The Entrepreneurs
A weekly deep dive into global business. Inspiring stories from startups to legacy brands in hospitality, design, fashion, and retail.
Latest Episodes
Universal Works
Designer David Keyte founded menswear brand Universal Works in 2008. He returns to the show to discuss seasonality and staying fresh, what it means to be a UK brand after Brexit, the trouble with the “S” word – that is, “sustainability” – and dressing the world. Plus: we report from…
Peggy
The innovative new online platform is reshaping how collectors acquire art by making the work of emerging and mid-career artists available to a new generation. Monocle’s Tomos Lewis is in Peggy’s home town of Toronto to meet co-founders Craig Follett and Adam Meghji and VP of art Brownyn Hunter-Shortly.
Cocoon and ZZ Driggs
Ceanne Fernandes-Wong is the CEO and co-founder of Cocoon, the UK’s first luxury bag rental service. Cocoon’s collection consists of almost 1,000 styles from leading brands such as Chanel, Gucci, Fendi and Prada, alongside a vintage selection. Whitney Frances Falk is the founder and CEO of ZZ Driggs, a New…
Belstaff
Fran Millar is the CEO leading the British heritage fashion brand into a new era. She explains how her methodology is inspired in part by her experience at the cutting edge of elite sport: she was previously in charge of winning behaviours at cycling record-breakers Team Sky. Plus: for this…
MĀ and Mugi
Esther Payerols and Nina Marti are the founders of MĀ, a Lugano-based brand that promotes wellbeing and emotional harmony through home scents made from sustainably sourced, organic essential oils. Esther and Nina explain MĀ’s natural roots and how they were inspired by a Japanese concept of better balance in life.…
Proper Snacks and JR Ryall
Cassandra Stavrou launched the Proper Snacks business in 2011 and has built it into Europe’s largest independent healthy snacks company. Cassandra talks about the journey the brand has been on and how the recent sale of a majority stake in the company has created a true challenger to the established…
Cake
Stefan Ytterborn is the founder of electric-motorbike manufacturer Cake. A seasoned entrepreneur who refined his skills with the creation and development of POC, a brand specialising in protective gear for adventure sports, Ytterborn has led Cake since 2016. Cake’s ground-breaking bikes delight design aficionados while offering a path towards a…
Soulcycle
Evelyn Webster was running Guardian News & Media’s international operations in New York before taking over as CEO of the global fitness brand in December 2020. For Webster, a committed rider herself, and for its legions of fans, Soulcycle was so much more than an indoor cycling workout. As the…
Faire
Jeff Kolovson, COO of online wholesale marketplace Faire, has helped to create a vibrant community that champions independent businesses while bridging the divide between digital and bricks-and-mortar. Kolovson and his co-founders launched Faire, which connects independent brands with independent retailers, in 2017. He tells us why having a values-oriented mission…
Triptk
Founder and CEO Sam Hornsby discusses the power of brands to drive change and their responsibility to transform the way they operate. We focus on two of the areas Triptk has covered in its mission to “decode and recode” the culture of its clients: the business of placemaking and the…
