The purpose of Business Innovators is to profile groundbreaking businesses. Shows are released monthly, covering a different company each time.
The podcast has two types of episodes: founder/CEO interviews and business histories.
In the founder/CEO interviews, leaders of values-driven companies describe how they launched and grew their businesses. We only speak to leaders who have run their businesses for at least ten years to ensure the business models they developed can stand the test of time. The objective of these interviews is to share insights and inspiration.
Business histories episodes profile groundbreaking companies with long and storied pasts. Experts join us to explain the forces that shaped these companies. Shows provide food for thought for people interested in understanding how businesses operate.
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Founder interview: Poetry Pharmacy - Book seller & producer of 'poetry pills' • UK | Turning a creative passion into a business | Debora Alma
lundi 20 avril 2026 • Durée 22:53
In this episode, we speak to Deb Alma, the founder of the Poetry Pharmacy. Her business runs bookshops and it's pioneering a new model of selling poetry by prescribing it based on emotional needs. It's an innovative approach that many have fallen in love with, including the multi-millionaire founder of the cosmetics brand Lush. He became Deb's business mentor and encouraged her to expand.
Deb was in her 40s when she first began dispensing poetry from her vintage ambulance and in her 50s when she opened her first shop. In the interview, Deb discusses her colourful and creative journey in entrepreneurship.
She summarises the key essential elements her as business approach that have brought her success as:
Collaboration
Creativity
Listening
Kindness
A detailed breakdown of what's covered in the show is provided below.
1:51 — The origin story 2:02 — The vintage ambulance and prescribing poetry at festivals 2:43 — Discovering the old ironmonger's shop and opening the first Poetry Pharmacy 4:56 — The early years: media attention and then COVID 6:10 — BBC Breakfast, award nominations, and early community building 6:41 — The innovative packaging: poems in pill capsules 7:08 — How the pill bottles became a bestselling product (60+ titles) 8:08 — Balancing creativity and business: work and life as one 9:30 — The turning point: meeting Mark Constantine (CEO of Lush) as a mentor 11:19 — Oxford Street concession goes viral: NBC News, Kelly Clarkson, and rapid growth 12:35 — Hiring for kindness: building a values-led team 13:57 — Publishing 8 poetry anthologies with Macmillan 14:23 — *The Poetry Business School* — the book co-written with Mark Constantine 16:13 — Inside the shops: aesthetic, events, and what makes each location unique 18:04 — Deb's keys to business success 18:53 — The future: consolidation over expansion, and saying "no" more 19:46 — Host reflections: innovation through packaging, emotional connection, and growing pains
Who should listen to this episode?
Are you looking to turn a creative passion into a business? Are you looking for information on how to run a bookshop? Are you looking for information on how to start a business in your forties or in your fifties? Are you looking for information of how to build a community around your business? Are you looking for information on business mentorship? Are you looking for information on how to grow a values-driven team? If so, this episode is relevant for you.
Ease of Mind Productions – making audiobook recording easy (easeofmind.co)
Connect with Us:
Website: businessinnovators.global
Email: info@businessinnovators.global
Feedback and suggestions welcome! Please rate, subscribe, and share.
Thank you for listening to Business Innovators. Stay tuned for more stories and strategies to help you grow your company.
Founder interview: Rubber Republic - Communications Studio • UK | Realigning a business with your values | Matt Golding
dimanche 29 mars 2026 • Durée 29:27
In this episode, we speak to Matt Golding, co-founder and head of the Communications Studio Rubber Republic. The agency was started in 2001.
It made a name for itself by creating fun, irreverent content that generated millions of views for some of the world's biggest brands. In 2019, the company pivoted to working exclusively for organizations that generate positive impact.
The episode is particularly relevant for listeners looking to realign their businesses with their values, implement flat management structures, and communicate in a way that connects.
In the conversation we explore the essential elements of the company's approach that have brought its success. Matt Golding summarises the three key essential elements of the company's success as:
Openness
Resilience
Creativity
A detailed breakdown of what's covered in the show is provided below.
Guest: Matt Golding, co-founder and head of Rubber Republic.
Host: Eilidh Wagstaff
1:08 - Introduction - overview of Rubber Republic
1:42 - Origin Story — Starting the business at university with two friends; DIY ethic, teaching themselves animation, games, and film on a Mac G3
2:36 - Getting Noticed — Early political satire, playful content, and people in the media reaching out
3:18 - The "Say Yes to Everything" Model — Accepting jobs they didn't know how to do, learning on the fly, and delivering under pressure
4:30 - Building the Business — Incorporating, bringing on a financial director, learning business fundamentals with gentle mentorship
6:35 - Branching Out — Political satire campaigns, getting on national TV, promoting voting among young people, working with Paramount Films
9:05 - Recruiting & Culture — Early hiring mistakes; learning to communicate values rather than micromanage; empowering people
Founder interview: Bow Arts - Arts Provider • UK | Turning existing business models inside-out | Marcel Baettig
dimanche 15 février 2026 • Durée 30:44
In this episode of Business Innovators, we profile Bow Arts, speaking to its founder and CEO Marcel Baettig. The organisation was started in the 1990s to provide affordable studio space for artists. It has grown to become one of the UK's largest providers of creative workspaces.
Bow Arts is noteworthy for reinventing the business model for providing studio space. Marcel says when he was a sculptor looking for a studio, he couldn't find options that worked. Business models for renting studio space at that point were designed around "property, not artists."
Bow Arts set about turning the traditional model inside out. It pioneered what it called the "holistic model" (though Marcel disliked this description for being too hippyish!). The idea was to put artists, rather than property, at the centre of the business model for providing studio space. The 'holistic model' looked at the needs artists have (for income to provide food and shelter, space to produce work, development of skills, etc.) and works to meet them.
Pursuing the 'holistic model', Bow Arts expanded from providing affordable studio space to offering a whole range of support services for artists. It now provides everything from affordable accommodation to skills and training development to support for artists in marketing their work.
In the interview, Marcel Baettig identifies two essential elements of Bow Arts' approach that have brought it success:
1) Forming partnerships
2) Reinvesting
3) Being a service provider, not seeking to be the centre.
A detailed breakdown of what's covered in the show is provided below.
1:07 - About Bow Arts Today
Supporting 1,100+ artists with affordable workspace
Partnership with 100 schools across London
Reaching 15,000 young people annually
2:10 - Origin Story
Business profile: Amul - Dairy Co-operative • India | Harnessing people power | Featuring Marketing Professor Dr. K. Suresh
samedi 14 février 2026 • Durée 15:25
Show Notes: Business Innovators Podcast: Amul
Episode Overview: In this episode, we explore the remarkable journey of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, better known as Amul. From starting out as a small-scale movement led by a small band of farmers to becoming a global dairy powerhouse, Amul's story is one of innovation, resilience, and the power of cooperation.
Dr K Suresh, Associate Professor in the marketing faculty at Anurag University in India, shares his expert opinion on the cooperative's marketing strategy. He zooms in on some of the dynamic ways it responded to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
50% increase in UHT milk production for longer shelf life
Founder interview: Wiggly Wigglers - Garden Supplies Company • UK | Harnessing difference | Heather Gorringe
vendredi 30 janvier 2026 • Durée 30:59
Wiggly Wigglers Episode Overview:
In this episode, we profile Wiggly Wigglers, a UK-based company specialising in bird food, natural gardening supplies, and composting products. Founded by Heather Gorringe in the 1990s, the company has grown through a combination of passion, persistence, and smart marketing.
Heather shares the story of building her business, offering practical insights and engaging anecdotes along the way. She discusses how to access specialised expertise without the burden of extensive people management, leverage Google Ads effectively, secure valuable free publicity through media relations, and build authentic customer connections on social media.
Heather distils her successful business approach into three 'essential elements':
1) Care about what you're selling
2) Persevere and be resilient
3) Adopt new technologies
Key Topics Covered
0:00- Introduction Heather introduces herself and her businesses: Wiggly Wigglers (composting and bird food), the family farm's regenerative agriculture mission, and her son's UK Mini Trucks business
1:19- Early Business Beginnings Heather talks about where her wish to start her own business came from and about her early entrepreneurial endeavours, including printing t-shirts, before she had the idea that stuck.
2:55- Starting Wiggly Wigglers Discovering worms as the fastest natural composters for sheep manure, researching composting kitchen waste, and adapting ideas from the USA
4:54- Naming the Business & Early Funding The trademark story behind "Wiggly Wigglers" and how she financed the company's launch
10:09 - Growing & Separating the Businesses — Cross-subsidizing divisions, then separating them for investment and professionalisation
11:33 - Questioning Business Norms — learning where traditional business rules help and where they don't
12:28 - The Tax Conversation — Realising advisors were automatically minimizing tax
14:11 - Taking Over Rubber Republic — Running it independently; the challenge of losing co-founder balance
15:10 - The "10x the Price" Decision — Choosing to charge 10x more instead of doing 10x more work; mapping out what quality actually costs
16:37 - Pricing Strategy in Action — Landing major brands like Disney and eBay
18:50 - The Pivot to Impact — 2019 shift to working exclusively with positive-impact organizations; buying out shareholders
20:58 - Running as a Not-for-Profit — Operating lean, scaling impact not finances, bringing people together on projects
22:01 - Questioning Growth — Why bigger doesn't always mean more impact; flexible business models
23:06 - The Antidote Project & Podcast — "Screw This, Let's Try Something Else"; telling stories of community-led change across energy, food, homes, and decision-making
24:30 - Empowering Communities — Helping people at community level build the world they want; partnership with Immediate Media
26:36 - Three Key Principles — Openness, Resilience, Creativity
I Too Had a Dream by Verghese Kurien and Salvi Gouri
Amul's India : Based on 50 Years of Amul Advertising by Dacuncha Communication by Santosh Desai and the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.
Show sponsor: Ease of Mind Productions – making audiobook recording easy (easeofmind.co)
Connect with Us:
Website: businessinnovators.global
Email: info@businessinnovators.global
Feedback and suggestions welcome! Please rate, subscribe, and share.
Thank you for listening to Business Innovators. Stay tuned for more stories and strategies to help you grow your company!
7:55- Building Awareness Through PR How press coverage became crucial for reaching the right customers and the importance of having a message that aligns with your values
8:24- Turning a crisis into an opportunity How a complaint from Trading Standards ended up providing the company with positive nationwide news coverage
11:29- Manufacturing & Staffing Challenges Adapting existing products, making what they could on the farm, and honest reflections on management struggles and staff turnover
12:59- Finding the Right Team Model Moving to a small, self-employed team structure with some long-term members
15:52- Running Multiple Businesses The synergies between Wiggly Wigglers, the farm, and supporting her son's lorry business; embracing variety over focus
17:57- The Regenerative Agriculture Turning Point How reading "Dirt to Soil" by Gabe Brown in 2020 transformed the farm's direction towards cover crops, no-till, and closing loops
19:56- Social Media & Marketing Strategy Nuffield scholarship in 2007, attending early podcasting conferences, the power of Google AdWords, and having fun with content creation
23:57- Duchy of Cornwall Focus Farm Programme Visits from Prince (now King) Charles and Prince William, the focus farm initiative, and being selected for the Royal Countryside Fund Project 2026
26:22- Regenerative Farming Results Measuring success: 67 different species counts, increasing carbon levels, and the commitment to becoming "soil farmers"
28:39- Keys to Business Success Perseverance, resilience, adoption of technology (including AI), and the privilege of running your own business on your own terms
30:11- Future Plans New biology lab project with fungi and bacteria experts, soil testing services for gardeners, and empowering the 10% of Britain that is gardens
Video | The Duchy of Cornwall's 'Seven Seeds'(2025) A film following the Duchy of Cornwall's seven 'focus farms' as they transition to more regenerative farming methods.
Quotes from Heather Gorringe:
"It's fine to be different because that difference can be a driver for your business."
" You can have a great life with your own business because it enables you to do exactly what you want to do."
