Clients
Meet the Pioneers
Dr Johnny Drain - Fermentation Farmer
“Daydream more, it’s where the magic happens”
Dr Johnny Drain is a man of many talents: an Oxford PhD materials scientist; a food consultant to the best restaurants in the world and fermentation expert who has visited almost every corner of the globe eating, teaching, sharing and learning; co-founder of a cult magazine (Mold); and even a former international rockstar with Ten Fe, a band with over 40 million plays on Spotify. The list goes on...
Johnny’s key focus for the past few years has been on how to create better global food systems - being part of change that makes those systems more equitable for more people, and less damaging to the planet and biodiversity. This has resulted in his new food tech venture, WNWN Food Labs, co-founded with Ahrum Pak.
They are on a mission to create delicious alternatives to unsustainable and ethically dubious foods, starting with cacao and chocolate, the production of which is plagued by significant issues including child labour, slave labour, and deforestation. In 2022, they became the first company in the world to release a completely cocoa-free chocolate: it looks like chocolate, snaps and melts like chocolate, and tastes like chocolate. Within the last 6 months they’ve been featured on CNN, the BBC, Bloomberg and the FT and are coming to a supermarket near you soon.
“"Working with—is 'working' the right word? If work is fun, stimulating, thought-provoking, then yes—Paul has superpowered my ability to zoom out from the day-to-day of my life and focus on building the big, meaty long-term, long-lasting habits and structures within my life that really matter.
Having helped me to define what matters most to me, collaborating with Paul has helped me already realize various significant milestones and to prioritise important aspects of the life I want to lead.
I was a total newbie to coaching but am now a convert. I cannot recommend strongly enough working with Paul."
Sam mayall - Saving lives at sea
“I help people believe the impossible”
Sam Mayall’s journey into maritime innovation began on the water. After years of working at sea, he witnessed firsthand the desperate challenges of rescuing people overboard—and the painful reality of lives lost because the systems weren’t up to the job. That experience sparked his conviction that there must be a better way. With that, he founded Zelim to rethink how rescue at sea is done, developing products such as the intelligent detection system ZOE, the rapid recovery SWIFT system and the unmanned rescue vessel GUARDIAN.
Over time, Sam built an exceptional team and rallied the company around a bold mission: making unmanned search-and-rescue the industry standard. Zelim has partnered with major players in offshore wind, cruise, and maritime sectors, secured grants and investment to push their technology into real-world deployment and demonstrated their solutions in challenging conditions.
Zelim has overcome major obstacles: translating ideas into proven prototypes, navigating regulatory complexity, executing sea-trials in harsh conditions and persuading risk-averse stakeholders to adopt new technology.
Sam Mayall’s story shows how one person’s conviction—backed by the right support—can trigger a step-change in safety for life at sea.
“A huge thanks to all the support Paul has provided to me over the past five years! He has really helped me get through the inevitable ups and downs that happen when trying to revolutionise the way we rescue people at sea. I highly recommend working with paul”
Sam taking me for a spin in his plane!