We sat down with Crush Supplements founder Will Cuthell to talk about how he got started and how he’s building the brand with his mum as his inspiration and business partner.
At 24, most people are still piecing together their future—whether that’s backpacking across the world or taking their first tentative steps on the career ladder.
But Will Cuthell had a different vision. As the founder of Crush Supplements, he knew exactly what he wanted: to shake up the supplement industry with cutting-edge formulas designed to fuel high achievers in every aspect of their lives.
In 2023, with big ambitions and a work ethic to match, Will Cuthell quit his post-graduate job in recruitment to chase his dream of building and scaling a business.
After sharing his grand plans with his mum, Laura Pearce, she made an unexpected decision—to join him on the journey as an unlikely business partner.
Just eight months later, what started as a seed of an idea had grown into a brand poised to disrupt the market. Crush Supplements had arrived.
As part of our Founders Series, we sat down with Will to discuss life as a young entrepreneur, the bold risks he took to get there, and how a shock diagnosis on the eve of the launch of Crush Supplements turned his world upside down.
The Birth of Crush Supplements
Some people are simply destined to start their own business. There’s a fire in their belly, an unshakable drive to create something truly their own.
Will Cuthell is one of those people. At just 24, he had already earned a degree in business and climbed the ranks to become a Senior Consultant in recruitment.
For many, those achievements would be a reason to pause and celebrate—and rightly so. But, like so many founders, Will wasn’t content with just following the traditional career path. He started experimenting with side hustles.
Car cleaning, personal training, dropshipping—you name it, he tried it. After plenty of trial and error, he finally landed on an idea that fused his passion for fitness and relentless self-improvement into one: Crush Supplements.
“When I was studying at Winchester University, I wanted a supplement brand that helped me not just in the gym, but also with my studies and overall focus.
“I could never find one that did it all—they were all gym-focused. So, I left my career in recruitment to create the supplement brand designed to help high achievers progress in every aspect of life, not just in the gym.”
With the concept nailed down and his mum on board, all the duo needed was the perfect name. After plenty of brainstorming—and some help from his favourite aide-mémoire, ChatGPT—they landed on Crush.
“We thought it was a powerful, one-syllable word, and we want to help high achievers Crush every aspect of their life,” he added. “No other name came close!”
With everything falling into place, Will was just about ready to unveil his passion project to the world. But, as life so often does, it threw a devastating curveball—one that threatened to derail everything just as momentum was building.
Eight weeks before the launch, his mum, Laura, was diagnosed with stage four terminal cancer. She had already fought the illness once in 2018, but now it had returned, spreading to multiple places.
It was the perfect storm—but in true Crush style, the pair faced it head-on, doing whatever it took to reach the destination they had set their sights on.
Will took the reins of the business while his mum stepped back to focus on her recovery. Unsurprisingly, he describes those tumultuous months as the toughest test of his life as a founder to date.
“Balancing Mum’s diagnosis, her recovery, and managing the business—while figuring it all out—was a huge challenge,” he explained.
“It’s quite a big business for a first venture, with new products, product development, customer service, and content to manage, all while dealing with Mum’s illness.
“But her recovery to date has been nothing short of miraculous. After 13 trips to Germany for groundbreaking chemotherapy, she is now more involved in the business behind the scenes, helping with strategy.”
Will’s ethos revolves around showing the good, the bad, and the ugly of what it takes to scale a business.
It’s something he admired while following the rise of the American-based supplement brand GHOST, which documented its journey to becoming one of the biggest names in global fitness on social media.
Despite facing more than their fair share of challenges, Will and his mum still experience plenty of “pinch-me” moments every day.
When asked to highlight his biggest win so far, he shared: “It’s hard to choose just one moment—I live my biggest moment every day running Crush.
“It’s been my dream for as long as I can remember to run a business. I studied it at school, college, and university, so I’m living the dream now, every day.
“Even though Crush is still a million miles from where I want it to be, we’ve already achieved so much. We’re a star store on TikTok, stocked in gyms and supplement stores, and we have a great customer base that loves the brand. To me, those are all wins!”
Crushing Goals, One Supplement at a Time
For those unfamiliar with Crush’s range, it offers a holistic approach to performance—because your goals aren’t confined to the four walls of a gym.
From supercharged essentials like pre-workout and creatine to advanced nootropics, mouth tape, and even nasal strips, Crush provides everything you need to progress in all aspects of life.
At the core of every product is the drive to unlock your edge. While Crush is firmly rooted in the fitness space with products like Crush Infinity in the range, its true niche lies in achieving balance and harmony between your ambitions—whether that’s smashing through a work block, securing a promotion, or hitting a PB.
When asked to pick the most slept-on product from Crush’s roster, Will’s answer summed up everything you need to know about the brand.
“Clarity is the underrated goat of the Crush range,” he said. “Its dosages of nootropics, caffeine, and electrolytes are unmatched in the nootropic powder space.
“Anyone that wants to increase focus or productivity while working or studying needs to have this in their tool set.”
Crush’s offering is already staggeringly large for a brand that has been in business for less than two years. Yet, every product has been meticulously developed to serve a specific goal.
Will’s goal is to have Crush recognised as one of the most popular supplement brands in the UK, and with less than a month into 2025, he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
“Expect lots of fresh content from brand affiliates and content creators, new products like our recently launched sleep bundles and wellness range, and even more new products that are currently in development.”
Now the introductions are out of the way, it’s time to hear more from the young entrepreneur making big waves: Will Cuthell.
Quickfire Questions With Will Cuthell, Founder of Crush Supplements
What’s your daily routine like?
Will: My day revolves around the business, and training in the gym. I take my supplements in the morning (Lion’s Mane, Shilajit, D3 + K2, Electrolytes) to start the day. Then take a scoop of Clarity before I get locked into work. I work 10-hour days minimum, usually longer, and rarely take a full weekend off. I don’t think you need to work 15+ hour days, if you do, you may need to look at how you’re managing your time or how effectively you’re working. Then I’ll train at the gym in the evening to build the body and have a release from work.
Where are most of your sales generated from?
Will: 80% of our sales currently come from the TikTok Shop – this has been a game changer for our brand. My only regret is that I didn’t start the TikTok shop sooner! The other 20% of sales come directly through our website on Shopify.
Top 3 tips for those getting into TikTok shop?
Will: 1) Output. You need to be putting out a minimum of 2-3 shoppable videos daily, plus sprinkle in some brand awareness videos (trends, funny stuff) to build your brand.
2) Lives. Make sure to go live, daily. I’m only just getting consistent with it, but it builds your following and drives sales.
3) Be patient. It’s not an overnight thing. We started pushing TikTok Shop in August 2024 – we’re now 5 months down the line, have hit 800+ sales on the platform, and are building traction. But it doesn’t happen overnight.
Wave a magic wand, what does Crush Supplements look like in 3 years?
Will: Recognised as one of the most popular, rapidly growing supplement brands in the UK. Known for helping high achievers make progress across every aspect of their life. Unapologetically authentic, and not bound by societal constraints. We play how we want!
Which competitor do you admire the most?
Will: I have a lot of admiration for Ghost. Even though they are an American-based company – they showed the full journey online scaling the business, developed great products, stayed consistent, and sold a chunk of the business this year to Dr Pepper for some crazy money!
What is your favourite Crush supplements product?
Will: Clarity Nootropic Powder. It’s my secret weapon for a focus/energy/productivity boost when working or building the business. Coffee just doesn’t give you the hit you need, Clarity does.
Describe your perfect customer in under 5 words.
Will: Motivated. Disciplined. Consistent. Grafter. Returning.
What advice did you once receive and ignored?
Will: Take control of the numbers. I was given this advice early on but failed to action. I had so much day-to-day work to keep on top of that I didn’t have time and didn’t know how. Now, stock takes, financials, numbers, and projections are the centre of the business.
What is one area of the business you hate the most?
Will: I don’t hate any area of the business, but order packing is the most time-consuming! And with order volumes increasing daily, it takes up a lot of my time. As soon as we can employ someone to manage this and help as we scale, I’ll be doing it!
How do you balance work and a social life?
Will: That’s something I’m still learning to do – I have a great girlfriend and group of friends around me that I enjoy doing things with away from the business. The business gets most of my time right now as it’s growing and busy. My friends mostly run businesses, too, so we understand the high work requirements. I make sure me and my girlfriend regularly do things outside of work, and we TRY (but don’t always succeed) to not make every conversation on the date work-focused!
Check out the full range of products on the Crush supplements website.
