“I set up on my own, on a shoestring budget, everything held together by gaffer tape and a second-hand coffee machine. In the early days, it was super slow, there was nobody coming in. The local community said, ‘this is another coffee shop we don’t need’. There were testing times. There were days when I took zero, as in, I didn’t have a single customer.”

This week’s episode of Hindsight is with Jens Knoops, founder of Knoops. After spotting a gap in the market for quality chocolate drinks, he used his creative vision to build a global brand. Monetary pursuit wasn’t the main goal instead, by drawing on his background in photography and following his passion, Jens built something unique that others saw potential in really early on.

His creativity fuelled resilience, and his deep customer-centric model has led to a hugely successful story including completing a £5 million pound funding round. Jens shares why trusting your vision and embracing the slow and steady grind is key to long-term success. And why, without his own passion and drive, it simply wouldn’t have been a successful business.

Such an honest and inspiring conversation, one of my favourites yet. I hope you enjoy it.