The Online Magazine for Female Founders

Interviews with women who’ve built a business of their own, and practical advice on running yours, from pensions and PR to confidence and burnout.

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BUSINESS

The Practical Side of Running a Business

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The Online Magazine for Female Founders
 

INTERVIEWS

How Women in Essex Came to Run Their Own Businesses

The Online Magazine for Female Founders
Dina Humphreys on 27 Years of Déjà Vu Hair Studio: "I Never Planned Any of It"
Dina Humphreys on 27 Years of Déjà Vu Hair Studio: "I Never Planned Any of It"
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Mollie Barnard, Founder of The Hair Hut: "I Was Supposed to Be a Dancer"
Mollie Barnard, Founder of The Hair Hut: "I Was Supposed to Be a Dancer"

Mollie Barnard had her deposit paid and her halls booked at a dance school in London. She turned it down the day before she was due to leave. Sixteen years on, she runs The Hair Hut from a salon her parents built in her garden in Essex, fully booked five days a week, with a waiting list that keeps growing.

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Sophie Neall on Building Good Kynd: “We Changed the Recipe 70 Times”
Sophie Neall on Building Good Kynd: “We Changed the Recipe 70 Times”

Sophie Neall changed the Good Kynd recipe 70 times, turned down an investor who offered everything they needed, and launched a vegan oat iced chai brand while figuring it out as she went. On building something real without knowing what you're doing.

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Carla Pooran: Twenty Years of Real Skin in a World Full of Influencer Advice
Carla Pooran: Twenty Years of Real Skin in a World Full of Influencer Advice

Carla Pooran spent years on Harley Street before building her own boutique skin clinic in Colchester — and then a second business for women navigating skin changes in midlife. On twenty years of experience, launching during a pandemic, and why she'd rather educate than overwhelm.

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Natalie Scarsbrook on Building Blatella Films, Reclaiming the Essex Girl and Taking Up Space
Natalie Scarsbrook on Building Blatella Films, Reclaiming the Essex Girl and Taking Up Space

Natalie and Ben Scarsbrook launched Blatella Films from a spare room in 2012 with borrowed gear and no contacts. Fifteen years and 25 international awards later, Natalie is making her most personal film yet, about reclaiming the Essex Girl identity.

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Browse through our library of interviews with inspiring female founders in the UK

STAYING POWER

For the Woman Running Everything Behind the Scenes

The Online Magazine for Female Founders
There's No Right Way to Run a Business, So Stop Chasing the 'Shoulds'
There's No Right Way to Run a Business, So Stop Chasing the 'Shoulds'

Sam Thurlow chased the 'shoulds' until burnout affected her eyesight. Now she runs In Collaboration her way, and it's three times the size it was.

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Retreats for Women in Business: What Actually Changes When You Step Away
Retreats for Women in Business: What Actually Changes When You Step Away

Putting the out of office on for a week feels impossible when the business is you. Fiona McCoss, women's mentor and founder of Wild Feminine Retreats, argues that stepping away is a leadership decision rather than an indulgence, and sets out what to check before you book one.

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Why You Shouldn't Give Up on Your Business (Even When You Can't See the Results Yet)
Why You Shouldn't Give Up on Your Business (Even When You Can't See the Results Yet)

Nobody rings the Nasdaq bell in year one. Six female founders on the quiet, unglamorous middle years, when nothing's working yet and quitting would be the sensible thing, and why those are the years that count.

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Using Joy as Your Litmus Test: How to Determine Which Decisions Are Right for You
Using Joy as Your Litmus Test: How to Determine Which Decisions Are Right for You

Most of us set the goal, then promise ourselves we'll celebrate once we've hit it. But the goalpost keeps moving, and the celebration never comes. Bose Akadiri makes the case for flipping that: work out what actually brings you joy first, then build goals that amplify it.

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Amy Ryan: The Woman Who Refuses to Be Put in a Box
Amy Ryan: The Woman Who Refuses to Be Put in a Box

Amy Ryan built Lip Lock Aesthetics through an MS diagnosis and a father who chose her path. Her story, in her own words.

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Why Ambitious Women Fear Success
Why Ambitious Women Fear Success

Ambitious women don't fear failure, they fear success. Jennifer Davy on why, and how to stop playing small.

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Mollie Barnard, Founder of The Hair Hut: "I Was Supposed to Be a Dancer"
Mollie Barnard, Founder of The Hair Hut: "I Was Supposed to Be a Dancer"

Mollie Barnard had her deposit paid and her halls booked at a dance school in London. She turned it down the day before she was due to leave. Sixteen years on, she runs The Hair Hut from a salon her parents built in her garden in Essex, fully booked five days a week, with a waiting list that keeps growing.

Read more →
An Evening Wind-Down for Busy Women
An Evening Wind-Down for Busy Women

Evening routines tend to slip the moment work gets busy. Psychotherapist, author and yoga instructor Eloise Skinner explains why winding down properly matters for your sleep, your mood and your nervous system, and shares three gentle yoga poses you can add to your evening tonight.

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Looking for something specific? Start with what you need:

Getting clients
MONEY
CONFIDENCE
FINDING YOUR PEOPLE
REST
PR
LEADERSHIP
SELLING PRODUCTS

“We sold coffee for three hours a week just for something to do… and it snowballed from there.”

— Laura Day, co-founder of Fête in Chelmsford.

Read the story of Fête →