try new things. Most days, my job feels far from comfortable. There’s always uncertainty: decisions to be made, directions to take, and you never know if it’s the right one. You can’t ask Siri that stuff, you’ve got to trust your gut. But getting comfortable in the unknown makes for a more enjoyable ride, and I make sure I find time for a self-awareness check-in every day. That’s often when I have my best ideas.
PHIL DAVISON, MOTHER FOUNDER,
ON COLLABORATION
“LOOK FOR CHEMISTRY. FIND THE PEOPLE THAT GET YOU. THEN DO GREAT THINGS TOGETHER.”
If you’re a small business with big ambitions, collaboration is everything. But it’s a trust thing: you need to find those talented people you can believe in, and know that they believe in you. And it’s not just a case of bringing in experts for the things you don’t know how to do, it’s about welcoming collaboration on your own work because you know that’s what will make it better. For me, the most important thing is chemistry. Building a brand and a business is a deeply emotional and personal process, so you have to find the people that just get you. Then you can do great things together.
CHRIS MONEY, KIT & KIN FOUNDER,
ON MOTIVATION
“IS THERE ANYTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROTECTING THE PLANET?”
I learnt about the impact plastics were having on the planet pretty early in my career, as well as the vast number of unnecessary toxins found in everyday products. After 15 years working with big high street retailers, I was frustrated by the continued lack of eco-friendly options in the mother and baby industry and that motivated me to create a brand that was better for babies, better for the planet, and beneficial to those less fortunate. My father was an entrepreneur, and I was always inspired by the freedom he was able enjoy because of it, but becoming a father myself was the ultimate motivation – it gave me my own sense of purpose and the drive I need to create a purpose-driven brand with giving back at its heart.
MIKE STEVENS, PEPPERSMITH FOUNDER,
ON BEING UNREASONABLE
“DOES ANYONE CARE ABOUT THE PROBLEM YOU’RE TRYING TO SOLVE?”
Entrepreneurs find it impossible to live with the status quo when they know things can be better. It’s basically just an inherent desire to fix things. George Bernard Shaw said that progress depends on the unreasonable man and I definitely identify with that. Whether or not you’re successful depends on the depth of your talent and whether anyone cares about the problem you’re trying to solve: convincing people that crappy confectionery was a problem has been one of our biggest challenges since day one, but we’ve always believed that being better made, more natural, more healthy and more sustainable matters. I don’t think that’s unreasonable.
HAYLEY GAIT-GOLDING, BEAR FOUNDER,
ON OPTIMISM
“IT WAS A TERRIFIC LEAP OF FAITH, BUT IT APPEALED TO THE OPTIMIST IN ME.”
I’m comfortable taking risky decisions, and I think that’s because at heart I’m an optimist. I always have great optimism that things will work out for the best – and if they don’t, then we make another plan. We were B&B’s first ever client, and they asked us to believe in a name and design for our brand that was totally alien to the category we were going into, and disruptive to food branding in general at that time. It was a terrific leap of faith, but it appealed to the optimist in me. And boy were they right.
GEORGE FROST, THE DUPPY SHARE FOUNDER,
ON NEVER WASTING A SECOND
“BE GENEROUS WITH YOUR TIME”
I had an insanely fortunate upbringing, brought about by a man (my dad) who grew up with nothing. He believed life was about three things: to use the talent you’ve been given, to make the most of every situation, and to never waste a second. When I’m in the Caribbean – the second biggest inspiration in my life – I’m constantly struck by the amount of time that people there seem to have for each other. It’s uniquely positive. For me, never wasting a second isn’t about keeping yourself busy; it’s about being generous with your time and making yourself useful to the people around you.
PIPPA MURRAY, PIP & NUT FOUNDER,
ON POSITIVE ENERGY
“IT’S ABOUT WHAT YOU PUT IN, NOT WHAT YOU TAKE OUT”
Positivity is the trait that runs through everything we do.
It was the defining characteristic for our brand from the start, and has obviously shaped us visually and verbally,
but it has become fundamental to the way we do business too. It takes playfulness and energy to reinvigorate a tired category – it’s so much more appealing to consumers than having a superior or worthy attitude when it comes to your competitors. A positive approach to nutrition is key too – I’m addicted to peanut butter and obsessed by taste, so for me making great products is all about what you put in, not what you take out.
