The Quiet Revolutionary of British Wellness
In an industry often driven by trends, scale, and rapid commercialisation, Shann Jones, Founder and Director of Chuckling Goat, stands as a rare kind of founder, one whose work is rooted not in market opportunity but in a deeply personal crisis. Today, Jones is recognised globally as a pioneer of microbiome-led wellness, an MBE recipient in the King’s New Year Honours List 2024, and the driving force behind Chuckling Goat, one of the UK’s most trusted natural health brands. Yet her journey began not with a business plan, but with a mother’s determination to heal her child.
Chuckling Goat, now a multi-million-pound enterprise with partnerships spanning Cambridge University and the John Innes Centre, was born out of necessity, intuition, and the belief that small, profound acts of care can transform lives. What emerged from a farmhouse kitchen in West Wales has evolved into a company bridging ancient fermentation craft, modern microbiome science, and an unusual commitment to integrity in an industry that rarely rewards the slow and the sincere.
Jones calls her philosophy “Do the little things“, four words from Welsh patron saint Dewi Sant that now form the framework underpinning her leadership, operations, and approach to innovation. It is a maxim that has become both her personal compass and the company’s signature difference in an increasingly crowded market.
Healing, Fermentation, and a Mother’s Resolve
“Chuckling Goat began the way many true things begin with a crisis, a kitchen table, and a mother who refused to give up,” Jones recalls. When her son Ben fell severely ill with eczema and asthma, the conventional healthcare path offered little relief. Desperation pushed Jones to search further afield into research, traditional remedies, and, eventually, the ancient art of kefir. With two borrowed goats and an old recipe, she began fermenting milk in her farmhouse kitchen.
The results were astonishing. “To everyone’s astonishment, including mine, Ben began to heal,” she says. Word spread quickly across their rural community. Neighbours requested kefir, then strangers arrived at the farm, and the family kitchen slowly transformed into an informal micro-laboratory. What began as a mother’s act of love soon became a calling. “Over time, the vision has deepened. Today, Chuckling Goat stands at the intersection of nature, science, and service, handmade fermentation, microbiome research with Cambridge University, and a commitment to doing the little things with care.” That philosophical through-line remains central: healing begins with love, connection, and respect for living systems.
The Evolution of a Leader
Leadership rarely comes with a manual, and for Jones, the greatest challenge was learning to let go. “In the early days, I tried to do everything myself, making kefir at dawn, answering every email, packing every box,” she says. “That intensity came from love, but it was also fear: fear that if I let go, the quality would slip, or the heart of the company would be lost.” Her transformation as a leader was not about relinquishing standards, but redefining control itself.
“What I eventually learned is that leadership isn’t about holding tighter, it’s about holding the field. I had to shift from control to cultivation, from managing tasks to tending the culture.” This shift allowed her to build a team grounded in trust, clarity, and shared purpose. Jones began hiring people who understood the mission, empowered them to own their work, and built an environment where creativity could flow without fear. “When I focused on the soil instead of the plants, everything grew stronger, including me.”
Heart-Led Leadership: The Ecosystem Model
Shann Jones describes her leadership style as “heart-led, grounded, and quietly systemic.” She does not position herself at the front of the organisation but within it, holding space, listening deeply, and shaping conditions for innovation. “Presence is my primary tool,” she explains. “When you show up with clarity and care, people feel safe enough to bring their whole selves, and that is where real creativity begins.”
Innovation at Chuckling Goat is not driven through top-down directives. It emerges organically, reflecting the company’s core belief that ideas thrive in interconnected, diverse environments, much like microbial ecosystems. “Our collaborations with Cambridge University and the John Innes Centre bring rigorous microbiome science into conversation with the daily intelligence of fermentation, soil, and herbalism. The team becomes an ecosystem: diverse, interconnected, alive. Mistakes are treated as “compost” material for future growth.
Ecosystem-Based Leadership
| Principle | Practice at Chuckling Goat |
| Presence | Deep listening and clarity |
| Psychological Safety | Creativity without fear |
| Innovation | Organic, bottom-up |
| Collaboration | Science meets craft |
| Failure | Learning material (“compost”) |
By the Numbers: A Decade of Growth Anchored in Integrity
From a few hundred orders in its first year to just over 100,000 annually by 2024, Chuckling Goat’s growth reflects steady, values-led expansion rather than rapid or speculative scaling under the stewardship of its founder, Shann Jones. In its formative years, the company evolved from a small farm-based operation into a nationally recognised brand, crossing the half-million-pound revenue mark as customer demand grew organically around her vision.
By the late 2010s, annual revenues had exceeded £2 million, supported by consistent repeat customers and a reputation for uncompromising quality principles that Shann Jones had embedded from the outset. Through periods of broader market uncertainty, the business demonstrated resilience, maintaining revenues in the £3–4 million range while staying true to its small-batch, science-led approach.
In 2024, Chuckling Goat recorded its strongest performance to date, surpassing £4.4 million in revenue. Taken together, the numbers reflect not just financial success, but a decade of disciplined growth shaped by Shann Jones’s leadership, grounded in trust, integrity, and the long-term value of doing the little things well.
Strategic Collaborations
While many wellness brands pursue partnerships for visibility or expansion, Jones seeks collaborations rooted in shared purpose and scientific integrity. “Right now, our most significant collaborations are with Cambridge University and the John Innes Centre, where we’re co-developing a soil microbiome test,” she explains.
This cutting-edge project explores the mirroring relationships between human and soil microbiome health, a frontier area of research increasingly understood as central to long-term wellbeing. “We’re also working with a Chelsea garden designer to turn these ideas into a physical landscape, a living, breathing garden that expresses microbial ecology through form, texture, and beauty.” No acquisitions are on the horizon; the strategy remains simple: deepen the roots, honour the science, and work with those who expand the company’s understanding of the natural world.
| Key Partnerships | |
|---|---|
| Partner | Focus Area |
| Cambridge University | Human microbiome research |
| John Innes Centre | Soil microbiome science |
| Chelsea Garden Designer | Translating science into living landscapes |
| Collaboration Ethos | Shared purpose over scale |
| Expansion Strategy | Deepen roots, no acquisitions |
A Blend of Craft, Science, and Soul
The brand’s uniqueness lies not just in its product line but in the framework Shann Jones has built around it. “Our kefir is still made the old way, handmade in small batches, using live kefir grains and whole goat’s milk, never industrial starter powders,” she emphasises. This adherence to traditional craft is paired with rigorous scientific oversight. Every batch is purity-tested by the Public Food Safety Lab before leaving the farm.
But beyond the technical, the philosophical difference is profound. “Our framework, ‘Do the little things,’ shapes everything from formulation to customer care. It means integrity in the smallest actions.” The approach has created something increasingly rare in the wellness space: a brand that feels human.
Living Systems and Ecological Intelligence
Shann Jones sees the next wave of innovation not in isolated products or rapid trends, but in ecosystem-based health. “In the next 3–5 years, people will move beyond symptom-chasing and start understanding the interconnectedness of gut health, skin health, emotional wellbeing, and even soil ecology.”
She identifies four key shifts:
- Microbiome-led formulations that work with microbial intelligence, not against it.
- Personalised wellness based on both human and soil microbiome analysis.
- Regenerative agriculture is influencing ingredient sourcing for skincare and supplements.
- Integration of science and beauty, including gardens and environments informed by ecological data.
“We’re not following trends, we’re helping articulate the next paradigm: healing through connection, not control.”
Impact and Validation: The World Takes Notice
What began in a farmhouse has grown into a recognised and respected global movement.
Shann Jones has received numerous honours, including:
- MBE, King’s New Year Honours List 2024 for Services to Innovation and Charity
- Most Iconic Female Personality to Watch, 2025
- Innovative Entrepreneur Redefining Success, 2025
- Innovation Health Product of the Year for Chuckling Goat’s kefir
Her books, beginning with Secrets of Chuckling Goat, were acquired by Hay House and became bestsellers. Media features have included the Daily Mail, The Enterprise World, and a pivotal appearance on BBC Radio 2’s Steve Wright Show that generated an eight-week waiting list. Each accolade reinforces one truth: authenticity resonates.
Proof of Impact: Healing at Scale
With a 4.9-star rating on Trustpilot, Chuckling Goat enjoys one of the strongest customer satisfaction records in the UK wellness market. Every review is publicly available, an intentional choice to remain transparent. One review stands out for Shann Jones: “Every product has been excellent, and they have helped sort my lifelong skin disorder, which has made my life livable again.” The combination of lived experience and scientific partnership provides a holistic validation of the company’s impact.
Measuring Success Through Integrity, Not Just Revenue
“For me, success has never been measured in revenue charts or growth curves; it’s measured in impact, integrity, and the well-being of the people we serve,” Shann Jones says. Financial strength supports the mission, but it does not define it. Ethical practices are enforced not through grand statements, but through consistent actions: purity-testing every batch, answering every enquiry with care, and maintaining radical transparency with customers. “Financial success is a by-product. Integrity is the goal.”
Vision and Legacy
As Chuckling Goat enters its next chapter, the focus is not on widening the brand but deepening its roots. “We will continue to blend ancient craft with modern science, expanding our microbiome work with Cambridge University and creating a living garden that expresses microbial ecology through form, texture, and beauty.” Her legacy aspiration is simple yet profound: “That we proved you can build a powerful, respected, scientifically grounded company without losing your humanity.”
The Power of What Is Small, True, and Living
Shann Jones is not merely building a company; she is shaping a new paradigm in wellness, one that treats human beings not as mechanical systems but as living ecosystems within larger ecosystems. Her work sits at the crossroads of biology, care, and connection, reminding us that healing is not an event but a relationship. In a world obsessed with scale, speed, and spectacle, Jones has built a multi-million-pound enterprise on the opposite principles: slowness, presence, and the enduring intelligence of nature. Her story is not just a business story. It is a reminder that the future of health may very well depend on the oldest truths: love, attention, integrity, and the courage to do the little things well.
Quick Takes
- Tool Recommendation: Slack – for clarity, connected intelligence, and real-time collaboration.
- Motivating Quote: “Do the little things.”
- Advice for Future Leaders: “Never compromise. Never cut corners. Do whatever you do beautifully.”
- Recommended Book: Notes on Complexity by Neil Theise.
An Open Letter to Future Founders and Wellness Leaders
To those shaping the next chapter of health and human wellbeing,
I offer a few principles shaped not by theory but by lived experience: listen closely, work slowly, and build something real from the ground up. Start with a problem that truly needs solving. Let it be personal, tangible, and grounded in lived reality. Purpose born from necessity will sustain you long after novelty fades. Honour the small things. Do not rush to scale or chase visibility. Craft, consistency, and care practised daily are how trust is earned and retained.
Lead ecologically, not hierarchically. You are not managing a machine; you are tending a living system. Your role is to create the conditions in which people and ideas can thrive. Protect your humanity. No milestone is worth losing your sense of self. Stay connected to the soil, to people, and to truth. Quiet integrity has a power of its own. These principles reflect the deeper work behind sustainable wellness and meaningful leadership. May they guide you as you build with patience, clarity, and courage.
With care,
Shann Jones, Founder & Director, Chuckling Goat
Five Key Takeaways
- Shann Jones proves that purpose-driven entrepreneurship can scale without sacrificing integrity or humanity.
- Chuckling Goat has grown into a nationally trusted wellness brand by prioritising craft, science, and consistency over speed.
- Her heart-led, ecosystem-based leadership model shows how innovation thrives when people and living systems are nurtured, not controlled.
- By uniting microbiome science with soil health and regenerative thinking, Jones is helping redefine the future of holistic wellness.
- Beyond commercial success, her work demonstrates that small, principled actions can create lasting human and environmental impact.
