What happens when data meets nostalgia and storytelling becomes a growth lever?
In this episode of Worthy for Thirty, I sat down with Tom Leigh, the UK-born brand builder and fundraiser turned food entrepreneur behind Tommy Popcorn, a gourmet popcorn brand designed to give popcorn its long-overdue “craft moment.”
Tommy Popcorn isn’t built around health badges, macros, or functional claims. Instead, it’s built around bold nostalgic flavors, cinematic storytelling, and data-driven market insight tethered to a mysterious fictional character named Tommy, a popcorn-obsessed Brooklyn filmmaker from the 1950s who funded his film career through a side hustle selling popcorn.
Tom walks through how his experience in data-led marketing helped him uncover unmet demand in the U.S. snack market (whiskey-flavored and pizza-flavored popcorn), how he and his co-founders resisted the urge to rush to market, and why they chose to obsess over taste, quality, and narrative from day one.
The conversation crosses flavor development, brand world-building, fundraising realities in CPG, and why Tommy Popcorn purposely sits in the white space between indulgence and health-washed snacks. Along the way, Tom shares how experiential activations, consumer feedback, and community-driven storytelling are shaping not just the brand but its future roadmap.
This episode is a masterclass in how modern brands can use data to uncover opportunity, storytelling to build emotional connection to consumers, and discipline to scale without diluting the core values of the brand.
Real-World Business Case Studies Embedded in the Episode
Data → Demand Creation (Amazon Search Insights)
Tommy Popcorn originated from analyzing high-intent search data for flavors consumers wanted but couldn’t find, substantiating that discovery doesn’t have to start with intuition alone.Experiential Marketing Over Shelf Placement
The ‘Berry Hot’ flavor activation (password-protected popcorn giveaways tied to Tommy’s backstory) shows how brands can “take over spaces” instead of competing passively on shelves.Brand as IP, Not Just Packaging
By not having Tommy’s face on the packaging, the brand invited consumers to co-create the character, flipping storytelling on its head. Turning it into a feedback loop rather than a fixed narrative.Fundraising Discipline in Early-Stage CPG
Tom’s anecdotes on advising other founders and restructuring raises to avoid losing control provide a candid look at capital strategy before seed and Series A. It’s part of his ‘give back’ ethos.
5 Actionable Takeaways for Founders & Operators
1. Let Data Tell You Where to Play Not Just What to Build
Tommy Popcorn didn’t start with “we want a popcorn brand.” It started with search intent, unmet demand, and whitespace analysis.
Action: Before building, validate who is searching, what’s missing, and how saturated the category really is.
2. Don’t Rush to Market, Win on Taste First
The team spent months testing flavors, including hundreds (if not thousands) of taste tests, before launch.
Action: If your product doesn’t over-deliver on the core experience, no amount of branding will save it.
3. Storytelling Works Best When Consumers Help Write It
By leaving Tommy intentionally undefined, the brand encourages customers to project their own ideas, creating emotional ownership.
Action: Design brand narratives that are open-ended, not over-explained.
4. Choose a Strategic Middle Ground in Crowded Categories
Tommy Popcorn avoids both extremes: ultra-indulgent junk snacks and hyper-functional “better-for-you” products.
Action: Look for the ignored middle where consumer demand exists, but brand leadership doesn’t.
5. Guard Your Non-Negotiables as You Scale
From in-house production to values-aligned investors, Tom is clear about what won’t change even at 100 million bags sold.
Action: Define your non-negotiables early, before growth pressures force reactive decisions.
Why This Episode Matters
This conversation isn’t just about popcorn. It’s about how modern brands are built where data sparks ideas, storytelling creates loyalty, and discipline sustains growth.
If you’re building in CPG, consumer tech, or any crowded category, this episode offers a blueprint for turning insight into impact without losing your soul or north star along the way.
🎧 Listen in, take notes, and then ask yourself: where is the white space you’re not seeing yet?
