Ep 45: From Primary School Teacher to SUPERKEEN: Caragh Keane on Building the UK’s Cleanest Cereal

0:11Today's guest turned a personal health challenge into a powerful brand story. After being diagnosed with lupus, she set out to create a cereal that was safe, satisfying and genuinely joyful to eat. And with that, Super Keen was born. With the help of a university innovation grant and a lot of determination, what started out as a personal project is now a growing brand that's changing the breakfast game. Please welcome to the podcast, Cara Keen. Well, welcome. Hi. I am so excited to have you here. And I must actually start this by saying, probably not as excited as my daughter, who is hid behind the table.

0:50Oh my gosh, I'm obsessed with her. She's the cutest in the world. She is your biggest fan. And we'll get into that because we had this really sort of strange moment where your brand is really newly launched. Yes, yes. And we met in a department store that you were kind of giving samples out. and I had, I must have really bought it after only a couple of weeks of it being on shelf. Yeah, you must have, yeah. We basically had this sort of situation where gluten wasn't agreeing with my middle child, Valley. And I was kind of looking at doing that thing that mums do where you go and you're like, what do they like?

1:27And I can't now have this cereal and nothing else in my cupboard I can now have. And then we, well, I stumbled across Superkeen And literally I was in the aisle of one of my favourite shops and I, which is Planet Organic and everything else was so boring on shelf and so kind of like, she's not going to like this. I don't, it just, there's no way I'm going to sell this into her. And then I saw Superkeen and I was like, Oh my gosh. We're a bit bright. No, but it's so like, there's something so nostalgic about it. almost retro feeling but I knew she would go okay what's this without sort of I love hearing that because really the vision with it was for like children wanting to to go grab a box and I think with a lot of free from products they can look really just like there is no life to them and that they're missing out and I just didn't want anyone to feel like they were missing out yeah and just missing the fun yeah so I was like instantly so I grabbed a couple of boxes and it was the cinnamon one first of all and she loved it and then I then saw you a few weeks later in that it was like a sliding doors moment for me honestly um and then obviously we got talking and you were giving out samples oh my goodness my daughter is obsessed with this we're having this whole situation and it was so good to meet you but it's so nice to now be able to sit down and chat through you I'm so excited to be here and I'm a big fan of you and honestly when I met you in the shop um and we were sampling and like the first thing I said was oh I love your cap because you were rocking ladies oh my god it's Rochelle I'll get you on so let's let's talk about you everything in between um before we go into you personally and your story why don't for those that don't already know why don't you explain a little bit about what super keen is absolutely yeah so super keen is the cleanest cereal on the market essentially it was a cereal born out of my own health struggles and and when I'd become really poorly with lupus I started really just researching ingredients and you know food that I could eat to make me feel good and I just realized everything was full of processed ingredients and the options that were there just felt like I was missing out and I started getting real kind of ingredient anxiety and so I was just trying to eat really clean and just realize actually there's no options out there for for people wanting to eat this way um and I was just being a prime school teacher just realized how many children started the day off on the wrong foot with you know cereals that are just crammed with super processed ingredients um and yeah that started off my kind of research into gut health and different ingredients and as I started to heal with my own kind of lupus on my journey it was something that I became super passionate about and wanted to create something that everyone could reach for because I think not having options is just absolutely awful and particularly when you've always been used to sort of living a certain way and then when you get told okay you can't this is now not your norm and this is not now what your life is going to look like and then you see what's available and there was you know and it's clear to see that there was a real gap in the market there and we I suppose we put so much focus don't we on your breakfast being the most important meal of the day but when your options are limited gosh it's quite depressing yeah and I think it just you end up honestly just questioning everything you're like oh my god well I can't go out and have breakfast with my friends or you know then you're just spending hours in the shops looking at the ingredients and I think with super keen I just wanted it to be clear that you don't have to worry about picking up a box so that's why I just wanted the the clean ingredients on the side um and to just like yeah take away that fear yeah from reaching for a product yeah yeah I've had it and it's the it's the worst feeling you know feeling worried about ingredients and we often talk about like in life sort of taking the small not sort of wasting your time we've had so many founders on this podcast making decisions about small things but that's really hard to do when you have to look into every detail and every ingredient because you're now intolerant or you now can't have so you have to focus on those those small decisions are actually big decisions because it when it directly affects your health we often start you know these conversations in such a way where we reflect on childhood and how that looked and passions and I know for you your passion was all for becoming a teacher yes so where where where did that begin yeah so I grew up I'm one of five so I grew up in Manchester and there was always something happening in the house either like a dog running about or it was playing some kind of game but um yeah my siblings are like my best friends I'm really lucky um to have had them and I think growing up I I was actually quite an anxious child and really anxious at school um and just always kept my head down and did a lot of sports but I just always had this anxious energy um and I think that definitely plays into the fact that you know growing up I thought you know I'd love to create a space where no child felt anxious and I don't think it's a reflection of you know my school or just I think the the person I was I think I was always just a worrier um and I grew up and we had quite kind of um like an Irish upbringing I think my family of like really strong values is like being together and um so there was so nice it is and do you know what I'm like I'm really fortunate because even like to this day we still have like a Chinese on a Friday on a Saturday so like we all come together um and that's a really important part of of I think growing up for me I think my family played a big role um and I just always knew I had my sisters so I was just really close to the family growing up and yeah I was really fortunate to have gone to a lovely school um and yeah just kept my head down I think my mum was like everything to everyone so I really looked up to her and I think my dad with his career in sports um it was very much so um he was really driven and I think I always had this interest about kind of the mentality behind you know achieving your goals and working towards something and I think even from a young age I was always intrigued by how come certain people kind of achieve certain levels of success whether it's a sports person or a business person and I think that was always something I was really intrigued by like a real curiosity yeah so I think that was always interesting into me um and so yeah it was something that I think that stayed with me yeah um I'm just a really curious person I just loved learning about different things and um yeah I was just kind of just loved sports but I think academically probably not the strongest um really um and so yeah I just kind of uh kind of worked hard and then that was really important like my parents would always say you know they wouldn't put pressure on us academically but they'd be like did you do your best yeah you know as long as you did we were like yeah that's all that matters I think that's so important as well when you're I mean you'll know this as well better than anyone that being a teacher that that is for me that's all I want for my kids like you can I've got three children they're all completely different I raise them exactly the same but and obviously you have to sort of change your approach with all three according to their personality but we have the same beliefs the same values but all I want them to do is do their best I'm like it doesn't matter if you're not the most like if you're not in top set for this if you're in bottom set for that we we do our best and that's it and we always we have this thing that we say 10 out of 10 best effort and as long as you've given that oh yeah we're good it's all that matters yeah and I think that was it was always the emphasis was put on how we would treat people yeah and you know how you like have manners and you're respectful um and so I think that was really important so I never really felt that academic pressure but I think just as the person I am I think I would always just like keep my head down and you know and what was it about teaching that really appealed to you yeah what was what was sort of where do you think that passion was born yeah well I think I just I love kids and I love I think you know learning about different areas so I think with primary school teaching I just love the idea of teaching kind of all areas so yeah um that was something that I was really excited about and I think I'm a bit of like a nerd with certain things like I love learning about you know science or history and and yeah I just think I'm it was something that I really wanted to just create a classroom where you know I was able to create a really kind of um space where you know learning was happening everyone felt they could ask questions and felt welcome yeah you were like you would be I just know my children's dream teacher oh you've got like an air of like you know Miss Honey from Matilda where you just seem like the nice like you're like I want her to be my teacher or my sister or my mum I just want her I could so no honestly like I can tell that you would have created such a such a warm space so you then went on to teach sort of primary school kids for four years is that right yeah so I was teaching in Manchester um and as I finished my teacher training I became really poorly so that's when kind of um yeah my health just plummeted so what what happened so you where talk to me about that moment because you've just you've done this training you're ready to start what is your dream job and what you've really been working towards and then what happens yeah so um I kind of had a few symptoms cropping up over the space of a few months so I just finished my teach training and and yeah it was one of those things where I thought oh gosh I've got an interview for my dream job um and at that stage I was just having I started experiencing blisters on my um my hands that started to just kind of escalate just went all over my face and my chest and my back and and then I thought oh do you know what I'm just really I think I'm just quite stressed at the moment I just need a bit of sleep you know um and so yeah that was one of the symptoms that I just kind of um that had cropped up and was there for a few months and I just thought oh I'll just get on with it um and then that's such a female thing oh yeah for sure and that's always something I always want to flag as well you know if you you know you're not feeling right and these symptoms are appearing and and hopefully with lupus I think that those symptoms can vary a lot so hopefully I can share that so other people can maybe be aware of it but um I was just getting really fatigued So I remember going, get my hair cut and I fell asleep, get my hair cut.

12:56And I just thought this is like not right. And I had to pull over on the side of the road to sleep. And just that's not who I am as a person at all. And yes, so the fatigue and the blisters and I was just having kind of hair loss that was just ongoing. So I thought, oh, do you know what? Again, I just think I'm stressed until I started getting alopecia patches. and when I couldn't control that at all and it just actually spiraled I thought this is this is uh yeah this is a probably something a bit serious and this is probably all connected yeah yeah and I had um and on the way to um my interview for my um job that I was going for after finishing teacher training and it was at my old school it was like my dream job and I remember I couldn't turn the wheel on my car because of the joint pain.

13:48And I sat outside and I just was trying to build up the confidence to go in. And I thought, I'm not going to be able to kneel down to these children. I was like, holding back tears because I just thought, I don't know how I'm going to do this. And that's so scary as well to feel like your body is, you're not in control of your body. And something is really taken over and you don't know what this is. And the not knowing is... Oh, it's horrid. is often really scary right it really is and I didn't know and I think I'm quite fortunate because like on the back of of doing the interview um and it all went well and I got offered the job but I wasn't able to take it then um because I just I said to um their teacher I said I'm really poorly I don't know what it is but I'm just I won't be able to take on this role and be the teacher that you're needing physically I wasn't able to so um because I'd been so poorly um I think it was a bit of um it was quite kind of silver linings because I was able to be diagnosed quite quickly right because I think on average it's like six years for a diagnosis of an autoimmune condition so like people would have been in my situation not not being able to get answers but Your kind of symptoms, I suppose, escalated quite quickly.

15:08So it's like there's no singular clinical test for lupus, but it's like an accumulation of kind of physical symptoms and clinical testing. But yeah, it all kind of happened in a time where I was able to be diagnosed and then it was one of those things where I was like, what on earth is this? And then I suppose sort of being the way that you're wired, you instantly think I'm going to research into this and I'm going to figure out what I do to make myself feel more like me again. And that was kind of hearing that I'd have to be on chemotherapy and steroid cycling for life. I thought this can't be my life.

15:53Like at 25, I thought, oh, my gosh. that is so that is such a hard sort of pill to swallow it really really is and like you say being used to being a certain way and having that freedom and not even you take life for granted a bit right like 100 and then having something that is so debilitating and I think I did go through a period of like mourning my life I thought yeah like what does having children look like for me now what does you know being able to to go back to teaching look like for me or like like finding like being in a relationship I just thought gosh so I think it was one of those times where I was like no this is the time where you either let it let it take hold of you or you make that change which I think oh I'm so grateful for my mum because she was like my rock so I always think I don't know where I'd be without her because I think at times where I was really wobbling she would be that person saying no your body like you can do this like you can manage this and not only did you manage it you decided to launch a business so where does all of this come into play because you're dealing with quite a well a really kind of overwhelming period of of your life and it is like a bit fight or flight isn't it it's a little bit okay we're going to either turn this into something positive yes and I'm going to see this is a new life I'm going to take care of myself I'm going to learn my body I'm going to know my body but launching a business is a not for the faint-hearted but be when you're in this period that feels all a little bit uncertain so where when was the idea for super keen born yeah so I it is gosh when I'd been kind of in a lot of pain and I then I had a lot of time to think about gosh how to manage this and started researching ingredients and anti-inflammatory diets and essentially started eating in a way that um eliminated all potential inflammatory triggers and um there was something I came across called AIP diet which is an autoimmune protocol way of eating but essentially as a way of eating that just reduces yeah any potential inflammation right um in the body so um I started researching into that and kind of stuck to that and was very kind of rigorous with supplementation um and just started to see my my hair grow back and my joint pain subside so I did then understand like actually the link between like your diet and your health is so important and and gut health um was just something that became such a like a topic of interest for me um and I remember reading that um I believe like 70 percent of um your immune system is regulated by your gut health and I just remember thinking well what we're putting into our bodies has a huge impact um and even like from like an anxiety perspective and like everything it's that your gut is so powerful so powerful and I think it is like there's a lot of talk about it now and socials and um there's some great kind of um like people talking about it and you know that it's great that there's like a growing kind of so much more information yeah um and so it was something that I became really gosh really interested in and I just thought if I can help myself and my health um with diet why why can't I kind of share this information and also why don't I create something that everyone can reach for that abides by even an AIP friendly way of eating so if it's AIP essentially anyone can reach for it so that was kind of the the thought behind it and why cereal yeah I think cereal for me it was just something that I was so aware of being a teacher and the children would come in school they'd be hungry before break time you'd hear the little belly rumbles and they'd be like miss can I have a biscuit you just say no do you know but no it was I was just so aware of actually how you know children started their day but also the amount of rubbish in the average cereal um I'm always amazed at kind of how many artificial ingredients there are um in cereals on the shelves and I just thought actually this needs to change um so I thought cereal could be a good starting point and I would love to kind of create other products as well but that was something that I just knew was an area that actually a lot of people struggled with yes um and that would be like and of course I'm sure over time the brand is going to expand but that will be like the hero the hero product so yeah it makes perfect sense and as I said just from like a consumer perspective shopping and being in a retailer and going there's absolutely no way I'm going to be able to put this dry boring looking cereal in front of my daughter and be like this is now what you're going to eat how exciting oh gosh so it was a real like for me it was so refreshing to see that and I was only kind of new in that market because of having to be because of her so I can only imagine like you say for people that have seen that aisle develop over time but actually you know a kind of evolution of what those aisles look like and those free from sections of a supermarket are so boring yeah and I feel like why should those people that may have to kind of avoid certain ingredients have to miss out on on everything on experience on branding on like how it makes them feel yeah so that was the real kind of make friends with food kind of just positive energy I wanted to go for so that's so lovely to hear that like that kind of jumped out oh my gosh it really that's exactly I mean you've big tick there because that's exactly what you've done where going from kind of the teaching background that being your focus developing a product product-based business is a challenge right getting from the product itself to the branding to everything in between who was the first person that you called when you thought okay I've got this idea and I really want to bring this to life like where did you feel like your your expertise lied and what did you feel like you were missing I think it is a really tricky place to be because you're thinking where's best to start with all of this and I actually essentially started researching um gosh like roots for an innovation grant so I applied for an innovation grant and that was um with the University of Manchester um and so I was awarded this grant to create a cereal that everyone could reach for um and so that was a huge kind of route for me to get started so that was like five thousand pounds um and I was able to work with the extruder there which is the machine we use to create the cereal so um the powder the the kind of the flower goes into the extruder and then goes under the kind of pressure and temperature to create the popped cereal so wow it was yeah it was a big learning you know what that's really nice to hear because you don't we often I think as society we overlook grants and things that actually that we don't realize that we we don't qualify you know that we actually could qualify something and we're not grabbing it with both hands so tell me a bit about this so is it innovation yeah so it was an innovation grant and there was a company called the growth hub that I came across um and they supported kind of new businesses with innovative ideas um and so I just thought do you know what this is actually would be a route that I think could hopefully get me to where I need to be yeah um and so yeah I kind of applied there was different there was kind of multiple interviews um and yeah it was something that I had to come up with the idea of the ingredients to include so tiger nuts and cassava flour um and I'm not sure if you know much about tiger nuts but I'm all in they were they're amazing and I remember researching them and came across one fact about them really high in resistant starch which is good for digestion and gut health and high in fiber and I thought this is an incredible ingredient how is this not used more and and that is used a lot in parts of Spain but it was something that I thought hey let's actually look to use this in a cereal so I just knew how inclusive they were and how kind of gut friendly they were and so those are the two flowers so I put this proposal together for the innovation grant and yeah I was really fortunate to have been awarded it yeah how incredible I love that and I love kind of like how ingredient focused you are and that's your that's the thing that I can tell that like you up oh and it it really does and I think I'm just like doing the research for it is something that I like I'm always thinking about even now you know it's it's like well how can we like improve if we can and yes and but that is the core of everything our ingredients right absolutely that and in terms of like branding and you know the aesthetic and the look and feel were you quite particular on like the super keen that we're seeing here and we're seeing now in front of us were you quite particular on how that's to look or was that something that was quite overwhelming in for you yeah I think to begin with I just really had the idea of it becoming super inclusive and friendly and bright um and everyone to feel like yeah they could reach for a box so whether it's adults or children um for that to kind of just be a positive thing to start the day with so it was more of a feeling that I went towards with how we were going to go about the branding and with the support from a really great agency in London, they helped kind of bring those ideas to life.

26:15And it was, yeah, it was a really interesting process. I kind of love the creative side of it. I think that is so exciting. I feel like you're the same with that. I love it. That's honestly my favourite thing. If that was the only part of my job that I had to do, I would be very happy about it. I love it. It is amazing. Putting those first references together and pulling that. Then it feels like it's a real thing and it's coming to life. There's nothing more exciting to me. And then seeing all of that then on a shelf. Absolutely. So the kind of, the creative, you knew what that needed to be. In your mind, it was about getting someone to execute that for you.

26:54For sure, yeah. And I always say that, like, I love it. And I kind of, if I could be like a whiz on Photoshop or like be able to really kind of design. Instead of Canva, I'm like, I'm glad I'm awful. be dangerous because I love the idea of this I'd never sleep because I'm like obsessed with pantones and branding and like fonts and everything in between yeah um I want to talk about then getting it off the ground because we we talk a lot on this podcast about investment and how that looks and getting off the ground and how we have these ideas but we often talk about women being so underfunded in that space and we take up I think two percent of it is which is kind of a stark figure and it's probably lower than that I've probably got that wrong I try to not listen to it because it's it's so depressing oh it is yeah it's shocking but investment can be hard I know that you took early investment from your dad which I wanted to touch on because your dad is the icon that is Roy Keane.

28:00And I, by the way, he makes me laugh so much. My husband shows me all these like football reels and I always like watch clips of him and Ian White on a podcast and I just think it is genius. It is so good. Oh no, he can be a bit crazy. I love it. Yeah, he is. I love it. I'm like, it's like he says what everyone else is thinking. I don't even know anything about football, but I just quite like his reaction to stuff. So I want to talk about like family, working together, investment, because of course we know as I said how hard funding can be in that space and we always must acknowledge our own privilege when we can have access to funds um however we should say the idea of like an investor you know breathing down your neck and having to hit KPIs and everything else in between I can't imagine the idea of when Rory Keane's your dad and taking investment for him yeah I can imagine that's just as tough yeah yeah and absolutely and I think it's seen as do you know like I'm so grateful to have had you know the business loan to kickstart it off you know um and it just gosh it is something that you know going to him with the idea um it was something that I've always taken very seriously um and there probably is that emotional aspect to it because you know it is something you know it's business but they're also family investing in it and you don't want to let anyone down and I can imagine like and ultimately he's your dad and you know that he has worked incredibly hard absolutely throughout his career to be able to give you said loan and be able to help in that way and we should also point out that it is a business loan right but so you also know how much it means and you're very aware of his work ethic and for sure wanting to respect that too yeah and I think that is always you know that'll always be at the back of my mind you know at this point because you know I I'm kind of wanting it to work for them so much um and yeah so it is something that really drives me because you know it's you know I want to make it work for for them and yeah to ensure that's all okay but yeah it was it was initially a a really kind of scary thought I think you know when you're um asking you know for investment or a business loan you know you've got to gosh really come prepared you have to you know you're going to be asked so many questions you know whether it's like the forecast that you know what your plans for the brand you you know you can get you grilled essentially so um it's something that I'm constantly it does yeah it's something that you know when I when I see my dad and he's and he's like how how's business and I think you know there's that that side that we're very kind of I keep that professional because that's uh obviously a really important thing to me and and you know striking that balance is tough and there's also an argument that you can actually never get away from it when it's family yeah so if something is happening and it's not I don't know something isn't performing in the way that you thought this particular product might or there are because you know it happens business isn't linear right but knowing that it's your dad it's kind of a really it's it's interesting and I always find this when I spoke to um Mona Katan who is it was an incredible guest and she her sister is Huda and they started hood of beauty together and having family so kind of such a big part of your business which is great but also there are times where that can sort of be a little bit tricky and it's quite a tricky dynamic to navigate yeah right and you don't want it to leach into every part of your relationship of course of course and I'm very grateful because my dad is really great with advice so you know on actually at any level of the business like even if you know things aren't always going to go to plan he's very good yeah he is and I'm very grateful for that because um yeah he's just I feel like he's provided some really great kind of nuggets advice when I've needed it yeah I'm very grateful did he instantly understand the idea because it is when you are innovating and it is a new concept and sometimes at the start when these ideas are born and I always think the best ideas are born out of kind of a self-indulgent place like you're like this is something that I would really need and there's definitely a gap here but it does take understanding so like you when you're trying to sort of convince somebody this is a really good business strategy like did it did it instantly make sense yeah I think he's been very understanding of I think my own health journey and my struggles and because he's kind of lived it lived it with me and and seeing how much kind of that's affected my life and just that you know seeing that and also yeah he's very kind of you know if you're willing to work hard at it you know we'll support you with with your your kind of your vision with it and I think at times in all honesty he said he didn't realize it would be what it has become and in all probably me neither really to be honest like with um been really fortunate with kind of gaining the listings we've had even before launching um and I would think gosh looking back I was like launching to Whole Foods a year before I even was ready to launch so there was areas I was just a bit like very ballsy with but but I love that and I think yeah but it also is testament to the brand and people really understand the connecting that there is a big gap and there's a and there's a space here that needs filling and you know the the timing has probably aligned to where of course that that just didn't exist you know to be that super friendly inclusive fun brand like I said that disrupts that boring free from aisle is needed so let's talk about so when what date did you actually launch we launched the first of March this year like it's actually bonkers yeah like to launch I feel like I must have discovered you on 10th or something like I feel like I was really early I was like I was shopping at the right time um so you launch in March yes and I remember the our first birthday of my little cocoa like it was yesterday and like it's almost like you just birth a child into the world and it's there for everybody to see and have an opinion on and you know either love or not not love um what was that launch day like oh gosh well it was incredible and we did our activation whole foods um on kind of the very first week um and we sold out um in whole foods which was a real surreal moment for me and i it was really emotional i do think seeing it on the shelves was oh gosh just yeah it was overwhelming and i just thought oh my god it's it was like four years in the making to get it on the shelf um so seeing actually there you're just like this is you kind of just feel like an overwhelming kind of um motion and all of that work like four years is a lot when you're living and breathing something and of course I know that you were doing it on the side at the start whilst you were teaching and now you can't teach anymore because it's launched and it's really happening and you're kind of need to go with that momentum but that moment when it does hit a shelf and you've put like blood sweat tears health journey and everything else into something like of course it's emotional it's such a big moment absolutely so since the moment you launched where are you where are you now where are you now listed because I know that that the momentum has been quite strong yeah absolutely so I'm really fortunate that we launched with Whole Foods and planet organic and um and soon after that selfridges um and just go live on a cardo um very soon so uh yeah there's some exciting things in the pipeline and hopefully kind of yeah the launch into ireland and and other countries but um it's been a whirlwind and it's been a few months trying to keep up with it yeah it's been yeah a real learning curve for me and what what a way to launch into you know after only well we're we're taping this in july yeah and you're already in those retailers and it's it's so so exciting has what what would you say you've learned in the short space of time obviously the you know i say short space time four years getting it to this point but only have launched in this short space of time what would you say has been the biggest learning curve so far oh that's a good question um I do think with the business how actually like running your own business can be quite a lonely thing um and yeah it's one of those things where I've like understood the importance of you know networking and talking to people in the same boat as you because I think at times you don't want to like burden your like your partner or your family with your business worries so sometimes you kind of just keep them in well it's so all-consuming that you kind of worry for everyone else you're like is this all i talk about now that you feel like you've become that person that you know you meet a person that just shows you pictures of their dog and that's all they do or pictures of their kid like it becomes like that with a business but most people do have a pet or a child so everybody can sort of pick up and relate where when you're doing this thing and you're like does anyone else really care about tiger nuts the way i do i'm like i really want to talk about it but i can't and i'm bursting to tell you it is and i and i often say that it's so insular that you spend a lot of time alone with this and of course you have friends that you can share stuff with but you feel like everyone's got a life to live and is anyone that interested it does become quite a lonely thing you're right and that's you do realize that quite quickly don't you yeah yeah yeah and it's something that i just need to like it's i'm really grateful because even with gosh the the amazing like female founders within your community yeah connecting with them is has been incredible so they they are fab and everyone do you know what most people have gone through what you've gone going through at some stage you know that is literally the reason why i created this podcast because it and it is a real community which i'm so sort of thankful for but it that was also a self-indulgent thing I was listening to podcasts based on like certain female founders that I'd like and I was never loyal to one series or felt like I was part of a club because it would just be about that particular guest I would just listen to whatever they were on so I was like wouldn't it be great if I could just and I meet like a new incredible woman every week that I then become friends with and you've been to you came to our walk oh I love that getting everybody together and everyone like then stays in touch and it's such a kind of supportive community because you kind of don't have that in your friendship group because not everyone's doing the same thing so it's so nice to share stories and yeah I love it it's so nice it's been like it's been a real eye opener to me and I think that's something that definitely helps with the the kind of I don't know of just not feeling so alone in it someone's even done that a few years before or about to go through something and i think and i've definitely noticed that you know interviewed startups or people that like yourself that have a few months old and from people that founded billion dollar companies everyone has the same problems they're all just relative and on different scales or they've been there or living through them so it's it's really nice and it's refreshing and we women need to talk more about they definitely do they definitely do and you don't need to be I think I my kind of normal mode is like panic mode for certain things and it's it doesn't need to be the case and I think that's made me realize actually you know yeah gosh someone's been through it they're all good it all figures itself out it does I mean it feels like the world's crumbling at the time yes you get through it and then you just do things differently based on like Oh, you learn from it.

40:41Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure. I want to do our rocket round now. And we ask every guest the same set of questions. So the first one is, it's supposed to be quick fire, by the way. Okay. We're not always great at this because we like to chat. No, I'm a bit of a waffler, maybe. What do you believe are the non-negotiables for launching a business? Yes, I think testing the concept as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. I think like especially in the food world like if you if the recipe isn't finalized the branding isn't finalized if you're able to just get feedback on that um and just to yeah get consumer feedback um as quickly as you can I think that is really important and I know um humble crumble the founder of that speaks really well about that and she's like created her like empire um so I think that is a kind of the first one I think the why I know it's a bit cliche but that why will get you through those hard times um and I think that purpose buying the brand is so vital so and without that I think you do lose you lose your customer you lose people actually invested in it becomes a bit of a gray area yeah absolutely um I think um staying true to your values I think you know as soon as you're cutting corners or um just you know I think even if your sting tail valves and it costs you in the short term I think you've got to um and I know I've definitely found that even with being organic um you know that's kind of like pushed back our launch six months and it originally was planned but it's important to us yeah and you know what's so interesting to me is And Ella Mills was a guest.

42:27And obviously, deliciously Ella and, you know, everything that she does, she's done incredibly well. And that was something that she really was incredible with, particularly in your space. Right. And when you're dealing with food and it being, you know, but she was like, I don't want, can't it just be a natural? Can't food just be food? And she really, she fought to find a supplier and a manufacturer to understand it. and partnered with other people at the start, but they didn't understand it and tried to get her to make it a certain way. But she ended up finding the right supplier. And then when she then sort of solved the business, they then had to continue supplying in that way because of the way she then built the back end and the infrastructure, which is amazing.

43:15And now obviously when you sell a brand of that scale, they can't change those fundamental values. So she's stuck to it. yeah but it's hard to do in that space yeah but once you find the right people sure and even with our manufacturer i think that took a year to find someone that was able to work with these ingredients that i've never been used before in a cereal so yes you are you're always going to come to those kind of like hurdles with it but um yeah keep going and i think um also sorry this is not quick fire is fine we like it we're here I told you it happens I told you it's fine we like it um and then I think also being like adapt and constantly learning the like the world is always changing and you are gonna get left behind if you're kind of not keeping up with it um and I remember reading um this little equation and it was flexibility plus purpose equals like survival for brands so i think those things together like are really vital and and the last one sorry i think now i'm thinking of it is just like your health i think with my own health i've just realized actually it's so important to look after yourself you can kind of like with the midst of all the craziness of the brand i think you don't sleep you forget to eat the right things you get to Yeah, it's easily done because you're putting everything into it.

44:40So it's easy to forget about yourself. So it is important to be able to do it successfully. It really is. I think so. What is the first thing you do when you wake up and the last thing you do before you go to bed? I'm probably the world's worst at this because I'm like the person to bring my laptop to bed. So I'm trying to get a bit better. Yeah, it's hard. But yeah, I just try and I've actually, like in the mornings, is I've now got one of the LED kind of lights. Like red light. Like red light for my hair because that's with my kind of hair growth journey. I found that that's really helping me.

45:15So I kind of get that on. Have you seen the little hairbrushes that have got them? No. There's like a little hairbrush. I got one for my birthday and it's got red light in it and you can like brush. Oh gosh. It's quite a good thing to have like when you're just bored and you're sat in front of a sofa. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I'm going to be searching on the way home. but yeah that that's something that I try and just stick to and I'm like big into my supplements and I find that really helps keep my lupus at bay so I kind of have a morning smoothie quite early just so I get my supplements in but um yeah and try and just take that bit in the morning to just get ready for the day take the time yeah yeah just sort of build yourself up I'm now intrigued what are your go-to supplements what are you putting in your smoothie yeah so So I'm really big into collagen.

46:03I think that's really helped my hair and my gut health. And just, yeah, I think that's been... Your skin's incredible. Thank you. Gosh, yours is. No, I'm looking. I'm really shiny right now. No, no, no. And I think with autoimmune conditions and overall health, like vitamin D and K2 is like really, really great. I think that's been a really big supplement for me. I take glutathione. Like, oh, God, I won't bore you with all of them. but I'm really like passionate about supplements and it allows me not to rely on like immunosuppressants and things so um yeah so thank god there's a fair few I think I take like NAD like um coke I think it's coq10 so these are all things that I've just like tried and tested um and yeah helped me to to kind of not have my symptoms yeah yeah well it's working into it yeah thank you And also, like you say, I'm so into alternative medicine and ways of eating.

47:09My mum has got a liver autoimmune condition called PCB. And she annoys me because she doesn't try and figure it out herself with diet. And I really put the pressure on her at the minute. And she's doing better. and it's hard because then you're like if you're not naturally to like research but she really could make it just at least like really sort of subside her symptoms and really sort of feel better and she does but it's like she's like rattling with all these tablets but I'm like please and I'm like researching on how she can eat through it and this and the other but what do they say you can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink um what's one piece of advice that you wish you hadn't listened to um do you know what i'll probably say i'll maybe change that to like not take on as much yeah advice um because i think it actually at times confused me even more and some of it was contradictory yes um and i think i completely lost my own like gut like because it's all so distracting very noisy isn't it when you when everyone's giving their opinion and they're kind of two pence worth definitely and I think I definitely kind of made mistakes so far on this journey but I've learned from them and by god I will not be doing the same same mistakes again but yeah I think it was definitely at times just maybe I was looking at too many people to get kind of advice from and yeah just maybe it was a bit too much I hear a lot of founders say the same thing actually but I also think when you're starting you really do it's almost like i remember when i had my first daughter and i would like if someone said to me oh you should try one of these this is great for wind or this is great for this i you name it i would have bought it and it was at my house the next day because i was just like didn't really know what the hell i was doing and i'd listen to anyone but then you get confused because one person says oh no they're not allowed to drink water and the other person says she's probably just thirsty and i'd be like oh my god but which one is it and then obviously then you have another baby and then And you're like, oh, I kind of know what I'm doing.

49:19I trust myself. But I think it's the same thing with business where you take on so much because you're not really sure. But then you have to kind of make your own mistakes and find your way a little bit to know what's going to work for you. Right. What's a skill that you'd love to learn? Oh, gosh, many. I do think. And is this from a business perspective? Well, yes. Or no. I mean, I did have someone say they really want to learn to backflip. And I was like, sure. That'll spice up the lunch hour. oh my gosh um well lots um but I think mainly probably um I wish it didn't take me so long to get my head around kind of spreadsheets in excel yeah pnls you know that is just an area that I think being a private school teacher I haven't had you know much experience yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah um I'd say probably that and yeah that's probably the main one yeah and maybe like and creatively like i'm like gosh it's so bad or like um but canva is just something that like i go to but i wish i had more skills i know but i think canva done such a good job in making someone like me and i suppose yourself if you're saying so like give us a bit of a head start and make it a little bit easy and simplifying it it is a great platform yeah and even like i will do a bit on Canva to show a designer what I'm sort of meaning.

50:42Like if I can't articulate what's in my brain, it helps. But yeah, I think, you know, we can't do everything. No, we can't. There'd be no jobs for anyone. What's one thing you wish someone had told you before you started your business? Probably that, yeah, like I mentioned before, I think that you do spend so much time alone and yeah it's kind of do feel it um it can be a bit lonely but um yeah having that network of people is so important that you can reach out to and you've got to put yourself out there to have that network haven't you and I think that's the that's the one thing you can get a little bit sort of stuck in that lonely yeah unless you sort of be a bit brave and ask a question and sort of reach out to people because you know nine times out of ten they're all so really happy that you have yeah like oh my god I'm so pleased you've asked yeah um what would be the dream collab for your brand and that could even be like from an ambassador perspective or like you know those brand on brand collabs that we see oh I love this question um I would love for do you know just from my own experience I know travel it's so hard to grab kind of um a food product that you're not like just questioning the ingredients yes about so like even with like airlines oh for our little minis to be like a b yeah that would be the dream and and hotels because i just think it's such a you know a growing area with with with people struggling with ingredients and you know gluten um so why not the mission is to make everyone's life easy oh my god if they were on a flight oh that'd be the dream that would be insane so if i can make that happen oh i think it's happening i mean come on but we're even seeing like a friend of very good friends of mine is the founder of grind you know coffee in the coffee pod he's done amazing yeah and he has done incredibly well he's so smart but they are you can go on a bia flight now and have a grind coffee as opposed to like whatever weird coffee everyone was having before and i I think that's what it was.

52:52Yeah, the world is kind of open to giving that normal life, but in the air. Yeah, yeah. And it's really great to see, because I think at times when you're travelling, you're just wanting a nice cup of coffee. It's such a simple idea, but it just sort of wasn't happening before. And I love it. I love to see that. Yeah, me too. If you could choose one female figure as a mentor, past or present, who would that be? Oh, there is so many. I'm constantly inspired by all the women I meet really I think they have amazing skill sets and I'd say one person that always catches my eye I always think Grace Beverly I don't know how she does it all she's incredible she does so much and I feel like she's the good thing about Grace if you follow her I feel like she's always very forward and forthcoming with like tips and hacks and how she does certain things and it's really great and I think I just like I recently signed up to her newsletter and um and like her notes came through and I thought oh my god this is like she's really useful useful and really great and I know she's opened up her store um now in London I think that's doing incredibly well so yeah she's it's so inspiring but yeah there's so many women gosh I love that I love that and I ask each guest to give one piece of advice that may be something they wish they knew or something they've learned kind of a long way um but one piece of advice for a lady looking to launch and I normally sort of keep it in the vein of you and what you do so if someone is listening to this and thinking I'm quite interested in this food space and I've got, you know, what I believe is an innovative idea.

54:44Like what would a bit of advice be that you would share with a listener? Yeah, I would say that really put yourself out there even with like within the food world. There's incredible food events that you just get your foot in the door, you go, you talk about your product and you tell people and get feedback i think just constantly doing that i think that really helped me i with um attending the natural organic expo before we even launched and i was able to just get um a pitching session with whole foods and i just thought no this is the time to to do it so i'm always like super passionate about going to these food events where there's incredible brands there so you you gosh you're you're able to learn from them you're able to introduce yourself and connect with people in the food world and yeah just kind of really going to those events that are incredible and they like off the top of my head like bread and jam is great and the natural organic expo this there's so many food events that um even go just just before even launching just to be a bit of a sponge and see what's there yeah that's such good advice that's really really good advice and then lastly if we talk about ladies who launch but when it comes to ladies who lunch if you're not eating super keen how do you spend your lunch hour what do you eat and where are you this question i i do love like a breakfast for lunch vibe i think camp i mean if the shoe fits yeah and i do you know i do like just a bit basic but like eggs i do like just a loaded omelet or like a brunch ride for lunch yeah like on avo toast like some gluten-free bread um so yeah i do love that and if i'm if i'm in london i feel like it's a bit of and then I get like big old loaded salad.

56:47But in Manchester, I just, there's some place, but I just feel like we need to up our game in Manchester. There you go, you need one of those really good, like in London we have like salad projects. I'm so jealous. Oh, I know. What else? Vital ingredient, attest, toss, like those vibes. There's the next business idea. I know, it needs to happen. I love it. Thank you so much. It's been so nice to talk to you properly and hear all about the brand in such little time. It's really sort of starting to be on everyone's radio. And I remember I posted something on Instagram and a couple of people replied and was like, oh, my God, I've loved this too.

57:27So I think it's like it's launched in such a strong way. I'm so excited for you. This is what you've done in like a few months. Thank you. We need to sort of sit down in a year's time and see. Oh, yeah. See where you are. and thank you and also thanks for making Vali's day because you've got a super fan for life over there honestly there you go she can be your focus group if you want to test new product bring them to the Humes household thank you so much thank you thanks guys

58:06don't forget to follow us on Apple and Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts to make sure that you don't miss out because next time I'm going to be joined by another incredible lady who launched. If like me or what, share them, please follow us on YouTube and don't forget to like and subscribe.