Behind the growth by House of Performance - Sharing secrets to growth

Hannah's career has taken her from fashion buying at BHS to product development at Tate, to her current role as Head of E-commerce and Retail at Kew Gardens. She shares how trusting her gut led to landing her dream job, why the cultural sector welcomed her commercial skills, and what navigating retail through a pandemic at a botanical garden really looks like.Beyond the career story, Hannah opens up about giving up alcohol nearly three years ago through SMART Recovery, how it cleared the fog and made her a more present leader, and why she's now studying nutrition alongside her full-time role. A conversation about squiggly careers, purposeful retail, being present, and the growth that comes from removing rather than adding.

Jon White never set out to be a CMO - and that's exactly what makes his story so compelling.In this episode, Jon walks us through his unconventional "squiggly career," starting as an engineering apprentice at British Aerospace building jets, to running manufacturing plants at Kimberly-Clark (home of Kleenex, Huggies, and Andrex), to leading marketing agencies like Elmwood Design, and ultimately becoming the first-ever CMO at RS Components.Along the way, Jon shares how his engineering roots gave him a unique perspective on marketing, why he transitioned from manufacturing to commercial roles, and how seeing the business from every angle — product, agency, and client side — shaped him into a more rounded leader.

From startups to the C-suite: Nush's unconventional marketing journeyThis week we sit down with Anoushka "Nush" Grover, CMO of Purple Bricks and by her own admission, not your typical CMO.

No corporate grad scheme, no big-brand pedigree. Instead, Nush cut her teeth as Too Good To Go's first UK marketing hire, scaled with Dame and Deliciously Ella, and now leads the turnaround at one of the UK's best-known estate agents.In this episode, Nush opens up about learning fast in founder-led environments, why she thrives under leaders who give autonomy instead of micromanaging, and how she built her own commercial instincts from the ground up. She shares candid stories about taking risks with real budgets, joining a business in recovery, and why sharing the numbers with your whole team - not just performance marketers - builds a stronger, more aligned culture.If you're curious about leading with autonomy, thinking commercially as a marketer, and finding purpose in your work even in unexpected places, this conversation is for you.

What does it actually take to launch a wine brand when you have no money, no traditional wine background, and a category full of rules?

In this episode, we sit down with Tom Benn, founder of Future Chateau, to unpack how he built a modern wine brand from scratch, from creating a scrappy first vintage to launching in Selfridges just 10 days after his son was born.

Tom shares how his distribution strategy shaped his marketing, why the founder of Pip & Nut told him to lower his standards, and how radio is still having a surprising impact in 2026. We also get into who is actually buying Future Chateau (spoiler: it isn't Gen Z), why so much of the wine category is built around people being afraid of looking stupid, and whether the company's biggest breaks really came down to luck.

Plus, Tom explains why he became obsessed with the strength of modern wine, how opening a bottle became a ritual for better evenings, and why your opinion on wine doesn't need to be any more complicated than one question: is it yummy or not yummy?

A conversation about building a brand differently, making an intimidating category more accessible, and knowing when "good enough" is exactly what you need to get started.

What does it take to launch a brand in a category most people have never heard of and land one of the UK's biggest health retailers on day one?Alex, Co-Founder and Commercial Director of Latties Sea Moss, joins us to share the unfiltered story behind building the UK's only ambient sea moss gel. From leaving a corporate sales career to surviving a Jamaican hurricane that nearly tanked their Holland & Barrett launch, Alex breaks down exactly how focus, honesty, and the right manufacturing partnership made all the difference.

In this episode:

- Why ambient shelf life was the unlock that got them into Holland & Barrett

- How they handled a supply chain crisis with radical transparency and kept the listing

- The lessons from a previous food brand that failed (and what they fixed this time)

- Why they chose retail over D2C, and where Amazon fits in nextHow to stay focused when sea moss could solve a hundred different problems

- Whether you're building a food and drink brand, navigating your first retail listing, or just want to understand what bootstrapped growth actually looks like - this one's for you.

What does it really feel like to leave a successful corporate career and start the business you've always dreamed about?

In this episode of Behind the Growth, Emma Welland and Kat Sale sit down with Katy Cottam, CEO and Co-Founder of Luna Daily, to discuss the realities of building a disruptive consumer brand.

From her career at Red Bull, L'Oréal, Bol Foods and Charlotte Tilbury to launching Luna Daily during 2020, Katy shares the lessons she's learned about confidence, resilience, fundraising and building a brand with genuine purpose.

The conversation also explores the challenges of talking about women's health on social media, why education is just as important as selling products, and what it takes to create lasting impact as a founder.

A brilliant episode for anyone thinking about starting a business, building a consumer brand or looking for an honest insight into the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.

In this special episode of Behind the Growth, House of Performance founders Kat Sale and Emma Welland turn the microphones on themselves for an honest conversation about purpose, ambition, mental health, AI, societal expectations and what success really means.

From questioning why so many of us make career decisions based on money and external validation, to discussing the impact AI is having on creativity and critical thinking, this episode explores some of the conversations we don't have often enough.

Kat and Emma also share their perspectives on therapy, personal growth and why waiting until a crisis hits might already be too late.

In this episode:
• Why money can distract us from purpose
• How societal expectations influence our biggest life decisions
• Whether AI is making us less creative
• The importance of protecting original thinking
• Why therapy should be proactive, not reactive
• The role of human connection in personal growth
• How to navigate ambition without losing yourself along the way

If you've ever questioned what success really looks like, struggled to balance ambition with fulfilment, or wondered whether growth is always the answer, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

#BehindTheGrowth #HouseOfPerformance #Purpose #PersonalGrowth #Leadership #MentalHealth #Creativity #ArtificialIntelligence #Entrepreneurship #BusinessGrowth

In this episode of Behind the Growth, we sit down with Pete Cooper, Founder of Coopah - the running app redefining how people train, stay accountable and connect through running.

What started as a simple idea has grown into a powerful community-led platform helping thousands of runners build consistency, confidence and long-term habits. Pete shares the startup story behind Coopah, from the early challenges of building the product to creating a brand and community people genuinely want to be part of.

We explore:

• The story behind building Coopah

• Why community is the future of fitness

• Creating habits people actually stick to

• Startup growth, scaling and resilience

• Building a mission-led brand in a crowded market

• The psychology behind accountability and performance

• What founders can learn from endurance and running culture

This conversation is packed with insights on entrepreneurship, growth, leadership and the power of building something bigger than just a product.

If you're interested in startups, community building, fitness, performance or modern brand growth this episode is for you.

#PeteCooper #Coopah #StartupStory #CommunityBuilding #RunningApp #BehindTheGrowth #Entrepreneurship #FitnessTech #BrandBuilding #GrowthPodcast

In this episode of Behind the Growth, we sit down with Amy Townsend, marketing leader and former CMO at Rheal, with leadership roles across Sky, Cinch, Freddie’s Flowers and Tails.com.

Amy shares lessons from building and scaling some of the UK’s most recognisable brands, including how marketing can drive real business impact, why brand investment matters, and what separates good marketing from truly effective growth.

We cover:

• Building, scaling and evolving brands
• Marketing that actually drives business impact
• Understanding your audience and community
• How to create clarity in positioning
• Lessons from Sky, Cinch, Freddie’s Flowers, Tails.com & Rheal
• Why marketers need to understand how the business makes money
• Leadership, career growth and personal growth
• What great CMOs do differently

One of Amy’s standout insights:

“The gift that marketing gives you is once you understand the principles, you can move across sectors.”

Whether you’re a founder, marketer, CMO or growth leader, this episode is packed with practical lessons on brand building, customer understanding and scaling modern businesses.

Join us as we hear from George Sullivan, founder and CEO of The Sole Supplier.

George talks us through his journey from side hustle to scaling, he shares the risks he has taken and what running The Sole Supplier has really been like - in a world that is every changing. Prepare to be inspired!