Hi I’m Shaine Williams, creator and founder of Hemp & Williams.
How did this all begin? Simple, I love food! I’ve always been the child with ‘eyes bigger than their belly’, except my belly usually kept up!
Alongside food, my other passion has always been strength and fitness.
I grew up in the Mike Tyson era I watched the way everyone lit up when his fights were on or even at the very mention of his name.
I watched my family train at home and between my cousins, my brother and myself there was tons of rough play fighting to go around, I loved every bit of it.
Though I’ve always been a gentle giant, this confidently competitive edge would help me to express myself in the world of health and fitness.
A 21-year-old me finally made the leap into committing to boxing.
I trained religiously like a pro for 3 years and became a physical machine!
Stepping away from comfort zones
It was time to take a step back from boxing for a moment and to find my feet.
I’m a creative, I’m an entrepreneur and I’m an athlete and with all of this at the front of my mind I decided to put motion into the flowing ideas I had brimming at the front of my mind.
I went out into the world of London with newer and slightly braver intentions to explore myself and to see what I could discover without rules or guidelines.
Inspired by food, sport, fitness and health topics of discussion.
I got even more into healthy eating and Instagram showed me an amazing array of healthy, creative, vegan foods, I reached out to some inspirational people and the feedback was always positive.
A passion combined with a gap in the market!
I played around with a few ideas, and during this time period, I visited many vegan restaurants and eventually came to notice they rarely ever had any ice cream.
I’d never tried to make ice cream before in my life, but, I did my research and with the help of a few tutorials – I was ready to give it a go! Like most things, it wasn’t as easy as it seemed in the YouTube videos. But I didn’t give up. After a few attempts and some motivation from my friends, I created my first batch of ice cream.
Right away I made more, and after getting the ‘go ahead’ from everyone in my house, I took it out to the streets of Brixton.
Armed with some disposable spoons and taster pots, I had every stranger in sight try some!
I just wanted honest feedback! It was instantly encouraging and I felt like ‘Yes! This is making sense, I’m on the right path!’.
I continued experimenting, handing out samples and talking with everyone, strangers and friends alike.
One day, one of these people had some great news; he introduced me to a business course for young entrepreneurs and seeing the health food direction I have a passion for he asked me ‘why don’t I try making it with Hemp’, this would later become the basis for my product.
Since then I’ve transformed into a complete sponge – absorbing every piece of knowledge I can! From meeting new mentors to working in an Italian Ice Cream parlour, to attending and serving Hemp & Williams ice cream at events and small festivals…
I’ve been making everything from scratch and carrying it all myself, fueled by sheer determination, excitement, and a group of really positive and supportive people whom I can bounce off of.