🏎️ From Racing Teams to Chasing Dreams: Building A Lifestyle Food Brand with Nutbutter's Paddy Hogan
Welcome to this week's edition where we follow the twists and turns of Paddy Hogan's career all the way to Nutbutter, and explore the combination of fashion, luxury and Formula 1.
Hello Tech Powered Luxury listener, and now reader!
🎙️ This week, we are thrilled to bring you an exclusive interview with Paddy Hogan, the founder of Nutbutter with a past on racing, accounting and being the investment fund of himself.
🌟 Are you new here? Welcome to our amazing community - keep reading to discover everything about Tech Powered Luxury, our Community Rewards and how this newsletter came to life.
✨ I’m Beatriz Barros and I’m very excited to have you reading us today!
👀 TL;DR
Paddy Hogan's transition from the adrenaline-fueled realm of Formula 1 to the dynamic, health-focused dining world of Nutbutter is an intriguing mix of entrepreneurship, innovation, and personal evolution.
The core reason behind Nutbutter was creating a healthy lifestyle that combined efficient operations, great design and a better quality of work (and life balance) to everyone involved. Their founding values? Work smarter, not harder.
Drawing from Paddy Hogan’s experiences with Lewis Hamilton, we explore the dynamic intersection of fashion and Formula 1. In recent years, these two worlds have increasingly merged, showcasing how luxury and high-performance racing influence and inspire each other.
“1 person and 1 event:
Lewis Hamilton taught me a lot about the relentless pursuit of excellence and the Psychology of competition.
My burnout taught me no one is invincible and stopping and assessing where you are and how YOU got yourself there is the only way to fix things that aren’t working. ”
💥 A multi-hyphenate career from the racing tracks to healthy dining
Paddy Hogan’s journey from the high-octane world of Formula 1 to the healthy, vibrant dining experience of Nutbutter is a fascinating blend of entrepreneurship, innovation, and personal transformation. Working alongside racing legend Lewis Hamilton, Paddy gained invaluable insights into the world of luxury and elite performance, experiences that he has ingeniously translated into the culinary world.
His experiences shaped him in the most diverse way - he not only had to face competition that had the opportunity to start training long before he did (after all he started at 18 when most people start at around 14 years old), he also had to deal with the financial aspects of it, by convincing investors to invest in him.
“So that was certainly the part I liked the least, which is understandable, but it was an amazing grounding in even just understanding finance. You're trying to plan the future in terms of your business, your income, your taxation.
In year two, I effectively set me up as an investment fund, and sold shares of myself for the future, which made it easier, but you're basically signing away all of your future earnings.”
His story progressed from the racetracks to working on his family business, until he found himself in hospitality:
“I decided to stay in hospitality because I really, really loved it. I loved the creative side of it. I loved the fact it was a mix of creativity, operations, finance, and I loved the art form of putting all that together.”
When the 2008 global recession hit, he saw first-hand what were the characteristics in people, operations and strategic management that worked, and those that didn’t. “I think that probably sped up my learning curve infinitely”, says Paddy - especially because it was a period that didn’t grant anyone the time to think and process, but forced owners and workers alike to take fast decisions and pivot whenever necessary to keep the business alive and thriving.
“It was that that kind of beautiful thing in life where it was like, you know, pivot and pivot and work harder or die.”
His venture into Nutbutter was a natural progression of his interests. This healthy dining experience is not just about providing nutritious meals but also about creating an inviting space where people can enjoy good food and good company. After experiencing a tough period and recovering from burnout, he realized that his next move had to allow him to create a healthy lifestyle for himself before anything else.
“Sitting in California, we're going, ‘God, there's so many great options here. There's not a single one that I would go to every day. There's not a single one that I would want, but there's so many great options there.’
There was nothing like it in Dublin. And it became very obvious that I'm sitting there in my own head, maybe getting out of hospitality, but I'm kind of almost falling back in love with food again and the whole hospitality piece, after having actually had time to get away and enjoy it, for a little while.”
Paddy's approach to Nutbutter is heavily influenced by his past experiences, blending the discipline and precision of racing with the creativity and operational excellence of hospitality.
Head to the episode to hear all about Paddy Hogan’s story, details on Nutbutter and how his healthy lifestyle is changing Dublin’s culinary scene.
💥 Formula 1, Fashion and Luxury
The common denominator between Paddy Hogan, Formula 1, Fashion and Luxury? Lewis Hamilton.
He coached Paddy Hogan for a Renault Championship just after having won it himself the year prior, and instilled in Nutbutter’s founder the essential soft skills that define a winning crew, “he just had that championship mindset”, says Paddy.
Formula 1 isn't just about racing; it's a dynamic blend of luxury, fashion, and cutting-edge technology. The world of Formula 1 has always attracted high-end brands and designers, drawn by the sport's inherent glamour and global reach. From the sleek designs of the cars to the personal style of the drivers, fashion started to play a crucial role in the identity of Formula 1.
Tracing back to the 1980’s, Benetton was one of the first to intertwine the worlds of fashion and Formula 1 from sponsoring both British and Italian teams, all the way to creating Benetton Formula that ran until 2001. Hugo Boss also sponsored McLaren for many years. Tommy Hilfiger in 2018 chose Lewis Hamilton as their Global Brand Ambassador and had their Spring/Summer 2018 fashion show as à la Formula 1 as it gets. Check Jeremy Scott’s Moschino SS16 for some other F1 hard referencing.
It doesn’t stop in the 2010s. More recently, Balenciaga for SS24 launched a partnership with Alpinestars for an upcycled leather jacket signed by Demna Gvasalia. From technical fabrics to borrowed aesthetics, fashion and luxury have adopted “motorcore” graphics, people and places to call it their own. Last year, A$AP Rocky was nominated Creative Director of the partnership between PUMA and Formula 1, with one of the most hyped drops that linked both worlds.
Dior was one of the latest to grab Lewis Hamilton not only as their brand ambassador, but also being chosen by Kim Jones as the guest designer for an exclusive capsule collection that should hit stores later in October.
The list could go on for a bit, but a couple of special mentions are needed: in 2023 we saw the launch of a collaboration between Awake NY, Tommy Hilfiger and Mercedez—AMG F1, featuring none other than (guess who) Lewis Hamilton.
Tommy Hilfiger has a very long story with F1. It started as a personal hobbie, as the designer himself would watch races as a child. While establishing one of the greatest long-standing American brands, Tommy Hilfiger would keep his love for motorsports alive. In the early 90’s, he sponsored drivers and designed their suits, imprinting the blue, white and red logo on what would become the early days of a very long partnership: the brand is now one of the official partners of the F1 Academy.
The goal of the F1 Academy is to promote female drivers by helping them to prepare and develop their racing skills. No wonder that Charlotte Tilbury is the first beauty and female-founded brand that was announced earlier this year as a partner of the F1 Academy.
What was once regarded as a male-led industry sees women conquering not only important viewership numbers (we account for about 40% of the total), but their own space to run and to win through grit and talent, supported by fashion, beauty and luxury.
The collaboration between Formula 1 and fashion might have started as a marketing move, but it has evolved into a cultural exchange that enriches both industries. From the perspective of F1, it helps to connect with and to bring a cool crowd to the space, one that is also inclusive and welcoming of female drivers and supporters. Fashion brands also benefit from the momentum and the cultural significance a global sport can add onto brands’ values and overall equity, especially one that gravitates in a high-value, high-potential ecosystem.
Thank you for reading.
See you next week,
🎁 Community Rewards
We are delighted to offer our community this week a giveaway for two €50 vouchers for a vibrant and healthy dining experience at Nutbutter.
Giveaway Details:
Follow both @TechPoweredLuxury and @Nutbutter.ie on Instagram.
Tag two friends in the comments of the giveaway post on Tech Powered Luxury’s Instagram coming out on Wednesday* at 10am CEST.
Each comment counts as an entry, so feel free to tag multiple friends!
Two winners will be announced on Monday August 5th.
Don’t miss your chance to enjoy a fantastic meal at Nutbutter with your favorite person!
Good luck! 🍀✨
*previously stated the post would come out on Tuesday.
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🎙️ Upcoming Conversation: Lauren Arthurs
Tune in next week to discover all about the content creator turned tech founder: Lauren Arthurs.
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