“Our business has always been about helping women understand their bodies.”

For the past 13 years, the founders of health supplement brand Wild Nutrition have survived being scammed by distributors and nearly shutting down their business. After the global luxury goods retailer requested a visit to its rural offices, he persuaded SpaceNK to meet in London. At the time, it was a converted garden shed and had one employee.

“I never thought I wouldn’t be successful,” Henrietta Norton says. Her nutrition and “down to earth” philosophy of training the retailer’s staff to be experts in the benefits of supplements – Wild Experts as the company calls them – has paved the way for the East Sussex start-up to employ more than 100 staff. It also expects sales to exceed £40 million in 2026/27.

Ms Norton started her career in event management and continued her interest in the body and health before leaving to complete a nutrition course. At the time, she didn’t know she had endometriosis. Endometriosis is a chronic disease in which tissue similar to the endometrium grows elsewhere in the body. It affects more than 1.5 million women in the UK.

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After more than a decade of suffering, she was exhausted and weak. She was eventually diagnosed in 2004 and was told she would not be able to have children naturally. Norton, who had just met her future husband Charlie, changed her diet, became symptom-free and went on to have three children.

After writing a well-received book on endometriosis, she also worked at a Harley Street clinic and then began creating formulations for other companies to best serve their customers. Over seven years, she developed an understanding of the supplement industry and “how products should and shouldn’t be made.”

“Fifteen years ago, the supplement market was relatively small, brands were weak, and ingredients and plastic containers were cheap,” she added.

Mr Norton, who moved to East Sussex, sold his London flat as the couple raised investment from close friends and family and poured £115,000 into a capital-intensive undertaking including building a website, branding, marketing and buying shares.

Before launching in early 2013, Charlie coldly called Whole Foods. They were told that the retailer might test it in one store, but would want all the stock right away. After initially considering three products, the duo launched 11 products.

“We were learning on the job,” Charlie says, “but we had valuable mentors.” [Gareth Morris, former MD of jeweller Links of London] Helped me with the commercial side and forecasting. ”

“Our belief in this business was so strong that even things we didn’t know didn’t overwhelm us and allowed us to dive into everything,” adds Henrietta. “We never questioned our ability to learn and get it done.”

During the first two years of launch, Charlie was still fronting his own brand and design agency, while Henrietta worked as head nutritionist at London wellbeing club Grace Belgravia. In the early days, they sold a few items a month online and “felt great.”

There also seemed to be a Midas vibe to the business, as every retailer Charlie visited, whether independent or chain, formed a partnership after his presentation.

As the business grew, the couple realized they needed more cash and inventory. They wrote a business plan and met with key investors who are still connected to the company. “He said this was the quickest investment he had made at the time,” Henrietta says.

The business moved from a garden shed to offices in Lewis and had a turnover of around £130,000 in its first year of trading.

According to Charlie, when they met a Scandinavian distributor at a trade show, the distributor “promised us the world.” The pair helped him launch his brand in the area, but soon discovered he had been hoarding and was nearly £40,000 short. “It wasn’t just a loss of money; we were expecting good sales from him, but it almost killed the business,” Charlie recalls.

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It took the founders a week to find additional working capital, after which the business was back on track. Conversely, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the popular immune support sold out of its six-month allotment in two weeks. At the time, retail accounted for 70% of business over online, but that reversed after the pandemic.

Norton, who is known as one of the UK’s top nutrition experts, says “the standards haven’t changed all that much” when it comes to quality in today’s supplement market.

“There are a lot of brands that are built from a commercial engine perspective rather than expertise,” she says. “People are saturated with information, but they still don’t know what’s right for them.

“However, through social media, we are now able to give more professionals a platform to share their advice and knowledge with the world.

Wild Nutrition says its educational efforts have also been a “core founding principle” for the company’s growth.

What kept Wild Nutrition in good shape was an early foray into building brand relationships with retailers, with the Nortons hosting in-store events to train their teams, test their knowledge and give assistants Wild Expert badges to wear in-store. “We were constantly being educated on the ground,” Henrietta says.

The company has 10 in-house dietitians serving consumers and provides 1,300 free 15-minute consultations each month. Currently employing 101 staff, the couple can’t run their day-to-day operations as efficiently as they should. “We’re at a point where we can afford to bring in the best experts and experts,” Henrietta says.

The couple, who have three sons, said they have learned to “keep a sense of humor, communicate and take time apart” to maintain a work-life balance.

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“We both have very complementary skill sets,” Charlie says. “Hen is very good at seeing the big picture, and I’m a detail-oriented person. You have to have both.”

Wild Nutrition caters to both men and women. However, as Henrietta says, women can be “underserved” in certain areas, so the company always strives to provide the best support for women.

“It’s always been about helping women understand their bodies,” she added. “When a woman feels balanced and strong mentally, physically and emotionally, she becomes an incredible being.”

6 ways to live a healthy life

Let’s eat rainbows every day. Add color to your diet through fruits and vegetables. Provides natural antioxidant polyphenols and intestinal fiber needed by the immune system.

Being outdoors and exposed to green spaces has a direct impact on our immune system and brain function.

Allow for a fasting period of 13 to 16 hours and avoid eating late in the day. There is an Indian proverb that says, “When the sun sets, the cook goes home.”

Don’t buy cheap supplements. Although premium products are still manufactured and packaged in today’s market, the ingredients contained in capsules can be cheap and of low quality.

We often encourage people to reduce their intake of supplements. It’s a good idea to check in regularly, as your needs change depending on the season and stage of your life. It’s important to make sure what you’re taking is right for you.

Good quality deep sleep is very important. Our bodies repair and regenerate during deep sleep. Studies have shown that taking our magnesium supplement can provide an additional 42 minutes of deep, restful sleep.

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