Max Henderson started Hotpod Yoga in 2013 with his childhood friend Nick, despite neither of them being yoga people at the time. Today, Hotpod Yoga is Europe's largest yoga business in 3 countries with over 500,000 customers.

Most of those customers arrived sceptical about yoga, or were put off by it altogether. So Hotpod stopped leading with yoga and started selling the experience around it: the pod, the heat, the scent, the music, a space that shuts the outside world out.

The yoga happens once you're already in the room.

In this episode, Max and Adam get into how he built a brand that looks nothing like its category, why looking radically different did the heavy lifting on changing perception, how referrals turn sceptical first-timers into regulars, and what he learned from a 4-year rebrand and 18 months of barely trading through COVID.

There's also a sharp section on using partnerships to stay culturally relevant.

If you're trying to win customers who've already decided your category isn't for them, this one's worth your time.

From social to shelf without a pitch

Hannah Samano left Unilever at the height of the direct-to-consumer boom to build something from nothing. She's now founder and CEO of Unfabled, a women's health and supplements brand that has gone from a pure D2C launch to 730+ Boots stores, Holland & Barrett online and 61 Sainsbury's stores, without ever pitching for that first retail deal.

In this episode Hannah tells Adam how Boots messaged them a month after their first supplement line went live, why she's grown revenue 10x in two years with six full-time people, and how a D2C-native brand ends up with an advantage on a supermarket shelf that bigger players don't have.

It's a practical conversation for anyone in FMCG weighing up the crossover between digital and retail. What actually transfers, what doesn't, and why Hannah reckons retail "feels less rickety" than D2C.

In this episode

• Why she walked away from Unilever's D2C push, and what from that playbook still earns its keep
• Taking a six-person team to 10x revenue, and the communication maths behind staying lean
• What Unfabled keeps in-house (growth, IP, product development) versus what it briefs out
• "Retail chose us": the Boots Ignite story and the jump from 50 to 737 stores
• Using community data to win on shelf, and bringing personalisation to the shelf edge
• Repositioning creatine for women, away from the gym-bro association it has carried for decades
• Selling everyday health next to the bread and milk, and building trust in two seconds
• What has shifted in women's health, and the $1 trillion number that changed the funding conversation

Chapters01:36 . Hannah's path: Unilever, Nairobi and a focus on female health03:31 . Leaving Unilever at the peak of the D2C bubble06:37 . What transfers from a corporate playbook to a startup12:17 . The case for a deliberately lean team15:41 . Building the systems that let a small team move fast16:39 . What stays in-house and what gets briefed out18:54 . "Retail chose us": the Boots Ignite story23:17 . Unfabled Labs, community data and the shelf-edge advantage26:14 . Repositioning creatine for women29:17 . Winning trust in two seconds on a Sainsbury's shelf32:38 . D2C versus retail, and why retail feels less rickety35:29 . South by Southwest, and momentum as a startup's currency37:14 . What's changed in women's health, and the $1 trillion shift39:13 . Where to find Hannah and Unfabled

About Hannah and UnfabledHannah Samano is the founder and CEO of Unfabled, a women's health and supplements brand she started in 2021 after struggling to find products that worked for her own hormonal health. Before that she spent several years at Unilever, including a spell at Unilever Ventures and on the team that built its first in-house D2C personal care brand.

Unfabled: unfabled.co, and on Instagram and TikTokHannah: Hannah Samano on LinkedIn

Listen and subscribeBeyond The Brand is a bi-weekly podcast and newsletter for marketers learning from the people shaping the future of brands. New episodes on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Substack and LinkedIn.

You can get water from a tap for free. So why does anyone pay for a bottle? And why do some people pay more for one bottle over another?

Michele Ricci is Head of Global Marketing for Nestlé Pure Life and local brands. He has spent 15 years working on Nesquik, San Pellegrino, and Buxton, in some of the most commoditised categories on the shelf.

In this episode, Michele talks through how he moved Nesquik from a sugary kids' powder into a lower-sugar, fortified breakfast brand, and why Nestlé retargeted parents instead of doubling down on children.

He explains the renaming of San Pellegrino's range from "sparkling fruit beverages" to "Italian sparkling drinks", and how that single naming decision opened up new opportunities, a more premium shelf, and a stronger Italian story.

He also covers the Buxton x Mind "Sweat and Tears" platform, the London Marathon takeover, and the launch of Inspired by Buxton Peak, a new functional water now rolling out in UK retailers.

In this episode:

• Why premium is a language and an experience, with price doing less of the work than people assume
• How to shift a 30-year brand perception without losing the loyal base
• Why low-funnel experience and sampling now belong at the centre of brand building
• How a brand purpose only sticks when it connects to a real human tension

A useful listen for any marketer working with a brand in a category where the customer sees the product as interchangeable.

85% of Heinz's in-house content hits or beats the engagement rates their external agencies deliver. Karen Owen, Chief Growth Officer for Europe and Pacific at Kraft Heinz, built the team behind that.

In this episode, she talks through the architecture of The Kitchen, Heinz's content studio now running across 4 continents, how it operates alongside external agencies rather than replacing them, and what it takes to keep a brand that has existed for 157 years part of cultural conversations while they're still happening.

Karen Owen on LinkedIn

In this episode, luxury marketing expert Michael Edelmann (CMO, 111SKIN. Ex. Dr. Barbara Sturm, Business of Fashion, Gucci) talks about what it takes to build a brand universe that people genuinely want to belong to, and why that matters for anyone managing a brand in FMCG.

He explains how 111SKIN rebuilt its loyalty programme around belonging after realising that points and discounts were driving repeat purchases without creating any real community.

That shift shaped everything from how they approach partnerships to how they think about influence.

Michael walks through the Repairs Van activation, which landed because it was tied to a story, and how they amplified it digitally to reach customers who were nowhere near London.

He also talks about why founder-led storytelling works when the founder has genuine, daily authority in their field.

If you're a brand manager sitting between quarterly performance targets and long-term brand building, this episode gives you a practical framework for making the case that community compounds.

Michael Edelmann on LinkedIn

In this episode, Caroline Pay (Ex. Headspace, Mother, BBH, Grey) discusses the creative layer that sits between a brief and the work that comes back, and why, in her experience, it is almost always missing.

The brief lands with a designer. The thinking that should happen in between — the strategic and conceptual work that turns a problem into something distinctive — gets skipped.

The result is work that looks like everything else, teams that can't move fast without losing quality, and brands that never quite compound.

Caroline spent 20 years at agencies including Mother and BBH before becoming CCO at Headspace, where she built a brand system tight enough to hold its own against Disney, Netflix, Nike, and Spotify.

She draws on that experience to explain what the missing layer is, how to build it, and why hiring a designer and calling it a creative team isn't the same.

This episode is for every senior marketer who suspects their creative process is the problem but hasn't been able to name why.

Caroline Pay on LinkedIn

In this episode, Peter Markey talks about life as a CMO of a heritage brand and the need to adapt.

Consumers change, categories mature, and competitors want to take your hard-earned market share. At the same time, your brand only grows if it stands for something clear and consistent.

Pete draws on his time leading marketing at Boots, TSB, Aviva and the Post Office to explain how to manage that in large organisations.

He shares how strong marketing leaders can take advantage of all that heritage, but also build for the future.

They make deliberate choices about what stays constant and what genuinely needs to evolve.

A fascinating episode for anyone interested in peering into the mind of one of the best marketers in modern retail.

Peter Markey on LinkedIn

84% of marketers report experiencing imposter syndrome.

It reflects the reality of working in a discipline built on ambiguity.

In this conversation, Professor Laura Chamberlain explains why marketing operates in shades of grey, while teams are still expected to deliver clear ROI narratives and confident answers.

When your work depends on context, judgement and human behaviour, doubt isn’t a defect. It’s a signal that the problem is complex.

In this conversation, Laura and Adam explore:

→ why more knowledge doesn’t automatically resolve self doubt→ why resilience is built through everyday practices, not crisis moments→ why marketing still works on human beings, not algorithms→ how frameworks help you think more clearly when certainty isn’t available

If you’ve ever had to defend a budget, justify a decision, or speak with confidence when the data tells an incomplete story, this episode will feel familiar.

It offers a steadier way to think under pressure and a more realistic understanding of what professional confidence requires.

Many senior brand managers believe that only new ventures can deliver big wins. This conversation shows why unlocking value in established brands can create sustainable growth. Jordan Schlipf left the excitement of building tech startups to lead Cowshed, a heritage bath and body beauty brand. He explains how modernising an existing brand, building a trusted team and using measured risk can unlock dormant potential.

Jordan has built and invested in numerous technology companies, co‑founded the Startup Bootcamp accelerator and now serves as the hired CEO of Cowshed, part of the Soho House group. His blend of entrepreneurial grit and operational discipline gives him a rare perspective on growth and risk.

Listeners will discover:

• How unlocking hidden value in legacy brands can lower risk and open new opportunities for scale.

• Why recruiting exceptional talent and setting a clear vision are a CEO’s primary responsibilities.

• How to wake a “sleeping giant” by modernising product development and bringing creative edge back to a heritage brand.

• What it takes to build trust when you are not the founder and do not come from the category.

• How measured creativity in product names and home fragrance can reignite brand love.

This episode is a must‑listen for leaders responsible for growing established consumer brands or rethinking their growth strategy. Jordan’s reflections will help you see how mature businesses can become growth engines when you align vision, talent and strategy.

Guest links:

• Jordan Schlipf on LinkedIn

• Cowshed official site

Growth is not a checklist of marketing tactics. It is a series of small experiments that help you learn what truly matters to your customers.

In this episode Adam Wright sits down with Hannah Parvaz, founder of Aperture, a UK‑based growth consultancy. She explains why treating growth like science, not advertising, leads to deeper insights and better results.

Why this conversation matters now

Many brands are cutting budgets and looking for quick wins. Hannah argues that short‑term tricks create noise but not loyalty. Instead she shows how curiosity, user research and iterative testing unlock lasting growth, even in a tough market. Her approach is especially relevant for senior brand managers who want to build resilient brands.

About our guest

Hannah Parvaz is a growth leader who has helped hundreds of mission‑led apps scale sustainably. She began her career in the music industry, moved into tech and now leads Aperture, where she combines customer psychology with creative experimentation to drive results.

Her teams have cut advertising costs by 93% and delivered repeatable growth for subscription products.

Outcomes you will learn

• Why “jobs to be done” conversations reveal hidden user motivations and how to use them in your marketing

• How to build a creative operating system that delivers winning ads week after week

• Why focusing on experimentation over perfection speeds up decision‑making and growth

• How mission‑led businesses choose clients that align with their values and why that pays off

• Practical ways to nurture curiosity and empathy as a marketer

As you listen you will hear simple stories that make growth feel human. By the end you will see how adopting an experimentation mindset helps you decide where to focus, build better products and create marketing that matters.

Links

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hnpvz
• Website: www.hannahparvaz.com
• Twitter: twitter.com/hannahparvaz
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/hnpvz
• Company website: www.aperture.london
• Company Instagram: www.instagram.com/aperture.london
• Company TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@aperturelondon
  

This episode is sponsored by Sampl. Sampl is a digital sampling platform for FMCG and beauty brands that turns product trial into measurable, accountable growth by connecting sampling to real consumer data and purchase behaviour.

Learn more at https://www.sampltech.com