In this episode of Be Anomalous, Dr. James Richardson joins me for an honest conversation about unconventional careers, entrepreneurship, neurodivergence, and what it means to build a career around the way you actually think.
James is a professionally trained cultural anthropologist turned business strategist, the author of the award-winning business book Ramping Your Brand: How to Ride the Killer CPG Growth Curve, and the founder of Premium Growth Solutions, a strategic planning consultancy for emerging consumer packaged goods brands.
He has helped more than 150 CPG brands with their strategic planning, including Dude Wipes, Once Upon a Farm, Dr. Squatch Soap, Trü Frü, Earth Breeze, Dr. Bronner’s, Happy Egg, and Made Good.
But his path to becoming a business strategist was anything but conventional.
After leaving academia, James had to teach himself how business worked. He learned by stepping into rooms he wasn’t necessarily qualified to be in, making mistakes, enduring discomfort, and figuring things out along the way.
As a highly functioning autistic professional, James also spent much of his career trying to understand environments, expectations, and social rules that didn't always come naturally to him. Over time, he learned he didn't necessarily need to change who he was; he needed to understand how he worked and build an environment that let his strengths come through.
And that outsider perspective eventually became one of his greatest strengths.
But this conversation goes far beyond business strategy.
We talk about:
Why James left academia and had to teach himself business
What happens when you’re the outsider in a room full of people who think you don’t belong
Why being willing to look foolish can accelerate your learning
How his background in cultural anthropology shaped the way he approaches business
Neurodivergence, self-awareness, and learning to work with your brain rather than against it
Why traditional networking didn’t work for him and how he built authority through content instead
The unconventional path to becoming an independent consultant
Why founders should never make major business decisions from a place of panic
The importance of cash-flow forecasting and understanding the math behind your business
Why “growth at all costs” can be dangerous for emerging brands
The realities of raising money and the risks founders need to understand
Why sometimes the smartest move for a struggling business is to shrink before it grows again
The difficult conversations consultants have to be willing to have with founders
Why successful founders can become vulnerable to distraction once they have money and momentum
What James has learned from working with more than 150 CPG brands
James doesn’t romanticize entrepreneurship.
He challenges a lot of the conventional advice founders hear about funding, scaling, distribution, and growth—and offers a much more grounded perspective on what it actually takes to build a sustainable business.
🎧 Listen to the episode
YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
Favorite Quote
“Never make friends in haste.”
— Tiruvalluvar, from his 2,000-year-old book of aphorisms from Tamil India
Favorite Book
Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
In This Episode
(00:00) Meet Dr. James Richardson and his unconventional path
(02:00) From cultural anthropology to business strategy
(06:00) Learning business without an MBA
(09:00) Being an outsider and learning through discomfort
(13:00) Neurodivergence, research, and finding your own way of working
(18:00) Why networking matters—and why it didn’t come naturally to James
(21:00) Building a consulting business around your strengths
(29:00) Using content to build authority instead of traditional networking
(34:00) The truth about growing an emerging CPG brand
(38:00) Why founders shouldn’t make decisions while panicking
(42:00) Cash flow, contribution margins, and doing the math
(47:00) Raising money without losing control of your business
(52:00) The risks founders need to understand when taking outside capital
(55:00) The tough conversations successful founders need to hear
(59:00) Knowing when to focus, shrink, or change direction
(01:03:00) What being an outsider can teach us about building your own path
New episodes drop every Tuesday.
Be Bold. Be Real. Be Anomalous.
Follow for more Be Anomalous stories, conversations, and behind-the-scenes.
Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube | @iamsaimenon