Virgin StartUp Changemakers brings you live conversations with the founders, entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping the future of business.
Recorded in front of a live audience at Virgin StartUp's Changemakers events, each episode explores the real stories behind building a business: the bold decisions, defining moments, setbacks, breakthroughs and lessons that rarely make the headlines.
From startup founders to industry leaders, these conversations cover entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation, purpose, growth and the challenges of building businesses that create lasting impact.
Expect honest stories, practical insights and unfiltered conversations from people changing industries and challenging convention.
If you're building a business, leading a team or simply looking for inspiration from founders who've been there, this is your front-row seat.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
Challenge the System, Not Just the Market: GoHenry
In this live episode of Virgin StartUp Changemakers, Natalie Pearce sits down with GoHenry co-founder Louise Hill to explore what it takes to build a business that doesn't just solve a customer problem, but sets out to change the system around it.
After seeing her own children struggle to understand the value of money in an increasingly digital world, Louise helped create GoHenry to give young people a practical way to learn by doing. She shares how questioning accepted industry rules helped the team enter financial services without a traditional banking background, why founders need to know when to push through scepticism and how GoHenry expanded its mission beyond its paying customers by campaigning for financial education in schools.
Whether you're challenging an established industry, building a purpose-led business or trying to turn a deeply held mission into meaningful change, this episode offers practical founder lessons on persistence, leadership, culture and having the confidence to ask why things can't be done differently.
In this episode:
Spotting a business opportunity through a problem Louise experienced as a parent
Validating whether a personal frustration represents a wider customer need
Entering financial services without a traditional banking background
Why founders should ask to see the rule when they're told something can't be done
How permission to fail can build entrepreneurial confidence
Turning "making every kid smart with money" into a mission beyond GoHenry's paying customers
Convincing the board that commercial growth and campaigning for change could coexist
GoHenry's role in campaigning for financial education in schools
Building a company culture around family, flexibility and transparency
Why founders shouldn't apologise for asking for help, introductions or investment
Knowing when to listen to criticism and when to trust your conviction
What the original Pocket Money brand taught the team about naming a business
How GoHenry got its name from its first child customer
Changemakers is brought to you by Virgin StartUp, the not-for-profit organisation helping founders start and scale the businesses they're passionate about.
Recorded live at Virgin StartUp's Changemakers events, every episode features honest conversations with entrepreneurs, founders and business leaders sharing the lessons, challenges and ideas shaping the future of business.
Looking to start or grow your own business?
Find out more at virginstartup.org (virginstartup.org)
Brought to you in partnership with our friends at Virgin Money (https://uk.virginmoney.com/business/current-accounts/m-account-for-business/?utm_source=virginstartup&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=businesscurrentaccounts) - the home of brighter business banking.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
19 May 2026
Make the Unfamiliar Matter: UNROOTED
In this live episode of Virgin StartUp Changemakers, Natalie Pearce sits down with UNROOTED founder Nathan Clemes to explore how you build demand for a product when most of your customers have never heard of its hero ingredient.
From leaving a career in finance to building a functional drinks brand around baobab, Nathan shares how UNROOTED turned an unfamiliar African fruit into a proposition customers and retailers could understand. He explores finding what makes your product genuinely distinctive, educating without overwhelming people, starting with smaller stockists before approaching major retailers and why even the most compelling founder story sometimes needs to be distilled into just a few words.
Whether you're introducing a new product, creating a category or trying to convince customers to care about something unfamiliar, this episode offers practical founder lessons on positioning, customer education, retail growth and turning a complex story into a clear proposition.
In this episode:
Knowing when you're ready to leave your career and back a startup idea
Finding the opportunity between growing consumer trends
Why UNROOTED chose baobab as its hero ingredient
Identifying what makes your product genuinely different
Educating customers about an ingredient they've never encountered before
Finding the right hook when your product has dozens of potential benefits
Why smaller retailers can be the best place to test and learn
Building evidence of customer demand before approaching major stockists
Launching a consumer brand just as Covid disrupted the original plan
Adapting from a retail-first launch to ecommerce and Amazon
Growing from early stockists into Sainsbury's and airline partnerships
Building positive impact into the baobab supply chain
Why founders need to turn a big story into one message customers can remember
Changemakers is brought to you by Virgin StartUp, the not-for-profit organisation helping founders start and scale the businesses they're passionate about.
Recorded live at Virgin StartUp's Changemakers events, every episode features honest conversations with entrepreneurs, founders and business leaders sharing the lessons, challenges and ideas shaping the future of business.
Looking to start or grow your own business?
Find out more at virginstartup.org (virginstartup.org)
Brought to you in partnership with our friends at Virgin Money (https://uk.virginmoney.com/business/current-accounts/m-account-for-business/?utm_source=virginstartup&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=businesscurrentaccounts) - the home of brighter business banking.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
14 Apr 2026
Go Small Before You Go Big: COAT Paints
In this live episode of Virgin StartUp Changemakers, Natalie Pearce sits down with COAT Paints co-founder Rob Abrahams to explore how a startup can take on an established industry without trying to compete with everyone in it.
From spotting a frustrating customer experience in a market dominated by longstanding brands to building a made-to-order paint business around a clearly defined audience, Rob shares why narrowing your focus can give challengers an advantage. He explores finding the right co-founder, listening closely to customers, raising venture capital, scaling sustainably and why building a bigger business can sometimes be harder than starting one.
Whether you're entering a crowded market, building a challenger brand or deciding how ambitious you want your startup to become, this episode offers practical founder lessons on differentiation, customer insight, funding, sustainability and staying focused as you scale.
In this episode:
Finding the right idea after exploring plenty of wrong ones
Why founder-market fit helped Rob and his co-founder choose COAT
Combining complementary skills when choosing a co-founder
Taking on established competitors without trying to win the entire market
Why narrowing your audience can make a challenger brand stronger
Starting with founder instinct, then evolving through customer feedback
Why COAT doesn't think of itself as simply selling paint
Choosing between building a profitable independent business and pursuing venture-backed growth
What changed after taking institutional investment
Why becoming profitable was a major milestone after raising capital
Building a made-to-order model around reducing waste
Protecting sustainability commitments when cheaper alternatives emerge
Why Rob believes scaling can be harder than starting
The founder mental health conversations that startup culture needs to have more often
Changemakers is brought to you by Virgin StartUp, the not-for-profit organisation helping founders start and scale the businesses they're passionate about.
Recorded live at Virgin StartUp's Changemakers events, every episode features honest conversations with entrepreneurs, founders and business leaders sharing the lessons, challenges and ideas shaping the future of business.
Looking to start or grow your own business?
Find out more at virginstartup.org (virginstartup.org)
Brought to you in partnership with our friends at Virgin Money (https://uk.virginmoney.com/business/current-accounts/m-account-for-business/?utm_source=virginstartup&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=businesscurrentaccounts) - the home of brighter business banking.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
Inside a recent episode
Exclusive: Simon Sinek
Published 20 Aug 2024 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Nobody looks to them for anything. And even if they say the right thing, we know it's largely bullshit. Polls. The trust in business leaders and corporate leaders is at an all-time high. And the fact that the general population is looking to our business leaders for vision and inspiration more than our social leaders or our political leaders means that you have an opportunity now. You have a credibility to speak in hard words what you believe because people are desperate for it and they're turning to you because they've abandoned the places they used to get it. Religious leaders, social leaders, and political leaders. […]
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