In this episode of 'Winging It To The Top' with Laura & Laura we talk about some of the key lessons we've learnt so far running a startup from scratch, how we've had to pivot when things have gone wrong (basically on a weekly basis)!. We also talk about how we try to optimise different revenue streams and make small tweaks that'll make a huge difference. Running a startup is a constant learning curve, it's about adjusting and testing, making those little tweaks that finally start to hit and lead to more momentum.

It's so easy to get carried away in business, everyone is trying to become an overnight success nowadays and it's so easy to get sucked into false hope in the early days. For example, professionals that you work with telling you they can help you grow and scale your business, get you 6 x ROAS on your ads, can get you in the media and triple your revenue. We've been suckered in so many times and a lot of that has to do with running before you can walk, thinking that working with these people is the golden ticket to success when in actual fact it isn't; it's the accumulation of lots of things over a period of time that get you to the end goal, and for most companies that takes years!

We've learnt the hard way and are here to tell anyone who is starting out or growing their business, to not throw their money away, to take it slow (we know that's hard sometimes) and to test different things on a small budget to see what makes your audience tick.

We are back with Season 2 of 'Winging It To The Top' with Laura & Laura! We had a little break over Christmas to unwind & relax and we're now ready to take on 2023 with everything we've got. In this episode, we reflect on 2022 and how we're re-setting our mindset and productivity so that we can have a successful first quarter. Whilst there is a lot of worry about the state of the current economy, we know e-commerce is set to grow rapidly over the next 5 years, and we want to be part of that growth.

We talk about the tools and strategies we use to keep up momentum, ultimately to keep our head in the game (it's so easy to let self doubt and other negative thoughts creep in) - these tools include Laura M's magic stone - yep, we'll try just about anything to keep a positive mindset!

Sophie Baron, is one powerhouse of a woman! Mamamade was founded from her kitchen table and launched officially online in 2020; in just 2 years Sophie has employed a team, successfully raised over £385K in the company's last funding round, launched new products and has generated over £1.2m in annual recurring revenue. In this podcast we talk about Sophie's journey launching and building Mamamade, starting from just an Instagram page to becoming a real brand, adored by celebrities like Rochelle Humes & Lucy Mecklenburgh. We cover all the usual struggles when running a start up, employing a team, 'letting go' of tasks that as a founder your used to doing, raising money and of course juggling motherhood.

Sophie is so modest in what she's achieved so far, but the growth the brand has seen in the past 2 years is phenomenal and is credit to her commitment and dedication - if you want to hear from a female founder who is on the journey and absolutely smashing it, then this episode needs to be on your listen list!

This week we got to interview the truly incredible Joanna Jensen, Founder of children's skincare brand Childs Farm. We were having a bit of an off day on Wednesday but after speaking to Joanna about her journey creating and building Childs Farm we felt inspired & motivated to keep pushing on.

In this episode Joanna tells us all about her personal pain points which led her to creating the UK’s number one baby and child personal care brand. From developing a groundbreaking natural formula that cured her daughters’ sensitive and eczema prone skin, to creating beautiful packaging that was personal to Joanna and her family to then marketing & selling the hell out of it!

We get to hear about Joanna's early days selling the product at school fairs & trade shows to quickly launching into mainstream retailer Boots in 2014 - the journey definitely hasn't been an easy one, so many personal sacrifices were made to get to the top and you certainly get an insight into the passion and dedication it takes to get a business to that point, in Joanna's words 'you need the skin of a rhino.'

In March 2022, Jensen sold Childs Farm for £40m and although still a part of the brand, she's now a keen angel investor and can be seen supporting female founded businesses through her role on the Advisory Board of Buy Women Built (BWB); a recently formed Powerhouse uniting many female founders to drive awareness of their excellent brands in the UK to consumers and investors.

This episode with Joanna is for all of the women hustling and running small businesses - you've got this!

Detaching yourself from the business when you go home - so hard right? It's something we are seriously working on! Trying to walk away after a long day and focusing on family life instead of work is so difficult sometimes but is so vital for so many reasons.

There can be days in the business where we have a set schedule and tasks to complete and we can be completely de-railed by an email that pops up that takes priority over everything else we are focusing on; this usually is to do with protecting the brand in someway.

We've come to realise this is all part of the 'Winging It To The Top' journey, but seriously look forward to the day when we have a much wider team to take some of these things off of our hands!

In this episode of 'Winging It To The Top' with Laura & Laura we are joined by the truly inspirational Siobhan Freegard OBE, founder of Netmums.com & Channelmum.com

Back in 2o00, Siobhan had the idea of taking the quote 'it takes a village to raise a family' online, by creating a support platform for mums and mums-to-be.

From her kitchen table; and just when the internet had started arriving in people's homes, Siobhan launched Netmums.com. Fast forward to 2010 and Netmums had reached 1 million members and 5 million unique visitors each month, steadily becoming the biggest parenting website in the UK.

We sit down with Siobhan to discuss what it took to create such a phenomenal business; the highs and lows of the journey and how she juggled being a working mum.

In this episode you will see Siobhan's passion come through (something she talks about a lot) and the key ingredient that helped her on her journey to success.

What an exciting episode of 'Winging It To The Top' with Laura & Laura this was to record! We were joined this week by one of the most influential business women in the UK and honestly one of the nicest people we've ever met, the lovely Sarah Willingham. Sarah has provided us with so much support and advice since we started our business journey back in 2020 and has been a sounding board for us when we haven't known where to turn. In this episode we get to hear all about her journey to the top, from the early days at university, to working in pubs to eventually owning her own hospitality business & beyond....and YES we did ask her the question about Dragon's Den that you guys all wanted to know about!