WHY NOT NOW! S1E4 with special guest Juliet Barratt: Building Grenade from £500 to a £200 Million...

Four years without a salary. A tank driven into the NEC. A £200 million exit. And a feeling nobody had prepared her for. This week on WHY NOT NOW!, Emma Elston MBE and Chloe Everton sit down with Juliet Barratt, co-founder of Grenade, to talk about building a globally recognised brand — and why selling it felt more like grief than celebration. Juliet shares the reality behind the success: years spent learning the industry, bold packaging, relentless work, break-ins and the pressure of private equity. There was no overnight breakthrough. There were plenty of days when she just had to keep going. She also opens up about working with her husband, navigating their separation while running the business, and finding her identity again after stepping away from something that had consumed her life for 14 years. Honest, funny and full of lessons you won’t find in a business textbook. IN THIS EPISODE • How a small distribution business laid the foundations for Grenade. • The story behind the name and its distinctive packaging. • Why taking a tank to a trade show made perfect marketing sense. • Four years without a salary — and the myth of easy entrepreneurship. • Marriage, separation and running a business together. • Private equity, selling up and the emotional reality of an exit. • Finding purpose again through new businesses, charity work and dogs. CHAPTERS 00:00 — The hidden downside of a successful exit 02:24 — Meet Juliet Barratt, co-founder of Grenade 03:21 — From teaching to meeting co-founder Al 04:31 — Learning the ropes through distribution 04:58 — Launching Grenade 06:21 — How Grenade got its name 07:18 — Standing out in sports nutrition 08:34 — Branding, marketing and attention to detail 10:01 — The grenade-shaped packaging: a blessing and a risk 10:30 — Taking a tank to Body Power 11:54 — Knowing the business was onto something 12:53 — Being a woman in a male-dominated industry 14:45 — Private equity pressure and break-ins 16:35 — The myth of the easy entrepreneur story 17:01 — Four years without a salary 18:55 — Why timing mattered 20:43 — Marriage, trust and working together 22:07 — Separating while running the business 24:08 — From building a business to selling it 26:32 — Losing your identity after an exit 28:55 — Why the sale felt anticlimactic 29:20 — What Juliet is most proud of 30:42 — Life after Grenade 32:32 — Can entrepreneurship be taught? 33:02 — Red tape, timing and opportunity 35:19 — The quick-fire round 39:00 — Juliet’s dream dinner party “It was like grieving. You're grieving something that's been 24-7 for the last 14 years.” — Juliet Barratt WATCH, LISTEN & GET INVOLVED Watch WHY NOT NOW! on YouTube or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed this conversation, leave us a review and share it with someone building their own business — or wondering what comes next. Follow us on Instagram: @whynotnowofficial What’s your WHY NOT NOW moment? REAL PEOPLE. REAL STORIES. REAL CHANGE.