Show Notes
She’s been asking the questions for ten episodes. This time, she’s answering them. In a special episode of Behind the Growth, producer Abbie Worth turns the tables on host Laura Donadio, founder of The Growth Collective, influencer marketing veteran with 15 years in the industry, and the woman who once had her hands down Dua Lipa’s corset trying to unzip it from the inside.
Laura talks about surfing the wave from celebrity endorsement in the Tumblr era to managing Gigi Hadid, Zendaya and Lewis Hamilton at Tommy Hilfiger before leaving luxury fashion to move to rainy Manchester on a gut feeling. She opens up about the moment she realised she’d hit a ceiling in corporate, how she quietly tested freelancing on the side before quitting, and why she spent well into six figures building TGC in year one with no regrets. She also gets into why she hates being in front of the camera despite building a social-first business, what ADHD actually looks like when you’re running two companies, and why she turned down a month in the Maldives to bet on herself instead. In this episode:
* The Tumblr era, Victoria’s Secret models and the early days of influencer marketing * Managing Zendaya pre-Euphoria on a seven figure contract at Tommy Hilfiger * Leaving luxury fashion for Manchester — and why a gut feeling was enough * Quitting a dream role after ten months to go freelance — how she did it safely * The Apple workshop that made her realise consulting was actually it * Why she hates content but built a social-first business anyway * ADHD and founding — what it really looks like day to day * Spending well into six figures in year one and why she’d do it again * The Growth Retreat in Crete and why it’s the thing she’s most proud of * Portugal May 2027 what’s coming next for TGC * Kim Kardashian, Kanye and Dua Lipa the celebrity stories nobody asked for but everyone needs
Follow Laura Donadio: Instagram: @lauradndio LinkedIn: Laura Donadio
Join The Growth Collective: The community for ambitious marketeers - thegrowthcollective.app Follow Behind the Growth: Instagram: @behindthegrowthpod
More from Behind The Growth
Meet Adam, the humble multimillionaire. He started his first business at 18, got his first job because his mum worked at the employment agency and kept his application on file, and has been building global brands ever since, without a single day of formal training.
He started his first business at 12 a clothing brand called Coldest Clothing, selling hats at a market in Iceland. One ended up on Justin Bieber. That's when he realised social media had legs.In Episode 10 of Behind the Growth, host Laura Donadio sits down with Joel Mallinson creator, social media strategist, founder of Coldest Creative, and the man known online as the Weatherman of Marketing. Joel forecasts trends before they happen, advises brands and creators on what's coming next, and has built a business on the back of a cold email he sent to Amelia Dimoldenberg during his A-levels.Joel is sharp, self-aware and refreshingly honest about the gap between the personal brand and the business behind it. He talks about saying yes to everything early on, the invisible cost of distractions, and why content has always been a vehicle for him never the destination.He also gets into why most founders are creating content for other founders instead of their actual customers, why he thinks there's an unspoken shelf life to influencers, and why building something that outlives the algorithm is the only goal worth having.In this episode:* Selling hats at 12 and getting Justin Bieber to wear one the origin story* Cold emailing Amelia Dimoldenberg during his A-levels and what happened next* "Opportunities start looking like distractions" the invisible ceiling every founder hits* Is it going to make you rich, happy or famous? The framework he uses for every decision* Personal brand vs business when your face becomes the ceiling* Why founders are making a massive mistake creating content for other founders* The unspoken shelf life of creators and what happens to the other 50%* US expansion, a book and what comes next for Coldest Creative* "I didn't set out to be an influencer forever" on building beyond the platformsFollow Joel Mallinson:Instagram: @coldestjoelTikTok: @coldestcreativeJoin The Growth Collective: The community for ambitious marketeers thegrowthcollective.appFollow Behind the Growth: Instagram: @behindthegrowthpod
She was 26, struck down with a chronic illness, passed between ten GPs with no answers, and told by Western medicine there was nothing they could do.
He started as a professional poker player. Then built a bootstrapped software company in the northeast of England. Then raised £8M before a single product existed and built Skin + Me into a business with over a million customers and well over £60M in revenue.
She spent 15 years building other people's brands. Then she quit a six-figure job, saved £60k, and launched a supplement brand about poo with her best friend of 20 years.