Meet Shannon Kate Murray
Founder & Editor-in-Chief • Digital Strategy Partner • Squarespace Web Designer
In a hurry? Skip to how we can work together.
GROUNDED BEGINNINGS
I grew up in a seaside town in Essex - the kind of place where creativity didn’t look like a career path. Entrepreneurship existed… but mostly through men in trades. The brilliant women around me worked part-time, in schools or shops, or not at all.
There wasn’t a blueprint for someone like me. So I learnt early: if I wanted a different kind of future, I’d have to design it myself.
At seventeen, I launched a tiny beauty and fashion blog from my bedroom. It helped me find confidence I didn’t know I had - and taught me my favourite lesson: when a woman share her story, possibility expands. That curiosity took me to study Fashion Journalism at UCA, where I learnt how storytelling, design and emotion work together to make people feel something.
After graduating with a First-Class BA (Hons), I discovered the truth many of us face: a degree doesn’t guarantee a job in the city. So I moved home and took a job in a local call centre while applying for anything creative. Six weeks in, my InDesign skills got me moved into the marketing team.
Two years later, I was leading digital marketing for three brands and managing assistants before I even turned 25. It was progress… but not purpose.
So I started creating my own opportunities: building websitesfor wellness and beauty founders and discovering the power of digital presence to shape both a brand and a life.
SUCCESS ON PAPER
When COVID arrived, I joined Tamara Sword & Cat Lenheim at ThoughtLDR - first part-time, then full-time, and eventually (four years in) stepping up to Assistant Director of Marketing & Operations. I had the rare opportunity of helping scale the agency from a tiny team into a fast-growing operation - leading strategic growth and senior account delivery for global tech clients across the US, UK and EMEA. I got to learn how to build a marcomms agency behind the scenes - systems, operations, brand and leadership.
It looked like success. But it didn’t feel like mine.
I had made my work my whole identity. And while I loved my team, I was burnt out, navigating misalignment - and still unable to afford the independent life I was working so hard for.
The night I got promoted, everyone congratulated me… but I felt detached. Because the title wasn’t my dream.
My dream was always building something of my own - something that made me feel alive, not just employed.
That was my clarity. And once clarity arrives, you can’t ignore it.
RETURNING TO WHAT MATTERS
In 2025, I left the fast lane and rebuilt High Flying Design into the thing that’s been calling me since that teenage bedroom blog:
A women’s business & lifestyle magazine that celebrates a quieter kind of ambition - the kind that grows from who you are, not who you’re told to be. It’s a space for women who want a business that funds their life, and a life that feels like their life.
Somewhere along the way, I’ve realised: real stability doesn’t come from where you live or what you own - it comes from knowing who you’re becoming.
And that’s the heartbeat of everything I create.
Today I split my time between:
Publishing stories and psychology-backed advice that help founders feel sane, supported and inspired
Designing websites and digital strategies that give women (and yes, sometimes men) a confident online presence and practical tools for growth
More on how we can work together below.
HOW WE CAN WORK TOGETHERThe Flight Plan Session
Before any big take-off, every founder needs a flight plan.
This 60–90 minute digital strategy session helps you zoom out, review your brand, website and socials, and map out the next stage of growth - whether that means repositioning for bigger opportunities, bringing an offline business online, or fine-tuning what’s already in motion.
Together, we’ll spot quick wins, identify missed opportunities, and define what to focus on next so your energy actually moves the needle. You’ll walk away with a tailored action plan and a week of light-touch support to help you keep the momentum going.
Your website isn’t just there to look pretty - it’s your business’s hardest-working team member. It should take bookings while you sleep, welcome new customers in, and make you look as professional online as you already are in real life.
I design modern, easy-to-manage websites that do exactly that - helping ambitious founders and small business owners attract more of the right clients, with less effort.
Squarespace Website Design
“Shannon understood my vision and guided what would actually convert. I’d highly recommend her.”
— Naomi Sadé
“It started with a website, but Shannon’s impact went far beyond design. Two years later, I’ve been able to reposition my brand for bigger opportunities. Her insight helped me make my online presence match the level of work I was already doing.”
— Mollie Barnard, The Hair Hut
“Shannon is a dream to work with, one of the best hires of my career. Always two steps ahead… her positive, can-do spirit lifts up all those around her.”
— Tamara Sword, ThoughtLDR
“Shannon impressed me from day one - a self-starter brimming with ideas. If you’re fortunate enough to work with her, you’ll have a fantastic experience and no doubt see your business grow.”
— Cat Lenheim, ThoughtLDR
“I finally have a structure that works with my brain. I left excited, clear, and actually moving again.”
— Mary-Ann Moloku, The Soul Manifesto