Most Replayed Moment: A Guilt-Free Way to Handle Work and Life

Nicola Kilner shares her career trajectory beginning with placement years at Boots, where she worked as an assistant buyer and then buying manager. In this role, she developed key skills in collaboration, relationship-building, and working across departments (supply chain, finance, legal). She discovered Brandon through the 'Latest Finds' innovation program at Boots, where his company Indeed Labs was launching products. She was drawn to Brandon's infectious energy, positivity, and passion for doing good. When Brandon left Indeed Labs to start a new venture called Deciem (from the Latin word for ten), Nicola proposed merging her beauty product rating concept with his multi-brand technology platform. At age 23-24, she left her secure position at Boots to co-found Deciem with Brandon. The company initially operated with a portfolio approach—running ten brands simultaneously—which was counterintuitive but strategically advantageous. This model allowed them to build an in-house ecosystem (manufacturing, communications, R&D) and share fixed costs across multiple brands. The portfolio approach also enabled rapid experimentation and cheap failure. A key downside emerged when The Ordinary became a breakout success, consuming resources and relegating other brands to secondary priority. Deciem's early culture was intensely family-oriented, with Brandon prioritizing belonging and deep relationships. The young team (mostly fresh graduates with no industry preconceptions) worked intensely together, socializing outside work, traveling together, and embodying what Nicola acknowledges resembles a 'cult'—but a positive one defined by shared mission, deep dedication, and mutual care rather than manipulation. Brandon's troubled upbringing shaped his philosophy of building a work family where no one would leave him. Nicola and Brandon complemented each other: Brandon was eccentric, science-focused, passionate, and sometimes short-tempered; Nicola was calm, diplomatic, and focused on smoothing tensions. This dynamic worked in the startup phase but became problematic as the company scaled. During a difficult post-COVID period when growth stalled, Nicola nearly resigned, feeling unqualified to lead a 1,500-person organization with revenues nearing a billion dollars. She lacked traditional CEO skills in planning, numbers, and organizational structure. A general manager was brought in to handle operations, supply chain, and scaling while Nicola refocused on brand, innovation, culture, and social impact—her genuine strengths. Regarding corporate culture, Nicola distinguishes between 'nice' (superficial politeness) and 'kind' (genuinely helping people, even through difficult conversations like terminations). She argues that high performance and kindness aren't mutually exclusive; being kind means helping underperforming employees through coaching, role changes, or respectful exits. She emphasizes that work-life balance isn't universal—different life stages require different priorities. Her early imbalance toward work was sustainable and fulfilling because she was genuinely happy, contrasting with modern pressure to achieve some universal balance. The transcript closes with team members describing Nicola as incredibly self-aware, willing to delegate to those with stronger skills, and 'a ray of sunshine.'