mother+ meets…Emma Wykes, Founding Partner & CEO, Pollen Projects
Tell us a little about what you do and what led you here.
I’m the CEO of Pollen Projects, the non alcoholic portfolio business from Ben Branson, the founder of Seedlip. I worked with Ben at Seedlip as CEO/COO.
What does a typical day look like for you, if there is such a thing?
I wake up around 6, try and do some kind of meditation, feed my animals, check my Slack and emails, drive my 14 year old daughter, Isobel to school and then try and hit the tennis court for an hour. No day is ever the same, some days I spend the whole day talking to the team about key opportunities and challenges or I’m knee deep in investor chats or talking to people in the US about the set up of our US Sylva lab. I pick my daughter up at 4 and then work until about 7 when we have dinner and then watch TV together – we are currently rewatching Glee, All’s Fair and Schitt’s Creek.
Seedlip redefined the non-alcoholic drinks movement — one you helped to shape — and now through Pollen Projects and Sylva you’re continuing to do so. Looking back, what moments stand out the most across your journey of shaping, and reshaping, how the world drinks?
Learning how to run our business, brand and team under the frame of ‘politely, properly and at pace’. Pioneering a category is a unique experience, it allows you to be curious and brave as there is no one ahead of you and no one can hold you to the constraints of an existing category. The team was extraordinary. We got to hand pick and train the best people and everyone was so committed to the mission of changing the way the world drinks.
How has motherhood shaped how you work or how you define success?
Great question, it shapes everything. When Isobel arrived it was a great moment of really prioritising what’s important and being much more ruthless with my time and how and who I spend it with. You suddenly have the lens of not wanting to sacrifice precious time with your child. As Isobel has got older it’s dialed up my ambition. I want Isobel to be able to have a brilliant education, travel and explore the things that interest her with total confidence.
What do you wish people understood about building something from scratch?
It’s really hard and not for the faint hearted. Everyone thinks they’re an entrepreneur, but very few have the tenacity and fortitude to build a business from scratch. You have to not only work hard but also be a persistent optimist each morning!
Where do you find your energy, and what drains it?
Running around a tennis court, being with stimulating and energising people (my team and friends), learning something new are all energy boosters. Drains are people who don’t listen, negative places and people and not doing regular exercise.
What’s one decision that changed everything?
Turning down an innovation role that I’d been in a two year process with, to join Seedlip. It was the second best decision I ever made, the first was marrying my late husband.
You’ve always championed women in leadership and the power of collaboration. How do you think industries like yours can better support women to lead and thrive?
It’s allowing women to be embodied in the work place and authentic to who they are. I started work in the 90s and women basically behaved like men in the work place which was awful. There is a power in owning feminine leadership and what it means to be a woman. I think it’s simple things like highlighting when someone has created a really good idea and showing appreciation, it’s also knowing when to stretch or push someone. There are still so few women in senior roles in the drinks industry, but it’s getting a lot better.
What does balance mean to you right now?
Doing some form of daily exercise is really important for my brain. I was diagnosed with ADHD over the summer and it’s been so useful to understand more about my brain and that physical activity each day makes everything clearer. My daughter creates balance for me. She is the most important person in my life (my husband, her father sadly passed away from cancer in February this year) and now that she’s a teenager she will give me feedback and get me to focus. She also understands more about my work and appreciates what I’ve created for us as a family.
And finally, what’s one thing you’d tell other women who are trying to do both: raise a family and a business? You can’t do everything all at once. Yes you can do anything you put your mind to, but you will need support and be able to prioritise.
For more information visit www.pollenprojects.co
Quick Fire Round
● Current bedside book? Heart Talk by Cleo Wade (she’s my favourite poet).
● Go-to podcast or playlist when you need a boost? Miss Me by Miquita Oliver and Lily Allen and Good Hang with Amy Poehler. My current playlist is The Weekend and Mark Ronson.
● Favourite place to eat or drink with your daughter and without? With my daughter at Porthmeor Beach Cafe in St Ives Cornwall, with friends at Rita’s Dining Room in Soho or at my friend’s supper club Pik Nik.
● A mantra, quote or reminder you come back to? ‘When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it’ – The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho