Levi Roots' success on Dragon’s Den is legendary, and he speaks about it like it’s a tale from mythical times. When he got home that night, he says he held the guitar he’d used in his pitch aloft and told his mum “I slayed the dragon". He's been on a real 'hero’s journey'; his breakthrough coming at 48 years old, when he had to borrow money just to get to the BBC’s studios. Now he's the head of a multi-million food empire, but for how much longer does he want to stay at the top?
In this episode we talk about:
- How fear is the biggest driver for him
- His responsibility as a powerful brand in the Caribbean community
- The origin of Reggae Reggae sauce
- Why the music was so important to the brand’s success
- Why he’s thinking of selling his company
- The difficulties of balancing business and family
- Why he ignored advice not to take his guitar in the Dragon's Den
- What does a Dragon really do with a business once the cameras stop running?
- The challenge of sustaining public interest in your brand after TV success
- Levis Roots: The Movie – the Hollywood A-listers being lined up to play him in the biopic
Levi will be appearing at the Evening Standard's SME XPO in April where he’ll be talking about the power of a great brand – you can get free tickets by popping over to smeexpo.co.uk.
