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. It was a dumb idea I started with £50 and a mailbox; this remains one of the most profitable ideas I've ever had. 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 global agencies in London and Dubai before becoming Head of Media and Communications at an in-house role.

By my mid-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 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 18 months bootstrapping strategies to test out new brands, without having to first create the product. When I brought my second brand to market, it was an "overnight success" and proceeded to inspire a global category of lifestyle teas.

Within a few years, I grew a small business selling tea on eBay into a multiple six-figure income and several category-defining brands - which I later sold to a private equity investor.

After selling my companies - and no longer working 18 hour days - I began to occasionally provide startup advice on Reddit. Soon, I was inundated with requests from aspiring entrepreneurs who had seen my feedback and wondered if I could help them launch their dumb ideas too. This became the start of a mash of brands®.

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