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

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Joe talks to Juliet about what founders should really look for when hiring, where traditional recruitment falls short and how to use AI without losing the human judgement that helps you spot exceptional people. If you're making your first hires, struggling to spot real potential or wondering how AI should fit into your recruitment process, this episode is for you.

Joe Woodward is co-founder of Vizzy, a hiring platform reimagining the CV for the next generation of talent. Four years in, Vizzy has raised around £7 million in backing, built a talent pool of 120,000 people and works with major clients including Burberry, Virgin and the LVMH group.

In this episode:
00:00:00 Why the traditional CV could be costing you the best candidates
00:06:00 The hiring signal that can matter more than qualifications or experience
00:09:00 The biggest hiring mistakes founders make
00:10:30 When growing your team could actually be the wrong decision
00:23:00 How to use AI in recruitment without losing what only a human can spot

Find out more:
Vizzy: https://home.vizzy.com/
Joe Woodward: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-woodward13/

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

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