The Quietly Disruptive Business

What happens when a former army officer stationed in Somalia looks at his freeze-dried military rations and thinks, this technology could solve a problem that every parent in the country is dealing with?

That one thought, had thousands of miles from home, turned into More Toddler Meals, a freeze-dried meal company for young children that Ed has spent four years building from a kitchen that doubled as a sauna, with no food industry experience, no blueprint to follow, and a healthy dose of figuring it out as he goes.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• How Ed went from 100 YouTube videos in Somalia to a real product on real shelves, and what that journey actually looked like behind the scenes
• Why having no industry experience turned out to be the thing that let him see what everyone else had missed
• His refreshingly honest answer to the question every early-stage founder is asking themselves
• The moment he connects the small things in his military training to the small things in building a business, and why that matters more than any strategy
• And where he sees More Toddler Meals in ten years, which is bigger and more purposeful than you might expect

The big takeaway? Sometimes the founder who figures it out as they go, stays true to their values, and refuses to take shortcuts is the one who ends up building something that genuinely changes things, even when most days it doesn't feel like it yet.

Discover More Toddler Meals:
Website: https://www.moretoddlermeals.co.uk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/more.toddlermeals

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

What do you do when you find an assumption sandwiched between two truths that both feel real? That's what today's episode is about, as finding the assumption that's been hiding in plain sight is one thing. Knowing what to do with it is another.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• The question I ask founders when they're stuck, and why the answer is almost always the same
• Why assumptions don't feel like assumptions. That's what makes them so hard to spot
• Where to find evidence that the assumption is wrong, and why it's easier than you think once you start looking
• And why sometimes the fastest way to see an assumption is to ask someone on the outside to give you a hand.

The big takeaway? Figuring out whether the assumption is true or not can be game-changing, as often it's the thing that is keeping you stuck. 

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

What do you do when you have two things at odds with each other? That to have one, you have to sacrifice the other? For example, you want to get clients, but don’t want to sell. You want to raise your prices, but don’t want to be rejected.
 
This is the pattern I call, two truths and a lie. It’s where you hold two things that feel true, but they almost cancel each other out, and so you get stuck in the middle, not fully committing to either, just spinning.

The thing that’s driving this pattern is the unquestioned assumption. That belief, story, or plain ol’ assumption that there is only one way, and that there is no other choice.
 
 Today’s episode is the lightbulb where you’ll hear:

• Why the pattern I see in founders always has the same shape 
• How to spot the assumption hiding between your two truths, the one that's been masquerading as a fact for so long you stopped questioning it
• And the question to sit with that might change how you see everything you've been stuck on

The big takeaway? You're holding two truths and a lie. And when you find the lie, the tension doesn't ask you to choose anymore but instead shows you that you had all the options, all along.

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.
 
 ###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

When was the last time you had a thought that was entirely your own, one that wasn't shaped by something you'd just read, listened to, or scrolled past?

That's what today's episode is about. I share 4 simple options to help you create the space for your own thinking to rise to the surface, and not one of them involves meditation or anything that ties you up in knots.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• 4 options you can try this week, each one designed to create a gap where your own answers can arrive
• Why the first hour of trying any of them feels uncomfortable, and what happens when you push through it
• A distinction between two things that sound the same but aren't, and knowing the difference before you start your day changes everything
• And the 10-minute practice most founders never do that might be the most valuable option on this list

The big takeaway? The answer is already in you. Your job is just to create the conditions for it to arrive.

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

September arrived like a tsunami. The inbox filled up, the to-do list doubled, and suddenly it feels like everyone has a plan except you.

When everything gets loud, the instinct is to consume more and reach outward for someone else's certainty as it feels safer than sitting with your own uncertainty. 

But what if that instinct is the exact opposite of what you actually need right now?

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why consuming more advice, strategies, and frameworks when you're overwhelmed often creates more questions rather than answers
• The hard lesson I learned when I outsourced my thinking to AI and nearly lost my own spark entirely
• The line between gathering information to inform a decision and gathering information to avoid making one, and why it's much thinner than you think
• And a question to ponder that sounds almost too simple but might be the most important one you ask yourself this week

The big takeaway? You already have the answer you need. It's within you. 

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

If you've been showing up, doing the work, having the conversations, and it still feels like nothing is moving, this episode might change what you're looking at.

The problem when you're in the marvellous middle isn't the work but how to know whether it's working. Most founders are tracking the wrong things, and it's making the silence feel worse than it needs to.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• The context that changes everything about how you measure progress, and why it has nothing to do with platforms or content and everything to do with people
• Three practical shifts that will help you see the progress that's actually there, even when it feels invisible
• Why more conversations will always move you forward faster than more content, especially if you're newer in business
• The simple way to tell whether you're in the marvellous middle or whether something genuinely needs to change
• And a line about the speed of trust that I think will stay with you

The big takeaway? If you've been measuring likes, reach, and followers and wondering why it feels like nothing is happening, you've been looking in the wrong place. The progress is in the people.

Until next time, stay Quietly Disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

There's a part of building a business that nobody wants to talk about. Not the starting, that gets all the limelight, but the middle bit, the part where you've done the work, been consistent, and it feels like nothing is happening.

Most founders call it the messy middle. I call it the marvellous middle, and I think understanding why might change how you experience everything that comes after.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why the silence in the middle feels like failure but is actually evidence of something else entirely
• A story from my own business about a founder who disappeared for seven months and then came back, and what that taught me about invisible progress
• The seed metaphor that sounds like a cliché until you hear what it actually means for your business right now
• And the question to sit with before you plan anything for autumn, because I think the answer will surprise you

The big takeaway? The things you've planted this year haven't disappeared but instead they're growing underneath the surface, putting down roots, building something you can't see yet. That's progress, even when it doesn't feel like it.

Until next time, stay Quietly Disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

Knowing the small things matter is one thing. Knowing where to actually find them, and use them, in your business is another. That's what today's episode is all about.

I walk you through 5 specific places to look and use the small things to help create a business that creates a feeling and experience, not just looks great. 

In this episode, you'll hear:

• The five touchpoints where the small things live in your business, with examples for each one
• A test you can run on your entire business this week that will show you exactly where the small things are missing
• The one question that unlocks the touchpoint that can never be taught, copied, or replicated
• And why the founders people talk about and refer without being asked are always the ones who got the small things right

The big takeaway? If you removed your name and your logo from every touchpoint in your business, would someone still know it was you? If not, that's where the opportunity is.

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

Before diving into the big autumn plans and the Q4 energy that September always brings, I want to start somewhere smaller. I think the things that actually make the biggest difference in your business are rarely the big visible things, but instead are the small, almost invisible ones that nobody asked you to do but that people absolutely feel when they are there.

Those tiny moments are where trust starts to form, and then leads to everything else.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why the small things reveal who you actually are in a way that can never be faked, and why that's exactly what makes them the disruption
• The examples from my own business that show what this looks like in practice, from how I use LinkedIn to why my weekly letter isn't called a newsletter
• Why adding more to your plate is not the point, and the difference between borrowing someone else's details and finding your own
• And the question to sit with before you plan anything big this autumn

The big takeaway? Almost nobody bothers with the small things. That's exactly why they matter more than anything else.

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

What happens when a skiing accident, a drawing of a wildebeest, and a pair of floppy antlers all collide? You get one of the most joyful, proudly absurd businesses I've ever had on this podcast.

Maddy and Iain are the husband-and-wife team behind Bewilderbeest, a greeting card and gift brand stocked in National Trust, Waterstones, and Fortnum & Mason. Built from a kitchen table with no industry experience or business plan, it's a business with a tagline that gives them full licence to be themselves in every email, every trade show, and every interaction they have.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• How a skiing accident led to a drawing, that led to a gallery, that led to a business neither of them ever planned to build
• Why being "unprofessional" turned out to be more professional than professional, and the miniature earthquake detection kits and tiny spades that prove it
• The moment Iain spotted one of his cards framed on a stranger's kitchen wall while doing his day job as a loss adjuster
• What it's actually like running a business as a married couple, and why the answer isn't what most people expect
• And the one piece of advice they'd give any founder that has nothing to do with strategy and everything to do with stopping

The big takeaway? If you're brave enough to build your business around who you actually are rather than who you think you should be, the right people don't just find you, they come looking for you — and sometimes they stop at your trade show stand because they feel sorry for your droopy antlers, and that's how you end up stocked in National Trust.

Be inspired to be proudly absurd and follow Bewilderbeest's journey:

Website: https://www.bewilderbeest.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bewilderbeestart
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bewilderbeest/
Maddy's Substack: https://thoughtsbymaddyhamilton.substack.com/

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com