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Lock-In by HappyStack 🥞

Lock-In by HappyStack 🥞

By: HappyStack 🥞
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Welcome to the Lock-In - a podcast where we lock the doors of our favourite pub to bring you an unfiltered chat with some of the world’s top E-Commerce Founders. Each episode our hosts Jack, Jamie, Joe and Dan sit down with some of the biggest and best minds in entrepreneurship - pulling back the curtain to share the stories, playbooks and mistakes they’ve experienced while building 8 & 9 figure brands.

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HappyStack 🥞
Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • She Scaled Odd Muse to £30m - It Nearly Broke Her | Aimee Smale
    Dec 18 2025

    This week, we sit down with Aimee Smale, the inspiring founder behind Odd Muse. In four years she's taken the cult British womenswear brand from a bedroom startup to a £30m business. Aimee opens up about spotting the gap in the market for accessible luxury, quitting ASOS without a plan, and quite literally dismantling her bed to make room for a desk. From making £10 logos and packing orders herself, to designing the blazer that changed everything, this is a masterclass in betting on yourself.Aimee speaks candidly about online pile-ons, media attacks, and why the last year has been her hardest yet. She also breaks down the decisions that shaped Odd Muse’s growth, and why she believes Odd Muse can be a £100m brand, even if she doesn’t want to take it there alone.Honest, high-stakes, and full of lessons you won’t hear in a pitch deck.


    Timestamps:

    00:00 Intro & Early Years of Odd Muse

    12:00 Taking Impulsive Risks

    14:55 Importance of Building a Rounded Skillset

    19:30 How One Hero Product Can Change Your Life

    22:20 Importance of Being Your Own Customer

    28:00 The Influencer Moment That Changed Odd Muse

    33:30 Founder-Led Marketing

    37:00 Dealing With Online Trolls Over The Last 12 Months

    46:08 Why She's Now Stepping Back & Hiring a CEO

    53:25 How Moving to New York Changed Her Mindset

    55:30 The Strategy Behind Odd Muse's Retail Stores

    01:01:30 Growing the Wholesale Business

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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • Founder Roundtable: Acquisition Strategies That Actually Scale in 2025
    Nov 19 2025

    Season 3 kicks off with a heavyweight episode.
    This week, we’re joined by three operators who’ve collectively spent more than £100 million on Meta in the last 18 months - and who sit behind some of the UK’s fastest-growing consumer brands.


    Jack Rubin, founder of Purdy & Figg, the DTC cleaning brand now generating £50M+ in annual revenue.


    Olly Hudson, a co-founder of Soar With Us, the UK’s largest DTC growth agency.


    And returning fan-favourite Matt Kelly, founder of Spacegoods, back after one of our most memorable episodes.


    This conversation is exactly what brand owners talk about over a pint (or three). We go deep on:


    • The real state of Meta ads right now

    • How AI is reshaping acquisition

    • Why doubling down on your influencer strategy is no longer optional

    • What it actually takes to scale a modern DTC brand in 2025


    If you’re looking to sharpen your customer acquisition strategy over the next 12 months, this is the episode you’ll want to binge.

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    1 hr and 22 mins
  • From £0 to £10m Per Year Selling Jewellery At 27 | Olivia Jenkins
    Aug 14 2025

    Meet Olivia Jenkins - the founder behind the fastest-growing jewellery brand in e-commerce.In 2020, she was burnt out, broke, and dealing with the recent loss of her mum. Alongside her partner Jack, she channelled this grief to start D. Louise — a multi-million pound jewellery brand now loved by thousands of women across the UK from Molly-Mae to Maya Jama.In this unfiltered episode, Olivia shares how she turned a side hustle into an eight-figure business.Chapters00:00 - Trailer01:10 - Introductions02:10 - Launching a brand with zero experience 08:30 - The importance of customer-centricity 10:24 - Sourcing and selling her first products13:20 - Bootstrapping the first drops 18:55 - Taking the leap full-time, & working with your partner24:50 - Black Friday: The day everything changed25:50 - Bringing Gymsharks ex-CEO on board29:50 - Importance of authenticity in collaborations33:40 - Handling negative reviews and customer experience35:10 - What made D.Louise stand out in a saturated market44:30 - Future categories and avoiding distraction47:00 - Why big brands can't copy D.Louise52:40 - Shifting Behaviours: Women buying themselves jewellery54:00 - The big vision for D.Louise56:30 - Rebranding: Telling her mother's story through design

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 2 mins
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