Before launching mash of brands®, I spent 25 years working 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 at an in-house role.

By my late-20s, I realised I didn't want to 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 artisan teas.

Starting with a budget of £1,000, I bought 13kg of loose-leaf tea and launched my first tea brand on eBay. While critically well-received, sales were slow. With limited money coming in, I spent the next year bootstrapping strategies to validate new concept brands. When I brought my second brand to market, it was an "overnight success" and inspired a global category of products.

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

Having sold my companies, I took some time off. With the novelty of time on my hands, I began providing startup advice on Reddit. While doing so, I was reminded of the fun I had taking dumb ideas and turning them into successful startups; this became the start of a mash of brands®.

Jamie Ewan Henderson
Founder of mash of brands® | The Startup Studio For Dumb Ideas™

*Started with a mailbox and £50, this remains one of my best dumb ideas ever.