Defining Success Beyond Money: Juliet Barratt's Perspective on Life After a £200m Exit from Grenade

19:43Jeannette:And some founders do make, not the error, but maybe, you know, they wish they'd have sold earlier. And, you know, it just felt right. It was that duck feeling. And there was a protein bar in the US that was like really, really popular and they had a$600 million valuation. they decided not to sell, it's called press bars. And then stuff started to go wrong and the taste profile wasn't right, consumers walked away, and suddenly that 600-min valuation wasn't there anymore. And I think they wished they'd have sold then. So we never wanted to be in that position where we thought, shit, we should have done that.

20:21Juliet Barratt:Yeah, it's a tricky one, isn't it? Because you're never going to really know, you know, did you sell too early? Did you sell too late? Should, you know. But I think probably that going on around the same time kind of gives you that confidence.

20:30Jeannette:And I know this sounds really, really stupid, but, you know, you can put your house on the market for a million and a half, but people only spend a million quid on it. So it's only worth what someone's going to buy, what someone's going to spend on it. And, you know, for us, having it go to the right owner was more important than another couple of years and maybe five million, ten million or whatever. It went to the right home. Yeah.

20:53Juliet Barratt:So let's talk about that. Let's talk about the right owner. and what did the right owner look I know you had this vision of wanting to sell to Cadres but what was the sort of criteria if you like that you had in mind in terms of it was going to be important for you to to let go if you like and sell your baby yeah I mean like I said you know

21:09Jeannette:when we're a majority shareholder so pretty much the process was out of our control you know we were completely on board with it but it wasn't our decision um I think because they could add additional value so obviously with the manufacturing Monsley's own Oreo which we always wanted to do an Oreo bar so we thought whether there would be some MPD and in a weird way it's a Birmingham based office so it was really important to us that all the staff that works at business would carry on working for the business so it was a pretty easy transition and they're all kept on so it seems like that that were important.

21:43Juliet Barratt:Well yeah because I guess the team wanted to make sure that you know everyone was looked after in the right way is important because it is your legacy is your brand and people today still say, oh, Julia, you know, co-founder of Gunaid, you know, even now, these years later, it's still very much you and you and Al, isn't it, in terms of the business identity?

22:01Jeannette:Yeah, I mean, I did, Maxine said, you know, the business outbrows the founders and that's the way it should be. But, you know, those guys that are at the business and they still are there now, a lot of them, they were like badly. I know it sounds a bit crap and cheesy, but we genuinely cared about them and they helped us on that journey. so we would never have sold to anyone but it's just going to sack them all and put them in an office in London or, you know, in Europe.

22:24Juliet Barratt:Yeah, and in 2020, you decided to fully exit. Al stayed in for a while. What was it like? We've spoken about this privately, but I think it's a really interesting insight. What was it like that day when, you know, the money's landed in the bank, you're free, you've moved on, what's the feeling? Take us through sort of how the emotional side of it, Julia, and that sort of final exit?

22:49Jeannette:Well, I laugh now, but I know I've been quoting and saying it was like root canal. And I know that you shouldn't think about selling your business and getting a shitload of money in the bank as like sort of having horrendous dental stuff. But, you know, for me, the week before the sale, I was absolutely distraught. So I was in tears. And it was this thought that something that you'd worked so hard at, that was so part of you that you'd lived and breathed for, you know, 10, 11 years, suddenly wasn't going to be part of you anymore. And it should have been a bit easier because, like I said, we'd gone through a couple of sale processes before that.

23:24Jeannette:But this was really final and there was no going back. So I was absolutely distraught. The day that it happened, I used to go to my lawyers at like 1 o 'clock in the morning. And then it happened like Saturday evening, early Sunday morning. And I remember John, our lawyer, phoning me up and going, Jules, have you looked in your bank? There's a money there and I haven't even looked. and I know that sounds like it didn't matter but it was so final it was it's almost like grieving that you're grieving something that you built that is no longer yours god that sounds so pathetic

23:58Juliet Barratt:but it's really true no no I mean does that does anyone sort of have that feeling yeah yeah okay lots of nods and shakes yeah and hands raised so that's so I think it is we've got to be honest haven't we about we're human beings with emotions and all of that so you have obviously you know since then you're doing some really cool stuff um what advice would you give with hindsight either to yourself as one of the people that are in this phase of exiting and planning for that next phase can you plan for it or do you just have to go with the flow what what are your thoughts

24:30Jeannette:on sort of life post exit really it's so weird you know when people sell businesses they almost think that everything is this like you know you've succeeded you've won and I think unless you've really thought about stuff after the business it comes as a bit of a shock and whether it's worse because like I haven't got children or whatever I've never really thought about like post grenades um I always thought that I'd go again and that's not off the table but you know so many brands do you know founders do go again and they get a second album and that I never wanted something that wasn't as special as the first one.

25:06Jeannette:And I never wanted to do something that didn't mean as much to me as Grenade. So it took a little bit of time to actually find that purpose again. Yeah. And, you know, I'm really good at filling my time. Like, I go on amazing holidays and I'm a bit weird like Maxine. I'm, like, just really, really spontaneous and want to do crazy stuff. But it doesn't give you a purpose. And I think that's something that takes longer to actually find.

25:31Juliet Barratt:Yeah, because I guess there's a piece around identity isn't there here you know that you started this thing it's your dna your values are all embedded in your grenade so it's all but we all know logically it's not who we are it's what we do but still there's a bit around personal identity it's almost like who am i i think i was talking to pete coey outside a piece at the back there we were saying well who's jules now you know post exit so finding yourself again right yeah and i think when you're in a business you're constantly

26:00Jeannette:having to prove yourself whether it's to investors or you're having to hit numbers or you're having to be someone for the start when you're not in that anymore you don't actually have to prove yourself and it takes a little bit of time to realize you know what i'm all right and i don't have to put on a show and i can just be me and i'm in such a fortunate position that i have a wonderful life and i'm massively grateful for everything and i know grenade has given me all of those opportunities and let's face it you know the grenade journey was pretty fucking amazing anyway you know we went on wonderful holidays friends were we worked with friends you know we built a phenomenal brand we had some amazing experiences so you know i'm just in a really really fortunate position and grenade has enabled me to be in this position i'm eternally grateful

26:48Juliet Barratt:yeah yeah and what did you learn about yourself through this mad journey that you've been on What are some of the things that sort of revealed themselves about yourself almost through that entire journey of starting, scaling, exiting the kind of way you are now? What are some, what's behind it?

27:04Jeannette:I mean, I'm not a very reflective person, if I'm honest with you. I'm more of a get-shit-done-side-the-girl. But I think I've realised that I'm actually quite a good all-rounder and I'll give anything a go from driving forklifts to doing spreadsheets to, you know, branding or whatever. I've realised that being in a team is better than being on your own. and there's definitely power and strength in being surrounded by good people and also how important having the right people around you in life and in businesses and that one bad egg can really have a negative impact on the business or you as a person yeah so some of the stuff you're

27:40Juliet Barratt:doing now i'm going to come for questions in a minute so if anyone's got a question get ready because i'm coming with you in the mic but one final question in terms of life now then jules what you're up to today and all the stuff you've got going on yeah so i do non-exec chairperson

27:53Jeannette:roles for like some other food brands and consumer goods which is amazing and working with founders that I like which I think is really important to help them on that growth journey um Al and I have still got businesses together so you know that's quite passive investments now but that's good fun and you know somebody said to me this morning you know what's you're not your purpose but you know what drives you and what are you passionate about and I think you know I'm a massive believer in make an everyday count because you genuinely don't know how many days you've got left and even if you have a shit day it's still a great day and anything can be turned into a positive so i just i know it sounds really really cheesy and i apologize but i'm all for making everyday count now even it's the little things they all matter yeah great i mean great advice all to all of us right yeah let's make it count we've only got one life so yeah and you know my parking space at work was angry birds and you know, it's still my iPhone name and everyone goes, oh that's you isn't it and I think that you know, when you're in the business everything matters so much and you care so much about it whereas now I'm sort of in that position that if something doesn't go right I'll deal with it and nothing makes me angry anymore

29:06Juliet Barratt:We've got a non-angry Jules a very content Jules here on the stage but we might not leave her so content with some of your questions so have you got a rope in mind please, my friend over there Gentlemen at the back, Mr Pete, gotta shout out for Pete Curley, Pete's on later at the end of the day so make sure that you actually stick around for Pete as well. But gentlemen with the Navy jumper arm, good question. Hello. Hello.

29:33Jeannette:Hello.

29:33Juliet Barratt:How did you get the tank?

29:36Jeannette:A tank?

29:37Juliet Barratt:Through the streets.

29:38Jeannette:Ah, well, yes. And we have a friend that has a, he's bi-centric, he's got a collection of 120 tanks found in Northampton and we borrowed one for body power and just drove it in on that cooking oil. And again, I would not recommend anyone to do this, but we just drove a tank through London, we had no permissions or anything, it was purely Gorilla. And this is where, because people love the brand and they love what we were doing and we had fun with it, everyone got on board with it. So we parked outside, you know, underneath Marble Arch. It was leaking oil, put a bit of cardboard there. And we were giving all the police grenade bars and they were, like, loving it.

30:12Jeannette:I don't know whether it might be a bit sensitive to do that at the moment, so I probably would recommend it. But, you know, we genuinely had fun and we got people on the side and they were really supportive. And I think, I don't know what the exact state is, but it's something like doing a beg for forgiveness afterwards. Slap on the wrist. Great question.

30:31Juliet Barratt:Any other questions? Pete? I've got a question. If you could go back to your younger self, what advice would you give and how old would you have been when giving that person advice?

30:44Jeannette:Oh, difficult. I mean, I applied to be a journalist. I tried to do that at university and I had to write 500 words as to why I wanted to do it and I couldn't be asked to do it. And I always think, oh shit, if only I'd have done that, that would have always changed the direction. But with regard to, oh, it's so difficult. I think I was an identical twin. Well, I still am, obviously. And we were quite competitive. And I think I became, we became so competitive, you forget about the bigger picture. And I probably didn't focus on me. I focused too much on her and what she was doing. So I'd have probably been more me and happier with me and not really worrying too much about what other people were doing.

31:29Juliet Barratt:Powerful question. Thank you, Pete. Gentleman from here with the Burgundy Top. Thanks for the talk. Yeah, I wanted to ask you, how did you deal with the stress of running a business? Because you mentioned that you're no longer angry. So that made me think of that question.

31:48Jeannette:I don't know, you know, if you've got businesses, it's just life, you know, And it's part of running a business. You have good days, you have bad days. And I think in today's modern world, everyone just puts a label on something and it almost gives you a reason not to do it or it makes it feel that you shouldn't be feeling like that. So we had stressful days, but we got through it because we believed genuinely in what we were doing and we never questioned any of our decisions. When we were down to like 27 quid in the back, we could have easily thought, oh shit, I can't afford to do this. but we thought, do you know what, we want to do it, so we'll make it happen.

32:27Jeannette:So I just think it's a mindset thing. And also, everything I do and everything we did in the business was my choice and our choice. So we put ourselves under that pressure. If we wanted an easy life, then we should have got a PAYE job and worked for someone else where we could have switched the computer off at five o 'clock. So I think it's all part and parcel of having the business. And you just embrace it and crap on. You've got a choice, haven't you? you do or you don't. It's as simple as that.

32:54Juliet Barratt:I've got a quick follow-up question, if that's all right. So obviously, you know, you guys are massively successful and you sell the businesses for a lot of money and whatnot. I don't know about the others, but I'm just, you know, at the moment, a run-of-the-mill average kind of, you know, sole trader, you know, self-employed. I'm trying to make it big, but it's been a struggle. And I wonder, obviously, you know, you must have met a lot of people like myself and do you have any words to offer me?

33:24Jeannette:I think it all comes down to appetite. There's this big stigma attached to growing a business that you're going to get investment in and you're going to sell. There is absolutely nothing wrong. It should be appalling to have a business that you run that gives you and your family a nice lifestyle. Nothing has to be set up to sell. If you want a business that's saleable, then you have to invest more and take more risks. It's just, you know, you have to be that sort of person. if you want a business that you know provides you with a nice lifestyle and employs you then that's great but you just have i think you need to set your stall out quite early you either go for it as a lifestyle business or you start making decisions that may not sit comfortably with you to get that investment later on yeah thank you but we never set up sorry we never set up grenade to sell what we said you know i know i sound a bit sort of weird they're saying that we wanted to sell to Mondelez.

34:17Jeannette:But for us, it was about the business. The sales came. You know, if we'd have focused on the numbers, we'd have lost part of the journey, the DNA, and getting people to buy into it. And, you know, it just would have ruined the enjoyment. One of the reasons why, and I hate that word success, but Renee grew like it did, is because we genuinely loved what we were doing, and we focused on the brands and not about the numbers.

34:39Juliet Barratt:Amazing. We've got a question here from Ro as well. Go for it. As another fellow ex-teacher, what would you say to young people in education now? Because business is really sold to them as a career option. What would you want them to know that is so amazing about business?

34:57Jeannette:I did a talk in six long colleges this morning on their business studies course. And they were asking some really fascinating questions. I think the education system, and I won't rant, it's quite outdated. It's almost like school, university. And being an entrepreneur isn't encouraged in this country. there seems to be a lot of barriers um you know i would like to see more sort of positive business role models um as opposed to like influencers i think that kids need people to aspire you know to be like so i think that's really important but also we need to look at how we educate children and the views on apprenticeships and workplace training you know it should be seen as the option for the kids that aren't going to achieve it should be a genuine alternative to that traditional you know a-levels university so i think we need real advocates of business to sort of encourage kids to go into like apprenticeships and get that word-based training great great

35:51Juliet Barratt:question i think we might be nearly out of time i'm looking at alex to no one can keep going oh amazing anyone else got any other questions because we're in our flow now stick your hand up lady here in the beautiful cardigan i'm loving the cardi i look scotty thank you very much I'm just wondering do you have any mentors when you started Grenade like in the early days because I feel like it's so hard to find any when we start a business I wish someone could tell me

36:19Jeannette:what to do in the early days the first thing I'd say to you is you know what to do you know you're a founder it's your DNA you probably just need people to sex check it so always follow your gut and you know the Grenade story was my journey it's no one else's it's just mine and what I did probably is a ride for the majority of other people. So always follow your gut and don't think anyone should tell you what to do. When we started Renate, there were no real mentors like there are now. I mean, there were some amazing mentorship programs. I think the business community is wider and people are much more open about their challenges and their issues.

36:54Jeannette:When we launched, it was all like, oh, isn't everything great and everything's brilliant and we're making shit loads of money? Whereas now, I think people are more open to, you know it's really fucking hard out there and it doesn't paint such a shiny picture um i mean we were lucky to meet so many wonderful business people you know like ranson and you know being in those networks i think it makes you feel more supported because everyone has the same challenges as you you're not on your own and it's just finding those honest voices that you can sort of talk to and listen to but do your own journey thank you That was amazing.

37:31Juliet Barratt:Anyone else with a question? I'm conscious we've had a lot of questions on this side of the room. Anyone on this side of the room? Look, there we go. Oh, and what, on this side again? Oh, it's different, yeah. You're all quiet on this side. And Pete's become our glamorous assistant. Well done, Pete. Thank you. Gentlemen, what's your own question for Julia? Two parts, really. Was there a moment where you nearly quit or nearly gave up and what kept you going? and then also was there a tipping point where you went from hoping it would work to

38:00Jeannette:knowing that you were you know it was going to work no and no we never not once we might have questioned decisions but we never questioned the journey you know even when you know i remember having a conversation with al you know we had a couple of mortgages and you know we weren't making money in the business we never ever ever questioned it and was your second question about when it was was going to we always knew it would work because we were going to make it happen and I don't think you forget about the journey and I think it's really important to love that journey and stop focusing on the destination because the journey is the important bit and you don't know what's going to happen in a year ten years time, you don't know what the market's going to be like you didn't know what the ingredients were going to be like but we always had genuine belief in what we were doing, it was the right thing to do And we always knew one way or another, that's a song, isn't it, but it would be a great business because we were adamant about that.

39:02Juliet Barratt:So, I mean, real firm belief we're going to make a success no matter what.

39:06Jeannette:But we didn't know how we were going to get there, but we always knew that one way it would work out for us.

39:12Juliet Barratt:We're going to get to singing in a minute, Julia. Yeah, that's not good. My karaoke day is over. I mean, we've got time for one last question over here. Go for it. Thanks, Ginette. Juliet, your story has been absolutely inspiring. Interesting that you've mentioned that you hate using the word success. Yeah. If you were able to redefine success for yourself or for the room, what would it be?

39:35Jeannette:Yeah, I mean, people think about money, like monetary values are successful. But for me, and it's having a long time to get to this point, success is I only now have to do things that I want to do. So it's that choice. So it's being able, you know, when you're growing a business, you have to do everything because, you know, you have to do it. Whereas now I only really do stuff, whether it be like go food shopping, which I hate doing, just like Maxine. You have a choice and I only do things that I want to do. So just that being selfish, I'm not sure. You know, for me, that's a definition of success.

40:11Jeannette:Amazing.

40:12Juliet Barratt:What a great question to end with. I really hope you've enjoyed this episode of Brave Bold Brilliant. remember check out our new website www.brave-bold-brilliant.com you're going to find loads of resources on there that's going to help you with your leadership journey and with the businesses that you're trying to scale up and grow so take care everyone and remember there are no limits to your growth but it is by being brave and bold that you're going to unlock your brilliant