EE455 - Mentor Moment - Aimee Connolly: The 19-Month Journey to Launching Sculpted
In this Mentor Moment from episode 403 of The Entrepreneur Experiment, Aimee Connolly shares the behind-the-scenes story of building Sculpted by Aimee: from 19 months of figuring out formulation, logistics, and packaging on her own, to spray-painting roses gold for her first press drop.
She opens up about what it really takes to bring an idea to life, the lessons learned along the way, and why embracing what you don’t know is the real superpower of every entrepreneur.
💡 “The difference between someone who becomes an entrepreneur and someone who doesn’t is knowing you don’t know everything, and doing it anyway.”
👉 Watch the full conversation with Aimee in Episode 403 of The Entrepreneur Experiment.
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EE454 - He Quit Pro Rugby at 26 - And Started a Sauna Revolution
In this episode of The Entrepreneur Experiment, Gary Fox sits down with Steve Crosbie, former professional rugby player turned founder of Fad Saoil Saunas — one of the pioneers of Ireland’s sauna movement.
After years playing for Leinster, Munster, and Connacht, Steve walked away from his dream rugby career at just 26. The transition from athlete to entrepreneur wasn’t easy, but it led him somewhere unexpected: into the cold Irish sea.
Out of heartbreak and healing came Fad Saoil Saunas - a business that began with one barrel sauna at the 40 Foot and grew into a nationwide wellness brand.
Steve shares how he rebuilt his identity, how sport shaped his approach to business, and why starting small (and freezing cold) can sometimes lead to the warmest success.
If you’ve ever wondered what happens after the dream ends, this story proves that endings can be the start of something extraordinary.
Show Notes
In this episode, we cover:
🏉 The journey from professional rugby to retirement at 26
💔 How losing his identity in sport sparked a period of rediscovery
🌊 The idea that became Fad Saoil Saunas — and how it all began at the 40 Foot
💡 The lessons sport teaches that translate directly to entrepreneurship
📈 How timing, community, and consistency helped spark Ireland’s sauna boom
🧠 Rebuilding confidence, purpose, and self-belief after walking away from a dream career
💬 “Although my rugby was at its peak, a lot of other parts of my life were on the floor.” – Steve Crosbie
Links & Resources
Fad Saoil Saunas Website: https://fadsaoilsaunas.com/
Follow Steve Crosbie: https://www.instagram.com/stevecrosbie101/?hl=en
Follow Fad Saoil on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fadsaoilsaunas/?hl=en
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EEE453 - Mentor Moment - Nature vs Nurture: Are Entrepreneurs Born or Built? With Sean Blanchfield
In this Mentor Moment, tech founder Sean Blanchfield, best known for building and scaling Demonware (acquired by Activision, now part of Microsoft), PageFair, and now Jentic, shares his take on the age-old question: are entrepreneurs born or made?
From being the “willing geek” in college to helping shape Ireland’s startup ecosystem, Sean reflects on how curiosity, environment, and sheer drive shaped his journey, and why he still looks for that same entrepreneurial spark in every hire.
💡 Hear the full conversation in Episode 404 of The Entrepreneur Experiment Podcast.
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EE452 - The 5-Year, £60m Fragrance Empire with Connor Martin, The Essence Vault
In this episode of The Entrepreneur Experiment, Gary Fox sits down with Connor Martin, founder of The JAQ Group, home to the viral fragrance brand The Essence Vault, as well as Thomson Carter and Liquid London.
From selling wax melts at a Saturday market to building a £60 million e-commerce empire in just five years, Connor’s story is a masterclass in resourcefulness, experimentation, and resilience.
He reveals how he turned a £16,000 credit card experiment into one of the UK’s most successful fragrance groups, scaled during COVID by pure instinct, and rebuilt after nearly losing everything in a logistics nightmare. Connor also shares how he applies ruthless efficiency, “fail fast” culture, and first-principles thinking to stay ahead in the hyper-competitive DTC world.
If you want the real playbook for bootstrapping, scaling, and surviving e-commerce chaos, this episode is unmissable.
Show Notes
In this episode, we cover:
💡 How a bottle of CK One sparked a lifelong obsession with fragrance
🧪 The £16,000 credit card gamble that launched The Essence Vault
🚀 Turning a weekend market stall into £800k/month during COVID
🧱 Building from zero marketing experience to £60 million in revenue
⚙️ How failing fast and “implementing before finishing the module” became his superpower
📉 The moment a shipping disaster nearly destroyed the business overnight
🧭 Why Connor runs his company without forecasts — and how it works
📈 Lessons from scaling, burning out, and rebuilding stronger
🎯 How The JAQ Group keeps innovation alive across multiple brands
🌙 His next move: launching a sleep optimisation brand built around his own daily struggles
🧠 Mindset gems on speed, decision-making, and compounding effort
“Knowledge is nothing without implementation — and vice versa.” – Connor Martin
Links & Resources
The Essence Vault: theessencevault.co.uk
Thomson Carter: thomsoncarter.com
Liquid London: https://liquid.london/
Book Mentioned: Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed
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EE451 - Mentor Moment - Hiring Only A-Players with Dan Hobbs & Ciaran O’Mara, Protex AI
In this week’s Mentor Moment, Protex AI founders Dan Hobbs and Ciaran O’Mara share how they maintain an incredibly high bar when hiring, and why resilience, not just skill, is the real marker of top talent. They reveal how take-home exercises, structured culture frameworks, and a transparent interview process help them find and grow people who thrive under pressure.
💡 “If you hire A-players, they’ll hire other A-players. If you hire B-players, they’ll hire C’s and D’s.”
👉 Listen to the full episode (#402) for the complete conversation on building world-class teams, scaling culture, and the lessons behind Protex AI’s rapid growth.
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Every week, I sit down with extraordinary founders to explore how they build thriving businesses, maintain peak physical health, and cultivate sharp, resilient minds.
This is your journey to learn from the best—world-class entrepreneurs, elite thinkers, and peak performers who have mastered success in business, body, and brain.
This isn’t just a podcast; it’s a blueprint for a new kind of founder—one who balances ambition with wellness, hard work with mental fitness, and success with purpose.
Together, we’ll discover the habits, systems, and strategies they use to create their unique formulas for success.
Join me as you learn how to build like a founder, train like an athlete, and think like an artist—so we can all find our formula for success.
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