From Launch to Shelves in 21 Days: The Motherfungi® Story

Speaker A: Welcome to the Ecom Colab Club podcast, where E Commerce founders and operators share the mistakes that drained their cash, wasted their time and nearly broke their brains so you could avoid that pain.

Speaker B: Great.

Speaker C: No one ever listens to me.

Speaker A: Hosted by Adam Pearce, co founder of the Ecom Colab Club and Blend Commerce, the Shopify CRO agency.

Speaker C: So guys, welcome to today's Econ Cloud Club podcast. And today's guest is Georgie Goff, the founder of Mother Fungi. Now, like many great businesses, Mother Fungi wasn't really born from a business plan, but it started with a personal problem. Now, after experiencing severe burnout and anxiety in her early 30s, Georgie began searching for a way to support her energy, focus and general well being without relying on caffeine. And that journey led her deep into the world of functional mushrooms, where she quickly discovered a market full of confusing products, underdosed ingredients and complicated routines. Now, rather than settling for what was available, she spent years studying the category, completing a, uh, mycology diploma, working with industry experts and redefining a product she genuinely wanted to use herself. And the result was Mother Fungi, a simple caffeine free function mushroom blend designed to fit seamlessly into people's everyday routines. Now, what makes the story even more remarkable is how quickly the brand gained momentum, moving from launch to retail shelves in just 21 days. Now, today we're going to be diving into the realities of launching a wellness brand in a crowded market, building credibility in emerging category and what founders can learn from turning a personal challenge into into a fast growing business. And we're going to welcome Georgie to the show right after this.

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Speaker C: So, Georgie, welcome to the show.

Speaker D: Hi, thanks so much for having me.

Speaker C: No, it's a pleasure. I mean, look, we there is so much that I want to ask you because, look, your product is an area that personally, look, I'm very interested in myself and I think particularly with kind of, you know, the, the way the business started is also quite close to my heart, which uh, regular listeners will sort of know about. But I think what I wanted to do to sort of start off is, is to sort of dive straight into it really. Because I mentioned obviously in the intro there that there was that sort of 21 day point that I mentioned.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: Can you talk us through then what sort of happened in that 21 days that made retailers actually notice you really, really quickly?

Speaker D: Yeah, well, um, I feel like the holy trinity came together in the sense that it wasn't this big launch plan. I just suddenly had the product, the website finished and I was ready to go. All the social handles were done. I'd had a content shoot, very lo fi, roped in lots of um, friends from my career to help me with that. And um, yeah, I just suddenly pressed the button, was like let's, let's do it. I've been developing it for over three years. Um, there's no time at the present and I think the more you procrastinate about a launch plan or a teaser or all of those things, you could, you could push timelines out by six months. It's never going to be perfect and you've got to just get going. So I decided to take the plunge, do it, launch the site and then of course, you know, you get your wave of family and friends buying it. But my initial instinct was to get out there, um, and hit the streets basically with um, a whole bag of pouches and m. My strategy was I live in London, have done for the last 15 years but um, I'm from Norwich originally. So my strategy was to go home and build local, build engaged community and find my customers and essentially proof of concept. Because the business is still only four months old, this is the first batch of product. Um, so I went door to door to small independents who I felt had synergy with the brand. Either from kind of like an attitude point of view, their branding was similar, but also from either a wellness space like yoga studios, cafes that were selling matcha coffees or you know, adaptogen juice drinks or anything that felt in my world, um, but also specialist retailers, health shops, um, everywhere that I felt that there could be some kind of connection and I could find my potential customer base. I went and knocked on the door and I felt like that was the best start that I could have had. Because speaking one to one with business owners, founders, um, who build and love their own business also want to support local. So essentially I am or was a local in Norwich. Um, so I felt like that human connection and being able to speak to them personally and tell them the story and physically drop off a pouch and say hey, I know I've just rocked up, I know you weren't expecting to see me today but please, here's a pouch, try the product, let me know what you think and um, if you think it might work for your business. And we're at seven Stockists now um, and that's across juice bars, cafes, ah, department store retailers, um, and like a specialist health shop. So I feel like that approach and that human connection of being able to physically get in front of someone and tell my story rather than through a distributor or a third party or a cold call email has been the most successful lesson I guess I've learned so far.

Speaker C: M. And would, I mean look at one part of this, you know, so I think that this is goes well a lot of people are maybe a little bit fearful to try and attempt getting those listings and, and sort of maybe think that maybe the D2C route is maybe a little bit less pressure. Um, were you tempted to kind of say look, I'm just going to need to see first or be like no, look I know this is the route we've got to go down.

Speaker D: I did but it also because I've had 15 years in brand marketing for global brands so I've worked with lots of different brands across fashion, homewares, um, and I felt like especially in the crowds of space like supplements is um, I didn't want to be part of the race to the bottom. I didn't want to be spending a lot of cash flow. I yet to have on, on ads, on meta, on just funneling um, that digital experience which is super expensive, super crowded and it's also not my personal area of expertise. So I wanted to go where my strengths ah are and where I know brand marketing really works is that human connection, is that emotive story, is that truth telling to say, listen, I'm not just a sales rep who's here to push a trend product on you. This is something that I developed for three years now, here's why and um, this is what it's done for me. Try it for yourself. If it works your business, great. If not, it's great to meet you. And also I need to be part of that community. It's been a joy to meet business Owners and um, yoga studios and everyone you speak to is like, you've got to speak to so and so they do a wellness festival over here. You should speak to these people. They've got this amazing deli and it snowballed from there. So I feel like it's all about, it is all about who you know and it is all about connection. So I feel like building a business in that way and has also given me valuable feedback because they're able to tell me firsthand what customers are saying, who's coming back and asking for it. And I'm getting bigger, learns that way by having that rather than kind of like a faceless footprint on digital, it could peak and trough month by month and I would have no idea as to why or have any control over that. So um, yeah, for me digital is in the future for sure and obviously it's econ Colab club. I will be tapping up everyone I know in your network. Uh, help me with that hurdle. Um, but I also felt as well, I don't want to get lost in the, in in the swarm of, of supplement brands that there are um, Amazon or pop up on ads all the time and obviously building my socials, I get targeted constantly with lots of amazing supplement brands or lots of different founders telling their stories. But I feel like that localized community organic element is where I'm at right now. Um, as well as the D2C obviously you have to have the digital presence as well.

Speaker C: Yeah, because I guess, look, you know, ultimately it will go hand in hand eventually, but I think, you know, the, the way you're starting here, uh, um, is going to obviously lend itself to strengthening that kind of D2C presence. And I think, you know, in a way, I suppose with, with the way that obviously outreach is going up, we all get obviously pitched, you know, probably daily on email and LinkedIn. Particularly now with kind of a lot of the uh, you know, frankly, excuse my friend shit AI outreach that we all get. Uh, surely, uh, you know it makes me kind of feel like in a way that probably actually that uh, face to face piece is that in a sense you think maybe a little bit easier? Yes. Okay, maybe from a scale point of view, but from a throughput point of view, surely now in terms of 2026, it feels up to me that must be a better way to go.

Speaker D: And also don't forget those kind of those people that discover you in, in, in a, in a store setting, all of the struct cards I have next to the product which you know are all about what it is, what it contains, what it does for you. Also contains a QR code. Also, essentially, hopefully converts to a digital customer who wants to, um, you know, maybe subscribe, um, and save online. Or they, um, recommend through word of mouth. Follow me on socials. That's a way of converting that store customer over the, the first purchase. Because maybe it's in a department store they really trust, or they've gone into their favorite cafe, they know the owner, and they're saying, hey, would you want to boost your smoothie today? We've got mother fungi. And they, they find me there. Well, they might get that takeaway smoothie, but then they might want to buy a pouch so that they can have it every day at home. So I feel like there's a lot of value in that, uh, which somehow I think can get devalued in the sphere of when we talk about digital and how excited everyone was by, you know, meta and Ro. Like, Ros. Sorry, Roas. Um, Roas booms over kind of COVID period. It. That felt like, oh, performance marketing is everything, and everything else can just go by the wayside. Whereas, actually, I feel like, to your point, in a world of AI, if you can know who you're buying from, you know why they created it, they can ask me everything under the sun, I can personally go and take the product to them, and then they can retell that story to their customers who trust them. For me, word of mouth is still the most powerful tool that, uh, I have in order to grow organically. When I'm at a phase where I've got hopefully lots of cash to then supplement with ads and to, to get that reach. And that's very, very important through digital marketing, of course. But at, uh, this phase, I feel like that is, um, the most valuable advice I could give to any founder in the early stages is like, take your. Get a bag of your product and kind of get over yourself. Like, you have to go and start talking to people. And it was great in terms of, like, just getting my elevator pitch because I've spent three years behind a screen sipping different samples and building a brand deck. Well, that's great, but you've also got to be able to communicate why you've done something. And that two days I spent just going to everyone made a big database, was like, right, I'm gonna hit all of these places. And, um, 90% of them were so receptive. I have their contact details still. Or they might be a stockist, or they are a stockist. So, um, I Think it's invaluable in that sense as well is it's you've got to get out there and start talking about your product to anyone beyond your inner sphere. You know.

Speaker C: Absolutely, I know and I think, you know, look, I've, I've been in the E commerce for about 10 years now and I think there are very few people, I think who, who do that, uh, well, um, or kind of have the impetus to want to do it. And I think, you know, this is what I wanted to ask you about because obviously, you know, in terms of starting the business you started, because obviously the experience you went with in terms of burnout and anxiety, if you think about that early success that you had in terms of what drove that success, how much of that do you think comes from the passion within you because of obviously you were genuinely solving your own problem versus actually just kind of executing well as a founder?

Speaker D: I think it's 100% down to my personal experience. I had never had any designs on creating my own product or brand. I'd been in light brand marketing like I've said for 15 years with lots of global brands, from really small founder brands to global um, entities. So I've seen it on, on each side of the dice and it was, I never looked at the founders I worked with. I thought they were all incredible. But I was also like, thank God this is you, this isn't, this isn't my baby. So I didn't really have any designs on that. But then um, through obviously working really hard and um, and experiencing like a burnout and it was completely work related, I just burnt the candle and um, became genuinely like a very, I'm a very confident person. I don't, I've never experienced anything like it. And I think that's what really shook me to my core was like everyone I hear of burnout, I see memes about it, I see posts about it, but genuinely I just thought people are just tired and stressed. Whereas I literally couldn't function. I didn't recognize myself at all. Um, it was really, really scary and I couldn't believe that when the doctor said it's your cortisol, your nervous system is shot, like it's, it's gone into shock. So that's what you're experiencing. I, I, I was dumbfounded. I genuinely didn't believe that, ah, that's what burnout was. Um, and obviously took months to recover and all the rest of it. But during that time, um, I obviously was prescribed medication and obviously I'm not just Saying that for anyone. You can have very successful and very, um, and people extremely happy with their medication till the end of life. Like, there's absolutely no, um, shame in that at all. But for me personally, it made me feel a lot worse. And then it worried me about having to be on something that's medicated and pharmaceutical forever or indefinitely and then being fearful that I wouldn't function without it. So I was like, what's the other alternative here? And I love, I'm a documentary geek and I love, uh, have you seen Fantastic Fungi?

Speaker C: Oh, yes.

Speaker D: I was obsessed. Did you not watch that and be like, oh my God, incredible.

Speaker C: Absolutely incredible. I mean, there's a few of those. I mean, like, there's things like Dopesick as well, which obviously. Yeah, I mean, we could do a whole podcast on this, I think.

Speaker D: You've got any recommendations? Send me, send me answer. It's because I, I just, I found it absolutely mind blowing. And that's where the root of the idea came from that was like, okay, well, let me give this a go. What, what are adaptogens? What does that even mean? Um, and adaptogens are called that in the very sense that they help your body adapt with consistent use over time to your stress and your, your nervous system response. So for me, that was kind of like a key term moment. I was like, oh, like we've, we're so taught in the, in obviously society and the way we grew up about stimulants and, you know, you have a glass of wine to chill out or have, um, have a caffeine, like have a coffee every day to get going. Um, but we very rarely talk about things that can, with consistent use, can naturally help your body's reaction and help you in a really positive way. Way to just regulate and be more balanced. And I kind m of. It's wild to me that that seems like this big secret or that it's only now sort of being talked about. And obviously, um, that's only in the western world, Eastern, you know, in the Far east. They've known about the benefits of adaptogens and functional mushrooms for thousands and thousands of years. Um, it's only now that I feel like modern science is starting to unwrap those, those pages of evidence. And, um, people are starting to take note.

Speaker C: Absolutely. And I think it's that general. There's a very big movement. Isn't the moment about people sort of, you know, especially on social media, talk about awakening, you know, and, and kind of realizing the fact that certain things that they maybe Thought were helping them are not. And I don't know whether this is kind of, you know, related in a way, and I guess it probably is, is that I feel in a way, you know, because you and I are quite similar in that sense of. Look, I. I actually have depression, and I do medicate for it, but I'm trying to come off that medication by looking for different things that can help me that are, um, more natural.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: Um, and I just wonder, you know, kind of with function mushrooms, it still feels like a category to me where there's the kind of this air of confusion. What would you say at the moment is still kind of the biggest misconception you think the end consumer has about mushrooms? And as obviously, you know, with your business head on, how do you then get over that?

Speaker D: So the biggest misconception I get is constantly. Are they magic that everyone wants to think that, like, it's hallucinogenic or there's something, you know, hippie dippy about it? Um, so I think that's a hurdle. Uh, I also think when I've done sampling events, which has been amazing as well, getting those stockists, I've been able to go and locally be there with samples of protein shakes, smoothies, juices, coffees, and have it premixed. People try it, and the one thing that they asked me before they try it is like, I don't like mushrooms. Is it gonna taste like mushrooms? Like, no. Excuse me. Um, and that's, to be honest with you, the gap I saw when I got really into it was, like, brilliant. I want to try this. Everything on the market was premixed with caffeine, um, or, you know, coffee and. Or flavored. So there's, like, a very successful brand out there. It's like chocolate flavored, um, space dust. And then there's like, yeah, functional mushrooms mixed with coffee. And it's like, I don't want a coffee. I don't want caffeine. I also don't want a chocolate drink. I don't want a ginger drink. I. I just want something that's flavorless, that doesn't have any sugar, doesn't have any stimulants in it, doesn't have any crap. And that I can trust and 100% just whack it into what I've ever. Whatever I want to drink in the morning, whether that's a protein shake, a coffee, a smoothie, I want to put it in juice, whatever it is. Like, I sprinkle it on my yogurt and fruit, you know, like something That I can just have however I want to take it, that doesn't create this other faff is. Is just so, uh, you know, adaptable to whatever I want. And it contains exactly um, what I want it to contain, rather than fillers and fluff and loads of ingredients. You've got no idea what they are or really about the underdose, which was very interesting when I kind of went down the rabbit hole and looked in the mycology diploma and spoke to the industry experts. The amount of crap out there is incredible. And unless you, um, really look into it and scratch the surface, you really wouldn't know. You'd think, oh, I'm buying something of substance here. Um, and it's like 10, 20 pounds cheaper than what I'm seeing on, you know, bestseller brands. But the reason is that it's not doing anything for you.

Speaker C: M. I think, you know, the thing for me here as well is that, do you feel like, in a way that consumers are becoming more. More informed, um, and I guess sort of want to sort of. Do you think there's this kind of sense of, like, taking back ownership of. Of what you're consuming and not having to have everything that, like, you say, is mixed? It seems to be this kind of move towards a purity, I think. Is. Is that what you see?

Speaker D: Yeah, definitely. I feel like there's more skepticism than ever around kind of sweetened or flavored or. I think that people are a lot more aware about filler agents, um, in things. And when I was in the development phase, there was a big, uh, trend towards, um, gummies. So a lot of people like functional gummy and mushrooms or, you know, gummies with other supplements in them. And, um, I questioned that with, you know, the people I was working with, and they were like, well, actually, they're really underdosed. Like, they're actually. Because they have more gelatin and agents in them to create that. That sweet and that pastel than it does any kind of functional ingredient. So it's pointless. So I feel, and I think a lot of people still pop gummies and feel like they're doing something good for themselves every day. The noise in the market, um, is something that is definitely going to be a hurdle and a challenge for me in order to try and kind of, um, overcome that and to spread the kind of truth. And the reason, like I did a powder, for example, rather than, hey, why don't you just do a capsule that you can just swallow? Why do you have to go to the effort of making it flavorless and something that dissolves effortlessly into whatever you're having. Well, that's also because I want it to be the highest potency of dosage you can have. If you have a teaspoon of something that is going to be more potent than having a product which has to have a smaller amount of, um, product in it in order to fit into a capsule that's comfortable to swallow. But equally as well, you then have the casing, so the dosage gets smaller and smaller because you're having to have it in a case and you have to have it small enough to swallow, whereas the teaspoon is maximum for me and, and is beneficial. Um, but also, unless you get into a conversation into the weeds like we are, it's hard to get that on a packet. It's hard to tell that on an A4 strut card, you know.

Speaker C: But I think that's. That's the thing that I wanted to ask you about you. Because I suppose on that note, you know, look, ultimately the confusion that comes there for me, it feels like that comes from a place of fear, doesn't it? You know, because ultimately, like you say, the question about, you know, magic mushrooms and all that kind of stuff, and yeah, with. With about three seconds of research, obviously you find out that's not the case. But I think, you know, that we work with a lot of kind of, you know, sort of food businesses. We work with kind of, you know, skincare brands, anything. I think, look, ultimate that you're putting into your body, onto your body. You have to obviously give this kind of level of comfort to Melbourne people to buy.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: Is there anything that you kind of learn in the very early stage and obviously appreciate, like you're only. You're only a few months in, but here. But was there anything as, like, big gaps, uh, that some of the reads. I said, look, actually you need to talk about this thing on the packaging or you need to have this in your copy, whatever it might be.

Speaker D: I worked closely with my suppliers on that because obviously the last thing I ever wanted to do is have any kind of, uh, misinformation or. Obviously the big thing in the in supplements category is, um, over claiming, um, on benefits. And, um, that is absolutely something that I do not want to do. Supplements are designed to be part of a healthy lifestyle. They're designed to boost your system. They're not designed to prevent or cure anything. Um, so that was super important to me. And I, And I think also I never want to pretend to be like a scientist. I'm. I'm not. I'M someone who's passionate about the category. It's worked for me and I've also gone on to kind of study it with diploma and kind of research as much as I can and work with the best people that I, that I know to be the nutritional experts at the heart of the manufacturer of this. Um, but I feel like from a retail point of view it does present a challenge. Um, I mean digitally you can bombard and you can create lots of assets which create that hierarchy of messaging and the benefits and the usage and um, the ingredients and the detail through email marketing as well is brilliant for that. You can give them a whole series of how it can work. I think the challenge is on the shop floor where someone just walks past the packet. They might like the design of it but then it's like, oh, it's a mushroom coffee. Oh, it's, it's going to taste like mushrooms. Oh, I don't know what that is. I've heard of lion's mane, but what's chaga and cordyceps? It's very, very different to um, to obviously me speaking about it in person and doing those sampling events where people are like, oh great, get it. Cool. Um, so I think that is a big challenge in that hierarchy of messaging and marketing. When you've got what, five seconds? If someone picks something up and turns it around, um, looks at, it looks at the price and then they just make a split decision. But from my career in brand marketing, that's why I feel like storytelling and um, community and organic growth is the first step for me. Um, because once you get that trust, once you build those reviews online, then you convert the wider group, who might be a bit more cynical. If I find the people who are already aware of functional mushrooms, who are already in those spaces, like yoga classes, they come out and they see mother fungi, they bite, they grab one because they're like, oh, I know, I know, functional mushrooms, cool. Um, why start with the doubters? Try and start, you converted and then build out through word of mouth and clever marketing and the digital space from, from that point. But I think also like the adaption market, it's um, estimated to be around 690 million by 2030. Um, and it was 200, around 290 million in 2022. That's UK. Um, and one in five adults have used a natural supplement to boost their well being. So I think there's this cognitive shift towards that rat race stimulant lifestyle where it's like caffeine and stress is sort of My, my calling card of being really, you know, great at my job and like, oh, uh, I'm so good. I'm going to LinkedIn every day and I'm just going to take another espresso and I'm going to show how hard I'm working and like uh, oh, look at me working all weekend. Like that used to be a signal of, of success and I, we are, we are so far away from that and it's fascinating to me how quickly that shifted over the last five years. Now that is not a sign of success. That's a sign of you're being taken the piss out of and your lifestyle's wrong. Um, now it's about how, how well do you look after yourself? Do you have spare time to regain balance? Do you have time to look after your mental health? Are you interested in things that are going to help you, um, you know, create better habits or just feel better, uh, by taking something more natural? Um, so that's where I felt like the opportunity. Luckily when I obviously horse had already bolted, I was like I'm m gonna, I want to do this brand. But then I looked back, I was like what's actually I should probably look at the market. What is it? I was like oh, it's stacked, it stacks up good.

Speaker C: So no I haven't, so no I

Speaker B: haven't just gone and done a quick outfit change which as much so I'd like to. But this is an ad. Now as many of you know, when I am not interviewing E commerce legends like on this very show today I am running blend commerce, the CRO Shopify agency. And really over the past 10 or so years we have been working with over 350 Shopify brands and helping them get customers to buy more. Buy now I uh, buy again. So if you are a brand that is looking at how to make real impact on your Shopify store by increasing your revenue per session. Well, we're the guys to talk to and recently we've just been crowned the global CRO agents of the year 2026. Now if you want to know exactly where you guys are from perspective of buy now, buy more and buy again, all you need to do is go ahead to blend commerce.com and click on the top right hand corner where you will see a link to CRO benchmarks in there, uh, you can enter some details and we'll tell you exactly where you are. Oh, what you need to do

Speaker D: now

Speaker C: talking of LinkedIn, it was a. You've actually led me very well into this next question because There is a word that I see on LinkedIn which people seem to use a bit of a badge of honor, um, and that is omnichannel. So and it gets bound about a lot. And I think what I'm interested from your point of view is you've obviously started with a retail focus first of all and then it will go then obviously towards the D2C side. M in your mind, what's going to be the biggest hurdle and the biggest difference I suppose between the retail side and the D2C side.

Speaker D: So I think the biggest challenge is um, obviously it's great to get over, you know, the hurdles of being in stores, in stockists. But of course you ought to maintain that and you've got to have proof of concept for their customers and that you get those second orders. So that's my challenge with uh, you know, retail is that ensuring that it does gain momentum, it's successful for the retailer and that they're happy to continue to stock it and push it. Um, and then on the D2C side I think is a completely different beast. And I feel like, like I've said before, the category itself is a race to the bottom in terms of digital marketing. I, I'm, I'm sole founder, uh, I don't have any investors at this point. I would like to keep it that way for as long as possible. Um, and um, for me I feel like the biggest challenge is going to be the whole subscription model because I think that is a challenging um, setup for any, you know, ah, consumable business. Everyone's lifestyle changes, their habits change, um, but equally building that subscription model will guarantee the success of the business in the long run and um, guarantee projection future investment forecasting. Um, rather than creating kind of a volatile, oh, I've had a wave of customers online because I had an influencer talking about it and now it's gone dead. Or I've, I've done a few ads but you know, that in itself takes a lot of funding in order to reach a kind of comfortable roas and a comfortability of where um, you know, before you start to flatline. Um, so I feel like as online gets more and more expensive, I feel that the challenge with D2C is going to be how do I show up and become relevant and seen through the algorithm and whether that's through clever content partnerships, um, how do I cultivate a community online which breeds that reach for me rather than being 100% reliant on growth through ads.

Speaker C: Uh, and do you think, you know, with the DC side, are you going to plan to push again towards the more informed rather um, than the less informed like you have done so far?

Speaker D: I feel like, because naturally I'm speaking to those spaces and those businesses who in themselves are keen to do collab content and like I'm keen to partner with yoga space on retreats for example, and we're going to do one about holistic health and join forces and be like, well your expertise is the body and minds, like how do you kind of nourish and supplement that? Huh? So there's brilliant ways of tag teaming within those spaces which then actually in themselves create content, like useful content for people who are informed, who might already follow those, those um, those channels, but equally will tap into other channels in which those um, those people in the algorithm will be served that kind of content anyway, either from like a local point of view because geographically it's say a Norfolk event I'm doing or a festival. But then on a wider scale, how do I then use that blueprint of saying hey, well listen, I did a collab with this yoga studio or I did this retreat or I'm in this store and we did this sampling event or um, we did this coffee morning and we did it with a yoga influencer, we did it with like a workshop, whatever it is. How do, how that then creates a ripple effect which I believe is quite powerful in, in order to then um, speak to the bigger businesses and say, well listen, I've done. And having worked with quite big brands, they always shark around to small brands, up and coming brands, emerging brands, community based brands, because they want to tap into what they have, which is rich, highly engaged niche audiences who are ah, primed and um, you know, feel like they found an uncovered gem and that's what the big boys want to tap into. So if you can create a really rich niche in your own specialism with local localized events community and build a portfolio which shows success both in the physical sense, but creating content from that event which lives online and creates this hub of activity, you then become beyond a product. You then become something that means something to someone who, or at least it's a valuable piece of content they can share and be like, oh, look at, you know, this is, we all know about value added content. No one wants to be sold to like an advert anymore. They want to gain something from what they're watching. Um, so it's like how do you create value beyond a product? It's by showing up in those spaces, it's by working with the people who are, uh, within your world, but they don't do exactly what you do.

Speaker C: Um, because I think like that. On that note, we've been pretty positive so far and I guess, look, what I was interested in is the flip side is in terms of those collaborations or maybe opportunities you've had where you go, look, actually there is probably a good growth opportunity with somebody or something here. Is there anything that you've turned down or a route that you haven't gone down? You don't just throw shade here. Anyone in particular. But if there's an example of this, it'd be good to hear where you go and look at, you know what, I'm not going to do that thing or I'm not going to collab with that person because I'm a little bit fearful of obviously the bigger ramifications to the long term of the business.

Speaker D: I feel like purely because of the stage that I'm at, um, and obviously I've talked about, you know, the power of myself being uh, the vehicle behind, um, telling this, you know, my story and speaking directly to business owners, um, and physically, you know, taking the product to them and having that conversation. Um, I have been approached and had really exciting conversations with people who are incredibly experienced and super impressive cvs and uh, you know, wildly beyond any anything I could have ever imagined at this point offering to help that placement, um, within wholesale and to kind of, you know, grow it and scale that, that stock aside quickly because they can see the grassroots, they can see that there's um, traction there and they're, you know, purely being like, I can help you do this quicker, faster, bigger. Um, and at the moment, for me there's just some gut instinct which is saying the reason for the success so far is having those conversations and being the contact and the personal outreach only at this moment, obviously I'm not going to be able to do that forever. And I hope the business grows and commercially much more. Um, I'd have to step away from doing that day to day and the outreach. But for me right now, something in me is saying, you know, I don't, I haven't built that massive community yet. I don't have that massive customer base yet. I feel like I'm the one that needs to go out there and sell it and tell and sell the brand myself rather than sort of losing it with a third party contact which, you know, they'll never be able to, um, speak to it in the way I can. And I want the people that excel through to know me personally and be and be their point of contact. Um, at this point, I really do.

Speaker C: So, yeah, now I think, look, that it sometimes has happened, doesn't it, is that you, you have a brilliant person, like you said, who starts a business and it starts off very well, but if you dilute that too much too early, you kind of haven't got enough on the tank to then rely upon the community or the personal Persona that you built up. Because you look, let's face it, look, content really doesn't really last in people's minds that long. And you have to have quite a big bank of it, I guess, to sort of, to be able to then be the public face of a business without then obviously doing the graft, really.

Speaker D: I suppose, definitely. I mean, also, I have got no designs for being an influencer. Uh, I don't even have a personal. I don't have a personal Instagram account. It genuinely took me like three months to film, like, an intro to the brand video, which made me feel sick because I was wandering around my local park with a mini mic trying to explain about my burnout and make enough clips that didn't make me want to cut. To cut up into something which was like, just like, get over yourself. You've got to explain your brand. You're happy to, like, go pop into that cafe and tell someone all about it. It's no good if you can't tell people online and on socials. I know, I know, I know the, you know, I know the name of the game. Like, I'm. This is a career for me. So I, you know, all the founder content I've ever done in my life has been much more successful than, than any of the content we've spent weeks mulling over and tweaking. You know, it just, it just human, human storytelling. Relatability, uh, and understanding, uh, the person behind the product is also always going to be more powerful. So I do. I still need to go for that a little bit.

Speaker C: Join the club. I'm still trying as well. I mean, I've actually been. Been recording some YouTube shorts today and yeah, I've got some brilliant bloopers that I, uh, will not see the light of day.

Speaker D: You know, you just like, you're bumbling into the camera and you're like, what am I even talking about anymore? Like, what's my name? What am I saying?

Speaker C: Like this. What do I do? What do I sell? Yeah, you have a mind blank, don't you?

Speaker D: Yeah, it's horrible. I need to get over.

Speaker C: Love it. Um, I was gonna ask also I suppose sort of like broaden out a little bit. Here is if you, we talked at the start obviously about the category and obviously about some of the things that obviously people say and they ask about if you think about your competitor and maybe you know, your biggest competitor now, is it another mushroom brand, is it a, um, cafe, is that a coffee, is it an energy drink, you know, or is it more habits that you see that people have as a competitor, like where's the biggest, you know, sort of threat? If, you know, SWOT analysis, who will be sat in that, that threat section? Mostly out of that group, I think

Speaker D: there's some really strong competitors who are just synonymous with functional mushrooms in the field. Um, so of, in any category that's going to be the case. You know, there's always going to be big boys out there that have, are established that people trust they know about it. Um, the good thing for me is that when I've done these sampling events, the people that are aware of those people and have had those products, it didn't work for them for the same reasons it didn't work for me. Which gives me validation every time. I'm like, yes, I was right to start this because they were like, I didn't want a coffee, I didn't want caffeine, I didn't like the flavor, all of this stuff. So they might have bought it once like I did, but they discarded it because it didn't work for them or it was missing the USPS that I have. So that gives me actually, um, quite a lot of comfort rather than being fearful of the shadows of being the, you know, these big, very successful brands, they're in self, which is, they're doing all this, they've obviously got lots of investment, they're, you know, doing incredibly, incredibly well. And that's great for people that, you know, customers that love what they do. For me, there is even in these early days evidence that that isn't for everyone. And there are people that believe in the function, they, they want to have the mushrooms, lots of people. The brilliant thing about it is that I'm not also looking to tap into any particular market. And I think some of the functional brands really zone in on like Tick Tockers and Gen Z through their branding, the influences that they work with, their tone of voice, um, the advertising, like it's all very teen focused. Um, whereas I absolutely am not, um, that I hope people think that the brand is cool. Um, but my muse is like the Greek gods, Asclepius and um, Hygiea and it's all about um, you know, cool branding. I hope like mother fungi. I hope other people love the name as much as I do. And, and it's also about, I wanted to create a brand that's for everyone else. I didn't want to create more in a crowded category and be a cleaner than clean, preachy um, spandex wearing, minimalist brand. There's plenty of them. I, I want, I want to be the supplement brand for everyone else who's like have a mother fungi in your coffee or have a um, you know, just you can be anyone at any age. And also people I've spoken to from stockist to my own family, like you know, menopausal women here of lines main because they've been told by doctors or friends that that's a really good supplement to have at that stage. Um, also like my own dad, he, he, he obviously completely biased but swears by it, loves it and, and that's really helped him with like focus and like mobility. And I feel like everyone uh, has you know, lots of pop ups of these supplement brands which um, you know, are very kind of targeted at certain markets. But I feel like actually those competitors give me comfort in the fact that I don't want to be them and I'm not doing what they do. Um, and to your point, I feel like the ritual thing is the hardest barrier to get over because everyone can have the best intentions in the world but you know, we're all human. If you don't, if you don't keep up with the whole supplements and you might buy something once and you think oh yeah, it was amazing but then you forget to buy it again and you just fall out of habit. I feel like that's the hardest thing in the space.

Speaker C: Absolutely. I mean look, one thing I would say you know as well Joyce, like talking to you today, I think what I really get in the sand from you is that you're very focused on the outcome and the experience that you want people to have off the back of the product. And I think you know, if you look obviously within this space and like you mentioned there, there are some that approach very differently of you know, look at this shiny thing, look at this packaging etc, etc and focus less on um, the experience and the outcome that you want people to have. And I suppose in a way like that for me it feels like that you probably, it feels like you get confidence from that because you genuinely believe in it and you've experienced it. I imagine that probably then just helps you keep Pushing, doesn't it?

Speaker D: Absolutely. Because I feel like also one of the hardest things with those competitors, they might have created a really like, you know, flake, like loads of flavorings, got some sugar in it, it's also got caffeine in it. Therefore it's not really a shocker that it um, makes people feel alert and focused because guess what, it's like you're having a chocolate coffee, it might have some mushrooms sprinkled in it, but like they, and then people will rave about it and share it and all of that stuff. Whereas the hardest blocker for me is by saying that mine doesn't have a stimulant in it, it's not going to force your body to react in a certain way. You actually have to have it consistently. Um, you know, optimum is three and four weeks daily usage. So it really is a bit of a commitment. But that's why I wanted to create something you can put in anything. It's not going to affect the flavor. You can mix it in, forget about it, take it. And hopefully the build up um, is the cumulative effects of adaptogens and functional mushrooms. Um, mine also does contain 100% of your daily B, C and D vitamins. Just saying. And um, some pea protein. So it's not just mushrooms, it has uh, two planet options in it as well. And um, the whole reason and my brief to the supplier was that uh, I want to create high quality, potent um, and um, you know, a well rounded ultimate morning blend that uh, isn't about buzzword ingredients. It's about a uh, like collaboration of ingredients that are going to be effective. Um, and yeah, I really, I mean initial, initial reaction has been great. But uh, I also really hope genuinely that it um, helps people as much as it has me.

Speaker C: No, absolutely. I mean look, and you sort of, we talked obviously a lot about the present and I think that the last question I want to ask you is obviously more forward focused, is that if you kind of, you know, fast forward to maybe say three years down the line, what for you has to be true for you to say that mother fungi has become the business that you originally imagined when you started it.

Speaker D: I hope it's still going.

Speaker C: Don't we all?

Speaker D: I mean honestly, I never knew how like expensive and you know, uh, there's just so every day there's something else in doing your own thing. But obviously that's also a gift. Um, I think in order for it to be what I set out for it to be is like almost in answer to my previous question, I want to have created a customer, a really loyal customer base where they are talking about it and they swear by it and it's part of their, their routine. Um, and um, they then talk about the benefits of, of functional mushrooms to other people and are as excited and um, kind of uh, you know, raving about those benefits as I am. Because, um, otherwise what's the point? Like I, I've worked for, uh, like I mentioned, I've worked for many brands and I've been in the room countless times where I'm like, what's the point of that product? Like why, like why is this being made? What's the point in the resource behind it? It's just pointless to me. Whereas I, everything that I create personally and I hope to create other blends, I've got an evening blend which is ready to go. Um, and actually I'm going to make that a capsule format because I personally don't believe that they want to drink a drink at night because you don't want to get off and go to the loo. And you know, I want to create the most, the best capsule that you can have at night, which has got magnesium, um, Tremella, um, Reishi and those calming mushrooms which help you reset and recover overnight. So I want to have some. I want to create a business which genuinely is part of people's everyday and that they can be confident and um, happy that there isn't any bullshit in it and it really is what it says on the tin and they feel the effects of it. Um, of course I'd like it to be commercially successful as well.

Speaker C: Just that small thing on top.

Speaker D: She's now you. Just a little cherry on the top, you know.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Oh, gosh. Well, Georgie, look, I've, I've loved having you on today and I just want to thank you. Obviously first of A, sharing so much, B, just being so honest and obviously giving m us the load on everything. Um, and I think also maybe for people that were not obviously knowing anything about function, machines have certainly learned something today. But I think, look, before you do go, obviously if we have people listening who obviously are wanting to buy so DC or maybe our uh, buyers from different retail setups, what should they do? Where should they go?

Speaker D: So motherfungi.com find me there. Also on socials at Mother Fungi with an underscore at the end, this is, this is the brand you're looking out for. There she is.

Speaker C: There we go. Beautiful. And yeah, it's a great looking site and I love, like you said, the references you have. Oh yeah. Personally, big fan. So, um, Georgie, thank you so, so much for being on with us. And um, guys, thank you so much for listening. If you have liked what you've listened to today, do give us a like or review on the listening platform of your choice and we'll be here again same time next week with the Econ Club Club Podcast. Cheers.

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