How To Start Up is helping founders decide what to do now, next, or never when starting & scaling a business. I'm your host Juliet Fallowfield, founder of the podcast production & PR consultancy Fallow, Field & Mason & my aim is that each episode focuses on solving one clear, specific problem faced by all startup founders & small business owners. And if you can’t find your answer, DM us! Episodes cover practical topics including starting a business, scaling a startup, founder mental health & wellbeing, writing a pitch deck, raising investment, hiring & managing teams, PR & marketing, customer acquisition, & navigating the realities of entrepreneurship. How To Start Up is designed to provide practical startup advice, real-world insights, & reassurance from experienced entrepreneurs, operators, & experts, so founders can make better decisions with confidence. Subscribe to build your startup knowledge & receive invitations to exclusive
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How To Start Up by FF&M is a business podcast hosted by Juliet Fallowfield, with 176 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.
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Juliet Fallowfield hosts How To Start Up by FF&M, a business show with 176 episodes published.
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Episode #19
How to build a 40,000-strong paid community from scratch with Jo Hutton, Yoga For Tired People
Sep 22, 202645 minS14
How do you turn an audience into a loyal, paying community? If you're building a newsletter, working out when to monetise a community, or wondering whether a paywall is the right call, this episode is for you. Juliet talks to yoga teacher and Substack creator Jo Hutton about rebuilding her business after burnout, growing 47,000 Substack subscribers from zero with no mailing list transfer, and why she ditched a fixed paywall for a pay-what-you-feel model. They cover Substack's open rates versus other platforms, the 'say what you do, do what you say' rule for growth and retention, and why Jo treats Substack as one spoke in her business rather than the whole wheel. After 16 years as a yoga teacher, Jo hit burnout in 2022 and rebuilt around Yoga For Tired People - now 47,000 Substack subscribers, a 42% open rate, 177,000 Instagram followers, her podcast Before The Work Begins, and a debut book with Bloomsbury. In this episode: (04:40) When burnout forces you to rethink your business model (09:20) Starting again and building an audience from scratch (17:00) How to grow a Substack without relying on an existing audience (22:00) When does an audience become a paying business? (23:30) What turns an audience into a community that stays? (27:15) How to price a paid community and know what to give away for free (40:20) Why growing a business means growing as a founder Find out more: Jo Hutton Instagram: @johuttonyoga Yoga For Tired People Substack: https://happyyoga.substack.com/ FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. https://www.fallowfieldmason.com Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on Instagram @fallowfieldmason. MUSIC CREDIT: Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show
How to turn a viral moment into a global brand with Vivien Wong, Little Moons
Sep 8, 202630 minS14
How do you turn viral attention into lasting business growth? Juliet talks to Little Moons co-founder Vivien Wong about what happens when a brand suddenly goes viral, how to scale without compromising your product, and how to turn a moment of visibility into long-term customer loyalty. Vivien co-founded Little Moons with her brother Howard in 2010, spending years building demand for mochi ice cream through restaurants before taking the brand into retail. Today, Little Moons is sold in 38 countries and valued at more than £100 million. In this episode: (02:00) How Little Moons built demand before moving into retail (05:30) What actually happens when your brand suddenly goes viral (10:00) How to turn viral attention into lasting customer growth (12:30) How Little Moons built a social-first marketing strategy (18:20) What founders should do when their brand goes viral (22:00) Why building a successful business is often about 1,000 boring things (27:00) What personality traits to look for when hiring Find out more: Vivien Wong: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivien-wong-07804123/ Little Moons: https://littlemoons.com/ FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. https://www.fallowfieldmason.com Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on Instagram @fallowfieldmason. MUSIC CREDIT: Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show
How to get Steven Bartlett to invest with Bethan Higson, Mother Root
Aug 11, 202635 minS14
One of the biggest pieces of advice you'll hear as a founder is to find a gap in the market. But what if the real opportunity isn't finding a gap at all, it's solving a problem you've experienced yourself? After more than a decade in the wine industry, Bethan Higson became frustrated by the alcohol-free options available during her first pregnancy. Rather than trying to recreate wine or spirits, she wanted to create something entirely different: a drink that delivered the same complexity, ritual and sense of occasion. Two years of experimenting at her kitchen table led to Mother Root, a fiery non-alcoholic aperitif made using ginger and apple cider vinegar. Today, Mother Root is the UK's fastest-growing drinks brand and has rapidly expanded from a direct-to-consumer start-up into major retailers, while scaling even faster in the US than in its home market. In this episode, Bethan shares what it was really like appearing on Dragons' Den , how she secured investment offers from three Dragons, why she ultimately chose Steven Bartlett, and why the deal never completed. We also explore category creation, hiring exceptional people, building momentum with retailers, preparing for explosive growth, and why saying no is one of the most important skills any founder can develop. Bethan's Advice: Build your business around solving a genuine customer problem, rather than chasing a growing market. Adopt a test-and-learn mindset to make faster decisions and reduce the pressure of getting everything right first time. Prepare for success as much as failure by building the systems and team you'll need to handle growth. Hire people whose strengths complement your own, and don't hesitate when you find exceptional talent. Prioritisation is fundamental, stay focused on the opportunities that genuinely move the needle. Learn to say no to those opportunities which won’t further your business in the long term - but do it respectfully. Chapters (00:00) Why finding a gap isn't enough (01:10) Meet Bethan Higson & Mother Root (02:00) Building a business around a real customer problem (05:00) Convincing retailers to back a new category (07:15) Turning a kitchen-table idea into a business (10:00) Founder fears, boundaries & obsession (14:00) Behind the scenes of Dragons' Den (19:15) Choosing Steven Bartlett as an investor (22:00) Preparing your business for explosive growth (26:00) Scaling Mother Root in the UK & US (28:00) Why every founder should "test and learn" (29:30) Hiring exceptional people (30:30) Why saying no is a founder's superpower (32:00) Finding the right COO & business partner (34:00) Bethan's question for the next guest FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. https://www.fallowfieldmason.com Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on Instagram @fallowfieldmason. MUSIC CREDIT: Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show
How to build a brand through PR & VIP, with Kate Halfpenny, Halfpenny London
Jul 28, 202632 minS14
Before Kate Halfpenny designed wedding dresses, she dressed Kate Moss, Rihanna and Cate Blanchett for a living. That client list didn't just shape her design eye, it built her a reputation before she'd designed a single dress for the public. When a commission for actress Emilia Fox in 2005 became the foundation of Halfpenny London, Kate already understood something most founders take years to learn: proximity to the right person, at the right moment, is one of the most powerful and least controllable forms of PR there is. Kate's Advice: Build a reputation through consistently exceptional work, not just advertising Paid marketing creates visibility, but trust has to be earned Word of mouth can't be controlled. Focus on creating work people genuinely want to recommend Choose collaborators because they're the right fit, not because they're famous Audiences can feel the difference between genuine love for a brand and being paid to wear it Be crystal clear about who your brand is for. It protects you from the wrong partnerships One great PR moment opens the door, but consistency is what keeps people coming back Never compromise the integrity of your product simply to gain attention Bring experienced external leadership into your business sooner than you think Treat mistakes as part of building a business. They're lessons, not failures Protect time for your personal life before your business takes all of it Don't compare your journey to everyone else's, especially on social media Chapters (00:00) Why reputation beats advertising (01:25) Meet Kate Halfpenny (02:00) Building a brand through reputation (05:00) How Emilia Fox launched Halfpenny London (08:15) Why authentic celebrity PR is priceless (10:05) Choosing the right influencers (13:00) Celebrity marketing mistakes founders make (15:00) Turning one PR moment into a 20-year brand (18:00) PR, social media and luxury branding (20:30) Founder storytelling and personal brands (23:00) Growing Halfpenny internationally (24:30) The leadership mistake Kate would change (28:00) Work-life balance as a founder (29:30) Kate's question for the next guest FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. https://www.fallowfieldmason.com Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on Instagram @fallowfieldmason. MUSIC CREDIT: Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show
How a career built on calm couldn't fix her own insomnia with Hayley Dawes, Dreem Distillery
Jul 14, 202632 minS14
Every guest on this podcast talks about looking after yourself and your sleep when starting a business so I was keen to speak to someone who has first hand experience in losing it, how to get it back & making a business from it too. Hayley Dawes spent years designing beautiful, calming homes for other people. She couldn't find a moment of that calm for herself. A mother of four and a long-time entrepreneur, Hayley battled chronic insomnia that began to affect every part of her life. The thing that finally shifted it was broad-spectrum CBD and plant actives, used properly and consistently. That personal discovery became Dreem Distillery, a science-led luxury sleep brand now known for its award-winning Night Drops Sleep Oil and, this year, a new magnesium body butter, Dreem Melt. This is a story about building a business out of a problem you genuinely couldn't solve any other way, and what happens when your professional skill and your personal life are pulling in completely opposite directions. Hayley's advice: Protect your sleep as fiercely as you protect your business Working harder works... until suddenly it doesn't Small daily habits ("micro moments") can have a huge impact on your nervous system Don't underestimate the power of a daily walk, movement and natural daylight to regulate your nervous system Build a business around solving a genuine problem Work with experts when you're entering an unfamiliar industry Never compromise on quality – from your product to your branding and packaging Building a business teaches resilience Prioritising yourself allows you to perform better in every area of your life FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on Instagram @fallowfieldmason. MUSIC CREDIT: Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show
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Founder Solo gives you 50 AI pitches per month using the credit model (Standard pitches cost 1 credit, Enriched pitches cost 2). Founder Pro raises that to 200 credits per month and adds full Booking Probability access, unlimited Magic Match, Apollo enrichment credits, and data export capabilities. Both plans use the same credit system, so you can stretch your monthly budget further by using Standard-mode drafting.
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