Name: Liam White
Job title: CEO & co-founder
Company: Dr Will’s
What was your first job? My first proper job was investment banking – but my first ever job, as a kid, was scanning in all of Jamie Oliver’s old Times magazine columns.
My mum (a food writer) wrote his column for years, kept them all and he wanted a record of it before everything was online.
What’s been your worst job interview? Probably the first startup interview I did when I was trying to leave investment banking. I had absolutely no idea what was going on.
What was the first music single you bought? Eminem’s Lose Yourself. I had to wait until my mum would let me get it.
“It’s always worth it in the end – but it can be a long road to get there sometimes!”
How do you describe your job to your friends? “I make ketchup.” I love watching people’s faces as they process it.
What is the most rewarding part of your job? Working with great people every day and seeing people get genuine joy out of our products.
What is the least rewarding part? All the unseen hard work – working every weekend, obsessing over every product and every corner of the business, and trying to move mountains in the early days just to get it off the ground. It’s always worth it in the end – but it can be a long road to get there sometimes!
What is your motto in life? Just keep going. Put the work in, never give up, and be top 0.001% resilient.
If you were allowed one dream perk, what would it be? A Nando’s black card. I eat constantly, and when I’m not eating, I’m thinking about eating.
Do you have any phobias? Death. And bland food.
If you could change one thing in grocery, what would it be? More shelf space for amazing challenger brands.
What luxury would you have on a desert island? Sparkling water.
What animal most reflects your personality? A Great Dane – that’s what the team call me. Large and (slightly?) ungainly.
What’s your favourite film and why? Crazy, Stupid, Love. Big Ryan Gosling fan.
What has been the most embarrassing moment in your life? Probably some variant of running around Soho in a ketchup outfit interviewing people. The team have me doing increasingly ridiculous stuff – at this rate, anxiety will fear me.
Which celebrity would you most like to work with and why? Steph Curry or Andy Murray. I’m a huge basketball and tennis fan, and both of them are as gritty as they come – they maximised their talent to the absolute limit, dealt with enormous adversity, and that’s something I hugely look up to and take inspiration from.
What would your death row meal be? A tie between a perfect burger (Bleecker is probably my #1 in London) and a massive plate of sushi.
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