On this episode, I speak to Georgie Smallwood. Georgie is Chief Product, Technology & Data Officer at Moonpig - the UK's best-known online gifting and greeting card platform. Georgie has built a global career leading product and technology teams at companies like N26, Xero, and Tier Mobility, before joining Moonpig to help transform a 25-year-old household brand into a modern, tech-driven organisation. In this interview, she talks about what it means to create "moments that matter", how Moonpig balances emotional connection with innovation, and how to lead when you're responsible for product, tech and data all at once.

We cover a lot, including:

• Making technology more human: Georgie believes technology should make the world smaller, not bigger - by connecting people, not distancing them. At Moonpig, the goal isn't just to sell cards or gifts, but to help people express love and connection through meaningful gestures.
• Product with purpose: Moonpig's mission is to be “the world's greatest gifting companion.” Every card printed represents a moment of love, humour, or memory between people. Georgie sees product management at Moonpig as building moments that matter, not just features.
• Balancing connection and innovation: Moonpig has embraced AI and personalisation, but Georgie cautions against rushing ahead for technology's sake. Instead, the team focuses on introducing innovation in a way that feels natural and accessible to mass-market users.
• Leading product, technology, and data together: As CPTDO, Georgie bridges three major domains. She admits she's not a data scientist or engineer, but focuses on seeking to understand - asking open questions, learning continuously, and leading through consistency rather than control.
• On empowerment and leadership: While she values empowered teams, Georgie is pragmatic about balancing autonomy with business realities. She also believes true innovation needs governance, not chaos.

Check out Moonpig's website: http://moonpig.com/, or their careers page: https://www.moonpig.group/careers/.

You can connect with Georgie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georginasmallwood/.

On this episode, I speak to my friend Nesrine Changuel, product coach and author of the new book "Product Delight". Nesrine started her career at Bell Labs as a research engineer before moving into product management at Microsoft, Spotify, and Google, where she even held the title "PM for Delight" on Google Meet. Her work focuses on how products can go beyond functionality to create genuine emotional connections with users.

• Why Product Delight is more than just a “nice to have”, and isn't just confetti on your boring app
• The three pillars of Product Delight: reducing friction, anticipating needs, and exceeding expectations
• The difference between surface delight (like balloons on your Apple Watch) and deep delight (features that serve emotional and functional needs together)
• Why delight matters just as much in B2B products as in consumer apps, and why everything is B2H
• How to get buy-in from leaders and stakeholders by linking emotional connection to revenue, retention, and referrals
• The Delight Grid and Nesrine's four-step model for embedding delight into your product process
• The risks of chasing the wrong kind of delight (like Deliveroo's failed Mother's Day campaign or Apple's awkward gesture fireworks)

... And much more.

You can grab a copy of Product Delight here:

• Nesrine's site: https://nesrine-changuel.com/product-delight-book/
• Amazon UK: https://a.co/d/1J7JLZZ

• Website: https://www.nesrine-changuel.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nesrinechanguel
• Newsletter: https://nesrinechanguel.substack.com

In this episode, I speak with Katya Denike, Chief Product Officer at Holland & Barrett, the 150-year-old health and wellness retailer that has become a household name on the UK high street. Having previously worked at McKinsey, Yandex, Ozon, and Beyond 100, she now leads Holland & Barrett's ambitious digital transformation - helping the company evolve from a traditional retailer into a global wellness ecosystem.

We cover a lot, including:

• Transforming a heritage retailer: Holland & Barrett is delivering double-digit growth through a sweeping digital and cultural transformation, investing in everything from supply chain systems to customer-facing apps.
• Global vs local: The company builds strong global digital capabilities (like search and e-commerce infrastructure) while tailoring ~20% of the experience for each market to meet regulatory and customer needs.
• High street resilience: Despite doom-and-gloom headlines, Holland & Barrett is thriving by focusing on product-market fit, preventative healthcare, and efficient tech-enabled operations.
• The app transformation: Taking the mobile app in-house turned it from a struggling third-party product (<5% of digital revenue, 3-star rating) into a core strategic channel (>30% revenue share, 4.5+ rating).
• Internal product management is sexy too: Katya insists that logistics, pricing systems, and data management are some of the most rewarding areas for product managers, enabling everything else to work.
• Team structure: Around 100 people in product, design, and research, split between "firm foundations" (core systems) and "omnichannel customer experience", plus a small but mighty product ops team.
• Leadership leap: Moving into her first CPO role was daunting, but support from her manager pushed her to take the leap and build a truly independent product function inside the company.
• Skills for success: Katya highlights high agency, emotional intelligence, and the ability to navigate crucial conversations as must-haves for product leaders.

Check out Holland & Barrett's website: https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/, or their careers page: https://apply.hollandandbarrettjobs.com/jobs/vacancy/find/results/.

You can connect with Katya on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denikekatya/.

You can also check out Katya's podcast, Rocking Cribs & Careers. here! https://open.spotify.com/show/3rheb2Q1YuUvdmeYS8ngqA.