The Unstoppable Spirit of a Founder with Childs Farm’s Joanna Jensen
Welcome to a special episode of the podcast celebrating the launch of my new book, You’ve Got This!
On this episode, I share the chat I had with with the incredible Joanna Jensen, a true force of nature and the founder of Childs Farm. Joanna transitioned from the world of property and investment banking to build a leading baby and child toiletries company, all sparked by her own struggle to find something that would soothe her daughter’s eczema. The growth of Childs Farm was amazing and ultimately led to her selling the brand. This doesn’t mean that Joanna has left the business world behind, far from it! Now she’s supporting other female founders, investing in brands she loves, and plenty more besides.
Confidence and self belief
I started our chat by exploring some of the themes present in You’ve Got This, particularly around confidence and self-belief. Building a business, especially one that scales as dramatically as Childs Farm did – from a kitchen table to a market leader – requires a lot of both! Joanna firmly believes that not everyone can be an entrepreneur and says it requires a specific mindset and appetite for risk. It also requires a LOT of confidence, and as Joanna has observed across countless founders, this often stems from a deep resilience and strength of character, a fundamental ‘I can do anything’ self-belief. She shared a powerful quote from Walt Disney: “If you can dream it, you can do it,” emphasising the power of the mind.
Born or made?
Joanna feels this inherent belief was something she was almost born with, perhaps nurtured through a childhood where critique outweighed praise. This environment instilled a drive to keep going until things were right and recognition was earned. It’s a pattern she’s noticed in many founders who have overcome difficult circumstances, realising early on that they have to rely on themselves.
Coping with curveballs
We all know that the entrepreneurial journey has many twists and turns, and Joanna also shared the curveballs along her path, and also how these, sometimes, made her question whether or not she should be doing what she was. I asked Joanna how she navigated those moments of uncertainty, especially when building a business like Childs Farm. Her answer was simple – endless, shameless questioning. She actively sought out people who had done things before, becoming a sponge so she could understand every aspect of her business. She even joked about being on first-name terms with the Sage helpdesk! This relentless pursuit of this knowledge was key for Joanna and her success.
Fear of failure
Many founders have the fear of failure, and Joanna is no different. In fact, she said she was fundamentally terrified the entire time she was building Childs Farm. This wasn’t due to a lack of belief in her or her team’s capabilities, but the responsibility she felt as she a single parent with no financial safety net.
As the business grew, this fear morphed into a terror of dropping the ‘gorgeous China vase’ she had created, a fear of some external event derailing their hard-won success. Interestingly, the day the final bids for the company came in coincided with the invasion of Ukraine, a stark reminder of how unforeseen global events can impact the most carefully laid plans. Joanna’s reaction, however, was a rallying cry to the team to push through with determination. This ability to overcome doubt, rooted in the knowledge of their hard work and the integrity of their business, ultimately saw them through.
Overwhelmed by big goals?
Finally, we discussed the overwhelming nature of big goals. Joanna’s perspective was that having a big vision actually made it easier for her. It provided the ‘why’, and the ‘how’ then became about finding the right people for each role.
You can find out more about Joanna Jensen and her work at joannajensen.co.uk and on Instagram @joannajensenofficial. And if you haven’t yet, please do check out You’ve Got This – you can find it by searching online or in all good bookshops.
