What if the secret to scaling your business isn't working harder — but stepping out of your office and into a room that transforms your thinking?

In this episode of The Grown Up Business Podcast, Paul Avins sits down with Francis Rodnio to share the vision, strategy, and philosophy behind Scale UP Summit 2026 — a two-day event designed specifically for founders and CEOs who are ready to move from operator to Scale Up leader.

Paul unpacks why he created Scale UP Summit three years ago, what makes it fundamentally different from every other business event, and why the biggest mistake founders make right now is staying frozen in fear instead of getting educated, connected, and equipped. This isn't an event about marketing tactics or surface-level strategies. It's a structured journey through the exact skills, mindset shifts, and systems you need at every stage of growth — from building a lead machine to scaling with acquisitions, from hiring your first COO to becoming superhuman as a CEO.

Paul shares real stories from past attendees who scaled from £50,000 to £250,000 in a year, clients who've sold businesses for over £140 million, and why this year's lineup — featuring experts on AI-powered sales, M&A, team building, personal branding, and performance optimization — is built to help you transform, not just learn.

This episode is essential listening for any founder or CEO who wants to understand where they are on the scale-up journey, what skills they need to master next, and how to build a grown-up business that runs without them.

• Why Scale UP Summit was created — and what makes it different from every other business event

• The structured journey: how each speaker builds on the last to create a roadmap for sustainable growth

• Why mindset is the biggest constraint to scaling — and how to shift from operator to CEO thinking

• The skills you need at each stage: from lead generation to team building to acquisitions

• Why the event you have to battle to get to is the one that will change your life the most

• How AI is disrupting every business model — and why education is your only defense

• Real stories: how attendees have scaled from £60k to £250k and beyond in 12 months

• Why content, connections, and coaching make Scale-Up Summit a transformation, not just an event

Scale UP Summit is a two-day event for founders and CEOs scaling businesses from £500k to £10m+. Held on April 29–30, 2026, it brings together world-class speakers, expert coaches, and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs committed to building grown-up businesses that scale sustainably and create real enterprise value. Only 100 tickets are available — and over 40 have already been reserved for existing clients.

Join Scale-Up Summit 2026
Secure your ticket now at https://www.scaleupsummit.co.uk

Apply it now
Identify one skill you need to master at your current stage of growth — and commit to learning it in the next 90 days.

Scale with Paul
If this episode resonated, Paul's work focuses on helping founders step out of the day-to-day and scale with structure and confidence.

Book a call with Paul: https://www.paulavins.com/book-a-call

Subscribe to the Scale-Up Newsletter: https://www.paulavins.com/newsletter-opt-in

About Paul Avins
Paul Avins is a scale-up business coach and founder of the Grown-Up Business framework. He works with founders and CEOs to help them move from operator to scale-up leader — building businesses that grow sustainably, scale beyond the founder, and create real enterprise value. Paul's work focuses on disciplined leadership, high-performing teams, and systems that replace chaos with clarity.

Level Up. Team Up. Scale Up. Fire Up.

What if the secret to scaling your business isn't working harder — but optimising the one asset that drives everything: you?

In this episode of The Grown Up Business Podcast, Paul Avins is joined by Zed Mountford-Hill — UK registered pharmacist, founder of NutriZen Wellness Centre, and health optimisation expert who has spent 15 years in pharmacy before building a state-of-the-art wellness clinic from scratch.

Zed shares his remarkable journey from working in a warehouse with no qualifications to becoming a pharmacist, then breaking free from the limitations of traditional healthcare to create a business built around prevention, data-driven health optimisation, and helping high performers thrive. Together, Paul and Zed unpack how he scaled from treating clients in a garden shed to running a 1200-square-foot wellness centre on track to hit half a million in revenue — all while battling long COVID, raising seven children, and refusing to take on investment until he truly understood what he'd built.

This episode is essential listening for founders and CEOs who want to understand how to start lean, test demand, scale sustainably, and build a grown-up business that runs without them — while also protecting the health and energy that makes it all possible.

• How Zed went from zero qualifications to pharmacist to wellness entrepreneur

• Why he fell out of love with traditional pharmacy — and what he did about it

• The power of testing demand before quitting your job: how the shed became the launchpad

• How long COVID became the catalyst for NutriZen's core service offering

• Why glutathione and NAD+ are game-changers for energy, recovery, and performance

• The importance of starting with data: blood tests, genetics, and personalized health optimization

• Why Zed turned down multiple investment offers — and why that was the right call

• How to scale from working capital alone without debt or investors

• The three pillars of NutriZen's approach: Reset, Rebuild, Thrive

• Simple daily health hacks every entrepreneur should implement today

• Why prevention beats cure — and how to shift from reactive to proactive health

Zed Mountford-Hill is a UK registered pharmacist with over 15 years of experience and the founder of NutriZen Wellness Centre, a cutting-edge health optimization clinic in Milton Keynes. Zed specializes in helping professionals, entrepreneurs, athletes, and high performers improve their energy, immunity, and performance through evidence-based treatments including IV nutrient therapy, NAD+ infusions, advanced blood testing, genetic profiling, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and red light therapy. His mission is to shift the narrative on healthcare from reactive treatment to proactive optimization.

Apply it now
Start your day with 10–15 minutes of sunlight, hydrate with electrolytes, and delay your first coffee for at least 30 minutes after waking.

Optimize your health with NutriZen
Visit https://www.nutrizenwellness.co.uk to learn more about advanced blood testing, IV therapy, and personalised health optimisation.
Follow NutriZen on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nutrizen_wellness_centre?igsh=MWllOGdjNjNzYzExbQ==

Scale with Paul
If this episode resonated, Paul's work focuses on helping founders step out of the day-to-day and scale with structure and confidence.

Book a call with Paul: https://www.paulavins.com/book-a-call

Subscribe to the Scale-Up Newsletter: https://www.paulavins.com/newsletter-opt-in

About Paul Avins
Paul Avins is a scale-up business coach and founder of the Grown-Up Business framework. He works with founders and CEOs to help them move from operator to scale-up leader — building businesses that grow sustainably, scale beyond the founder, and create real enterprise value. Paul's work focuses on disciplined leadership, high-performing teams, and systems that replace chaos with clarity.

Level Up. Team Up. Scale Up. Fire Up.

What if the secret to scaling your business isn't working harder — but learning to collaborate with AI in ways most entrepreneurs haven't even considered?

In this episode of The Grown Up Business Podcast, Paul Avins is joined by Julie Holmes — inventor, tech founder, and AI expert who has spent over 25 years in enterprise technology.

Julie shares her journey from building cat traps as a kid to creating innovative products like the HeyMic (the first Bluetooth microphone for phone videos) and now helping entrepreneurs harness AI to scale faster, serve better, and lead smarter. Together, Paul and Julie unpack why most people are still just dabbling with AI, the difference between using AI and being empowered by it, and how founders can apply an AI-first mindset to build grown-up businesses that scale sustainably.

This episode is essential listening for founders and CEOs who want to stop outsourcing their thinking to technology and start using AI as the ultimate leverage tool.

• Why most people are using AI wrong — and how to shift from user to empowered professional

• The 20-60-20 framework: how to collaborate with AI without outsourcing your ingenuity

• Why vibe coding is revolutionizing how entrepreneurs build products and solve problems

• The difference between mechanical and meaningful — and when to lean into automation vs human connection

• How AI-first thinking changes customer journeys, sales cycles, and business operations

• Why GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the new SEO — and what you need to do now

• Why the most valuable skill isn't coding — it's problem solving, communication, and grit

Julie Holmes is an inventor, tech founder, and AI expert with over 25 years in enterprise technology. She is founder of Smarter HQ and the creator of the HeyMic, the first Bluetooth microphone designed for phone video, and author of 101 Tips, Tools and Prompts for Sales Pros and 101 Tips, Tools and Prompts for AI Leaders. Julie specializes in helping entrepreneurs and business leaders become AI-empowered — using technology to enhance performance, not replace it.

Apply it now
Identify one business process you're still doing manually and ask: how could AI enhance this — not replace it?
Connect with Julie Holmes — https://julieholmes.com

Scale with Paul
If this episode resonated, Paul's work focuses on helping founders step out of the day-to-day and scale with structure and confidence.

Book a call with Paul: https://www.paulavins.com/book-a-call

Subscribe to the Scale-Up Newsletter: https://www.paulavins.com/newsletter-opt-in

About Paul Avins
Paul Avins is a scale-up business coach and founder of the Grown-Up Business framework. He works with founders and CEOs to help them move from operator to scale-up leader — building businesses that grow sustainably, scale beyond the founder, and create real enterprise value. Paul's work focuses on disciplined leadership, high-performing teams, and systems that replace chaos with clarity.

Level Up. Team Up. Scale Up. Fire Up.

What if the secret to achieving your biggest business goals isn't working harder — but reprogramming how your brain processes success?

In this episode of The Grown Up Business Podcast, Paul Avins is joined by Brian Mayne — creator of Goal Mapping, a proven 7-step system used by Microsoft, Disney, Coca-Cola, and over a million people worldwide.

Brian shares his remarkable journey from losing everything at 29 — his business, his home, his marriage, and being over a million pounds in debt — to discovering the neuroscience-backed principles that transformed his life. From being unable to read or write until age 30, Brian rebuilt himself using personal development techniques and went on to create a global methodology that combines words and imagery to activate whole-brain goal setting.

Together, Paul and Brian unpack the seven universal success principles, why most people set goals the wrong way, how to overcome limiting beliefs around money and achievement, and why changing your identity is the only way to create lasting transformation. This conversation goes deep into the science of affirmations, visualization, subconscious programming, and how to break free from cultural conditioning that keeps entrepreneurs stuck.

This episode is essential listening for founders and CEOs who want to scale faster, think bigger, and finally achieve the goals they've been chasing for years.

• The 7 universal success principles that govern all achievement — and how to apply them

• Why most goal-setting methods fail — and the neuroscience behind what actually works

• How combining words (for the conscious mind) and imagery (for the subconscious) creates whole-brain activation

• Why affirmations must be personal, positive, and present tense to command the subconscious

• How to overcome limiting beliefs around money, success, and identity

• Why you can't out-perform your self-image — and how to reprogram it

• The 7-step Goal Mapping system: Dream, Order, Draw, Why, When, How, Who

• Why people support what they create — and how to get your team bought into the vision

• How to break out of negative spirals using physiology, not just mindset

Brian Mayne is the creator of Goal Mapping, a personal development system used by over a million people in 30 countries. His work has been adopted by Microsoft, Siemens, British Telecom, Disney, Coca-Cola, and schools worldwide. Brian is the author of four books including Goal Mapping, Life Mapping, Action Mapping, and Self Mapping. He has certified nearly 1,650 trainers globally and specializes in helping individuals and organizations achieve breakthrough results by aligning conscious intention with subconscious programming.

Apply it now
Identify one goal you've been struggling to achieve — and ask yourself: have I programmed my subconscious to support it, or sabotage it?

Learn Goal Mapping
Visit www.goalmapping.com to explore Brian's books, certification programs, and digital platform.

Scale with Paul
If this episode resonated, Paul's work focuses on helping founders step out of the day-to-day and scale with structure and confidence.

Book a call with Paul: https://www.paulavins.com/book-a-call

Subscribe to the Scale-Up Newsletter: https://www.paulavins.com/newsletter-opt-in

About Paul Avins
Paul Avins is a scale-up business coach and founder of the Grown-Up Business framework. He works with founders and CEOs to help them move from operator to scale-up leader — building businesses that grow sustainably, scale beyond the founder, and create real enterprise value. Paul's work focuses on disciplined leadership, high-performing teams, and systems that replace chaos with clarity.

Level Up. Team Up. Scale Up. Fire Up.

What if scaling from 1 to 154 people in just 12 months wasn’t about working harder — but building smarter systems?

In this episode of The Grown Up Business Podcast, Paul Avins is joined by Richard Woods — three-time bestselling author, serial entrepreneur, and creator of LinkedIn Breakfast.

Richard shares how he scaled a business from a one-person operation to a 154-strong team in just over a year by systemising execution, building offshore teams, and applying disciplined leadership over distraction. Together, Paul and Richard unpack what a grown-up business really looks like — and why most founders stay stuck firefighting instead of leading.

This episode is essential listening for founders and CEOs who want to scale fast without chaos, step out of operator mode, and lead with clarity.

• How Richard scaled from 1 to 154 people in 12 months using offshore teams

• Why discipline beats dopamine when it comes to growth and focus

• The danger of coaching without accountability — and what actually drives results

• How simple CEO dashboards and numbers create freedom

• Why most founders stay reactive — and how to start leading strategically

Richard Woods is a serial entrepreneur, investor, keynote speaker, and author of The Million Dollar Sprint. After building and selling three businesses and appearing on The Apprentice, Richard cracked the code to scalable growth by combining coaching, systems, and fully trained offshore teams. His strength lies in making complex growth simple — and repeatable.

SPECIAL SHOW OFFER - 1:1 with Richard Woods to look at how to effectively outsource the things you should not be doing yourself - Book a Call: https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/booking/LePXwEpmKlWpZpAS8ib6

Apply it now
Identify one area of your business you’re still doing yourself — and systemise or delegate it.

Scale with Paul
If this episode resonated, Paul’s work focuses on helping founders step out of the day-to-day and scale with structure and confidence.

Book a call with Paul: https://www.paulavins.com/book-a-call

Subscribe to the Scale-Up Newsletter: https://www.paulavins.com/newsletter-opt-in

About Paul Avins
Paul Avins is a scale-up business coach and founder of the Grown-Up Business framework. He works with founders and CEOs to help them move from operator to scale-up leader — building businesses that grow sustainably, scale beyond the founder, and create real enterprise value. Paul’s work focuses on disciplined leadership, high-performing teams, and systems that replace chaos with clarity.

Level Up. Team Up. Scale Up. Fire Up.

What if working less could actually help you scale faster?

In this episode of the Grown Up Business Podcast, Paul chats with Ben Coomber, founder of Awesome Supplements and high-performance coach, about how he went from complete burnout and long Covid to running a multi-million pound business while working just 25 hours a week.

Ben gets really honest about his journey from being a controlling, fear-driven CEO putting in 70-hour weeks to finally stepping back, hiring a proper COO, and figuring out that his best business ideas actually happen when he's nowhere near the office. They dig into why meditation isn't just wellness nonsense but actually a strategic business tool, how getting seriously ill with long Covid forced him to completely rethink leadership, and why freedom should be the whole point of building a business, not something you get after you've destroyed your health.

If you're an entrepreneur burning yourself out trying to control everything, or you're wondering how you can actually scale without sacrificing your health and family time, this conversation is going to challenge everything you think about success.

• Get "How to Live an Awesome Life" by Ben Coomber → Available on Amazon and all good bookstores

• How Ben went from fear-based leadership to running his business from a place of abundance and trust

• Why working 25 hours a week can actually be way more productive than 70 hours if you get it right

• When to exit a business before you lose passion and the value tanks

• How long Covid taught Ben that being healthy isn't just about the physical stuff

• Why meditation is really about paying attention to yourself and spotting where you need to do the work

• The five things every CEO should nail: sleep, nutrition, exercise, cutting out alcohol, and creating proper space

• How to stop being an operator and start thinking like an investor in your own business

• Why hiring a brilliant COO might be the smartest move you make for scaling

Ben Coomber is a high-performance coach, speaker, and founder of Awesome Supplements, which has won 21 awards and grown to multi-million pound revenues. After building nutrition coaching businesses and training teams of coaches, Ben launched Awesome Supplements focusing on products that actually taste good and work.

Ben wrote "How to Live an Awesome Life" and used to host The Awesome Human Podcast. His whole thing is helping entrepreneurs build successful businesses without wrecking their health, relationships, or sanity in the process. He's a dad of two and reckons businesses should give you the life you want, not eat up your entire existence.

• Try Awesome Supplements with CEO15 discount code — Awesome Supplements

• Connect with Ben Coomber — Ben Coomber | LinkedIn

• Follow Paul Avins — Paul Avins | LinkedIn

Action Now: Write down the 3 sleep habits from this episode you'll implement in the next 72 hours and test how they impact your performance.

Think Bigger: Ready to treat sleep like the business asset it is? Start tracking your sleep data and building your strategic wind-down routine tonight.

Scale Up: Get actionable tips from Paul in your inbox every Saturday, Subscribe to Scale Up Saturday Newsletter

Level Up: Book a Call with Paul and Get ready to level up your business and transform your life!

What if the secret to scaling your business isn't working more hours — but sleeping better ones?

In this episode of the Grown Up Business Podcast, business strategist Paul Avins sits down with Sammy Margo, chartered physiotherapist, bestselling author of "The Good Sleep Guide", and founder of SmartPhysio — a successful 27-person physiotherapy practice in London.

Discover how Sammy went from working 15-hour days as the first female physiotherapist in professional football to building a thriving healthcare business while mastering the science of sleep optimization. This conversation reveals why sleep isn't a luxury for entrepreneurs — it's a strategic advantage.

Together, Paul and Sammy unpack the 10 evidence-based sleep strategies that can transform your cognitive performance, decision-making ability, and business results. From sleep architecture and strategic wind-downs to bedroom optimization and caffeine timing, this episode provides practical tools for high-performing entrepreneurs who want to scale their businesses without sacrificing their health.

If you're a business owner struggling with fatigue, making poor decisions due to sleep deprivation, or wondering how to maintain peak performance while scaling, this episode is essential listening.

• How sleep quality directly impacts entrepreneurial performance and business decision-making

• The 10 strategic sleep optimization techniques every CEO should master for peak cognitive function

• Why tracking your "sleep architecture" with wearables can unlock better business performance

• How to create a strategic wind-down routine that transitions your brain from work mode to recovery

• Sleep cycle science: Why 4-6 complete 90-minute cycles are crucial for entrepreneurs

• The bedroom environment formula: Cool (16-18°C), dark, quiet, and clutter-free spaces for optimal rest

• Strategic caffeine and alcohol management to maximize sleep quality without sacrificing productivity

• How power napping strategies can boost afternoon performance for business leaders

• Why "lose the snooze" — and how the snooze button destroys sleep quality and morning productivity

Sammy Margo is a chartered physiotherapist, sleep optimization expert, and founder of SmartPhysio, one of London's premier physiotherapy practices with 27 team members. She pioneered her field as the first female physiotherapist to work in professional football at Barnet FC, and has worked with elite athletes across the world.

Sammy is the bestselling author of "The Good Sleep Guide" (featuring a foreword by celebrity chef Nigella Lawson), and regularly contributes sleep and wellness content to major UK publications including Daily Mail, Telegraph, and Observer. She has appeared on QVC, consulted for Dreams Beds, and speaks at high-level business events about the connection between sleep optimization and executive performance.

Her expertise combines sports physiotherapy, sleep science, and business scaling — making her uniquely positioned to help entrepreneurs optimize their health while building successful companies.

• Get "The Good Sleep Guide" by Sammy Margo — Available on Amazon and all good bookstores

• Progressive Muscle Relaxation video by Sammy — PMR (Progressive Muscle Relaxation)

• Learn more about SmartPhysio — smartphysio.co.uk

• Connect with Sammy Margo on LinkedIn — linkedin.com/in/sammymargo

• Follow Paul Avins for Scale Up insights — Paul Avins | LinkedIn

Action Now: Write down the 3 sleep habits from this episode you'll implement in the next 72 hours and test how they impact your performance.

Think Bigger: Ready to treat sleep like the business asset it is? Start tracking your sleep data and building your strategic wind-down routine tonight.

Scale Up: Get actionable tips from Paul in your inbox every Saturday, Subscribe to Scale Up Saturday Newsletter

Level Up: Book a Call with Paul and Get ready to level up your business and transform your life!

What if the secret to scaling your business isn't working harder — but hiring smarter?

In this episode of the Grown Up Business Podcast, Paul Avins sits down with Graham Brown — former military medic turned recruitment expert with over 24 years of experience, author of the upcoming book Too Many Hats, and one of Team Purple's specialist coaches in team dynamics and executive search.

Graham shares his remarkable journey from serving in the Gulf War as a trumpet-playing medic to building a 39-office recruitment franchise, surviving a painful business collapse, and emerging as one of the UK's leading experts in helping CEOs find their perfect second-in-command.

Together, Paul and Graham unpack the brutal truth about why most CEOs fail at hiring, the three pillars of successful recruitment that most founders ignore, and why 50% employee engagement is costing your business hundreds of thousands in lost productivity. They dive deep into the seven types of COO, the difference between competency-based and traditional interviewing, and why understanding energy profiles is the unlock to building high-performing teams that scale.

If you're a CEO drowning in operational work, struggling to find the right leadership team, or wondering how to hire someone who can actually take weight off your shoulders instead of adding to it, this conversation is essential listening.

Graham Brown is a former military musician and medic who served in the Gulf War before transitioning into recruitment over 24 years ago. He founded the first ex-military recruitment agency in the UK in 2001 and has since helped over 10,000 service men and women transition into civilian careers.

Graham built and scaled a recruitment franchise to 39 offices before navigating a painful business restructure that taught him invaluable lessons about resilience, team dynamics, and the importance of hiring right. He's now a specialist executive search consultant focusing on helping scale-up CEOs find their perfect COO or second-in-command.

As one of Team Purple's expert coaches, Graham specializes in team dynamics, profiling, and leadership development. He's the author of the upcoming book Too Many Hats, which unpacks everything he's learned about helping CEOs escape operational overwhelm by building the right leadership team around them.

Action Now: Write down the 3 actions from this episode you'll apply in your business over the next 72 hours.

Think Bigger: Ready to stop wearing too many hats and build the leadership team that sets you free? Download Graham's free hiring guides at teamdynamics.com

Scale Up: Get actionable tips from Paul in your inbox every Saturday, Subscribe to Scale Up Saturday Newsletter

Level Up: Book a Call with Paul and Get ready to level up your business and transform your life!

Think you're ready to sell your business? Think again.

Selling your business is one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make — second only to marriage and kids. But how do you know when you’re actually ready to sell?

In this episode of the Grown Up Business Podcast, Paul Avins speaks with Ken Gorman, Regional Director at Transworld M&A and author of three books on selling businesses, to uncover the reality behind preparing your company for a successful exit.

Together, they break down the myths, including why most business owners aren’t ready to sell, how accountants can unknowingly sabotage deals, and why 75% of businesses that go to market never sell at all. Ken shares his personal story from California to London and his 8+ years in sell-side M&A, with over 60 closed deals under his belt.

If you’re a CEO or founder thinking about exit planning or simply wanting to build a grown-up business worth buying, this episode is a must-listen.

• The “Switch in the Heart”: You’re ready to sell when the emotional shift happens — the moment you know it’s time to do something else in life.

• Profit is the #1 Value Driver: Buyers don’t buy passion, they buy predictable profits — and your job is to maximise and prove them.

• Get yourself out of the business: If the company can’t function without you, it isn’t ready to sell (or worth as much as you think).

• The truth about deferred deals & earnouts: Why the “wedding cake” model of deal structures (cash, deferred payments, earn-outs, rolled equity) matters, and how to protect yourself as a seller.

• Accountants can derail deals: Not through incompetence — but because they often lack deal experience, especially around working capital negotiations.

• 75% of sales fail: Selling is as much about EQ as IQ — success depends on managing people, egos, and expectations at every stage.

• Not all buyers are equal: You don’t want just a buyer, you need the right new owner who can fill the leadership void you leave behind.

Ken Gorman is a seasoned M&A Advisor, Certified Business Valuer, and Regional Director at Transworld M&A, one of the world’s largest global dealmaking firms. With over three decades in business across the US, UK, and Europe, Ken has personally been involved in 100+ project teams and 60+ closed transactions.

He specialises in helping owner-operators prepare their businesses for sale, find the right new owners, and secure life-changing exit deals — all while keeping heart and human dynamics central to the process.

• Grab Ken’s book “Selling Your Business” — Selling Your Business

• Connect with Ken Gorman on LinkedIn — linkedin.com

• Learn more about Transworld M&A — Transworld

• Follow Paul Avins for Scale Up insights on LinkedIn — Paul Avins | LinkedIn

• Transform your business at the Grown Up Business Retreat — The Grown Up Business Retreat 2025

Action Now: Write down the 3 actions from this episode you’ll apply in your business over the next 72 hours.

Think bigger: Thinking about selling in 2–3 years? Start now. Building enterprise value takes time — get your free resources at Paul Avins

Scale Up: Get actionable tips from Paul in your inbox every Saturday, Subscribe to Scale Up Saturday Newsletter

Level Up: Book a Call with Paul and Get ready to level up your business and transform your life!

From family start-up to global brand: the Wolf Eyewear growth story.

Paul Avins sits down with CEO Tom Wolfenden to unpack the exact moves behind building a world-class sales team, scaling across borders, and keeping values intact while chasing exponential growth.

Discover how Wolf Eyewear scaled from a family business into a global brand with 2,000+ retailers. CEO Tom Wolfenden shares lessons on sales teams, culture, and scale-up strategy with Paul Avins.

What does it take to transform a family-run brand into a global scale-up with thousands of retail partners—while never losing sight of your values or community?

In this episode of the Grown Up Business Podcast, Paul Avins sits down with Tom Wolfenden, CEO of Wolf Eyewear Group, to unpack how he took over the family business and steered it towards ambitious growth, culture, and global expansion.

If you’re a CEO ready to quadruple your business, build a world-class sales team, and expand across markets without losing culture, this is your playbook.

• Mindset matters: The bold shift from hustler to scale-up CEO.

• Sales engine = growth engine: Why building and leading a 17-person sales team unlocked Wolf Eyewear’s growth.

• Resilience in crisis: How they survived Covid by loaning over £500k of stock to support customers — building loyalty money can’t buy.

• Leadership at scale: How to deal with underperforming team members while protecting business culture.

• Investment in yourself = investment in the business: Why Tom doubled down on coaching and retreats to accelerate Wolf Eyewear’s expansion.

This isn’t just a story of scaling eyewear. It’s a blueprint for any ambitious CEO who wants to build a grown-up business that wins globally

Tom Wolfenden is the CEO of Wolf Eyewear Group, a UK-based independent eyewear company stocked in over 2,000+ retailers and expanding internationally. Known for bold design and strong community values, Wolf Eyewear is a flagship example of how a family business can scale into a global brand—without losing its heart.

• Connect with Tom Wolfenden on LinkedIn – Tom Wolfenden | LinkedIn

• Explore the Wolf Eyewear Group brand – UK Eyewear Brand | Wolf Eyewear for Independent Opticians

• Follow Paul Avins for scale-up insights on LinkedIn – Paul Avins | LinkedIn

• Transform your business at the Grown Up Business Retreat – The Grown Up Business Retreat 2025

Action now: Write down the 3 actions from this episode you’ll apply in your business over the next 72 hours.

Think bigger: Ready to build your own “grown up” business that scales globally? Explore free resources at ScaleUpCoaching.com.

Scale Up: Get actionable tips from Paul in your inbox every Saturday, Subscribe to Scale Up Saturday Newsletter

Level Up: Book a Call with Paul and Get ready to level up your business and transform your life!