Building The Brand is a Top 50 business podcast for people who don’t just want success stories - they want to understand how success is actually built. Hosted by James Burtt, each episode features in-depth conversations with entrepreneurs, founders, and creators behind standout brands. This isn’t surface-level storytelling. This is a tactical break down of real decisions, trade-offs and lessons behind standout brands Past guests include world-renowned business and entrepreneurial figures Gary Brecka, Grant Cardone, Joe Foster, Mark Victor Hansen and John Lee Dumas. Not how to. This is how you.
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Hannah Williams: How We Built Tiny Rebel, Scaled to 120 Staff & Started Again With Lucky No.7 Coffee
Episode 28
Thursday, October 1, 2026 • Duration 44:23
How do you help build one of the UK’s best-known challenger beer brands, walk away from the business you helped create and then start all over again in a completely different industry?
Hannah Williams helped build Tiny Rebel from a home-brewing experiment into a major independent brewery employing around 120 people, while acting as CFO and helping scale the company through rapid growth.
Today, she is CEO of the Alacrity Foundation, working with technology startups and entrepreneurs, while simultaneously building Lucky No.7 Coffee alongside her husband Mo.
And she’s doing it with many of the same principles that helped Tiny Rebel grow: move quickly, test the market, build a distinctive brand, surround yourself with great people and learn as you go.
In this live episode of Building The Brand from Ideas Fest, Hannah shares the entrepreneurial lessons behind building Tiny Rebel, launching a coffee brand, scaling a startup, building a team and creating a brand people actually remember.
How Tiny Rebel went from home brewing to employing around 120 people
Why they ignored advice that the business needed a traditional marketing budget and backed social media marketing instead
How Tiny Rebel hit its original three-year forecast within just nine months
Why Hannah believes naivety can sometimes be more powerful than confidence when starting a business
Why knowing when you are no longer adding value can be critical as a founder or senior leader
How simply asking successful entrepreneurs for help led to mentorship and advice from people behind businesses including Gymshark and Grenade
Why she hires for “will over skill” and believes attitude can be more valuable than experience
Why great businesses require partnerships, co-founders and complementary skill sets
How Hannah and Mo created the Lucky No.7 Coffee brand around their blended family of seven
Why Lucky No.7 used events to test its branding, products and customer response before expanding
Why moving into physical retail earlier than planned can sometimes create unexpected growth opportunities
How Hannah combines startup thinking, technology and ecommerce with a traditional physical product business
Hannah also explains the personal side of entrepreneurship: leaving Tiny Rebel after more than a decade, growing up around entrepreneurial parents, raising children around business and why financial success means less to her than creating experiences and making a difference to other people.
0:00 — From Tiny Rebel to Building Lucky No.7 Coffee
03:35 — How Tiny Rebel Started With Beer Brewed at Home
04:45 — Ignoring Traditional Marketing Advice & Betting on Social Media
05:25 — Hitting a Three-Year Business Forecast in Nine Months
06:30 — Why Naivety Can Be an Entrepreneurial Advantage
08:00 — Why Hannah Walked Away From Tiny Rebel
09:25 — How to Get Successful Entrepreneurs to Mentor You
11:00 — Knowing When You’re No Longer Adding Value to a Business
15:55 — “Will Over Skill”: Hannah’s Approach to Hiring Great People
22:00 — Why Entrepreneurs Need the Right Partner Around Them
26:45 — Building the Lucky No.7 Coffee Brand From Scratch
30:30 — Launching Into Retail Without a Traditional Business Plan
32:00 — Testing Your Brand Before Trying to Scale It
35:00 — Why Moving Too Early Can Sometimes Create Your Biggest Opportunity
36:25 — “Slow Down to Speed Up”: Balancing Momentum With Strategy
40:45 — Building a UK Coffee Brand Beyond Physical Stores
41:30 — AI Search, GEO & the Future of Ecommerce Discovery
43:25 — Why Hannah Never Feels Like She Has Done Enough
James Sinclair: How To Build a £50M Business Empire, Buy Businesses & Scale Without Giving Up Equity
Episode 27
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 • Duration 52:51
How do you build a £50 million business empire, operate more than 30 companies, employ 3,000 people and keep acquiring businesses without giving away equity to investors?
James 'Jimbo' Sinclair has spent his career buying businesses, building management teams, acquiring commercial property and turning struggling or overlooked companies into valuable assets.
Starting out as a teenage children’s entertainer and magician, James has built a portfolio spanning leisure attractions, childcare, food service, hospitality, commercial property and self-storage.
In this live episode of Building The Brand from Ideas Fest, James breaks down the business acquisition strategy, management systems and entrepreneurial mindset behind his £50m group.
Why entrepreneurs should build a business to sell even if they never intend to sell it
His Entrepreneurship + Management = Success framework for scaling beyond the founder
The acquisition strategy he uses to understand a company before he even completes the purchase
Why he refuses to give away equity to investors but is comfortable using bank debt to grow
How content marketing has helped him recruit employees and find business acquisition opportunities
How BLD BRO Built a 7-Figure DTC Skincare Brand From 250 Followers | Tariq Kazemi
Episode 26
Wednesday, September 16, 2026 • Duration 01:18:41
How do you build a multi-million pound ecommerce brand without white-labelling, without forcing subscriptions, and without a big ad budget?
Tariq Kazemi, co-founder of BLD BRO, did it by building a community before he had a product. What started as an Instagram page to change the narrative around hair loss has become a 7-figure skincare brand for bald men, stocked in their own warehouse, funded by the community that asked for it.
How to build a brand community that validates your product before you manufacture (the 90% matte vs shiny test)
Why BLD BRO refused to white-label and built a bespoke formula from scratch
How to launch a DTC brand building strategy on a 1,000-unit self-funded first order
The retention playbook: Why 50% repeat customers beats forced subscriptions
How a £1K budget Christmas ad ended up being a high-performing TV campaign that drove direct attribution
This is a masterclass in brand building strategy, how to build a community around an underserved niche, how to start a business uk the community-led way and business growth strategy for a physical product brand.
Questions answered in this episode:
How did Bald Bros build a community-led skincare brand?
How a to validate a product idea with your audience before launching?
How to build an ecommerce brand without paid advertising?
What is a community to commerce strategy for DTC brands?
Suhit Amin Built & Sold a 7-Figure Influencer Marketing Agency Before 25... here's exact how he did it!
Episode 25
Saturday, September 12, 2026 • Duration 01:45:27
How do you start an influencer marketing agency at 17 whilst battling stage three Hodgkin's lymphoma, scale it to 7-figures and sell it for millions by 24?
In this episode, host James Burtt sits down with Suhit Amin, founder of Saulderson Media, to deconstruct the tactical playbook behind building an influencer marketing agency from scratch, winning clients with cold outreach on LinkedIn, doubling revenue with the right advisor, and navigating the full M&A process to a multi-million pound exit to Journey Further.
If you want to understand how to build an agency from scratch, how to sell your business in the UK, or how to turn cold outreach strategy into compounding revenue - this is your blueprint.
In This Episode You'll Learn:
How Suhit turned an MCN sub-network into a talent management business making £100k in 6 months at 16
The cold LinkedIn DM system he used when LinkedIn was quiet - and why manual reps beat automation early
Why talent management evolves into an influencer marketing agency for higher margins and scale
The exact M&A process: from teaser and information memorandum to 5 offers, due diligence, and the 24-hour wait for money to land
Why he chose a lower multiple from Journey Further over a higher US offer and what founders get wrong about business brokers and valuation
0:00 - Introduction: How a 17-Year-Old Built a 7-Figure Influencer Marketing Agency
He Lost a £15M Deal at 25 and Slept on His Mum's Floor - How He Built It Back
Episode 24
Wednesday, September 2, 2026 • Duration 01:26:17
How do you build a business from scratch with no assets, no backing and no safety net - twice?
In this episode of Building The Brand, Andrew Coulson shares his brutal, tactical business failure story and comeback. From packing sandwiches at 8 years old after his father’s breakdown, to walking out of school at 15 to become a commodity trader, to building a design agency to 45 staff by age 25 - and then losing it all when his bank pulled a £2.5m overdraft days before a £15M deal.
This is not a motivational story. It’s a playbook on how to rebuild after business failure, start again with nothing, and build a second business from his mum’s kitchen table.
→ How to start a business with no money or qualifications - and why sales skill beats credentials
→ The scaling mistake that nearly killed a 45-person packaging design business
→ Why a £15M reverse takeover collapsed: the overdraft trap every UK founder must understand
→ What to do when you have no assets: how Andrew rebuilt from zero after losing everything
→ The gym floor strategy: how rescuing a failing gym rebuilt his momentum and network
→ How he became Head Judge for UK bodybuilding in 9 months - and spotted a gap in the market
→ How he built one of the first online coaching businesses (Body Coaches) - pre-Instagram, pre-OnlyFans - using video + subscription
Key Moments: 0:00 How do you build a business from scratch with no assets? Trailer
Up The Gains! From Tens Of Thousands in Debt to Building One Of The UK's Most Respected Personal Finance Brands | Sammie Ellard King
Episode 23
Wednesday, August 26, 2026 • Duration 01:32:04
Can being £24,000 in debt become the foundation for building one of the UK’s fastest-growing personal finance brands?
Sammie Ellard-King is the founder of Up The Gains, a UK personal finance platform built around helping Britain get financially fit, and the founder of Gains App - a money management and fintech app designed to make budgeting, spending, cashback and everyday financial decisions simpler.
In this episode of Building The Brand, Sammie explains how authenticity transformed his content strategy, why talking openly about his £24,000 debt sent social media views from thousands into the millions and how he built Up The Gains by making complicated financial education simple, relatable and entertaining.
He also breaks down the transition from content creator to fintech founder, including why the rise of AI made him question the long-term value of a founder-led media business and why he decided he needed to build a product that could exist without his personal brand.
KEY MOMENTS:
0:00 — From £24,000 debt to becoming a UK personal finance educator
03:00 — The psychology of overspending and trying to impress people
06:17 — The simple retirement calculation that changed his relationship with money
09:36 — Ronnie Scott’s, entrepreneurship and growing up around business uncertainty
16:17 — Becoming Head of Marketing at 24 while struggling with debt
22:06 — How GameStop and a WhatsApp group helped create Up The Gains
How To Go Viral, Turn Views Into Sales & Use AI with Joel Macadar (Full Social Media Strategy 2026 Breakdown)
Wednesday, August 19, 2026 • Duration 01:35:52
Can going viral actually grow your business… or are most brands chasing attention without knowing what to do with it?
Joel Macadar is the founder of 8original, a multi-award-winning social media agency that has generated more than half a billion organic views in the last 12 months.
In this episode of Building The Brand, Joel breaks down the social media strategy behind viral content, organic growth, TikTok marketing, Instagram content and turning online attention into real commercial results.
He explains why brands destroy potentially successful content by over-controlling the creative process, how the “road to beige” turns social-first ideas into forgettable adverts and why 8original operates a post-first, feedback-afterwards model designed around speed rather than endless approval processes.
Joel also reveals why shares can be more valuable than likes or views, how his team connects TikTok virality with high-intent Google searches and why understanding the psychology behind a social media trend is far more powerful than simply copying whatever is currently going viral. Plus, the changing relationship between football, creators and traditional media - including Baller League, Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland and the rise of live, behind-the-scenes social content at major sporting events.
KEY MOMENTS:
0:00 — Social media strategy in 2026: what brands are getting wrong
02:17 — How to turn viral social media attention into revenue
07:23 — The “road to beige” that destroys great social content
09:23 — Why 8original posts first and gets client feedback afterwards
Diary Of A CEO Trailer Editor Anthony Smith: 450+ Trailers, 1.5B Views & Why Going Viral Is A Trap
Episode 19
Wednesday, July 29, 2026 • Duration 01:30:58
Can one self-taught editor change how an entire industry promotes its content?
Anthony Smith is the former Diary Of A CEO trailer editor who helped transform podcast promotion from simple social media clips into cinematic, emotionally charged miniature movies.
After struggling to break into the film and television industry without money, contacts or formal training, Ant started his own production company and taught himself to edit because he could not afford to employ an editor.
That decision eventually led him to work on major campaigns involving Bond, Star Wars, Disney and Marvel before joining The Diary Of A CEO when the team consisted of fewer than ten people.
Over the next four and a half years, Ant created or oversaw more than 450 podcast trailers, helping turn Steven Bartlett’s podcast into one of the world’s biggest media brands. His documentary-inspired storytelling, cinematic sound design and emotionally driven editing style helped redefine how podcasts, creators and brands promote long-form content.
You will hear:
▪️Working on campaigns involving Bond, Star Wars, Disney and Marvel
▪️Joining Diary Of A CEO when the team had fewer than ten people
▪️Why Steven Bartlett told Ant not to study other podcasts
▪️Turning podcast trailers into cinematic miniature documentaries
▪️The storytelling principles behind more than 450 trailers
▪️How music, sound design and editing can provoke emotion
Danny Gray: From Scaling Steven Bartlett’s Diary Of A CEO To Partnering With Beta Squads’s Sharky Launching LVLS In 750 Retail Stores From Day One
Episode 18
Wednesday, July 22, 2026 • Duration 01:35:47
Can losing your father, losing the business you built in his honour and taking a job you never expected become the foundation for your biggest opportunity?
Danny Gray is an entrepreneur, commercial strategist, former Commercial Partnerships Director within Steven Bartlett’s business ecosystem and co-founder of LVLS, a wellness brand launched into 750 Boots stores from day one.
After losing his father to Parkinson’s disease, Danny became driven to build businesses that improve people’s health, going on to launch an award-winning functional nutrition restaurant before joining Steven Bartlett’s early team, helping build the commercial engine around The Diary Of A CEO.
Through his Venture Capital fund building, he has now co-created Hide, stocked in 1,000 Tesco stores, and launched LVLS alongside Beta Squad’s Sharky, brokering a deal to get the product into 750 Boots stores from day one.
In this episode, Danny explains how Levels secured major retail distribution before launch, reduced its funding requirements through smart payment terms, built authentic creator partnerships and set out to make wellness more fun and accessible for everyday people.
1:21 — Danny Gray: Entrepreneur and Levels Co-Founder
2:14 — How Money, Shame and Family Created His Drive
6:53 — His Father’s Battle With Parkinson’s Disease
10:58 — Opening a Restaurant Before Losing His Father
Bedroom Startup To $100M Exit In Under 10 Years… But What Is The Cost Of Success?
Episode 17
Wednesday, July 15, 2026 • Duration 01:49:55
Can a working-class entrepreneur build a £50 million revenue business from his spare bedroom, sell it for $100 million and still hold on to the things that matter most?
Andrew Hulbert is the founder of Pareto Facilities Management, the bootstrapped business he grew from a laptop in his bedroom to £50 million in annual turnover, 550 employees and a $100 million business exit.
Andrew explains how Pareto competed against multibillion-pound facilities management companies by being more agile, flexible and customer-focused. He reveals how that strategy helped the company grow organically from £18 million to £32 million in a single year.
▪️How Andrew built Pareto Facilities Management from his bedroom to £50 million in turnover
▪️The working-class upbringing that shaped his ambition and work ethic
▪️Why his original financial freedom target was only £2 million
▪️How customer-first flexibility helped Pareto grow during COVID
▪️Growing organically from £18 million to £32 million in one year
▪️How smaller businesses can compete against multi-billion pound corporations
▪️Why hiring senior leaders helped scale beyond the founder
▪️Building a powerful B2B brand in an unglamorous industry
▪️Using networking, PR, awards and major client names to create authority
▪️Winning brands including Twitter, Yahoo, Bulgari and London Zoo
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Why James believes a newsletter can generate more business value than a podcast or YouTube channel
How to identify businesses with protected leverage, strong margins and lower labour requirements
Why self-storage and commercial property have become increasingly attractive parts of his portfolio
Why grit can be more important than talent when building a successful business
The reality of cash-flow problems, losing millions and carrying responsibility for thousands of employees
James also opens up about the darker side of entrepreneurship: why success can become increasingly lonely, why his brain never switches off and why entrepreneurs often create new problems the moment everything starts going well.
This is a masterclass in how to buy a business, business acquisitions, scaling a company, entrepreneurship, business management, business growth strategy, content marketing and building wealth through business ownership.
How do you scale a business without giving away equity?
Why should you build a business as if you are going to sell it?
How do entrepreneurs transition from operating a business to leading one?
KEY MOMENTS:
0:00 — Inside James Sinclair’s £50M Business Empire
03:40 — The Reality of Running a Business in the UK in 2026
06:00 — How James Chooses Businesses to Buy
08:25 — Why Your Business Needs Growth to Keep Great People
09:32 — Entrepreneurship + Management = Business Success
12:48 — The Businesses James Sinclair Has Bought This Year
13:12 — Build Your Business to Sell — Even If You Never Sell
17:03 — Why Entrepreneurship Gets Lonelier as You Scale
18:38 — Grit vs Talent: What Actually Creates Successful Entrepreneurs?
27:31 — James Sinclair’s Business Acquisition Hack Before Buying
29:08 — How Content Marketing Generates Deals and Recruitment
30:00 — Why James Refuses Investors but Uses Bank Debt
33:46 — Why Newsletters Can Beat Podcasts and YouTube for Business
38:47 — Why James Sinclair Is Investing in Self-Storage
43:56 — The Entrepreneur’s Curse: Why Happiness Can Feel Boring
45:55 — Losing Millions, Cash-Flow Problems and Building Resilience
47:16 — Does Building a £50M Business Actually Make You Happy?
Key Moments:
0:00 - Why This Bald Skincare Brand Became a 7-Figure Community
00:18 - How to Build a Brand From Community: The Bald Bros Origin Story
02:22 - From Hair Loss Anxiety to Brand Purpose: Tariq's 10-Year Journey
07:40 - Shaving His Head: The Moment That Built Bald Confidence
12:48 - The £8 Billion Hair Loss Industry Lie Every Founder Should Know
14:36 - Finding a Market Gap: Why No Skincare Existed for Bald Men
18:55 - App vs Physical Product: How to Choose Your First Business Idea
20:22 - How to Validate Your Product Idea With Your Community (The 90% Matte Test)
23:29 - Why We Didn't White Label: Building a Bespoke DTC Product
34:06 - Launch Day to Sold Out: How to Launch an Ecommerce Brand on 1,000 Units
47:31 - The Content Hire That Scaled Us: Hiring Jake Massey (Ex-LADbible)
53:01 - Bald Fest: How Community Events Build Brand Better Than Ads
57:36 - The £1K TV Advert That Drove Real Brand Awareness
02:31 - Why Starting a Business Young Was Suhit Amin's Unfair Advantage
04:11 - From Gaming Videos to 37K Subscribers: Learning YouTube MCNs and Sub-Networks
07:04 - Why Talent Management Beat Being a Creator: Spotting the MCN Decline
09:40 - How to Start an Influencer Marketing Agency From Scratch With 5 Clients
15:35 - Cold Outreach Strategy That Worked: Turning LinkedIn DMs Into Revenue
19:25 - Consistency & Manual Reps: Why Volume Beats Automation When Starting Out
31:47 - Thinking Like a Founder: Why He Always Planned to Sell His First Business
37:18 - Doubling Revenue in 12 Months: How Advisor Simon Penson Restructured the Agency for Sale
44:15 - How to Sell Your Business: The Full M&A Process, Due Diligence & Keeping It Secret
53:54 - Choosing the Right Buyer: Why He Took a Lower Offer From Journey Further
01:04:03 - What Happens When the Money Lands: Telling the Team and Calling His Parents
01:26:14 - Battling Stage Three Hodgkin's Lymphoma at 16 While Starting a Business
01:36:26 - How Cancer Changed His View on Business, Risk and Resilience
In this show we answer:
What is this episode about? This episode of Building The Brand features Suhit Amin explaining how he built and sold a 7-figure influencer marketing agency (Saulderson Media) before age 25, detailing his cold outreach on LinkedIn, transition from talent management to influencer marketing, and the step-by-step process to sell a business including valuation, buyer outreach, and due diligence.
Who is Suhit Amin? Suhit Amin is a UK entrepreneur who founded influencer marketing agency Saulderson Media at 17, scaled it to over £100k revenue in six months, doubled revenue with consultancy Scaled, and achieved a multi-million pound exit to Journey Further - all after undergoing chemotherapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 16.
How did Suhit Amin get clients for his influencer marketing agency? He used cold outreach on LinkedIn, identifying brands working with similar creators, connecting with marketing managers, and moving conversations from DMs to calls. He posted daily when LinkedIn was unsaturated and treated outreach like volume-based reps to learn what messaging converts.
01:08 Who is Andrew Coulson? From packing sandwiches at 8 after his father's breakdown
02:45 How to start a business with no qualifications? Becoming a commodity trader at 15
05:30 How he scaled a packaging design business to 45 staff by 25 - then lost a £15M deal
07:40 Why did a £15M reverse takeover collapse a week before completion?
09:55 What happens when the bank pulls your overdraft?
12:30 How to rebuild after business failure with no money? Penny shares and the satellite dish edge
15:10 Sleeping on his mum's floor at 28: Starting again from the kitchen table
18:40 Why rescuing a failing gym was his best business move
23:15 How to become a UK authority fast: Becoming Head Judge for UK bodybuilding in 9 months
28:40 How to build an online coaching business from scratch? The first video subscription platform (Body Coaches)
33:00 How was the world's first protein crisp invented? The birth of Novo Nutrition
46:05 Novo vs Walkers: Can a challenger brand beat the UK's biggest crisp brands?
51:30 How to get into Tesco and Asda? The 72-hour packaging ultimatum that saved the product
59:01 Is work-life balance a myth for entrepreneurs? The
obsession behind building a brand
1:06:20 The true cost of success: Family, burnout and is the juice worth the squeeze?
1:19:50 Legacy over money: Why he's still chasing Tesco after 14 years
29:10 — Building a side hustle around a full-time job
35:20 — How personal storytelling turned thousands of views into millions
