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

ARE YOU SURE THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT TO DO?

Read Mollie's story →
Laura Day on Building Fête

“We sold coffee for three hours a week… and it snowballed"

Read Laura's story →
Dina Humphreys on 27 Years of Déjà Vu Hair Studio: "I Never Planned Any of It"

"I never planned any of it"

Read Dina's story →

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

From finding clients to sorting your pension, advice from people who’ve worked it out for themselves.

The Online Magazine for Female Founders

How to Prepare for an Order Spike When You Do Everything Yourself

The product may be the thing people fall in love with, but the business is everything that happens after someone decides to buy it.

How to Use Your Wardrobe to Build Your Personal Brand

Steve Jobs had his turtleneck. Coco Chanel built a legacy on a symbol. Samantha Harman explains how repetition, story and a single piece of jewellery can turn what you wear into a brand people actually remember.

How to Handle a Refund Request as a Female Founder

Nobody teaches you what to do when a client asks for a refund. Here's the law, the mindset, and how to stop folding out of guilt.

The Working From Home Slump; How to Get Out of a Style Rut

Between hybrid working and school runs, most founders have quietly stopped getting dressed properly. Samantha Harman, personal stylist and author of Just Get Dressed, makes the case for putting your wardrobe back to work, and shares the three-step method she uses with clients to get out of a style rut.

Self-Employed Pension Options: The Task You Keep Putting Off

Sorting a pension is the task most founders keep pushing to "later." Here's a clear guide to your self-employed pension options in the UK, from personal pensions and SIPPs to NEST, and how to start with as little as £10.

How Your Environment Shapes the Way You Think, Work and Lead

We optimise our calendars and workflows, but rarely ask whether our surroundings are helping or hindering us. Rachel Clacher, Co-Founder of Coertze + Clacher, on why environment is never neutral and what it means for the way you build.

Why Female Founders Should Review Their Privacy Policy in 2026

Website Templates for Service Providers: Six Shops Worth Bookmarking

Looking for a website template that works for your service business? These are the template shops worth bookmarking.

INTERVIEWS

The Women You’d Want to Know

Founders telling you how they did it, in their own words.

The Online Magazine for Female Founders

“I Just Hate Having Damp Knickers”: The Nurse Who Invented a Reusable Wiper for Weeing Outdoors

Nurse, researcher and inventor Caitlin Dean tells High Flying Design founder and editor Shannon Kate Murray how a cut-up bank card became Wild Wipe, and why the lean start-up model doesn’t work when your product needs manufacturing.

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.

Dina Humphreys on 27 Years of Déjà Vu Hair Studio: "I Never Planned Any of It"

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.

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.

STAYING POWER

For the Woman Running Everything Behind the Scenes

Confidence, rest and the parts of running a business nobody posts about.

The Online Magazine for Female Founders

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Why Ambitious Women Fear Success

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

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

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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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 →

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

Laura Day on Building Fête

Dina Humphreys on 27 Years of Déjà Vu Hair Studio: "I Never Planned Any of It"

The Online Magazine for Female Founders

Get the best of High Flying Design sent to you every month

The Practical Side of Running a Business

The Women You’d Want to Know

For the Woman Running Everything Behind the Scenes

Looking for something specific? Start with what you need:

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

An online magazine for female founders, covering both the business and the woman running it. Where you’re from doesn’t decide where you go.

Get the best of
High Flying Design
sent to you every month