6 March 2021|Latest Posts, Meet the Successful Founder
Helen Burgess is CEO and Founder of Little Cooks Co. Following 10 years experience in central government senior strategy roles, including Cabinet Office and No.10, Helen retrained for 3 years in nutrition in 2014 specialising in children’s health and wellbeing, and launched Little Cooks Co in 2017. Beginning on her own at her kitchen table, packing and posting each individual box, in four years she has quickly developed an established, unique brand that distributes 50,000 units per month.
Little Cooks Co is a monthly subscription based recipe kit that’s posted through the letterbox, direct to kids, in a neat 100% recyclable box with compostable packaging to empower children with the understanding of nutrition and how foods impact their lives. With 1 in 3 children leaving school obese, Helen is passionate to make a difference in as many families homes as possible, to not only bring together loved ones, but to make a change in the future health of children today.
What would you love to do share to encourage other women to start their own business?
Women make incredible founders. It is helping to shift the dial on how business is done. Before I started a business I was frequently told ‘business is brutal’, and it nearly put me off. I was worried that I’d either have to toughen up and become brutal to make it work, or not, and watch it fail. But that has not been my experience at all. Women help bring compassion and understanding into their leadership and therefore into the culture of the businesses they create. So do it to help keep shifting that dial, and to help you live your most authentic life!
What are your 5 top tips for entrepreneurial success?
Read the book Mindset by Carol Dweck – it’s game changing and helps you lean into fear rather than run away from it
Talk to people and grow your network – nearly all of the pivotal opportunities for Little Cooks Co have come from the amazing people I’ve met since starting it
Look into accelerators/mentoring – I joined the Natwest accelerator early on in my business journey and it was truly transformational in helping me understand the world of investment, build my network and professionalise the business…and it was totally free!
Collaboration over competition – I have found this to be so powerful and it helps move you from a mindset of comparing yourself to others and keeping everything close to your chest, to not fearing what others are doing and being open to learning, improving and sharing your knowledge to help others
Try not to be a perfectionist – I came from a career in Government where we risk assessed EVERYTHING! So it took a while for me to feel comfortable putting things out there that weren’t as perfect as I’d have liked. But now I absolutely love it – it makes being in business so dynamic and you never stop learning and improving. So just get your idea out there and respond to the feedback you get from it!
Who are the 5 women who inspire you the most and what are their favourite quotes/inspirational sayings?
Holly Tucker – former CEO of Not on the High Street ‘do what you love and love what you do’
Sally O’Brien – former CEO of White Stuff ‘Be kind to yourself. To give your best, you need to feel your best’
Brene Brown – ‘Vulnerability is not winning or losing. It’s having the courage to show up when you can’t control the outcome’
Fearne Cotton – ‘do what comes naturally and make that your focus, where you can be your best and do your best’
Michelle Obama – ‘Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.’
Website & Socials
Website link: www.littlecooksco.co.uk Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/littlecooksco/?hl=en Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/littlecooksco/
