In this live episode of Virgin StartUp Changemakers, Natalie Pearce sits down with GoHenry co-founder Louise Hill to explore what it takes to build a business that doesn't just solve a customer problem, but sets out to change the system around it.

After seeing her own children struggle to understand the value of money in an increasingly digital world, Louise helped create GoHenry to give young people a practical way to learn by doing. She shares how questioning accepted industry rules helped the team enter financial services without a traditional banking background, why founders need to know when to push through scepticism and how GoHenry expanded its mission beyond its paying customers by campaigning for financial education in schools.

Whether you're challenging an established industry, building a purpose-led business or trying to turn a deeply held mission into meaningful change, this episode offers practical founder lessons on persistence, leadership, culture and having the confidence to ask why things can't be done differently.

In this episode:

• Spotting a business opportunity through a problem Louise experienced as a parent
• Validating whether a personal frustration represents a wider customer need
• Entering financial services without a traditional banking background
• Why founders should ask to see the rule when they're told something can't be done
• How permission to fail can build entrepreneurial confidence
• Turning "making every kid smart with money" into a mission beyond GoHenry's paying customers
• Convincing the board that commercial growth and campaigning for change could coexist
• GoHenry's role in campaigning for financial education in schools
• Building a company culture around family, flexibility and transparency
• Why founders shouldn't apologise for asking for help, introductions or investment
• Knowing when to listen to criticism and when to trust your conviction
• What the original Pocket Money brand taught the team about naming a business
• How GoHenry got its name from its first child customer

Changemakers is brought to you by Virgin StartUp, the not-for-profit organisation helping founders start and scale the businesses they're passionate about.

Recorded live at Virgin StartUp's Changemakers events, every episode features honest conversations with entrepreneurs, founders and business leaders sharing the lessons, challenges and ideas shaping the future of business.

Looking to start or grow your own business?

Find out more at virginstartup.org

Brought to you in partnership with our friends at Virgin Money - the home of brighter business banking.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this live episode of Virgin StartUp Changemakers, Natalie Pearce sits down with UNROOTED founder Nathan Clemes to explore how you build demand for a product when most of your customers have never heard of its hero ingredient.

From leaving a career in finance to building a functional drinks brand around baobab, Nathan shares how UNROOTED turned an unfamiliar African fruit into a proposition customers and retailers could understand. He explores finding what makes your product genuinely distinctive, educating without overwhelming people, starting with smaller stockists before approaching major retailers and why even the most compelling founder story sometimes needs to be distilled into just a few words.

Whether you're introducing a new product, creating a category or trying to convince customers to care about something unfamiliar, this episode offers practical founder lessons on positioning, customer education, retail growth and turning a complex story into a clear proposition.

In this episode:

• Knowing when you're ready to leave your career and back a startup idea
• Finding the opportunity between growing consumer trends
• Why UNROOTED chose baobab as its hero ingredient
• Identifying what makes your product genuinely different
• Educating customers about an ingredient they've never encountered before
• Finding the right hook when your product has dozens of potential benefits
• Why smaller retailers can be the best place to test and learn
• Building evidence of customer demand before approaching major stockists
• Launching a consumer brand just as Covid disrupted the original plan
• Adapting from a retail-first launch to ecommerce and Amazon
• Growing from early stockists into Sainsbury's and airline partnerships
• Building positive impact into the baobab supply chain
• Why founders need to turn a big story into one message customers can remember

Changemakers is brought to you by Virgin StartUp, the not-for-profit organisation helping founders start and scale the businesses they're passionate about.

Recorded live at Virgin StartUp's Changemakers events, every episode features honest conversations with entrepreneurs, founders and business leaders sharing the lessons, challenges and ideas shaping the future of business.

Looking to start or grow your own business?

Find out more at virginstartup.org

Brought to you in partnership with our friends at Virgin Money - the home of brighter business banking.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this live episode of Virgin StartUp Changemakers, Natalie Pearce sits down with COAT Paints co-founder Rob Abrahams to explore how a startup can take on an established industry without trying to compete with everyone in it.

From spotting a frustrating customer experience in a market dominated by longstanding brands to building a made-to-order paint business around a clearly defined audience, Rob shares why narrowing your focus can give challengers an advantage. He explores finding the right co-founder, listening closely to customers, raising venture capital, scaling sustainably and why building a bigger business can sometimes be harder than starting one.

Whether you're entering a crowded market, building a challenger brand or deciding how ambitious you want your startup to become, this episode offers practical founder lessons on differentiation, customer insight, funding, sustainability and staying focused as you scale.

In this episode:

• Finding the right idea after exploring plenty of wrong ones
• Why founder-market fit helped Rob and his co-founder choose COAT
• Combining complementary skills when choosing a co-founder
• Taking on established competitors without trying to win the entire market
• Why narrowing your audience can make a challenger brand stronger
• Starting with founder instinct, then evolving through customer feedback
• Why COAT doesn't think of itself as simply selling paint
• Choosing between building a profitable independent business and pursuing venture-backed growth
• What changed after taking institutional investment
• Why becoming profitable was a major milestone after raising capital
• Building a made-to-order model around reducing waste
• Protecting sustainability commitments when cheaper alternatives emerge
• Why Rob believes scaling can be harder than starting
• The founder mental health conversations that startup culture needs to have more often

Changemakers is brought to you by Virgin StartUp, the not-for-profit organisation helping founders start and scale the businesses they're passionate about.

Recorded live at Virgin StartUp's Changemakers events, every episode features honest conversations with entrepreneurs, founders and business leaders sharing the lessons, challenges and ideas shaping the future of business.

Looking to start or grow your own business?

Find out more at virginstartup.org

Brought to you in partnership with our friends at Virgin Money - the home of brighter business banking.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.