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visit shirlax VIP.com. Leaving a graduate job in advertising to work in a pub and live with your mother doesn't sound

like an obvious start for success. But that's exactly what Cassandra Stavru, co-founder of

Proporne, did. Spotting a gap in the market for healthy yet tasty popcorn, Cassandra launched

her business in 2011. Today, it's a brand now synonymous with exotic flavours and standout packaging, with a team of 40, a business turning over £13 million a year and sales of 3 million popcorn bags a month.

Cassandra, welcome to your Sherlock's success story.

Thanks for having me.

So, let's start at the beginning. You were pretty young when you started the business, but what was your history before advertising? Yeah, I went to uni. What did you read at uni? Law. It was a choice between fine art, which I was really passionate about or law, which I think coming from a Greek family, it was was sort of a good degree to do and I reluctantly did law and then regretted it as soon as I started

and actually it's probably one of the only regrets I have is not sort of following my passion and

studying art yeah people say it's quite a dry one it is well it was at the time of sort of

of Ali Macbill which I'm not sure everyone will remember,

but I had these sort of grand ideas that I'd be sort of, you know, debating and getting really impassioned about things. And it's very much just learn the minority report, the majority report, and lots of time in the library, which I was never very good at. And you read law where? Bristol. And so you left Bristol after three years And what did you do then?

Before Universities never very good at. And you read law where? Bristol. And so you left Bristol after three years.

And what did you do then? Before university, I had already decided I wanted to start my own business.

And I think to a certain extent, we are all entrepreneurs, but I never saw myself working for someone

else. And I think it was just a question of finding the right idea that I had

enough passion for and conviction behind to kind of quit my job and give it a go and so got the job

very junior entry level account assistant at BBAH which is an amazing ad agency in Soho and in lots of

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