Today we’re joined by Maxine Laceby, co-founder of premium liquid collagen brand Absolute Collagen. Having launched her business in May 2017 at the age of 49, following a period of 25 years as a full-time mum, Maxine scaled her brand from kitchen-table startup to a multi-million pound brand within two years.

Maxine has created one of the UK’s fastest-growing direct-to-consumer brands while managing both ADHD and dyslexia. Today she shares her advice for new entrepreneurs on building a business later in life and her insights into managing exponential growth within an e-commerce business. 

Maxine’s advice: 

• Remember to be your authentic self, don’t attempt to imitate others
• Be honest about what you don’t know
• Employ people who you think are morally good; though it sounds naive, those are the people you will want to surround yourself with on a daily basis and represent your company
• It takes a lot of courage when you've started a business to delegate and hand over the reins to somebody that you think is capable, but it is important to realise when someone else can do a certain job better than you can
• Your brand must represent you; don’t be false
• When you have complete faith in your product, then have the courage to showcase it
• Make the time to network with like-minded people
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions; do not leave a meeting until you understand everything or else that time would have been wasted
• Have fun with your business 

If you’d like to contact Maxine, you can reach out at [email protected]

Head over to Speakpipe to leave your voice note for future guests too.

FF&M enables you to own your own PR.

Edited by Milun Haggipavlou. Recorded & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2022 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.

FF&M recommends: 

• LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.
• Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
• Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
• Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.
• For contracts check out Law Depot.

MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod.  Link & Licence

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