The best stories in business always involve a dream, a struggle, experienced by a visionary who chooses to remain shaken but unbroken. Cassandra Stavrou quit her job with Top London agency BBH in 2009 and moved back in with her mother in order to spend two years of her life perfecting the recipes for her brand, Propercorn.
With a clear calling for Entrepreneurship, her law degree and incredible career no longer mattered to Stavrou who was determined to turn her vision into reality. Most of us cringe at the idea of moving in with our parents to start over, but in a recent interview with the Cooking Channel’s Laura Vitale, I was quickly reminded that being unwilling to receive help when you need it is the fastest way to guarantee failure.
And so, Cassandra followed her dream with the help of her art teacher mother….making popcorn. And it paid off big time for the co-founder of Propercorn, known as a “posh popcorn” brand. The popular British brand is known as one of the fastest-growing snacks in the UK, stocked everywhere from cafes to supermarkets, and also sold overseas in 10 countries including Germany and Switzerland. BBC Business
‘I’m so incredibly grateful to my long-suffering mom. She has always been supportive even at times when I thought I didn’t stand a chance.
‘I had an idea to make popcorn necklaces as a promotion when Propercorn was starting out and for two months my mum sat threading popcorn onto string with me. She was all hands on deck, very much there getting stuck in.’
Stavrou’s innovation resulted in flavors like Fiery Worcester Sauce, Sundried Tomato, and Sweet Coconut-Vanilla.
Her innovation did not stop there, with amazing advertising campaigns that included bicycles and branded buses, to using connections to land inside the Google Cafe, with a goal to be the number one popcorn brand in the world, innovation and determination will certainly go a long way.
