In this episode of Abandoned Cart, Adam sits down with Joe Munns, an experienced FMCG leader, entrepreneur and brand builder, and the founder of home baking business, Baked In.

Joe shares the full story, from starting Baked In as a side hustle while working at IBM, to building an accredited food manufacturing operation and landing major retail listings. He opens up about the whirlwind pandemic boom that took the business from around £1m to nearly £5m in just nine months, and the lessons that followed as the business navigated funding pressure, operational complexity, and the realities of sustaining growth.

A standout section of this episode is Joe’s early adoption of TikTok Shop, including what it actually took to make live selling work, how they used community to build momentum, and why TikTok Shop quickly became Baked In’s biggest D2C channel during peak periods.

Expect a refreshingly honest conversation about:

• The best advice Joe ever received, and why “don’t stretch yourself too far” became a defining lesson
• Building Baked In from baking kits to a subscription vision, alongside retail and manufacturing
• The hidden complexity of too many SKUs, too many channels, and not enough resource
• What rapid pandemic growth really looked like behind the scenes
• How Meta and Google supported subscription acquisition, and what changed post-pandemic
• The power of community and how a Facebook group helped spark early momentum
• TikTok Shop in its early days: going live to tiny audiences, pushing through the awkward start, and finding a repeatable rhythm
• Why QVC-style demos worked so well for Baked In, and what most brands get wrong when they quit too early
• How super fans became moderators, created social proof in the comments, and helped convert new viewers
• Brand partnerships that improved margins (and the risks when values and perception clash)
• The TV ad experiment: what it taught Joe about top of funnel marketing and measurement
• Investors, debt funding, and the tougher reality of raising capital during a slowdown
• The personal impact of running a high pressure business, and what Joe would do differently
• What Joe is building now with Cutting Edge Golf, and his approach to sustainable growth this time

Connect with Joe:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephmunns/

Email: joe@cuttingedgegolf.com

Connect with &Allies:

To discuss how we can help your brand grow, visit www.andallies.co.uk

In this episode of Abandoned Cart, Adam sits down with Alex, co-founder and CEO of Nini Organics, the artisan skincare brand built on passion, authenticity and a mission to reformulate the beauty industry for the better.

Alex shares the story behind Nini Organics, from struggling with severe acne and working in luxury beauty retail, to formulating products by hand and building one of the highest returning customer rates in the skincare space. He explains why the natural beauty movement fell out of favour after COVID and how Nini continued to thrive by staying true to its ethos, avoiding greenwashing, and keeping human connection at the centre of the brand.

Expect a refreshingly honest conversation about:

• The best advice Alex ever received and how it shaped his approach to business and boundaries

• The early beginnings of Nini Organics and why artisan, small batch creation is true luxury

• How the natural and organic beauty movement changed and why consumer sentiment dipped

• Why authenticity, founder presence and human connection have become Nini’s greatest growth levers

• The brand’s scrappy, founder-led marketing, experiments that worked, and content that absolutely did not

• How to build a loyal customer base without compromising on values or chasing trends

• The role of paid media, why Instagram remains their strongest platform, and the pros and cons of navigating Meta and TikTok

• What is next for Nini Organics, from pop-ups to new formulations and wider collaborations in the green beauty space

Whether you are an e-commerce founder, a marketer or simply someone building a brand with heart, you will take away valuable lessons on staying focused, standing firm in your mission and using authenticity to cut through a crowded market.

Connect with Nini Organics:

Instagram: @niniorganics

Website: niniorganics.com

Reach out directly on the Nini hotline or via DM for personalised skincare advice.

Connect with And Allies:

If you’re a scaling ecommerce brand looking for a growth partner across strategy, paid media & creative, head to https://andallies.co.uk/

Enjoy the episode, and subscribe for more honest conversations with the founders and marketers shaping the future of ecommerce.

In this episode, we are joined by Kim Leary, founder of Squibble, about essential strategies for improving user experience (UX) and conversion rate optimization (CRO) in e-commerce.

We discuss the importance of pricing for quality and how testing and understanding customer behavior is crucial for marketing analytics.

We also explore challenges faced by small businesses with low website traffic and future trends in CRO, including the role of AI and the convergence of UX and CRO.

• Kim Leary's Journey and Squibble's Story
• Challenges in Marketing Analytics
• Importance of User Behavior Data
• Understanding UX vs CRO
• The Future of CRO

Links

Kim (Turrell) Leary

LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberleyjane/

Website : https://squibble.design/

& Allies (Formerly Pink Leopard)

www.andallies.co.uk