We’ve just come off a stretch that felt like a lot happening all at once. The kind of few weeks where you’re bouncing between press, events, good days, confusing days, and the occasional “why did we not think of that earlier” moment.
So here’s a slightly more honest Whey-In from All The Aunties HQ.
The women behind All The Aunties
The past couple of weeks have been full of International Women’s Day events.
There’s something about being in rooms full of women building things – sharing stories, being generous with time, backing each other properly – that makes really fills the cup up!
Because the reality is, All The Aunties wouldn’t exist without that.
When I think back to the early days, I was very much figuring things out as I went (still am, just slightly more convincingly). Some of the first people who took the time to speak to me, to listen, and to say “yes, you can and you should”, were women who didn’t make me feel small or out of my depth.
Ocado championed us pre-launch, back when the packaging was still taped together. Whole Foods gave us a shot before even trying the product, listening to me talk about all our “SKEWs” (yes, I did say that out loud). A female investor backed us before we had even launched. And buyers like Victoria, Rachel and Charlotte from Tesco took a chance on a very small brand and put us on shelves at a scale we probably weren’t quite ready for.
More recently, being part of BUY WOMEN BUILT has only reinforced that feeling — creating spaces and platforms that didn’t really exist before, and making the whole thing feel a bit less daunting.
For a brand built around Aunties, mothers and grandmothers, it feels quite fitting that so many brilliant women have helped bring it to life.
Visibility matters more than you think
A couple of weeks ago, we stood outside Whole Foods in High Street Kensington watching a BUY WOMEN BUILT campaign go live across the windows.
It was one of those moments that feels slightly surreal when you step back from it. A group of female founders, all building very different things, standing there with babies, products, coffees, and a lot of energy – watching something that represents all of that go up in a very public way.
It’s easy to underestimate how powerful that kind of visibility is.
Not just for sales, but for making things feel possible. Food and retail can still feel quite homogenous from the outside, and at times, quite difficult to break into. Seeing people who look like you, think like you, or are figuring it out in a similar way makes a difference.
It’s a privilege to be a small part of that, and also a reminder that building the brand is about more than just what’s on shelf.
PR, storytelling and pushing past the embarrassment
Alongside all of this, we’ve had a run of press across both digital and print, including one piece in the paper with the biggest readership in the UK.
I’ll be honest, PR still feels like a bit of a minefield.
There’s a balance between telling your story in a way that feels real, and not wanting to disappear into a version of it that feels over-polished or slightly uncomfortable. There’s also a level of personal exposure that takes a bit of getting used to.
But it’s also become clear that some parts of the brand just don’t fit on pack.
We can communicate a lot through design (and we’re very lucky to have the Aunties brought to life so brilliantly), but there’s only so much you can say on a label. The nuance – the family story, the cultural context, the slightly chaotic journey – that lives elsewhere.
Print, digital, longer-form content… that’s where you can actually tell the full story, and reach people who might not have come across you otherwise.
So while I’m still learning to push past the mild embarrassment, I’m also very aware of how important that visibility is.
Final thought
If there’s one thing the past few weeks have reinforced, it’s that building a business is rarely one clean narrative.
It’s a mix of momentum, missed opportunities, support from people you didn’t expect, and lessons you only really learn by getting them slightly wrong first time round.
We’re figuring it out as we go, but the direction feels right.
