The Sports Stars Building A Multi-Million CBD Empire | George Kruis & Dom Day
Bio.George Kruis and Dom Day aren’t your average founders, they’re former international rugby stars who went from scrums and stadiums to supplements and Sainsbury’s. As ex-Saracens teammates, their journey from elite athletes to co-founders of wellness brand ‘FourFive’ is full of unexpected pivots, hard-won lessons, and big wins in both the worlds of e-commerce and retail.In this episode, George and Dom get real about the moment they knew they had something special with FourFive, how they tackled the transition from rugby to retail, and the mindset shift that came with life after sport. From leveraging their athlete networks to landing shelf space in major retailers, they unpack how they found their “unfair advantage” and built a trusted name in the crowded wellness space. Including the challenges of scaling and building a brand around a highly regulated product, CBD.They talk Shopify, subscriptions, investor relationships, and even the science (or lack of) behind whether FourFive can really cure a hangover. We say it can.If you're a founder, athlete, or someone in between, this one’s packed with energy, insight, and inspiration. And a good load of laughs too.Timestamps0:00 Trailer01:30 The Back Heel Conversion02:56 The Aha Moment for FourFive/ The Idea for FourFive05:10 Transitioning from Rugby to Entrepreneurship07:55 Finding the Right People and Support09:15 Lessons in Communication09:52 Preparing for Life After Rugby/ Tapping into your Network14:18 Lean into your Skillset/ Finding your Unfair Advantage17:17 Getting into retail/ Sainsbury's20:43 The Ecom Pivot22.06 The Parallels between Sports Teams and Businesses29:35 Goal Setting31:49 Is FourFive a Hangover Remedy?36:53 Challenges of being in the CBD Space40:17 Shopify + Subscriptions43:38 Influencers and Investors46:15 Jack's POV
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How This 25 Year Old Built A $100k/Day Brand on TikTok | Daisy Kelly
TikTok isn’t just for lip-syncing teens anymore. In the last three years, a host of social-first brands have broken-through to become multi-million pound businesses. Their secret? Content. And nobody in the beauty space does it better than Daisy Kelly and Glow For It. In just four short years, Daisy has taken Glow For It from a small side-hustle in her mum's kitchen, into a brand doing six figures a day on TikTok Shop.Daisy is the latest guest in the pub to chat about the brand's origin story, her playbook for success using TikTok Shop, the importance of authenticity when building a community, and how Glow For It recently sold a product every 19 seconds.. across a 12 hour TikTok Live! If you’re looking to crack TikTok in 2025, this isn’t one to be missed.
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Spencer Matthews: He Overcame Addiction to Build a Global Drinks Brand
Some know Spencer Matthews as a Reality TV Star. Others know him as a World-Record Holder. But beyond the public eye, Spencer's journey over the last few years from overcoming addiction through to founding 'clean alcohol' brand CleanCo is one fit for a movie. Spencer is the latest guest into the pub, and this one is (quite literally at times) barking mad. Sharing stories from his early struggles with alcohol and the inception of CleanCo, through to his extreme physical challenges and family life, this is definitely our most inspiring episode yet.
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1:23:18
He Built A £50M / Year Fragrance Business From His Bedroom - Connor Martin of The Essence Vault
Some of the world's best ecom brands were founded by a bullish founder from the comfort of their bedroom. But, Connor Martin must be the first to manufacture and sell fragrances from his!Connor founded The Essence Vault in 2019, with humble beginnings at local street markets in Belfast. He's since grown the brand to be the UK's largest online fragrance business, turning over more than £50 million per year. From becoming the first UK brand on TikTok Shop, to building out a 300 person team, Connor is one of Europe's sharpest brand operators. He joined us to chat through his journey, playbook, and to share some hilarious stories along the way.
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He's Made $100M Selling Lemon Water | Yanni Hufnagel from Lemon Perfect
Yanni Hufnagel isn’t your typical founder. He’s a former basketball coach that brings energy and motivation to the business world in a way we haven’t seen before. Yanni found his niche with the refreshing lemon water drink, Lemon Perfect, now the fastest growing enhanced water brand in the US. From seeing his product stocked in major chains like Whole Foods and CVS, to bringing Beyonce on board as an investor, Lemon Perfect has taken the beverage market by storm. Having crossed more than $100mn in revenue, Yanni is now pushing towards a billion dollar valuation. He sat down to chat with us about his early journey, the importance of relationships in building a retail brand, and the impact of bringing major celebrities like Beyonce on board when scaling. ____Timestamps:00:00 Trailer01:35 The Initial Idea for Lemon Perfect05:34 Fractional Resources: Running a Brand as a Solo Founder08:47 Why Athletes Make Great Entrepreneurs12:00 Wins & Losses in Year 1: The Pivot Away from Refrigerated15:50 Tips for Getting Into Retail21:27 The Impact of Celebrity Endorsements24:34 Why Building a Beverage Company is a Streetfight26:22 How Beyonce Became an Investor29:06 The Next 24 Months___Follow us across our socials:- Twitter: https://x.com/happystackhq- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/happystackhq/- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happystackhq___Check out the HappyStack website: https://www.happystack.com/We connect the world's best DTC brands with the software they need to scale efficiently.___Check out Yanni & Lemon Perfect:https://www.linkedin.com/in/yhufnagel/https://www.instagram.com/yanni/https://x.com/yhufnagel___#ecommerce #podcast #founder #business #makemoneyonline #lemonperfect Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome to the Lock-In - a podcast where we lock the doors of our favourite pub to bring you an unfiltered chat with some of the world’s top E-Commerce Founders. Each episode our hosts Jack, Jamie, Joe and Dan sit down with some of the biggest and best minds in entrepreneurship - pulling back the curtain to share the stories, playbooks and mistakes they’ve experienced while building 8 & 9 figure brands. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ireland