In this instalment of our video series, My Business Leader Secret, we talk to Julie Chen, CEO of Cheeky Panda, which she co-founded with her husband in 2016.

The business started as a side hustle in a spare room but its products are now stocked in supermarkets around the UK – and abroad too.

The London-based company specialises in mass-produced, eco-friendly products made from bamboo. It is best known for its toilet paper, but it also makes items including kitchen rolls, tissue wipes and straws.

Cheeky Panda sources its bamboo products from China, where Chen grew up. She was raised in Fujian province on the southeast coast and then studied in Beijing.

After a period working for Japanese companies in China, she moved to the UK in 2005 to study for a Masters degree. She worked again for Japanese companies in the UK, specialising in commodities and supply chain movements.

However, she also had an entrepreneurial streak. On top of her corporate job, she set up a side hustle, importing trainers from China and selling them online.

In 2016 she and her (now) husband Chris Forbes spotted an opportunity when they visited a bamboo farm in China, seeing it as a renewable natural resource in plentiful supply.

They realised they could set up a business importing toilet paper manufactured in China and made from bamboo for the UK market, targeted at eco-conscious consumers.

Her B Corp-certified company now employs 35 people, selling its products in more than 25 countries, with a turnover last year of £12m.

Crowdfunded growth

Interestingly, Cheeky Panda has achieved its growth without any institutional investment. It sought crowdfunding support at the very outset to raise early capital and buy stock but also to test whether there was demand in the market for their idea, Chen explains.

It has continued to raise capital through successful crowdfunding rounds. Its latest one with Seedrs in late 2022 raised nearly £1m, offering some equity in the business.

Chen describes herself as a “non-stereotypical CEO” who has “faced challenges, but never let doubts define me”.

“As a leader, surrounding myself with people who lift me up is essential. In turn, I’m committed to empowering others to succeed,” she says. 

“Being a leader from an ethnic background,” she adds, “it’s important to me to build a diverse team with multicultural and international thinking.”

Eight different countries are represented in her team. She has also sponsored employees with their working visas when she recruits them from outside Europe.

Wear the brand

Chen says her business secret for turning her start-up idea into a multi-million-pound turnover business is to personally showcase her brand by wearing her company panda hat in a playful way.

This has helped her get attention, network and make an impact with potential investors and customers. That is no mean feat in a fairly anonymous product like toilet paper. It’s what’s known in the industry as a ‘begrudged’ category, one we have to buy because it’s a necessity.

“Richard Branson says ‘wear your brand’,” says Chen, “in the early days in order to stand out you have to do something a bit different.”

Watch the rest of the My Business Leader Secret series.