I was 29, living in Balham and unhappy in my job, so I bought a book on software and taught myself to code. The first site was basically a portal for men - cool products, adventure holidays, even scraped football results. That last bit took off, and the whole thing snowballed from there.

I went to a mate's stag do that had been arranged by a stag company, and it clicked - there was a real niche here, and it fitted perfectly with the adventure and activity trips we were already doing. That was the turning point that made Chillisauce the company it is today.

Early on, taking a £10k loan from my mum, bringing on business partners and signing for an office that was, frankly, a windowless garage with a garage door. We painted it and put up pictures, but there was no hiding what it was. Backing yourself when there's no safety net is terrifying - and worth it.

What's changed is the scale - at times we've had over 100 staff, a fully bespoke booking platform, thousands of trips a year. What's stayed exactly the same is why we do it: it's always been about the guest and creating something they'll still be talking about years later.

Leaving it too late and trying to please everyone.

That people have built whole careers here - staff who joined as interns and are now running departments. We set out to build a fun business we all loved working in, and that part genuinely worked.