NB Is Live

With three weeks until Christmas, exactly 31 days before the leftover nut butters’ apparent best before date, I did what any other normal person new to business would do: run around London and drop off samples plus a hand-written note (double-sided flashcard; my whole life story) to all journalists, bloggers, chefs - anyone relevant I could think of who might like nut butter, give me some feedback on the flavours, or perhaps feature them on social media and/ or in print. What felt like the most worthwhile idea to avoid wasting product (on my own consumption). On Christmas Eve, Ella Mills, aka. Deliciously Ella, aka. my idol and the recipient of my fan-girling at various prior events, was the first customer to place an order on the website. She emailed me personally to express her gratitude and glowing review; reading “honestly the best I’ve ever tried and I’m absolutely addicted” - I was halfway through watching a film and had to pause it out of shock. In February 2016, The Sunday Times featured NB in The Dish; that same month Calgary Avansino, former health and wellness editor of Vogue, recommended Indulgent Nut Butter in her food column. Calgary posting on Instagram, “Heaven in a jar… this gig is for life”, was enough for me to gain an influx of followers, the notifications alone was how I knew something had happened in the first place.

With no plan or looking back, from January 2016 I just did; said yes over no - to networking events, coffee mornings, walking mentoring, trade shows and exhibitions, boardroom office sales and seasonal fayres. One weekend I spent camping at a festival in Gloucestershire (and swore to never again). Throughout the year I reached out to local gym studios and fitness brands, asking former colleagues and friends from school for help, often joining forces with other food brands to provide the staff with free breakfast - Welltodo, We Work, Sweaty Betty and Liberty London, for example. Working at Fitness First at the time, by fluke I ‘met’ the health writer for Look! Magazine and personal trainer, Alice Liveing (I welcomed them into the gym and gave them a towel, and brief pitch, of course). Thankfully they humoured me; both accepted samples on their next visit and very kindly featured my nut butters in print and on Instagram respectively. And when my manager allowed me to host a pop-up porridge stall, on the exact same day Liv Tyler came to workout - still to date I am convinced she took note of the logo and continues to buy it today.

The combination of luck and putting myself in these situations - the thrill of seeing other people try NB - was the exact encouragement I needed to keep going. I wanted to meet as many people as possible, immerse myself in the industry; to do everything in my power to expand my reach. Having so much confidence in my brand gave me an air of fearlessness, I had no shame introducing myself to a close competitor and asking if they had any advice (obviously not). I saw nothing lost, only gain; putting business first and my pride second opened doors to new opportunities. Like meeting the buyer of British Airways at Heathrow Airport, or working with the founder of Planet Organic, after gushing her praises at an event, and then making a great bad-first-impression of falling down the stairs. In 2016 I applied and got through to the final round of Cotswold Fayre’s Food and Drink Entrepreneur of the Year - an incredible pinch-me moment of presenting and pitching to a crowd - in which I happily came second.

Not to sound cocky but I do think I got so much right at this time, I was as prepared as I could have been (ie. not at all). NB was growing and I was riding the high - living my inner-influencer dream - and seeing its progress was amazing! That is not to say all risks paid off; I was naive and ignorant to what was out of my control; naturally some outcomes proved worse than others, more disappointing than I hoped. Like when I agreed to sell to a wholesale company who badgered me until I was convinced - and made me pay a hefty set-up fee - and then ghosted me. Or when I spent New Year’s Eve being a “sponsor” at a fitness app launch; although I paid to be there, it over-promised and undersold and I left just in the nick of time to see in 2017 alone with a peppermint tea and Robbie Williams on TV. In February 2016, I agreed to provide 275 miniature 30g jars of nut butter free of charge to a well-known and reputable magazine for their event’s goodie bags. Brainwashed by the idea of elite guests trying, liking, talking about it - and I thought I was special when they reached out and showed genuine interest (generic, I realised too late). All hope was lost when, well, surprise surprise, nothing happened. No viral post or queue of customers, and said magazine accidentally cropped the product out of the Instagram image. I appreciate they apologised - and reposted on social media the following week – but I felt stupid for saying yes, and swore off goodie bags for good.

Of all events I attended, though, my favourite and most memorable has to be a Health Bloggers Community social in June 2016. The week leading up to it, my face progressively swelled up - it looked like I was holding a tomato in my cheek, which far too many people made me aware of. However much I did not want to leave the house, or go to work - definitely not socialise - the idea of missing this one chance of getting my brand in front of the influencers attending - potentially what could lead to our big break - was enough of a reason to get me out the door. It was only when I was talking to another food founder, she recognised my symptoms of a tooth abscess. Spooked me so much - apparently if it bursts the puss can rapidly get into your bloodstream and kill you like it did her friend - that less than 12 hours later I was sitting in the dentist crying my way through an emergency tooth removal.