The founder of health food deli and delivery service, Detox Kitchen, talks us through her favourite podcasts, blogs and apps.
This is Lily Simpson. She is the chef and co-founder behind the multi million pound healthy food delivery service that counts Elle Macpherson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Agyness Deyn and Suki Waterhouse as customers. The former caterer set up Detox Kitchen in 2012, with the humble idea of delivering ‘really delicious’ nutritious dishes to clients’ doors. Today, customers can subscribe to her home delivery service or go to their London delis to find her wholesome, unprocessed food. She has published two cookbooks full of wheat-, dairy- and refined sugar-free recipes and detox advice. Here, she flicks through her phone and recommends her favourite podcasts, blogs and the app that she couldn’t live without.
My favourite website… The Pool - I read their articles most days on my way to work. I like that their articles cover a wide variety of topics, one minute you are reading about xxx, the next it’s about period poverty!
My favourite app… Trello - Honestly I don’t know what I would do without it. I am not particularly organised and Trello makes it easy to keep track of what you are doing as well as what others on your team are doing.
My blog of choice… I love Mother of All, a collection of lists about parenting by Clemmie Telford. She is a great writer herself but also gets really interesting guest edits. I also love Green Kitchen Stories, their photography is so beautiful.
My internet hero… Hmmm, I’m not really sure I have an internet hero. Most of the people I love started in journalism or TV. I think Anna Jones is a great vegetarian hero, I love Grace Dent’s restaurant reviews and I love checking in on Nigella Lawson’s Instagram account.
My favourite podcasts... How I Built This - It's great for getting business inspiration. Desert Island Dishes by Margie Broadhead is great and she is also particularly lovely. The new Goop podcast has some great content and The New Yorker's Politics and More is great for keeping up to date with what’s happening around the world.
My most recent buy online… The only things I buy online are books. It’s a combination of novels and cookbooks. I recently bought ‘How to Stop Time’ by Matt Haig and ‘How to Eat a Peach’ by Diana Henry.
Book just downloaded/ read… I recently read the bestselling ‘Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine’ by Gail Honeyman, which I could not put down. It is so well written and has truly loveable characters. I also read ‘The One Minute Manager’ by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, which is great for anyone managing a team of people.
Favourite tweeter… Ooh, I don’t think I really engage much on Twitter anymore so couldn’t say.
Favourite instagrammer… Sharon Horgan - She is so funny. Her comments are so honest and real.
Social media allowed me to meet… Ohhh, good question. It has allowed me to meet so many wonderful people. I tend to connect with a lot of business owners through Instagram and most partnerships we form will be from an initial out reach on Insta.
Most worthwhile newsletter subscribed to… This is a bit sad but I subscribe to The Grocer - It sends daily emails about what happening in the food industry. I don’t know what I would do without it.
Pet hate about life online… I wouldn’t say I have an online life really. I try not to be the face of our company as I want people to engage with our food and our values rather than me as a personality. I also have only taken about three selfies in my whole life and find the whole experience totally awkward! Hah.
Stand out online memory… The most cool things happen through email. I always reach out to people I admire and it is amazing how responsive and supportive people are. I wrote to Richard Reed, founder of Innocent and he replied to me straight away. I reached out to Thomasina Miers who has since become a real support for me when I’m trying and failing to juggle my young children and running a business. Also my literary agent reached out to me on LinkedIn five years ago, which was pretty cool.
June 2018
My favourite website… The Pool - I read their articles most days on my way to work. I like that their articles cover a wide variety of topics, one minute you are reading about xxx, the next it’s about period poverty!
My favourite app… Trello - Honestly I don’t know what I would do without it. I am not particularly organised and Trello makes it easy to keep track of what you are doing as well as what others on your team are doing.
My blog of choice… I love Mother of All, a collection of lists about parenting by Clemmie Telford. She is a great writer herself but also gets really interesting guest edits. I also love Green Kitchen Stories, their photography is so beautiful.
My internet hero… Hmmm, I’m not really sure I have an internet hero. Most of the people I love started in journalism or TV. I think Anna Jones is a great vegetarian hero, I love Grace Dent’s restaurant reviews and I love checking in on Nigella Lawson’s Instagram account.
My favourite podcasts... How I Built This - It's great for getting business inspiration. Desert Island Dishes by Margie Broadhead is great and she is also particularly lovely. The new Goop podcast has some great content and The New Yorker's Politics and More is great for keeping up to date with what’s happening around the world.
My most recent buy online… The only things I buy online are books. It’s a combination of novels and cookbooks. I recently bought ‘How to Stop Time’ by Matt Haig and ‘How to Eat a Peach’ by Diana Henry.
Book just downloaded/ read… I recently read the bestselling ‘Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine’ by Gail Honeyman, which I could not put down. It is so well written and has truly loveable characters. I also read ‘The One Minute Manager’ by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, which is great for anyone managing a team of people.
Favourite tweeter… Ooh, I don’t think I really engage much on Twitter anymore so couldn’t say.
Favourite instagrammer… Sharon Horgan - She is so funny. Her comments are so honest and real.
Social media allowed me to meet… Ohhh, good question. It has allowed me to meet so many wonderful people. I tend to connect with a lot of business owners through Instagram and most partnerships we form will be from an initial out reach on Insta.
Most worthwhile newsletter subscribed to… This is a bit sad but I subscribe to The Grocer - It sends daily emails about what happening in the food industry. I don’t know what I would do without it.
Pet hate about life online… I wouldn’t say I have an online life really. I try not to be the face of our company as I want people to engage with our food and our values rather than me as a personality. I also have only taken about three selfies in my whole life and find the whole experience totally awkward! Hah.
Stand out online memory… The most cool things happen through email. I always reach out to people I admire and it is amazing how responsive and supportive people are. I wrote to Richard Reed, founder of Innocent and he replied to me straight away. I reached out to Thomasina Miers who has since become a real support for me when I’m trying and failing to juggle my young children and running a business. Also my literary agent reached out to me on LinkedIn five years ago, which was pretty cool.
June 2018