Success Is In The Mind - Hosted by Oliver Bruce and Hugo Tilmouth

Louise Hill is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of GoHenry, a groundbreaking financial education app and prepaid debit card designed to empower kids and teens with essential money skills. Launched in 2012 after Louise spotted a gap in children’s understanding of digital spending, GoHenry now supports over 2 million users across the UK, US, and Europe.

With a background in e-commerce and operations at major retailers like John Lewis and Debenhams, Louise brought a wealth of experience to the fintech space. Under her leadership, GoHenry has pioneered youth financial literacy, raised millions through record-breaking crowdfunding, and recently merged wi...

In this episode, we sit down with Lucas London, the dynamic founder and CEO of Lick, the brand that’s shaking up the outdated world of home decor and paint. From launching during a pandemic to building a purpose-driven business that champions sustainability and customer empowerment, Lucas shares the bold vision behind Lick’s rise—and what it takes to disrupt a centuries-old industry.

We dive into his entrepreneurial journey, the challenges of scaling a DTC brand in a traditional market, and how Lick is using community, content, and color to inspire a new generation of decorators. Whether you’re...

Tugce Bulut is a distinguished entrepreneur and data expert, renowned for her contributions to the fields of artificial intelligence and consumer intelligence. She is the co-founder and CEO of Eloquent AI, a company dedicated to advancing AI technologies to revolutionise human-computer interactions. ​
Prior to her role at Eloquent AI, Bulut founded Streetbees in 2015, serving as its CEO. Streetbees is a global intelligence platform that analyzes real-life moments from users worldwide to provide deep insights into human behavior, surpassing traditional survey methodologies. 
Bulut's academic background includes a Master's degree from the University of Cambridge, where she specialised in poverty all...

In this episode, we sit down with Sokratis Papafloratos, a seasoned entrepreneur and angel investor renowned for his significant contributions to the tech and digital health sectors. 

Sokratis's journey began with an academic foundation in electronic engineering from the University of York, followed by a master's in information processing from King's College London. He commenced his career at Vodafone Group, focusing on strategy and business integration. 

His entrepreneurial ventures include:

TrustedPlaces: Co-founded in 2006, this local reviews platform achieved profitability and was later acquired by Yell Group, where Sokratis served as Head of Social Products, st...

James Griffith, CEO and co-founder of Mous—a tech accessories brand renowned for its innovative approach to product design. Founded in 2014, Mous emerged from a desire to revolutionise the tech accessories market by offering products that seamlessly blend functionality, performance, and style. Under James's leadership, the company has grown exponentially, captivating a global audience with its commitment to quality and innovation.​
James's entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to excellence have been instrumental in Mous's success. His vision has led to the development of products that not only protect but also enhance the user experience, setting new standards in the industry. Beyo...

​George Taylor is the visionary founder and CEO of Frive, formerly known as Lions Prep, the UK's leading chef-cooked meal plan service. Established in December 2016, Frive has delivered over seven million meals, evolving from a brand initially catering to gym-goers and fitness enthusiasts to one that appeals to a broader audience seeking convenient, nutritious meal options. ​
Under George's leadership, Frive underwent a significant rebranding in 2024, collaborating with creative agency Among Equals to transform its identity. The rebrand aimed to position Frive as a mainstream ready-to-eat meal brand, moving beyond its original fitness-focused image. The new name, an abbreviation of 'foo...

Co-founder of Misfits Henry hasn't always been an entrepreneur, in fact in a previous life he worked for Aston Martin, so why the jump into entrepreneurship?

From a passion for fitness Henry and his co-founder forged a career in the indulgent protein market but nearly lost it all when focusing exclusively on female only nutrition. A quick pivot in 2020 saw Misfits re-strategi​s​e and refocus and in 2021 sold over 7 million protein bars with the vision "to create indulgent, plant-based snacks that EVERYONE can enjoy"

​With annual revenues in excess of £10m and an untapped Misfits market...

Marietta Hickman recently founded Cheeky Nibbl​e whilsy working out of a disused RAF hanger​. UK Young Innovator of the year winner, Marietta​ produc​es​ her delicious​ handmade cereal with little more than an idea, a big bowl and spoonfuls of passion! ​Marietta admits "this is ​the first time in my life I have not been bored​!​"

So, how difficult is it as a solo, female entrepreneur with autism and a passion ​for ​baking to bring a product to market​?​ With Cheeky Nibble's striking packaging and the generous portions that come in a box, the flavour development through to the illustration and bran...

From being able to focus on tasks that matter through to benefiting from a good night's sleep, Damien Bryne and his co-founders at Hux Health have developed and brought to market one of the 'coolest' and most accessible superfoods, nootropics, sleep and beauty supplements around.

From undergoing investment rounds through to developing a product that not only works but is designed to also look great when sat on your kitchen shelf to boys at Hux Health spanned varying walks of life before coming together to go into business.

With varying personalities at the top but a...

The behemoth that is Huel started off as a convenience idea and fast became a necessity for so many. James Collier a former NHS Dietitian was wholly responsible for the formulas and nutritious benefits of Huel in the early days.

A nutritionist by trade James joined Oliver to discuss how Huel was once just an idea around his co-founder Julian Hearn's  kitchen table before becoming the recognised 'go to' brand it is today. James also reveals the title, background and context of his new book 'Thought for food' which is available to buy late 2023 early 2024.

In a...

Co-founder of Mixtons, Xav struggled with Dyslexia from an early age, ultimately discovering music as his form of expression as a teenager. With Dyslexia forming Xav's unique outlook on life he tried, and sometimes failed in business, that was, until the 3 co-founders of Mixtons came together...

One third of Mixtons, Ranj, trained as an engineer before becoming a cocktail mixer in a local bar ultimately finding his love for hospitality and the perfect pour.

It wasn't until the 2019 pandemic that Mixtons took off. From making the perfect cocktail in their co-founder Sim's kitchen, Ranj and Xav...

From Africa to Spain and everywhere in between, co-founder of UniTaskr Joe Black has had a varied life from an early age. Part of an entrepreneurial family, Joe found himself at a young age plotting the line of lost golf balls from a Spanish golf resort, cleaning and re-selling those same balls to the players. 

Realising that students and peer-to-peer work stems innovation, gives experience but is an often overlooked resource by business and individuals alike, UniTaskr launched and recently became a Startup 100 business in 2023. The model of UniTaskr is simple. Enable students with no money to monetize t...

Beer But Better, it's true! Oliver Bruce sits down with Harvy Armstrong and Sam Holmes to discuss why Harv left his highflying job in the city and Sam decided to give up working with private jets with a clear vision to bring caffeine infused and low calorie lager to the UK. 

First time founders but with entrepreneurial backgrounds, Harvy and Sam who notably have appeared on reality TV show Made In Chelsea have, off their own backs, raised capital, built a brand and become listed in some of Londons most loved venues, but how?   

Series Sponsor Hub...

From over 100 staff with Design My Night and an 8 figure exit to building what could be a unicorn Oliver speaks with Nick Telson now of Trumpet.app 

Exiting a business and starting again takes some doing, however, Nick and his 2 co-founders have been on a warpath of funding, development and scaling since late 2022 for their new vision and venture Trumpet, the sales app. 

Nick a serial investor himself talks to Oliver about what he looks for when investing his own money in others, what he suggest founders look for from their co-founders and how he managed to...

From living in America as a child and shovelling show to earn some extra pocket money Jesse had very little entrepreneurial heritage but that doesn't seem to have stopped him growing a brand that can now be found in pubs, bars and restaurants across the UK.

With Jesse's Dad being a Vicar and his mum a French teacher, how did Jesse build such a strong beer brand with such little knowledge.

Jesse graduated from University and ended up working for Mars, this however wasn't for him. An idea he baked up on his Uni ski trip...

Founder of GRIND Coffee David Abrahamovitch grew up watching his dad build multiple businesses as a child ultimately inspiring him to go it alone. It didn't however start with coffee! 

Having turned his Dad's business around and pivoted it into new sectors, David speaks to Oliver about how there's a seismic culture shift in today's world about what being an 'entrepreneur' actually is. 

David started his first 'proper' business at University at aged 22 whilst studying UCL. David and his co-founders found themselves pitching for seed capital around a boardroom table before even graduating, the business he wa...

Ecologi, one of only a few businesses in the world genuinely striving for economical change. Planting over 100,000 trees PER DAY, Elliot came up with the idea for a subscription based environmentally focused business whilst on his morning commute. He thought, "what is the cost of a coffee per day could be put into changing the planet?" The rest was history. 

Having suffered from burnout in his previous job Elliot never set out to become an entrepreneur but had an idea that he believed would make a genuine difference and change the world. He wasn't wrong. 

Oliver sp...

In this live on location recording, Oliver caught up with Andy Shovel co-founder of vegan food brand THIS at their London HQ. 

A born entrepreneur Andy’s hit the headlines recently for his slightly ‘out there’ marketing stunts, one of which included a life size naked statue of Piers Morgan in Leicester Square with his ‘THIS’ product housed around Piers’ nether regions… That said, the self proclaimed ‘un-cool’ entrepreneur that is Andy, co-created his first business with a group of mates whilst at University. Ironically quite a ‘cool’ clubbing night called ‘cash throw events’ and yes the clue is in the name, it didn’t t...

Paul's Father ran away leaving his Mother to contemplate taking him to an orphanage. His Father returned, a 'wheeler dealer', Paul's father ended up as a market trader. As a teenager Paul ended up working for his Father in Waste and Disposal. There's money in muck as they say selling for millions just before his Father passed away. Paul's business acumen served him well growing and exiting multiple Waste brands. Paul was number 3 at sportswear brand Gymshark after the co-founders approached Paul in a Birmingham gym. Paul was critical in taking Gymshark to the £1bn valuation it is today. 

After dropping out of school with no qualifications aged 16, Daniel Hegarty got signed to the same label as Boy George and went touring with his punk band for just £100 a week. He then spent the next ten years carving out a career as a working musician in LA, writing for and performing with the likes of S Club 7, Robbie Williams and the Sugababes, before returning to the UK to be one of the first employees at Wonga, where he became fully immersed in the world of tech startups.
Dan became frustrated with the whole property buying process after almost l...

Growing up on a farm in rural Suffolk, sisters Alice and Rosie never pictured a career in the fashion industry. After they both headed off to uni, they both started working the corporate life in London, and when a jacket made by their mother got a hugely positive response at a wedding, they decided to start Hicks & Brown together.
Whilst originally focused on selling jackets at events, the sisters soon realised that although the jackets weren’t selling out, the hats were a huge hit, selling out every time. This spurred them to pivot to focusing on the hats, an...

After being diagnosed at 18 with an autoimmune disease, Molly Johnson-Jones was fired from her job in investment banking after requesting to work from home one day a week. Molly then met Maurice O’Brien on the dating app Hinge, and after five dates they decided to start a business together which would provide a platform for people like them who wanted more flexibility in their jobs. From this idea, Flexa was born.
Flexa is a website which only allows companies with flexible working environments to advertise jobs on its jobs platform. Flexa has introduced a benchmarking index of hundreds of...

From an early age, Hannah Chappatte was surrounded by successful family members, but her initial confidence took a knock when her teachers told her she had dyslexia. Despite this, she went on the secure As and A*s across the board in her A-Levels, before spending a globe-hopping year working in intern roles in various companies around the world. 
While studying English Literature and Language in Bristol, Hannah spotted a huge gap in the market for a platform that would provide reputable student accommodation, as well as help and support to students renting from private landlords in the tricky a...

Serial entrepreneur Martin Bysh started his journey living in East London with a passion for programming games. Seeking amusement and enjoyment in everything Martin did he built 20 top 10 games before he was 30.
Having never worked for anybody, Martin founded, grew and exited multiple online businesses before the online space was comodosited by the arrival of the Apps. He even beat Facebook to it by founding MakeFriendsOnline in the early 00’s. 
Having co-founded Huboo which is tipped to be the next Unicorn of 2022, Martin Bysh tells Oliver how he’s set up businesses for exit, built a successful funding campa...

Jamie Barber is a prolific restaurateur and founder of the Hush Collection who started out as a lawyer and musician signed to George Michael’s record label. Myleene Klass started out in showbiz and in pop group Hear’Say, before turning her attention to the world of business when she founded her own children’s clothing brand, My K. 
After months of lockdown had given them both “extreme kitchen fatigue”, they decided to team up to launch My Supper Hero, a recipe box delivery service that provides gourmet meals in the comfort of your own home. Since launching in April last...

Rory Sweet, Founder of Halo, who originally featured in Series 1 of Success Is In The Mind, has recently sold his business for a huge $715 million. Now, Rory returns to the podcast to discuss how he did it, and what’s next for him. 
In this slightly shorter episode of Success Is In The Mind, Oliver catches up with Rory to ask what it feels like to sell a company, how to decide who the right buyer is and where Rory’s going with his next venture.

Exclusive Content –
Snippet 1: https://youtu.be/xddFYlAg5fY Snippet 2: https://youtu.b...

Annabel Makin-Jones is a third generation Yorkshire farmer and Founder of Tame & Wild Drinks. Starting out at a young age helping out on her family farm, Annabel then went to Harper Adams to study Agri-Food Marketing with Business Studies, before returning to the farm to start growing strawberries and launch Annabel’s Deliciously British. 
After getting her strawberries stocked in several high-end retailers, Annabel realised that it was time to ‘diversify or die’ and began branching out into different products like jams, daffodils and gin. Then, in 2020, Annabel launched Tame & Wild, a range of sophisticated non-alcoholic drinks using strawberries grown o...

Freddy Ward is the Co-Founder of Wild Cosmetics, a direct-to-consumer subscription based deodorant company, with a heavy focus on using natural ingredients and cutting down on plastic waste with refillable deodorants. 
Starting out as the fifth ever employee at Hello Fresh in 2012, Freddy worked his way up to Marketing Director before deciding to start his own company, Wild, with a lifelong friend. Wild now has a loyal following of over 100,000 customers, after selling over 300,000 deodorants in their first 18 months.
In this episode of Success Is In The Mind, Oliver asks, what are the pros and cons of crowdfunding y...

Trigger warning: this weeks episode contains references to suicide.

William Chase is a serial entrepreneur with over 40 years of experience running businesses. After a string of bad luck which resulted in him declaring bankruptcy and almost losing his family farm, William turned it all around when he began using rejected potatoes to create the hugely successful Tyrrells Crisps. 
In the following years, Tyrrells turned over millions of pounds and after selling the company to Langholm Capital for £30 million, William didn’t stop there, investing the money into a huge distillery which now produces Chase Gin and Chase Vodk...

Josh White, Co-founder of CanO Water, launched the brand after returning from a holiday in Thailand where they had been inspired to drive change after seeing the dire state of plastic bottles lining the beach and what started out as an eye-opening trip abroad became a mission to reduce single use plastic.
Since launching in 2015, CanO Water has sold over 15 million cans in the UK and Ireland. Propelled by increasing consumer demand for more sustainable alternatives to plastic bottled water, CanO Water has built a national presence across multiple channels in the UK and Ireland, continuing its growth in...

Entrepreneur Ellie Webb spotted a gap in the market when asked to be the designated driver. Ellie realised that there were no exciting alcohol-free options available at the venue, this got her thinking. Wanting a beverage with a little more punch, no alcohol but still grown-up, Caleño was born!
As a solo female entrepreneur Ellie has come up against the ‘funding’ glass ceiling, a number of times but through research and hard work Ellie in just a few short months has managed to raise over £1 million to launch her business. 
Ellie’s first order of 1,000 bottles didn’t quite go...

After weathering the storm that was the rural crisis of the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001, the pandemic was no problem for Corry Taylor. 
The founder, CEO and MD of outdoor clothing re-seller, Bradshaw Taylor, oversees 9 iconic outdoor clothing brands including Schoffel, Le Chameu, Keen and Sherpa.
In this podcast Corry joins Oliver to discuss how his board helps him keep his feet on the ground and how and why he doubled down on Shoffel’s digital presence to stay ahead during the pandemic.
From losses to acquisition, crisis to stability, Oliver asks, how does one weather a s...

Son of Mark Constantine founder of Lush, Simon Constantine stepped into the world of fragrance and entrepreneurialism launching ånd fragrance months before the pandemic. 
In this Christmas episode, Oliver Bruce asks the big question; what even is Frankincense?!
Going from one of the world’s favourite cosmetic brands to launching his own start-up, Simon Constantine brings a unique approach to his perfumery, ånd fragrance, by focusing on grassroots projects, stemming from his role as Head of Ethical Buying at Lush.
Growing up with entrepreneurial parents who eventually built a billion pound brand, how did this impact Simons’ entrepr...

After burning out and quitting his job due to the poor selection of employee benefits when he needed support with his mental health, Ally Fekaiki founded Juno, the company reimagining how we access support from our employers. 
Conscious of the seemingly accepted notion that stress, and burnout are an endemic of work, Ally set out to improve employees’ lives inside and outside of work. Replacing forced company lunches and team building torture with personalised benefits that suit the needs of individual employees has proved extremely successful so far as the wellness tech platform have experienced exponential growth with revenues up...

Earlier in 2021 the co-founders of Thursday (the dating app) boldly announced to LinkedIn that over the next 12 months they would take their start-up from a valuation of £0 to some £50m; brave to say the least. Where do you even start? 
What started as a dating app called HoneyPot, founded in an Officers’ Mess whilst Matt was serving in the British Army, is now undergoing a Series A fund for £20m (Dec 2021) - the two schoolmates (co-founders) George and Matthew have seen over 250,000 downloads in just 9 months.
This Thursday (a unique day for us to release a podcast) Oliver Bruce...

How do you build what is fast becoming the nation's favourite nut butter brand? With a creative mind, dyslexia but no clear career plan, founder Pip Murray launched her business off the back of a Government Startup grant. With a love for marathons, nut butter and health, the three go hand in hand and Pip & Nut was born! 
Founder of Pip & Nut launched her nut butters into the relatively untouched market in the UK. Wanting to introduce people to her healthy, protein filled product was one of her first challenges. This, followed by a lack of commercial knowhow, cash f...

With aspirations of becoming a dinner lady, Cathy Moseley was born into a family with very little. Poverty however didn’t stop her, Cathy forged a career in the City trading commodities. Working her way up the corporate ladder Cathy eventually decided to pack her job of 25 years in and follow her passion for food... What began as a kitchen experiment due to a diagnosis affecting her gut health turned into a flourishing healthy snack brand, Boundless Activated Snacking.
Boundless produces Amazon’s No.1 gut health snack and is stocked in the likes of Sainsbury’s, Selfridges and Holland & Barret...

From a milkround to Cambridge University and now founder and CEO of one of Europe's largest energy providers, Greg Jackson of Octopus Energy knows a thing or two about disrupting a market.
A 21st century energy provider, Octopus put innovation and sustainability at the forefront of everything they do to drive a faster, green and cheaper solution for their customers. It’s clearly an approach that is working, as their new market valuation of $4.6bn makes them the highest valued brand we’ve welcomed onto the podcast!
As a business that puts the planet, customers and their staff firs...

Closing Series 4 with a bang Oliver has hand-picked his favourite nuggets, or what he calls “the tapas of conversations” so you can recap and refresh! 
From making £1bn in a year to not paying the VAT. Oliver’s spoken with entrepreneurs long in the tooth and those just starting out. From S4Capital to MOMA Foods, UpTime to Tenzing, we’ve covered failures and successes across multiple industries. 
With ‘Season X’ launching on November 17th 2021, we kick off our new unique 52 part season with Greg Jackson, Founder and CEO of Octopus Energy. With more investment into the podcast, more marketing...

In this episode we go deep into the revolution that’s sweeping the world, that of the Oat Milk revolution.
Founded in 2006 by Tom Mercer from a stall at Waterloo East and now, over a decade on, MOMA Foods has recently won a great taste award for it’s oat milk barista edition.
Tom, whose market research strategy was nothing short of ingenious, discovered 4 years after MOMA’s founding in 2010 that he had MS and incidentally lost vision in one of his eyes. This however didn’t stopped Tom from growing a multimillion-pound business and kicking on.
So, from...