Business Athletes: Julia Baldet

Hello and welcome to Business Athletes everyone 👋 

Each week, we’ll explore the athlete-like habits behind a different business leader and provide you with practical tactics that you can quickly apply in your day-to-day.⚡️

This week in Business Athletes, I sat down with Julia Baldet, the founder of Elevate Wellness, a new wellness brand bringing high-protein smoothies and a lifestyle-first experience to the heart of London’s financial district.

What makes Julia so compelling as a founder is the clarity of where she wants to get, and the drive to get done whatever needs to get done to succeed.

Before launching Elevate, Julia was working in private equity. The long hours, intense performance culture, and high-stakes deal flow were nothing new, but what’s fascinating is how she left all of that behind to get on the front lines.

Most founders go straight to raising cushy capital and try to play to their strengths and just hire for the rest. My chat with Julia showed she’s different.

Like all good investors, she identified what could break the “thesis”. She found the “no” that investors could hold against her, and took that off their hands. That not only helped her succeed at fundraising, but it also made her a better operator and leader. 

Now she’s up at 5am every day to make sure she delivers unreasonable hospitality to her customers and helps her team at Elevate win.

She’s building a brand that reflects who she is, and building it with mind, body and soul.

And through it all, she’s still very much a Business Athlete – grounded in process, rituals, and an obsession with getting 1% better every day.

Let’s get into it. ⚡️

Pre-Game Preparation

A Day in the Life

I used to work in private equity. Now I mop floors.

Okay, that’s a bit dramatic. But it’s true, I do. At Elevate, the wellness brand I founded, I currently open and close the store myself. 

I’m up by 5am and commuting across London before most of the city has opened their eyes. My day starts with a high-protein breakfast (either a protein shake or some Greek yogurt with raspberries), and then pen-to-paper gratitude and planning.

I live by my to-do list. Every morning, I write things down by hand: what I’m grateful for, what my day looks like, and what must get done. I love crossing things off. 

It’s not just a productivity hack. It’s how I keep momentum. 

And yes, I keep the old notebooks. Every now and then, I look back. Sometimes it’s hilarious, sometimes humbling. But it always gives me perspective: I see what felt massive and realize it was just a blip. I see how far I’ve come. 

Opening the Store

Opening a store wasn’t just a business goal, it was a personal championship. 

The store opens at 7.30am and closes at 6pm. But my day doesn’t end there. I stay for another hour to deep clean with the team, which includes sweeping, mopping, doing dishes, and more. 

I want to make sure that I not only understand but master every detail of this business so I can document the operations down to the minute and eventually become replaceable to scale. At this stage, I am the business. But to grow, that needs to change.

Then at 9pm, my second workday begins: emails, accounting, partnerships, product ideas. I know it sounds like a recipe for burnout, but this is a very defined chapter. I’m not worried. I know exactly why I’m doing it.

Elevate Is Me, And Who I’m Becoming

I didn’t spend much time choosing the name. It just made sense. 

I was building something better: elevated smoothies, elevated habits, elevated self. 

The brand is rooted in the same belief system that drives me: the compound power of small daily improvements. I love Atomic Habits. I believe in 1% better. I live by it. 

I see Elevate as more than a smoothie or wellness brand. It’s a lifestyle brand. A mindset. I want people who walk into the store to feel like they’re doing something good for themselves. 

Deep Into The Game

From Finance to Founder

Before Elevate, I worked in private equity. It was intense, high-achieving, but ultimately  misaligned with who I wanted to be in the long run. 

But private equity taught me loads. I was able to work on many consumer brand deals, and altogether, my banking and PE experiences gave me the skills and confidence to tackle any problem, and also lifelong friends that will be at my wedding one day. 

Finance can be a tough place to work, where you’re having to mind every single colon and full-stop, endure long hours under intense pressure, and navigate a sometimes cut-throat environment. 

After a few great years, I realised I wanted more ownership over what I was building,  and decided to launch my own business. Looking back, I can see how all that training now makes me a stronger founder and operator at Elevate.

Barista Bootcamp: My Operator Training

When I left finance to launch Elevate, I asked myself a hard question: Why would anyone invest in me? The obvious gap? I wasn’t an operator. I had never worked behind a bar or in a food business in London. So I did something drastic.

For two months, I worked as a barista. 6am shifts. On my feet 11 hours a day. Making a fraction of what I earned in finance. It was humbling, intense, and incredibly valuable. 

Restaurant Reality: It's No Joke

By working as a barista, I learned how hard hospitality is. Real pressure isn’t a delayed deal or updating an excel model ahead of an  investment committee. It’s a line of angry customers. 

I learned how crucial processes are.  It’s not just service and smiles. It’s compliance, hygiene, deep cleans, daily mop-downs, and team management. Food businesses are highly regulated, especially in the UK. There’s no room for winging it. I saw what it takes to serve not just a product, but an experience.

That barista stint convinced investors. But more importantly, it taught me how I wanted to build Elevate.

The Championship

Moving Through Championships

Right now, I’m focused on a single KPI: proof of concept. Yes, we have revenue goals, but to me the real metric is repeat customers. Are people coming back? Are they building a habit? Someone came twice in one day last week, that’s my north star.

From there, we’ll explore more: maybe a second store, maybe a DTC product line. But I’m staying disciplined. Focus is a strategy. The temptation to chase everything at once is real, but I remind myself that I’m still in the early rounds of this championship. It’s a game of consistency, not chaos.

Measuring Success

Everyone talks about revenue. But to me, it doesn’t tell the full story. What matters more is becoming part of someone’s daily routine. People who come every day. People who bring friends. People who come twice in a day. That’s real validation. That’s product-market fit.

We also look at things like reviews, feedback, and foot traffic. But the real KPI is: do they come back? Because that means the product’s working. The experience is resonating. And only then do we think about scaling.

Winning As A Team

Winning as a Team

One of the biggest mindset shifts I’ve had is this: I don’t want to win alone. 

When I say I want to scale the brand, I don’t mean just growth in numbers. I mean building a place where everyone grows with it.

At the store, I do everything with the team – not to micromanage, but to lead by example. I want to understand their challenges, feel the work, and improve it together. 

That’s what winning looks like now: not outperforming others, but rising together.

Built With Support

My partner is also where I get inspiration and strength from. When I first told my boyfriend about Elevate, he laughed. “A smoothie bar? You work in private equity.” But now, the roles have reversed! I used to pitch him. Now he’s the one asking questions.

He designed the store (he’s an architect). And when I get home, he loves to review our dashboards, we talk about sales and growth strategies. At this point, he feels like a business partner as much as a life partner. 

That kind of support is everything. Especially when the business becomes an extension of who you are.

Rest

My Commute Used to Be Techno. Now It’s Meditation.

Back in finance, I’d plug in house or techno – something high-energy to match the spreadsheets and stress. 

These days, I use Insight Timer to listen to meditations on my way to the store. Visualisations, mindset resets, nothing too serious. Just something to tune into a calmer rhythm. 

I’m not sitting cross-legged on the tube like a monk, don’t worry! But it helps get my mind clear to manage the high-pressure of the day ahead.

How I Rest

So, I’m lucky that Elevate found its way as a City spot, so it’s a Monday-Friday business. 

So now, weekends for me are when I can actually get some rest, but also, get the high-level strategic thinking going.

On a micro-level, I find rest in going out for some nice food with my boyfriend, going for long walks, doing pilates on the weekend, and sitting by the sea when I can. I’m from the south of France, so sunshine is part of my DNA.

Still, my brain is always half-switched on. Elevate has become part of who I am, so it’s tough not to think about it or talk about it all the time. It’s something I carry. It’s who I am.

The Business Athlete Ethos

Julia’s Business Athlete mindset:

• What does winning the day mean?
  Crossing off my to-do list and going to bed smarter than I woke up.
  

• Ambition?
  Continuous improvement, not perfection. Just making sure I’m getting 1% better every day. 
  

• Process or results?
  Process. I need to remind myself to celebrate the wins, but my mind always moves to what’s next.
  

• Mind or body?
  Mind. I’ve always loved thinking, planning, building frameworks.
  

• The "Business Athletes" ethos:
  Business is sport. Just like in sports, success comes from consistent training. Consistency, systems, self-discipline. This is how I perform.

Elevate sets a new standard for health and function in the grab-and-go space.

Every recipe is developed in collaboration with a nutritionist and designed with a specific benefit in mind — from boosting energy and focus to supporting gut health.

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