Planet Organic founder Renee Elliott: Taking care of yourself is key to a successful career and family life

The entrepreneur tells Zlata Rodionova explains how kickstarting the UK’s organic food scene in the Nineties was inevitable – but the bumps along the way weren’t

‘In business, life or relationships it’s about trusting and respecting yourself and your body’, the founder says (Secret Leaders)

Organic food sales are setting records as more and more UK households stock up on everything from free-range eggs to gummy fruit snacks... but just a decade ago, terms such as sustainability were hardly used. Serial entrepreneur Renee Elliott was the woman who kickstarted the UK’s organic food scene back in the Nineties – way before kale made its way on to the menus of fashionable London restaurants.

To Elliott, health is the foundation of a person’s wellbeing. “Taking care of yourself is key,” she tells The Independent. “For some women it’s a little uncomfortable, for others it can even be agonising, it depends on how you’re built. But I know that if I go out of balance then I go into stress.

“In business, life or relationships it’s about trusting and respecting yourself and your body. Essentially trust your gut, not your brain. If it tells you to do it, you should respect that, whether it’s an important business decision or sleeping more.”