Nicola Elliott has told how a ‘magic’ tincture created for aching footballers inspired her to launch wellbeing brand Neom Organics.
‘My husband is a sports teacher and I used to blend oils for him when he came back from playing football,’ says Elliott in the third of Piper’s ‘7, 17, 70’ podcast interviews with leading entrepreneurs. ‘I developed this little tincture and he said “Oh my God, this stuff’s magic – my legs feel totally new.” I remember creating 31 of these little bottles that he took off to the boys at football. We still sell it now’
Elliott, co-founder with Oliver Mennell of Neom Organics, is the third subject in Piper’s ‘7, 17, 70’ series of podcast interviews. Piper, the leading investor in consumer brands, has been helping to build and support brands for more than 30 years. ‘7, 17, 70’ refers to the three critical stages it believes businesses will encounter where a step change is required to fuel sustainable growth. Piper invested growth capital in Neom Organics in December 2017.
In an interview with broadcaster Mary Nightingale, Elliott describes the ‘lightbulb year’ that led to Neom’s conception – from turning down a lucrative magazine editorship to launching a wellbeing brand from a broom cupboard. She tells how she and childhood friend Mennell scraped together proceeds from a second-hand car sale and a TV game show prize to produce Neom’s first range of natural candles which were stocked in her spare bedroom. ‘We had four fragrances – and the roadside smelled amazing.’
In other highlights, Elliott describes how Kylie Minogue helped raise brand awareness, reveals the worst advice she received and explains the importance of entrepreneurs following their instincts. Says Elliott: ‘You can sit around and theorise all day long but ultimately no one has the blueprint for your brand in your category in your market in your territory.’
The podcast series follows on from two successful books that Piper has published in recent years containing lessons from some of the UK’s best known entrepreneurs. Listen on all majoy podcast providers.
