Uncensored CMO Podcast Summary

Episode Title: From Blog to Brand: How Ella Mills Turned Her Personal Brand into a Global Success with Deliciously Ella
Host: Jon Evans
Guest: Ella Mills (Deliciously Ella)
Date: September 3, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Jon Evans sits down with Ella Mills, the founder of the hugely successful food and wellness brand Deliciously Ella. Ella candidly shares her journey from personal health struggles and a humble blog, to building a beloved personal brand and a thriving global business. The conversation goes deep on the realities of entrepreneurship, maintaining authenticity, learning from failures, and the nuts and bolts of scaling a wellness brand in a fast-changing consumer landscape.

Tone throughout: honest, humble, insightful, and a blend of practical advice with personal anecdotes.

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. Origins: Illness to Inspiration (01:11–05:16)

• Ella’s health crisis as a university student in 2011 led her to explore diet and lifestyle changes after conventional medicine failed.
  • “I hit an absolute rock bottom with both my physical health, but my mental health as well. And then that was really where things turned around.” (03:40, Ella)
• She started a blog, Deliciously Ella, as a personal diary with no expectation of an audience.
  • “No one was really ever meant to read it, which is really ironic when we sit here today.” (04:52, Ella)
• Authenticity from the start: No financial motivation or business strategy; simply a desire to share her journey and help others.

2. Building Community Before Business (05:16–06:27)

• The blog’s organic growth was rapid, driven by authenticity and personal connection.
  • “We built a brand before we built a business and…with no kind of financial motivations, with this kind of real purity.” (05:23, Ella)
• Reaching 10,000 visits in three months and validation through real feedback from strangers.
  • “It was so validating...I felt like my life had a bit of meaning back in it.” (06:27, Ella)

3. From Blog to Bestseller: Key Tipping Points (06:27–11:10)

• Blog traffic exploded to 120 million hits in two years.
• Launched an app with minimal investment, which became #1 on the App Store with no formal marketing spend.
  • “I put it out on our email list…we launched it…and it became the number one app…which I was so naive, obviously now sitting here today…” (08:15–08:50, Ella)
• Community engagement led to a bestselling cookbook, which sold out before publication and hit #1 on Amazon—outperforming all books.
  • “It was Amazon’s biggest selling book that year. I mean, again, I look at it now and know what it means and I’m like, oh, my God.” (10:53, Ella)

4. Sudden Success and Personal Struggles (11:10–14:49)

• Ella describes feeling like a “deer in headlights” at the height of her public exposure, struggling with anxiety and lack of self-esteem.

  • “I wish I’d enjoyed it more…at the time I just felt so overwhelmed, so cripplingly anxious…” (12:37, Ella)

• Key driver of success was relentless hard work and obsession:

  • “Oh, I worked on it 24/7. I was obsessed. I mean, I have been the whole time.” (13:48, Ella)

5. Books, Advice, and Launching in a Noisy World (14:49–16:12)

• Ella’s approach to writing books: focus on genuine usefulness and tangible benefit to readers.
  • “Is it actually useful? Will this genuinely be tangible to someone’s life…and benefit it in a meaningful way?” (15:20, Ella)
• Challenges of launching new content now versus earlier days, when the market was less crowded.

6. The Accidental Business Model: Compound Growth (16:12–17:04)

• Each new initiative (blog, app, book) “funded the next stage” and let them retain control without outside investors.
  • “Each thing funded the next stage…when we launched our products, we didn’t need to raise money.” (16:32, Ella)

7. Scaling Community and Wrestling with Delegation (17:17–20:09)

• Ella responded, personally, to all messages until it became unsustainable after having kids.
  • “You have to stop. Like, it’s not sustainable…and it really, really wasn’t.” (17:54, Ella)
• Personal connection is hard to scale but contributes to the “magic” of the brand.

8. Partnerships and Building a Business with Family (21:08–24:01)

• Running the business with her husband, Matt, works due to complementary skills: Ella on brand, Matt on operations/finance.
  • “You don’t succeed having a great brand in the long run if you don’t have a great business behind it.” (22:29, Ella)
• With growth they found autonomy by dividing responsibilities.

9. From Recipes to Retail: Product Launch & Distribution (24:01–31:04)

• Starbucks became the first big retailer, thanks to brand reputation and fortuitous timing.

  • “We had an email back 15 minutes later, would love to meet you guys, can you come in next week?” (27:56, Ella)
  • “It was so surreal…Starbucks…gives you a goodie bag. Like, you were like, okay, we’re not mad to quit our jobs…there’s something in it.” (30:02, Ella)

• Challenges: Refusal from manufacturers to avoid additives; persistence paid off, and an “evangelical” focus on 100% natural, no compromises.

  • “We are building a genuinely 100% natural brand and we will never compromise on that.” (32:28, Ella)

10. Failure, Resilience, and Learning in Public (34:43–39:59)

• Early product failures—oat bars flopped in Tesco, but after reformulation became their #1 seller.
  • “We made 25 million of them last year.” (34:43, Ella)
• Closing their cafes was strategically essential—media painted it as failure.
  • “It was a really conscious decision to choose one side of the business…and the press had this field day with it…” (38:17–38:57, Ella)
  • “It felt like people were taking in a failure that wasn’t really a failure, and it put us on the back foot.” (39:56, Ella)

11. Funding, Frugality, and Marketing Lessons (41:27–44:13)

• No outside capital kept growth disciplined and forced focus on profitability.
  • “We had to live within our means…if it’s not profitable, we can’t do it.” (41:27, Ella)
• On marketing spend:
  • “I think there can be a bit of fluff in it…some of those things pay off but I think a huge amount of them don’t.” (43:55, Ella)
• Building a loyal audience through direct channels, not just paid ads.

12. Retail Reality and Consumer Behavior Insights (44:13–48:52)

• The moment of truth is rate of sale—success or failure is clear fast.
  • “What we've done incredibly well is you've built your own media channel.” (44:13, Jon)
• Most successful products are classic flavors, with innovation around ingredients, not wild new concepts.
  • Referencing a “80% familiar, 20% new” innovation model (48:05, Jon)

13. Staying On Brand & Avoiding Trends (49:34–54:27)

• Brand longevity came from sticking to core values despite pressure to chase fads (e.g., meat mimics in plant-based foods).
  • “We were right time, right place and we threw everything at it.” (49:34, Ella)

14. Expansion, Exit, and Future Plans (49:56–54:41)

• Recently sold Deliciously Ella, spun out a new brand, and acquired “All Plants.”
  • “You’re not going to take some time off and sit on a beach somewhere?” (50:10, Jon)
  • “Not yet. Not at the moment.” (50:13, Ella)
• Committed to making natural, healthy food easy and accessible—anti-fad, pro-simplicity.

15. The Wellness Information Abyss & The Deliciously Ella Podcast (56:41–end)

• Frustration at the gap between wellness industry trends and real, sustainable habit change.
  • “99 plus percent of the UK population know they should eat their five a day…the most recent research…shows 1 in 5 manage it.” (56:41, Ella)
• Podcast aims to cut through misinformation and provide nuanced, practical advice with nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert.
  • “Almost 98% of the information, nutritional information on social media…is either misleading or wrong.” (58:30, Ella)
  • “Nuance doesn’t have virality…eat a few more vegetables, but don’t worry if you eat a Mars bar—it doesn’t have virality.” (59:02, Ella)
• Podcasts as an antidote to clickbait, offering space for complexity and authentic discussion.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “We built a brand before we built a business and…with no kind of financial motivations, with this kind of real purity.” (05:23, Ella)
• “I was so kind of desperate to spread the word, to help people, to have this positive impact on the, on the food landscape…I so wanted it.” (13:48, Ella)
• “Is it actually useful? Will this genuinely be tangible to someone’s life…and benefit it in a meaningful way?” (15:20, Ella)
• “You don’t succeed having a great brand in the long run if you don’t have a great business behind it.” (22:29, Ella)
• “We are building a genuinely 100% natural brand and we will never compromise on that.” (32:28, Ella)
• “It felt like people were taking in a failure that wasn’t really a failure, and it put us on the back foot.” (39:56, Ella)
• “Nuance doesn’t have virality…eat a few more vegetables, but don’t worry if you eat a Mars bar—it doesn’t have virality.” (59:02, Ella)

Guiding Takeaways for Entrepreneurs & Marketers

• Authenticity and mission are powerful foundation stones—start with genuine value, not a business plan.
• Audience first, product second: Build community, then extend into products and services organically.
• Relentless personal engagement is magical but unsustainable; learn where to let go.
• Failures are inevitable, and not always as public as the press makes them—pivot quickly and strategically.
• Control your brand and funding for agility and focus.
• Ignoring fads and doubling down on core values builds longevity.
• Real success in FMCG is driven on the shelf, not just in the marketing plan—if it doesn’t sell, nothing else matters.
• Resist the noise; practical, helpful content wins loyalty over flashy short-term viral trends.

Key Moments (Timestamps)

• Personal illness and blog origin: 01:11–05:16
• First viral blog/app moments: 06:27–11:10
• Book launch & mainstream breakthrough: 08:40–11:10
• Early product failures and resilience: 34:43–39:59
• Media backlash and closing cafes: 38:17–39:56
• Starbucks win and manufacturing challenges: 24:55–32:49
• Approach to innovation and flavor: 46:11–48:52
• The reality of plant-based trends: 52:53–54:27
• On the wellness information gap: 56:41–59:27

Final Note

Ella Mills’ story is a rare blend of courage, authenticity, relentless hard work, and cool-headed pragmatism. Her journey from writing a blog for her mum to heading a global wellness brand is proof that brand trust and loyal communities are the strongest fuel for business success—and that the truest brands often come from a place of personal need and a desire to help. Ella doesn’t hold back on failures, self-doubt, or the awkward reality behind the headlines, making this conversation a masterclass for founders, marketers, and anyone who wants to build something both meaningful and long-lasting.