‘I got more offers than anyone ever on Dragons’ Den – but five years ago I couldn’t even get out of bed’

When Giselle Boxer went on ‘Dragons’ Den’, she had no idea that she would walk out as its most successful candidate ever - and one of its most controversial. Here, she explains how she she found success after childhood trauma and suffering from ME and how she is dealing with the backlash from those who are accusing her of profiteering from a chronic condition

Giselle Boxer’s life was on a very different trajectory until her appearance on ‘Dragons’ Den; (BBC)

It’s 10am on a Monday when my alarm sounds, and I’m dreading having to get up out of bed. Slowly, I peel back the covers and place my feet on the floor, steeling myself for what comes next. I set a timer – two minutes – stand up and begin to walk, in little steps, in my childhood bedroom. When the timer ends, I’m beyond relieved and climb back into bed, exhausted.

My life at 26 was not what I had imagined. Every day I would set this timer – two minutes, three minutes the next day, then four – to do the only exercise I could. It was a tricky balance: doing just enough felt like an achievement and gave me the confidence to do more. But doing slightly too much, even just five minutes, could mean that I was subsequently stuck in bed for three days or more. Months before, I’d been diagnosed with ME, and I’d been told by a chronic fatigue doctor that I would never recover from it – and never have children.

If you had told me that, five years later, at 31, I would find myself walking into the Dragons’ Den, pitching my business to a room of intimidatingly successful entrepreneurs, I would never have believed you. But last summer, I did exactly that – and became the first person in the programme’s history to have an offer from all six “dragons” for my business, Acu Seeds, which sells acupuncture ear seeds that actually look good. When the episode aired last Thursday, I sold more than double my sales for two years in just one night.

I had no idea that this was where I’d end up – in fact, my life had been on a very different trajectory before I had ME. I’d had a somewhat tumultuous childhood – my dad, who was much older than my mum, was of Jewish descent, and was a Holocaust survivor. He had fled Vienna as a teenager, and started his business career shortly afterwards in Shanghai. He eventually moved to the UK and met my mum, and he ran what became one of the biggest import businesses in the country. But his success didn’t last. He became addicted to gambling and lost everything, leaving my mum, me and my two brothers with nothing when he died.

I was 16, and instead of grieving, I became determined. I had my dad’s sense of business, so I went to study that at university before landing a job in London at a social media advertising agency. I was adventurous – my partner and I decided to move to Australia in my early twenties, and I quickly climbed up the ladder at big advertising firms. Then I began to feel ill.

It started off as a virus of some sort. For a couple of weeks I had flu-like symptoms, but somehow the debilitating tiredness just never went away. They did various blood tests, which all came back normal. We decided to move back to the UK to see if the NHS could help.

It did – and when the doctor told me it was ME, I was initially relieved to know what was wrong. But the prognosis – that I would be ill for the rest of my life – terrified me. I looked at the lives of my friends, living in London and doing whatever they wanted, and back at mine – forced to move back to my mum’s house in Stourbridge, Birmingham, being cared for 24 hours a day.

I feel lucky now that I couldn’t accept the future that the doctor laid in front of me; instead I started researching from my sickbed. I drastically changed my diet – cut out sugar, alcohol, gluten and caffeine in favour of plant-based meals. I meditated every day, and I changed my mindset and lifestyle so that I wasn’t in a chronic state of stress. I did breath work, talking therapy and trauma healing; anything to try to see a bit of improvement.

On ‘Dragons’ Den’, Giselle explains her business to Deborah Meaden (BBC)

Six months into my new regime I went to see a Chinese doctor, which I believe was when I started to see a big improvement in my recovery. Each week I got better and better, and within a few months I was doing parkrun, despite never really liking running before. I was so grateful to feel better that I wanted to appreciate my body however possible.

Soon after that, I became pregnant. During my pregnancy I was given acupuncture on the NHS at Whittington Hospital in Highgate, for nausea and back pain. My body and mind felt so much better after treatment, and I carried on even after giving birth. I fell in love with it – so much so that I began to wonder whether I really wanted to go back into advertising after my maternity leave.

I’d had an idea for a business – selling ear seeds (the acupuncture devices they put in your ears to prolong the treatment at home) that actually look good to wear. I told work that I wasn’t coming back. Nine months after I’d given birth, I had the business set up, and a new start on the horizon.

From a one-bed flat in north London, I started building a brand – something that I was familiar with from my advertising days – selling 24-carat-gold-plated needle-free DIY ear seeds, with a wellness guide and eight ear maps included. When sales started trickling in, I packed them up and dealt with the admin of running a business while my baby napped or slept in the night.

Within six months, my ear seeds were on sale for £30 in Selfridges, and a huge American company, Aloe Yoga, contacted me in order to set up a collaboration with tennis players at Wimbledon. I’d started with an investment of just £5,000 and basically no plan – a lot of starting a business for the first time is winging it, and I tried my best to do what I could on my own. It paid off. In the first full financial year, I made £92,000 in revenue.

Steven Bartlett and Peter Jones fight it out in their offers to Giselle (BBC)

In April last year, a researcher from Dragons’ Den got in touch with me and, after two months of applications and a lot of due diligence, I was on the show. If I’m honest, I had no idea how much to ask for – I just watched so many episodes of the show and found that the majority of people asked for £50,000 for 10 per cent of their business. So that’s what I asked for, too. Basically, you can generally value your business at about five times your revenue (or that’s what Google said, anyway), so it felt fair; I was careful not to overvalue it.

The day itself was nerve-racking. They ask you to come in at midday, regardless of the fact that they can’t tell you when you’ll be called to go in. I waited for eight long hours, with only practice, snacks and meditation to keep me going. When I finally went in I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I felt confident. I was in shock when all of the dragons gave me an offer. Five dragons offered me what I asked for – £50,000 for 10 per cent; Steven, however, wanted 15 per cent for his investment of £50,000. I negotiated down to 12.5 per cent, but I think people were still surprised when I chose to go into business with him.

My thinking was that Steve is already in the wellness industry, but in addition, my mind went back to a psychic I’d met months before in March 2023 who told me I was going to meet someone named Steven, and that he was going to be important to me. Lots of people might think that’s mad, but I’ve been going to see psychics since I was 18, and they’ve really helped me to process the death of my dad.

She was right – he has been important to me, and our relationship since then has been amazing. I’ve only met him once face to face since filming the episode, but he’s got a dedicated, very knowledgeable team in London who deal with his investments, and you can communicate with them any time. We chat on WhatsApp all the time, too. On Thursday, for example, before the episode aired, he messaged me in the morning to check I was ok.

The 24 hours after it came out were a whirlwind. I’ve had thousands of orders and thousands of calls. It’s been wonderful to see so much support for my brand, although it hasn’t all been easy to read, mostly because ME is a really tricky subject to talk about.

There’s been some backlash from some members of the ME community, who have taken issue with me telling my story and saying that I’ve recovered; some say that I was never diagnosed at all, and that I’m using the story to profit, which just isn’t true. I completely understand that not everyone is as lucky as me, and that there’s no magic pill or cure; I’m certainly not saying I have the cure. Still, everyone’s diagnosis and recovery will be different. Sadly, with this condition, it can appear and present in many (terrible) ways.

But while I don’t know what caused my ME – I believe a combination of childhood trauma, chronic stress and a virus – I am incredibly grateful to have been able to recover. Back in my childhood bedroom at 26, I couldn’t have imagined I would be where I am today: doing what I love, with a wonderful partner, a three-year-old daughter and six months pregnant with my second. Next on my list is starting to get into big retailers, and expanding so that I can sell more easily in Europe and internationally. I can’t wait to see what the next five years might bring.

As told to Zoe Beaty

Update, 28 January 2024: After complaints about this episode of Dragons’ Den from Action for ME, the BBC has since clarified that Acu Seeds are not intended as a cure for any medical condition and advice should always be sought from a qualified healthcare provider about any health concerns. They have said the episode has now been “edited since broadcast to clarify aspects of the Acu Seeds pitch”, maintaining that the ear seeds were “never described as a cure for ME”