Conversations of Inspiration

In this episode, Holly meets one of her business idols - Chrissie Rucker OBE, founder of The White Company. In this conversation, they discuss Chrissie's incredible 25 year journey, how she has weathered the storms of retail, juggling a business whilst raising a family (with an entrepreneurial husband to boot!) and her work with the Princes Trust ‘Women Supporting Women’ and how we can all help encourage, inspire and champion women to start their own business. Chrissie founded The White Company in 1994, from her kitchen table, starting as a small mail order business from her back room and growing to a well loved, admired brand and an icon of the British High Street. She now has 50 stores around the UK and 2 in America, turning over £200 million pounds with an online presence to rival her shops. Her journey is one of those British tales to be proud of. Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

This week Holly meets Joe Wicks, aka the Body Coach, to discuss building a huge social following and a brand, with a purpose.Now a TV presenter and author, specialising in cooking and fitness books, Joe started his career as a personal trainer, but he only experienced success when he started posting 15-second recipe videos on social media. Joe grew his brand to become one of the most followed fitness accounts on Instagram, his first published cookbook Lean in 15 was one of the best-selling book in 2015, having sold over 1 million copies. He has also created a "90 Day Plan" with workouts and meals that are tailored to the individual. His empire has grown to employing over 40 members of staff and counting, but with a strong sense of purpose and passion for helping others - it's a business that reaches far beyond instagram.We also talked about how he built his business using social media, but at the core he’s using it all for good. They covered subjects such as fitness, mental health, how he can champion children to be healthier and most importantly, that perseverance and purpose are the two key qualities in being a successful entrepreneur.Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

A fascinating insight, into the rollercoaster journey of someone who is right in the midst of scaling her business. This week, Holly speaks to the ‘Queen of Nut Butter’ Pippa Murray, founder of Pip & Nut. A must listen episode for anyone who dreams of starting their own food or drink business, especially those future female founders who can look at Pip’s journey and be inspired to start theirs. Holly & Pip discuss scaling from the kitchen table, investment and building a team.As a runner, Pip was always on the lookout for delicious things to eat before heading out into the great outdoors. As a firm believer that food should be super tasty, yet packed with nutrients and energy, she began making her own nut butters from her kitchen table.Fast forward a few years and Pip launched her first nut butter onto the shelves of Selfridges in January 2015, today, Pip & Nut is stocked in over 5,000 stores around the UK and Europe. Listen out for some great tips and advice if you are building a food or drink brand. Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

In this episode, Holly explores the rich heritage and history of signwriting with Ash Bishop - founder of The Brilliant Signs Company. Ash started out in the Army at Sandhurst, until he decided that it was time to walk in his great-grandfather’s footsteps and followed the family trade of sign-writing. He decided to resurrect one of his most admired sign businesses, ‘The Brilliant Signs Company’ which was originally founded 1888, but fell into disrepair. Ash ‘reclaimed’ it in 1999, where he learned and refined his craft, creating the most beautiful glass signs and sign-painting around the UK, and across the world. In this conversation, Holly and Ash discuss his unusual journey, what it was like starting out in an industry which was almost killed off due to technology, as well as his mission to ‘restore the high street through his beautiful craft - injecting that much-needed soul back onto our streets, and in turn, bringing a community together. Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

This week Holly sits down with Joanne Hawker, cards and accessories designer, to talk community and small business - two of her favourite topics. A designer by day, Joanne is also well known as the brains behind the Instagram challenge and phenomenon, ‘March Meet the Maker’. ‘March Meet The Maker’ is a tool to help shine a light on the makers across the world, by challenging them to share their ideas, favourites and what inspires them.  In this conversation, Joanne discusses her journey from working full time on a Pepper Farm in Devon, to realising her dream of quitting her job, and running her own successful small business. She talks about why she had a calling to create such a movement of people and what the power of community has given her and the creatives that she champions. Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

This week Holly speaks to Rowan Gormley, founder of Naked Wines and CEO of Majestic Wines. Rowan grew up in South Africa, but moved to the UK, after following his wife to London where he worked for none other than Richard Branson! After setting up Virgin money, and then Virgin wines, he was unceremoniously fired, leading him to start his own company Naked Wines. Disrupting the world of wine with his business, through his crowdfunded platform - Rowan’s mission is to change the wine industry so that the makers and customers are given a fair price for the best wine. So far, Naked Wines has pumped over £100 million pounds into supporting over 200 wine-makers all around the world. Rowan sold his business to Majestic in 2017 and is now at the helm of both businesses as CEO. In this meeting of minds, Holly and Rowan discuss the role that independents and face to face will play in our future, the ethos of loyalty underpinning business decisions, rather than 'quick wins', as well as the ultimate importance of the power being put in the hands of the customer.Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

Will Butler-Adams is a CEO with a refreshingly down to earth, humorous and purpose driven attitude to building a business. In his 17 years leading the company, Brompton Bikes has grown 15% year on year, but despite its growth, Brompton has fiercely retained its company culture. After taking an unexpected spin around Brompton HQ, Holly & Will sat down to discuss how to build a company with purpose beyond the product, how to lead a team and what defines a great leader. Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

In a truly soulful and enlightening interview this week, Holly meets Lord Karan Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer.Lord Bilimoria founded Cobra Beer after spotting a gap in a market that had hardly changed in over 200 years, with a student debt of £20,000 in hand - and not much else. His story of building this iconic brand, as well as the ethics and values he places at the heart of everything he does, is truly remarkable.With a rich heritage of successful relatives, Lord Bilimoria has harnessed the lessons of his family history and put those values at the very core of his business. He discusses with Holly what makes a good leader, how to take your product to market and disrupt the norm, as well as sharing his view on Brexit and what the future holds in this uncertain time.Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

This week Holly speaks to artist and illustrator Veronica Dearly. Veronica brings joy to the world with her smart, relatable, funny and very real illustrations, which she prints onto cards, gifts and shares daily, with her Instagram community. Her well-timed, highly empathetic posts often go viral and are shared with thousands of people around the world - not bad for someone who didn’t have any conventional training, was a young mum and had started life as one of the shyest people she knew!In this episode, Veronica shares the ups and downs of her business journey so far as well as discussing how she uses her art to spread joy and political messages, as well as how she overcame the things that she found the most terrifying in business and life.  Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

This week, Holly meets Tamara Lohan MBE, founder and CTO of Mr & Mrs Smith: a travel company that's grown from a single curated book of 35 hotels in 2002, to an online community of over 1.5 million members with offices in London, New York and LA. With the competition high and automation the current currency, Tamara explains what it's taken to grow a brand that focuses on the details. In this meeting of minds, they discuss the early days of building Mr & Mrs Smith, what it's really like being a female tech founder and why curation is vital to future proofing of business.Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.