EP22: Carol Lovell, Adventurer and Founder of Stow London, the luxury handbag and accessories brand.

This week Jo speaks with Abbie Bennington, a wine journalist, broadcaster, educator, and founder of Vintage People, about three ways to turn one area of expertise into multiple income streams. Abbie’s first advice is to hone in on what you’re genuinely good at and enjoy, sharing how she left BBC television news, retrained at Leiths, and discovered she excelled in wine exams. Second, she stresses building credibility over time through formal qualifications, including completing the WSET Diplom...

Jo Glynn-Smith interviews Katherine Swift, founder of OMG Tea, an early importer of premium Japanese matcha to the UK. Katherine’s entrepreneurial drive began in Manchester watching her mother run a seamstress business, later working in events and at Breast Cancer Now on a multimillion-pound appeal, where she met Professor Michael Lisanti and discovered matcha’s potential. She launched OMG Tea from her Brighton kitchen table in 2014 and it has since become a leading UK premium matcha brand, c...

Jo interviews Olivia Falcon, beauty journalist and founder of The Editors’ List, a UK cosmetic concierge service that advises clients on trusted surgeons, doctors, and wellness practitioners. Olivia shares three ways to build a talked-about business: create experiences rather than transactions (including an annual London event offering mini treatments and face-to-face expert consults, grown from small garden gatherings over 10 years); don’t try to appeal to everyone, develop a clear point of ...

This week Jo Glynn-Smith interviews Marielle Wyse, founder of Wyse London, launched in 2014 from five cashmere jumpers after a TV production career and a separation at 49 prompted her to rethink finances. With no formal training and a small loan from her father, she took her designs to a factory, sold £15,000 of stock at a June trade fair, repeated it in November, and saw sales grow from 15 to 75, later building a business now with six UK stores, 170,000 Instagram followers, and over £18 mill...

This week Jo sits down with Claire Burrows, founder of London footwear brand Air & Grace, to discuss building a business in midlife by solving the style-versus-comfort problem. Claire shares how redundancy pushed her to launch in 2014 after 20+ years in buying, design, and product development, funding early work with her life savings, renting out her home, and borrowing money. She explains developing the patented Tender Loving Air technology with technologist Kevin Ban, including setbacks...