With 2026 approaching and a new-look LittlePod team starting to take shape, we’ve been reflecting on 12 memorable months at our HQ here in East Devon. With our Campaign for Real Vanilla going from strength to strength, 2025 was the year in which Melissa Irace, LittlePod’s former Sustainable Development Manager, was inspired to strike out and pursue her passion for purpose-led business, drawing on all she experienced during her time here. With Melissa’s Heart Leaders 2.0 due to launch in the New Year, we thought the time had come for a pre-Christmas catch-up. These are her words:

I learnt a lot from Janet and the time I spent at LittlePod. I never planned to work here – I just came for a cup of tea and a talk because I was planning to set up a sustainable business and I wanted to get some ideas and mentoring from someone who has been there and done it. During that conversation, Janet offered me a job and gave me the chance to experience what it really means to run and work in a sustainable business. Having just called in for tea, I ended up gaining some invaluable insights. I’ve lived it and have seen that this way of doing things works. Now, when I’m talking to people about sustainability, I can say, ‘Yeah, I’ve worked in a company that does that’. 

When I left LittlePod, I spent a couple of months developing Heart Leaders. The focus is on what it means to lead from the heart in business. I spent time in nature and allowed myself a break from work and distractions. It was bliss. Following a beautiful launch event, I decided to offer workshops where people could develop marketing strategies based upon purpose and values. But it didn’t seem to lead anywhere. Then I realised why. Business leaders, like most people, are suffering from information overload and overwhelm. There is so much pressure to do, do, do and grow, grow, grow. This isn’t good for our planet or our wellbeing.

My time at LittlePod cemented my thoughts about the importance of purpose. It’s all about knowing your why, as Janet does, and using that as a driving force. Whenever things get tough, you can go back to your purpose and find fresh energy. It also underlined my thoughts about what it means to be a sustainable business. You need to consider profit – of course – but also think about your people and include that extra P for purpose. When that purpose is the regeneration of the rainforests on the Equatorial Belt, as it is at LittlePod, it makes it all so much bigger than yourself. LittlePod has helped me to see things differently. It has been so useful.

I have had some beautiful epiphanies. I’ve been thinking about how I can support a new way of approaching business – to move away from the limitations and busyness of the mind and to connect to the wisdom, peace and successful flow that comes through leading from the heart. I’ll be launching Heart Leaders 2.0 in the New Year and I’m excited about what 2026 has in store. When I connected to my heart’s wisdom, some beautiful opportunities presented themselves. I’m now the module lead for two courses at the University of Exeter. One is Global Entrepreneurial Marketing. I’ll be sure to include the LittlePod story in my teachings.

LittlePod’s mantra is ‘slow things down to get things done’. This is something that had a great impact on me during the time I spent here. LittlePod helped me realise that, in the past, I’d worked too much. I began to understand that I needed to take it a little slower to get things right. Janet was amazing. She understood that I’m a solo mum and was flexible when it came to family. LittlePod gave me a feeling of being safe and having the time and space to think about next steps. I always loved the location – what Janet calls the little ‘eco-bubble’. It’s a little paradise – a place to forget about troubles and to feel safe, surrounded by nature and the birds.

It was so satisfying to work at LittlePod. If you work for this company, you can say to people, ‘I know that we’re doing good in the world’. LittlePod talks directly to the farmers – it’s not three or four steps removed – and, hand on heart, I could say, ‘we have made a difference to these people’. That’s really important, especially if you’re a values-driven person like I am. To be part of a brand that you actually believe in and that you can feel genuinely proud to represent in all aspects has been very special to me. It has been really, really amazing to be part of a company like LittlePod, to see it in action and to belong to a team of such passionate people.

No two days at LittlePod are ever the same. This is the best thing about working in a small company. You can get involved with so many aspects of the business. It can be eye-opening. Meeting interesting people, receiving emails from all over the world and working with Richard and Paul as part of a solid team, it was a great pleasure. One thing I learnt from Janet is the importance of starting relationships with people who are at the same stage as you because you’ll grow together. That really resonated with me. Like LittlePod, I’m now creating a community, people starting out, sticking together and supporting each other on their journeys.

I thought I understood LittlePod before I came to work here. I knew LittlePod was an exemplar sustainable SME and a true values-based business. But I didn’t realise quite how much goes into it all. I didn’t realise the extent of who uses LittlePod’s products – from bakers and brewers in Devon to manufacturers and professional chefs all over the world. I didn’t realise the reach that LittlePod has. I learnt so much and am still amazed at everything that is involved and all that Janet has had to deal with over the last 15 years to get LittlePod to this point. I’m so grateful to have been given this chance to learn first-hand what it means to run a sustainable business.

From the LittlePod team here in East Devon, we send vanilla hugs and our thanks to Melissa for the contribution that she has made to our Campaign for Real Vanilla. Like to find out more about Melissa, Heart Leaders and her Intuitive Business Mentoring? Please visit her website here.