Bethan Wallace Higson, Founder and CEO at Mother Root: Setting Up For Success Whilst Juggling Life And Business

Bethan Wallace Hickson is the CEO and Founder of  Mother Root. She spent 10 years working in the wine and luxury spirits industry. When she was pregnant with her first child, she saw how real the need was for something special for non-drinkers.

"Mother Root is the alcohol-free aperitif redefining drinking for pleasure. We believe flavour comes first and that alcohol has nothing to do with it."

In this  conversation, Jonny delves into Bethan's entrepreneurial journey, tracing her path from culinary enthusiast to  business owner. With captivating anecdotes and hard-won wisdom, Bethan shares the highs, lows, and pivotal moments that shaped her into the leader she is today.

Discover how Bethan transformed her passion for flavour into a thriving business, overcoming obstacles with resilience and determination. From crafting the perfect recipe to securing funding and scaling operations, Bethan offers invaluable lessons on juggling a business and celebrating success, all whilst navigating parenthood.

Transcript

So, uh, for anybody who's watching this and doesn't know who Bethan is, Bethan Wallace Hickson is the founder and CEO, and I've written down flavor queen 

of, 

of Mother Root. And, uh, and I'll allow, uh, uh, Bethan, I'll allow you to describe what Mother Root is in a second, but I highly encourage everybody to buy Mother Root.

It is incredible. There is a link in the description. It is the most delicious non alcoholic drink Um, it blows my mind and it is a firm favorite in our household and Bethan, Saskia has just bought loads of is it grapefruit for the new recipe?

uh to To come in the shop So, looking forward to it. Um, so, first of all, could you please Bethan, describe what Mother [00:01:00] Root is to us?

Yeah, of course. Well, Mother Root is an alcohol free aperitif that is designed to be full of flavor and strong, and it's made with ingredients that are natural and happen to have additional benefits. So it tastes good and it makes you feel good as well. But it's really for those moments. where, you know, the end of the day ritual of pouring yourself a drink of something delicious is really important.

It's, it's a way of giving yourself something back. Um, and it's something in our culture, many cultures around the world that's so associated with alcohol. Um, but it doesn't need to be, I think it's all about just being a really delicious drink. And so what we're looking to do with Mother Root is provide an alternative.

It's not trying to replicate an alcohol, but that's just that delicious drink for that time of day moment.

And how did you uh, discover it, or invent it? What was the process? When,

So, it's an interesting one, because it's been a long time coming, we are still a [00:02:00] new business ish. I feel like we're really just finding our feet, but we're five years old, but I actually started making drinks like Mother Root, um, through pregnancy. I'm an absolute drinks nerd, and worked for about ten years.

Plus in actually the wines and spirits business before starting to kind of explore how to make non-alcoholic drinks. But I think the two are really closely related because, um, yeah, I just love flavor. I love what I kind of, that, that moment of coming together around a drink, sharing, um, relaxing, um, yeah, community history, all the kind of romance that surround drinking.

And it was actually only in pregnancy that I realised for the first time that. There was just all of that stuff that I loved, that romance, that wasn't applicable to non alcoholic drinks. I was hit with the same drinks that you have all day long. Coffee, tea, water, juice. And then the evening comes, and there was just this massive gap.

And so, I started eight [00:03:00] years ago to, with my first pregnancy, lovely Fred, who's now seven, to just experiment for myself, um, and the kernel of the idea was born then, but, um, Not really. I didn't think I would kind of, you know, turn it into a business, you know, for a number of reasons, because non alcoholic drinks, um, I mean, the category back eight years ago wasn't what it is today.

Um, and it was quite an innovative, quite, you know, bold, pioneering, you know, different kind of product to anything that was out there. And I guess it still is now, but it's almost like categories grown and matured enough for this to be like. People are into exploring more unusual drinks, drinks that kind of push the boundaries of like flavor, and people are excited to discover more.

But yeah, um, yeah, so eight years, I guess, is really the length of time that we've been going, but I feel like now we've just kind of gotten to our stride.

when you, [00:04:00] when you first came across the recipe that you, you now have as your sort of foundation drink, um, was it a eureka moment? Was it like, yes, now I'm going to set up a business, I'm going to explore this business? This is a burgeoning category of non alcoholic drinks.

Um, Sort of. I said a kernel, so I was like, excited by what I discovered, so the, the moment really came. I love, I'd worked for a long time in champagne and, and uh, wine mostly, and I love the really fresh, high acid drinks, like, yeah, well champagne is, is the classic one. Very fresh, very high acidity, but also let's say Riesling, Sauvignon from Noir, cool climate white wines, German wines, and so that like, I feel like acidity is something that, Just to get a bit nerdy on the drink stuff, acidity is like the backbone.

It's what carries flavor. Um, it's what, you know, pulls a lot of disparate flavors together in a drink. And in the soft drink space, it was just kind of citric acid. Um, [00:05:00] uh, that. Citric or malic acid. So like the, like citrus juice acid or like the apple juice acid that really is used and they're very simple.

Whereas I discovered vinegars and that was strange to me because, you know, throughout my wine career, vinegar was a fault. So I came across this article about in the New York times about New York bartenders using it as an. As a different kind of acid to kind of flavor their drinks and it, you know, opened up this whole spectrum of more flavors that were possible and I, that was like the beginning of me kind of exploring what I could do with vinegars to bring that sort of.

Flavor complexity and acidity to non alcoholic drinks, and that was the Eureka moment, like I started to explore it from there. I was like, this is so interesting. Um, You know and I go down a bit of a rabbit hole and I realized that vinegar is like the third seasoning You know if we've got salt and pepper vinegar is the [00:06:00] third one and there's loads of chefs that speak to that Um, I mean René Redzepi from Noma He's got his book on fermentation and there's a whole chapter dedicated to vinegar and they it like with the subtitle of vinegar enhances practically anything and like I'm a firm believer now.

Um, so yeah, I just kind of explored that and I didn't invent the switchel. The switchel is this really, really old drink. Um, and it's a vinegar based drink and, and, you know, vinegar has this hugely long history that goes back to, you know, ancient Egypt and ancient Greece. That is. You know, um, follows the, it's like, what's the word, is it synonymous or like it follows the same track as alcohol because it's a byproduct of alcohol.

So wherever there was alcohol, there was vinegar and it was used for tonics and remedies, but also as a flavorful drink to be able to preserve all the amazing fresh ingredients. of the day and seasonality and it's only in the west and only in like the turn of the 20th century that we sort of lost it in preference for [00:07:00] refrigeration and sugars that became more widely available but like we're rediscovering it now with all the interest in you know fermentation, gut health, natural based products and also kind of getting used to that more complex flavor profile there's this real um rediscovery of it.

So I took that recipe and applied some of the more refined wine aperitif making techniques to kind of make it suitable for today's drinking needs. 

It's really interesting hearing you talk about it all, right? Because you're so obviously passionate about, obviously, Mother Root, but flavours and the history and the, the, um, evolution of it all. Did, did it just seem like a natural step to then take it into a business?

I think it was, um, I think it, I'd been talking about it. I think I saw the opportunity quite early on, but I didn't see myself as the person who was going to necessarily go and do it. I [00:08:00] don't actually know why I didn't see myself. I think maybe it was a confidence thing that I'd never kind of pictured myself as being an entrepreneur.

It wasn't like I went out there being like, you know, I'm looking for the next business idea. Not at all. Um, but I've always been pretty creative and Um, you know, I like to be able to put my ideas into action and I had, I had previously in like normal jobs gotten a bit frustrated when, you know, I'd thought about all these things and wanted to get them going and for one reason or another, you know, wasn't able to.

So there's definitely, I saw this opportunity and it excited me, um, but it did take sort of three years from like that first. Exploration into it to actually launching the business and I think that was because I wasn't necessarily putting my myself in that place or seeing myself as the person who would do it.

I also, even though I had no idea about what was involved in running a business, had an [00:09:00] instinct and an innate understanding that it was going to be bloody hard and I wasn't sure if I could handle it. So I was scared to get it going because. Fear of the unknown, fear, everyone says fear of failure, it was more like fear of success because I'm, I'm a hundred percent all in person and I know that I struggle and I still do struggle with balance, like how do you like, I'm excited and I love what I do and there's always more to do, but there's also like everything else that is in my life that's super important.

So like giving, like sustainably being able to do both is really hard. And I kind of. Even though I had no idea, I kind of sensed that that was going to come around the corner. Um, so that, that delayed it a little bit. Um, But, but no, I, yeah, and also peer pressure because every, I had started to talk to people about this drink and, and started to take, like, share it with people and every, you know, it was one of those going around to friends houses and people being like, so Bethan, what about this business [00:10:00] idea?

And it'd become a bit awkward. So it was either I was going to do it or not. I had to make a decision. So I took the jump. Yeah, decided to go ahead. Try to

I connect with that. So, so deeply, you know, certainly as a sort of first time entrepreneur. And I remember also. I remember so clearly, I had this experience, a bit like you're, you're going around with, uh, um, with, with, with the, the origin of Mother Root to your mates, being like, hey, this is good, I'm going to turn it into a business.

I remember when we had our first child, Noa, going to NCT and meeting some people who are now dear friends for the first time, and they say, oh, what do you do? And at the time, I was an actor, right? And they're saying, what do you do? I said, Oh, uh, I've got a communications agency. I didn't even know what that bloody meant.

And I thought, Oh my God, now I've said it. I have to do it. I have to do something. Uh, uh, and I'm such a big proponent [00:11:00] of vocalizing or making something public to hold yourself to account. Uh, because, like you, I get so frustrated with talk and no action, it drives me bananas. Um, so, as you said, you created the, the drink that, using switchel, the switchel, Three years of sort of trying to work it out and now what five years of it being a going concern

work out how you then build it.

If you were going to look at Bethan, who had just had Fred, uh, and, and had been like, oh, I'm gonna start this business. It's so delicious. What advice would you give her?

um, that's a good question because I think I've thought about that. I feel like I've learned so much in the last [00:12:00] five years, but there's a few key things that are recurring themes. Um, and the main one is to have, trust my own instincts that, um, and have, and be more confident in yourself. Because I think a lot of the moments over the last five years where I have wasted time or money, it's been actually at the core of it, through a lack of confidence, and wanting to seek reassurance, and get advice from other people, like, self doubt has made me sort of go and check over here and check over there and get someone else involved, or, whereas things could have gone much faster, and, and if I'd, if I'd just kind of gone out and And done it my way or listen to my instinct when it was telling me ultimately the right thing.

Um, yeah. But I think that is always easy with hindsight. But I think, I think over the last [00:13:00] five years, it is, those are the recurring themes. So I actually, one of my resolutions for this year was to trust my instinct. Because obviously at each new stage of the business, you're encountering challenges for the first time, which are, which are growth moments.

And there will be. There's probably still within me that, that like lack of confidence in those moments where I will probably want to then go and seek guidance and reassurance from other people. And of course, like little bits of that is okay, but not, not too much so that it slows you down or makes you, you kind of second guess, because ultimately, you know, your business.

better than anyone else. Um, a decision is like, decision made is like the right decision because it's just like what the best you can, like, the best that you can do on that decision is also another key thing that I've made, like, learned. So just kind of getting more used to making decisions quickly being the best way and that they won't all turn out to be the Like, [00:14:00] necessarily the right ones, but it's the right one because it's a quick one and, you know, just do your best with it and, like, carry on.

Um, I think is, is some of the key things, yeah, that I've learned.

Do you think that your confidence has grown because of having to, uh, get used to or have a comfort out of your being not in your comfort zone?

Definitely,

being stretched made you, made your confidence grow?

Mm hmm, definitely. I mean, within that, it's like a wiggly line because you feel when you're in the heat of it really low in confidence, like, I have no idea what I'm doing, but then on the other side of it it's, that's when you feel like, whoa, another foot taller.

Yeah.

Whilst you're there, you're like, shh, [00:15:00] do I really have a clue what I'm doing?

Why am I here? Other people would be doing this so much quicker. You know, you've been here before, but then, you know, a lot of self talk, hurry up, just crack on, you know, there's a lot of that.

How do you quieten the self talk, the negative self talk?

Um, It's a good question. I'm not sure I have any particular strategy, and usually it's just the momentum that, you know, decisions have to be made, there's, um, so you just can kind of move on, there's pressure, you get through, um, but it's, uh, but, you know, it's the people around me that help. Um, I've got a really good team where I can now share because I'm the sole founder and that's been hard, not, you know, basically having to make decisions on my own.

But now I've got really trusted relationships where I don't have to do it all on my own. You know, I really feel like I've got, can push some things to other people and I [00:16:00] trust them in, in so much that it's kind of on, you know, their decision and it's a more shared burden. Um, but also. It becomes more exciting that way as well, because it's, it's, um, it seems more like an experiment, like, let's test, let's try it, let's see, and, you know, if it fails, that's fine.

And, you know, we'll just move on. So it's, it's definitely people related. And then, um, you know, just, Looking after my health, I think, is actually really key. Like, getting, trying to get enough sleep. And of course, like, when, when times are really difficult, sleep is difficult, too, because I think, you know, get, having that, like, middle of the night, two hour wake up where you can't, because of anxiety, and you're scared about your, like, your cash flow, and, um, just, Yeah, it's usually cash related, to be honest.

Um, you know, uh, or if you're about to make a big call and it was going to cost a [00:17:00] lot of money, you're like, is this the right thing? I have no idea. Um, that is difficult. So what I try and do to avoid it is, um, well, I'm doing dry January. No surprise, really, it's in my category, but I am not teetotal. Um, I massively don't drink very much, but I I find that even, you know, when things are particularly stressful, just cutting out alcohol completely is so helpful.

Primarily because it means that I have better sleep, like, better quality of sleep, even if there might be the odd moment, the odd time when it's stressful and I'm waking up. At least, like, the quality of the sleep I have had is better. Um, and then that removes that layer of anxiety that might come up from time to time.

Yeah, and then, um, I'm not very good, oh sorry it's a bit noisy, not very good at, um, at doing enough movement and getting out there, but, you know, at least a walk or some time out in fresh air is really important [00:18:00] too, so those are the kind of key things.

How do you do that? Because I was going to ask you about rest, and how do you prioritise rest. Something I'm rubbish at is rest. Uh, and more importantly, the quality of it. The quality of my rest is horrific. Because either you're parenting, or you're working, or you're not sleeping, because you're thinking about both of those things.

Yeah,

It's generally about work. And one of my big, um, things I really want to start prioritising this year is Is the quality of my rest and that includes exercise and sleep and Definitely not drinking, uh, much, and stuff, and obviously drinking loads of Mother Root. Uh, um, how, how do you, how do you prioritize it?[00:19:00] 

um, I think I'm not good at it. I'm like you. I'm not good at it. I think that kind of sleep I try and be Realistic with the things that I can do and this is going to sound weird and because it's not it's actually waking up earlier, but what I have chosen to do is Get, getting up half an hour earlier than what I would do.

So half an hour before the kids, and that, I mean, I, my kids are now seven and four, so I don't have that hellish time where they're waking up in the middle of the night, because I wouldn't have been able to do that before, or like, 5am. They actually sleep until seven, and I think for the last year or so, I've just been like, whoa, this is great, I'm gonna max that out, I'm gonna sleep until seven, I'm gonna get up with them, get the most sleep I can.

But actually, then, you're waking up with them, You're, like, busy running around getting them ready for school, getting their breakfast, and, and from the word, from, like, the moment that's go, [00:20:00] you're busy, busy, busy, then you get into work, and you're busy, busy, busy, and you go home, you do bedtime, and it's like, where was that peaceful time that's just a quiet time that wasn't rushed?

And so, just for the last week or so, um, I've been getting up half an hour before the kids, which was hard, that was a really difficult thing to do, because I do love A little lie in, um, but it's been so nice because it's quiet and I can think and, and it, that's, that's a different form of rest. I think it's a rest for my brain.

That's like, I'm, it's not, I'm not meditating or anything. I'm thinking maybe if I've, once I get used to this, I might just see what the extra half an hour brings me. Um, I haven't given it any thought. plan that I'm going to meditate or I'm going to do yoga or I'm going to do whatever, just getting up half an hour and then let's see what comes to me and what I can make happen.

I've, I think I've just tried to be more realistic with the kind of goal setting and, um, [00:21:00] one thing at a time, uh, start small, like the, the You know, they say, like, habits can be formed by kind of going for the lowest, like, what is, what is the phrase, you know, the lowest, uh, the path of least resistance, you know, so, that I can do, half an hour earlier, that I can do, so I start doing that, and then let's see what happens from there, um.

Whether it's a run in the morning. I mean, I have been known to do that maybe a couple of years ago. Um, so if those are the, the that or meditation or just something like that, which I would love to be able to start doing, if that can be an outcome further down the line, I'd be delighted. He

Do you know what though, that half hour, I'm so jealous of it, and obviously mine's, my youngest is still awake, I was up with him for an hour last night, and whatever, I don't know.

but

But having half an hour of my [00:22:00] day that hasn't, that doesn't have expectation to it, like It's so, oh my god, it feels so dreamy, like, oh my god. It feels like such a gift, such a kindness everyone's, so just make a coffee and idly read the papers or something like that. Oh my god,

Yeah.

good, quite

a good throughout the day, but I know it's not, I know it's not feasible for everybody. Because I've been there when it hasn't, you know, it's only It feels like it's only kind of come into possibility in the last year or so, although I was unaware. I wasn't thinking of it like that until now, um, but yeah.

So, it's been a week. I'm enjoying it. I hope to continue it.

And it sort of relates to my next question. As, as not only a founder, but as a CEO, um, with grand ambitions for Mother Root, [00:23:00] how What are you setting up this year for success, right? And I mean that as an individual and as a business owner.

Um, this year, we're so excited. We've actually made some plans. I feel like I've got my core team that's in place. Um, um, I think the first, first things first is making sure that they Are excited and in, and motivated. And so setting them up with like everything that they need, but also the incentives for them to feel really like part of this.

And we're building this together. And I guess my job from the CEO perspective is also like making sure that I'm continually like expressing the big vision because I think that's super exciting. [00:24:00] Like whilst we can be bogged down with the day to day. Like being like, guys, we are on the path and actually it's, it's not this huge, big, scary, well, it's scary, but it's, it's achievable.

It's like, we are actually doing something and you guys are doing something and you know, it makes it feel like within reach. And I think that's quite motivating, but also, you know, whether, whether it's kind of ensuring that they have the like sharers within the business as well. So they're actually part of it.

So I've been. Bringing all of that stuff forward, which is not outside of my like knowledge, you know, making sure I've got the legal set up, like all the practical stuff set up so that I can communicate really clearly to the team, like on that side of things. Um, so that's a big learning for me, , um, that that is a massive priority.

And then, um, we're going to be fundraising as well because now I feel like we're, [00:25:00] we're, we know what's what and we are ready to scale, I mean, we, we've had the most incredible last six months and we're, we kind of want to boil, pour oil on that a little bit, and And we've got lots of plans for that. So the first, the first part of this year is as a, as a founder, as a CEO is about like making sure my team, um, is looked after and getting money in the business so that we can crack on with the great ideas that we've had.

And, um, yeah, and then. Stop, uh, yeah, the fundraising planning bit takes me out of the business so much. I want to get back into like where I'm best and, um, speaking about our drinks, making new drinks, um, being kind of the outward facing person at the moment. I've been spending a lot of time with spreadsheets and, um, the fundraise will help.

Just make sure the right people are doing that and it's not so much me in the business and I'm out where I need to be. Out of

Do you find it, um, [00:26:00] uncomfortable being out of the business or, or do you prefer keeping your hands on them?

that's a really good question. I love being outward facing and talking to other people about what we're doing and I, um, Yeah, things like this or speaking on panels or talking to customers, we talk to our, our, you know, direct to consumer customers all the time and I absolutely love it. Um, but because obviously this is a business that is mostly grown like organically, you know, slowly and we figured it out.

I've been very central in all of that. You know, last five years, and it's getting to the point where I, I mean, I can't and I don't want, it doesn't make sense for me to kind of manage all the elements. So. It's a definite learning for me about like finding the people you trust, the people who are like, and you can't, [00:27:00] it's hard to, or at least because I'm first time founder, and I've never been in a CEO role before, like kind of codify what that means.

But I think it's people who have the like, right energy initiative, and they are really have their commercial head start. Like screwed on because they know at this stage of, uh, startup, I mean, it probably makes sense for all businesses, but particularly you're in like, it's scrappy, it's, you've got to think always scrappy, like as much as, you know, it's important to do the, do things well and do things right.

We're not a big corporate, we don't have loads of budgets, so you've got to also think like bootstrap mentality, like what can we do for like no budget, um, be really creative, and so finding the people who have that kind of personality, um, has meant That I can then, I have identified, like, that's the [00:28:00] type of person I need, and they're like, brains operate in that way.

And I feel more comfortable to then pass things on, you know, so that there's not going to be any stagnation. They're going to be able to like, um, drive things forward in their own way. And then that means that I can focus more on the areas where I bring value, hopefully, um, which is kind of pushing things forward.

And where are we going in big vision? And, um, and The brand because that that's what sort of I created and making sure that down the line when we have Um, hopefully a space to have, you know, a brand manager that you know I've codified that aspect of the business enough for it's not just Not everything has to come up to me at the moment.

It still does. We're a team of three Um, but you know, hopefully with what we've got around the corner, you know Things that's going to have to change, uh, be a bigger team and have kind [00:29:00] of what the brand stands for written down a little bit more clearly so that other people can get a sense of that's right from other route that, you know, and it not have to be checked with me. that's, that's the real challenging phase that we're in at the moment that all businesses go through. Um, uh, when it, when you're having to let go of the reins and. Um, but, but at the same time, we're still a small team. And even, even, um, even in the next couple of years or so, we, you know, we're not going to be like a vast.

Number of people. So it's, I think there is, you don't want to put too many processes in. I think we can, it's still at this nice, very instinctive, you know, verbal understanding of what we are and we're together and we talk and, um, and that's enough. I think there's, I think we can get quite far by just hiring [00:30:00] people who have that innate understanding of what we are.

Um, But obviously, as we scale, I'm aware that then we have to like, yeah, that codification of it is important. So we'll do enough to get us to the next level, I think.

You're going to nail it. That's what you're going to do. Bethan, thank you so much. I've really enjoyed, uh, this conversation. If there are any, uh, suitable investors listening, I urge you to contact Bethan.

we are.

Incredible entrepreneur, incredibly passionate, uh, and has created such an amazing product. So, um, delicious.

Um, we wish you all the best of luck. in 2024 and beyond. So thank you.

Thank you, Johnny. Same to you. Happy [00:31:00] 24. Let's get at it.