Encouraged to speak to strangers in their mother tongue, Rob credits his father with the confidence to turn his side hustle into a business. That, and his desire for less politics in the workplace and more purpose and personal fulfilment in his professional life. Rob founded When in Rome in 2015 after quitting his job in commercial banking and finding alternative ways to bring vino sfuso to the UK, helping to decarbonise the wine industry one glass bottle at a time. With 50% of the wine industry attributed to single use glass, and the UK the second largest wine importer in the world, changing our shopping habits can contribute to measurable change.

Female founder of not just one but 3 e-commerce businesses, and creator of 2 own brands. Oh, and co-founder of a bricks and mortar lifestyle store too. The golden thread? Sustainable, ethical gifts and homewares, brought to the market through an ethical supply chain, in part inspired by empty wine bottles chinking in the kitchen bin! Find out about the time she worked with commercial brand luminary John McConnell on the John Lewis Partnership design project. And learn how retail, wholesale and e-commerce combine and convert for business success. 'It's a numbers game'.

Paul was brought up by his mother, a single parent. It was a good life. He lost her in adolescence. He was left with nothing. The misdemeanours leading to this were not discovered until after her death. Self-supporting from the age of 16, Paul lenrolled at university just to get away. Sofa surfing his way through he pulled out when he had exhausted all avenues and went off in search of his father. His tenacity, resilience and optimism have led to him being the successful leader of a marketing communications and reputation mangement business in Bath & London. He has built a business from scratch that he can finally call home.

There is significance in the number nine. It’s an unconscious trigger for change. Robin started his business 21 years ago, whilst running a successful shop in Bath. One funded the other until a huge personal shift led to moving into his design business fulltime. So, with 21 years of self-employment and another 9-year cycle almost complete, I sense a shift. Tearing up more than once during our coffee date, Robin recounted his winding path and professional encounters that have brought him to where he stands today – on the precipice of change and an exciting extended offering that will enable him to develop more meaningful relationships with clients, and evolve his passion for visual brand storytelling.

Conscious consumption lies at the heart of Baed. Using only the finest quality ingredients, extensively researched to ensure that they are sustainable and ethical, every batch is made by hand making each product unique. The essential oils combined to create the Baed fragrances have the heritage and geography of the Bath, in mind. It’s where Baed was born and Helen calls home. Combining her technical creativity from 20 years as a brand designer, the commercial drive imbued by her late father, and shutting out any doubt from other members of her family, Helen has all the right personal qualities to nurture Baed into a responsible body care brand fit for the shelves of the finest stores.

Scientific studies show that the more compelling a story the more empathetic is the listener. Paul J. Zak, Ph.D discovered the behavioural effect of oxytocin and undertook a study to understand if it might motivate people to engage in cooperative behaviours. It revealed that oxytocin is the biological instrument that puts people in thrall to a story and that narratives that cause us to pay attention and involve us emotionally are the stories that move us to action. Great news for marketers looking for ways to engage emotionally with their audience. The study is evidence that people are more likely to act on emotion than logic. Less stats, more numbers please.

Fika is the Swedish practice of taking a break over coffee and pastries to relax, socialise and bond over shared experience. But it's more than a coffee break. It’s a cultural institution deeply so deeply ingrained in Swedish society that even workplaces have fika breaks that are protected by law, albeit, no longer always without a small cost. Fika reflects the Swedish ideal of slowing down to appreciate life's smaller joys and is believed to improve productivity and enhance wellbeing. In Swedish offices and factories alike, the fika break is sacrosanct. Everyone stops work at around 9:30 am, then again at 2:30 pm, for a coffee break with colleagues. Let’s have more fika.