Before launching mash of brands®, I spent 25 years as a marketer, publicist, and entrepreneur. While at university in Edinburgh, I launched my first successful business, supplying bands to venues*. After receiving a degree in marketing, I studied at Le Cordon Bleu. My first job upon leaving Cordon Bleu was as the personal chef to the Dutch Ambassador. Later, I became a publicist, working at the Brunswick Group in London and the Portsmouth Group in Dubai before becoming Head of Media and Communications in an in-house role.

By my late 20s, I felt lost and lacking purpose. I no longer wanted to sell out and spend my life climbing the corporate ladder. One day I said fuck it, walked out of my safe job and began to pursue the dumb idea of importing the world’s finest teas.

I launched my first tea brand after sourcing thirteen loose-leaf teas from small farms in China and Taiwan. Despite critical acclaim, sales were slow. With limited funds, I spent a year validating various concept brands. My second tea brand became an “overnight success,” inspiring a global product category and hundreds of copycat brands.

Within a few years, I had grown a small business selling tea on eBay into multiple globally successful brands. I would go on to sell this business to a private equity investor.

After selling my company, I took some time off. Eventually, bored and once again lacking purpose, I started experimenting with Ai and providing startup advice on Reddit. This grew into mash of brands®. What began as a series of dumb ideas turned experiments is now a full-blown Ai accelerated startup studio. In January 2025, mash of brands® secured its first exit - proof that some dumb ideas aren’t so dumb after all, mum.

Jamie Ewan Henderson
Founder of mash of brands® | The Ai Accelerated Startup Studio™

*Run from a £20 a month mailbox, this remains one of my best dumb ideas ever.