Goodrays CBD: Scaling a £20M Functional Beverage with Founder Eoin Keenan

This week, I am absolutely delighted to welcome Eoin Keenan, the founder of Goodrays, to the show. Goodrays is a UK functional beverage brand that is absolutely killing it in the challenger brand space.

I loved talking to Eoin about his unique path to becoming a founder. We go right back in time to when he left university and travelled (and slept) in the back of a beat-up car in California, visiting the best hemp farms to learn how to grow the very ingredient that would become central to his brand. It’s an incredible story of commitment to the value proposition and this episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in scaling a successful challenger brand.

We talk about:

• Building a Category: What it truly takes to create a new category and why it often requires more than just one brand to make it happen.
• Incremental Value: What it means to be "incremental" to your category and how to achieve it.
• The Irish Founder Experience: The unique mix of pride and pressure that comes with being an Irish founder building a brand in the UK.
• Team and Growth: How a small, highly committed team of just 16 people is driving such incredible, industry-defining growth, and Eoin's philosophy on hiring.

I hope you get as much out of this conversation as I did!

Useful links

Connect with Eoin on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/eoin-keenan-009a8380/

Follow Goodrays on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/goodrays/

Connect with Goodrays on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/goodrays/

Goodrays website https://goodrays.uk/

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Thanks to Brand Growth Heroes’ podcast sponsor - Joelson, the commercial law firm

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If you're a founder, you already know how much of your energy goes into building the perfect product, creating standout branding and connecting with your consumers.

But don’t forget that scaling a CPG business also comes with a maze of legal complexities that can make or break your business journey. From contracts, term sheets and regulatory compliance to protecting your brand's intellectual property as you expand, it's essential to get it right.

And that starts with the right legal partner.

So we're thrilled to introduce Joelson, a leading commercial law firm that specialises in guiding the founders of scaling CPG brands, as Brand Growth Heroes' sponsor.

With long-term relationships with clients like Little Moons, Trip, Eat Natural, Bear Graze, and Pulsin, Joelson is also famous for advising the innocent founders in their landmark sale to Coca-Cola! As a female team, we are especially impressed by Joelson's commitment to championing female founders in CPG.

Not many law firms are also BCorps, nor do they specialise in helping founders navigate the legal challenges of scaling without stifling the creativity and momentum that got you here in the first place. So thanks, Joelson—we’re delighted to have you on board.

If you'd like to get in touch to find out more, why don't you drop them a line at hello@joelsonlaw.com!

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You won’t want to miss the next episode, in which Fiona Fitz talks with another successful founder of a challenger brand who shares more valuable insights into driving growth.

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Thanks to our Sound Engineer, Gyp Buggane, Ballagroove.com and podcast producer/content creator, Kathryn Watts, Social KEWS.