40 Minute Mentor

November 22, 2023

Replay: Tessa Clarke – Sharing more and wasting less with Olio

Did you know that roughly one third of the world’s food is wasted?

Meanwhile, 1 in 9 people on our planet are either starving or malnourished…

This is something today’s 40 Minute Mentor is on a mission to change.

In today’s replay episode, we’re joined by Tessa Clarke, the Co-Founder and CEO of the popular sharing app, Olio. Tessa’s career has taken her down many paths, including consulting and publishing to MD of eCommerce at Dyson.

We first shared this episode three years ago, and the message is as important as ever, if not more so.

“Globally, a third of all the food we produce each year gets thrown away. Meanwhile, 800 million people go to bed hungry, who could be fed with a quarter of the food we waste in the Western world.”

Tessa Clarke

Tune in to discover

Pivoting from consulting to Startup Founder [02:30]

Creating your path in consulting [05:06]

Transitioning from consulting to industry [06:40]

The excitement of feeling the fear in new roles [08:15]

Taking Dyson on a digital journey [09:14]

Leadership lessons from James Dyson [12:53]

The importance of surrounding yourself with people who will challenge you [14:06]

Building a mission-driven career plan, Tessa’s journey to entrepreneurship [15:20]

The lightbulb moment that started Olio’s journey [17:08]

Tackling the food waste pandemic [18:19]

Ambassadors helping you scale your mission-driven business [19:45]

We are ‘theoretically more connected’ but more lonely – a focus on community [23:21]

Championing diversity and prioritising at the board level [24:34]

Advice for diverse Founders tackling biassed questions in fundraising [27:28]

Recruiting from your community to tackle the hiring challenge [30:05]

Top tips: How we can all contribute to combat the global food waste problem [32:54]

Finding mentorship organically and learning from your peers [35:55]

Listen on

Helpful links

➡️ Connect with Tessa Clarke: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tecook/
➡️ Find out more about Olio: https://olioapp.com/en/
➡️ Check out Tessa’s ‘Where Are They Now’ episode: https://jbmc.co.uk/insights/40-minute-mentor/tessa-clarke-scaling-olio/

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