Huel chats to entrepreneur and TALA founder Grace Beverley about how to juggle three businesses, her views on hustle culture, and how to be more productive in your day.

Do you ever feel like you’re not being productive enough? Like most things in life, productivity is a skill learned… with the right solutions and guidance. And if you're looking for guidance you’d do well to learn from serial CEO Grace Beverley.

From sustainable athleisure brand TALA to fitness app Shreddy, Grace has built a fitness empire worth millions. Whatsmore she’s done it all by the age of 26. In fact, Grace is so productive she’s even written a best-selling book on the subject, 'Working Hard, Hardly Working: How to Achieve More, Stress Less and Feel Fulfilled'. Oh, and she's a Huel investor.

We caught up with Grace to ask how she manages to juggle everything, her views on hustle culture, and, most importantly, her top productivity tips for 2024. Take notes.

How do you manage your time? And can you ever be too productive?

It’s all about structure. I’ll be honest with you, I need a timetable like a school child. My productivity method planners are essentially a selfish side hustle because they allow me to time block my days to the high heavens, which means I can work out what is actually achievable and prioritise the most urgent work.

Each day I also have a block for daily approvals that collates all of the urgent work from every business, meaning they don’t ruin my schedule. I can assure you that every day isn’t perfect, but without these processes and habits, I think my head would explode, which is why I talk about them 24/7. I don’t think there’s such a thing as being too productive, because being productive means being efficient enough to have a healthy work-life balance, and you can’t have too much of that.

What are your views on hustle culture? Do you think it’s dangerous, or has it been a force for good?

There’s no black-or-white answer on hustle culture. I think it’s great that this generation is generally super motivated to work, and that we have so many doors open to us when it comes to making a living. The world of work has changed so much, and that means there are so many more avenues for having personalised, non-linear careers, where you lean into your career and ‘hustle’ at different periods in your life.

That being said, I think the idea that we should be working all the time and that we’re "wasting time" if we’re not making money is inherently wrong. It’s all about finding a balance that aligns with your priorities at your current stage in life.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career, and how have you overcome it?

I launched my business TALA a month before my Oxford University finals (someone tell me why it seemed like a good decision at the time?!). I worked so hard on the launch, and then when it went live the website glitched and we ended up selling stock we didn’t have.

It was devastating, and I remember thinking customers would never forgive me, but the truth is, running a start-up is all about learning from our mistakes, and every launch gets better and better. Four years later, our recent outerwear launch was super smooth, militarily organised and took over £1m in an hour. It’s so rewarding to look back and see how far we’ve come.

What’s your advice for anyone looking to start their own business?

Set your OKRs early on. I always thought OKRs (objective + key result) sounded too much like corporate jargon, but truthfully, I didn’t understand them. Setting objectives & results for every area of each business has meant I’ve been able to stay on top of our growth trajectories from day one, and that the team always knows what we’re working towards! It’s also why I made it the basis of our Productivity Method business planner. I could sing the praises of OKRs for days (but I’ll spare you that).

How do you balance your mental health with your work?

It sounds simple, but I protect my weekends. There’s nothing that brings me more joy than walking my dogs Zeus & Ziggy in the park, heading to a workout class and having dinner with my friends & family. So I make sure that I fill my weekends with the activities that fill up my cup, and do my best to instill this culture in my teams too.

And lastly, but most importantly, how has Huel helped you be more productive in your day-to-day? And which one is your fave?

Often when I’m recording my podcast or travelling between TALA meetings, I’m left with very little time for lunch. I struggle to find something quick that’s not a sad-looking bean sandwich so I’ll often grab a Ready to drink. My go-to is the iced coffee caramel as I’m a coffee fiend!