Join us for inspiration, practical insight and meaningful connection with women doing it differently.

Big ambitions? An idea you can't shake? Join female founders for practical insights, honest stories, and fresh thinking about what comes next.

Women Founding Differently: Ambition on Your Own Terms

Starting a business is one thing. Deciding what you want it to become is another.

How do you turn an idea into something that pays? When should you push for growth, and when is enough, enough? Can you build a successful business without giving it every hour you have?

Following last year's sell-out event, Women Founding Differently is back at Patch Twickenham for a morning of candid conversation about starting, building and growing a business on your own terms.

Local leadership coach Kate Rainford-Foakes will bring together a brilliant panel of female founders to explore the decisions behind their businesses: the first steps, the risks, the mistakes, the turning points and the choices they're still making.

Because ambition can mean building a team, reaching a revenue milestone or creating something with real scale. It can also mean financial independence, greater freedom and work you're proud of.

Knowing what you want is one thing. Making it work for you is where the conversation gets interesting.

Meet the founders

Four women, four different business journeys, and so much to learn from each:

Harriet Hastings - Co-founder of Biscuiteers, the luxury gifting brand that turned beautifully iced biscuits into a thriving business.

Steph Douglas - Founder of Don't Buy Her Flowers, who built a thoughtful gifting business from an idea sparked by her own experience of becoming a mum.

Nadia Simonds - Co-founder of Lune & Wild, elevating children's food with the brand she created with her cousin Lara.

Sally Lovett - Founder of Stretching the City, who grew a yoga side business into a workplace wellbeing consultancy.

Together, they'll share how they started, what helped their businesses gain momentum and the decisions that have shaped their journeys, with practical lessons whether you're nurturing your first idea or deciding what comes next.

What we'll get into

We'll go beyond the polished founder stories to explore:

Getting started: What helped our founders move from thinking about it to doing it?

Making it pay: What have they learnt about pricing, money and building a viable business?

Choosing growth: When is it time to hire, ask for help or take a bigger risk?

Making the trade-offs: What have they sacrificed - and where have they drawn the line?

Changing direction: What happens when the business you've built no longer fits the life you want?

Expect honest answers, useful ideas and room to ask your own questions.

More than a panel conversation

We'll begin with a 45-minute panel conversation and quick-fire Q&A, followed by guided discussions in smaller groups.

This is your chance to take the conversation back to your own business or idea, think through a question you've been sitting with and hear from other women working things out too.

We'll finish with relaxed networking over coffee, with time to swap ideas and make connections beyond a quick introduction.

Who's it for?

You might have an idea you haven't acted on yet, be finding your feet in a new business or be several years in and wondering what comes next.

Perhaps you're growing a side project, starting again after a career change or building around children and caring responsibilities.

You don't need an established business, a business plan or the confidence to call yourself an entrepreneur. Curiosity and a willingness to join the conversation are enough.

Children are welcome. Patch will provide toys and colouring so having little ones with you doesn't have to stop you coming along.

Give yourself a morning to step back, think bigger and work out what ambition means for you. Book your place and join us.

Event details

Date and time: Friday 6 November 2026, 10am–12pm

Venue: Patch Twickenham, 42 York Street, TW1 3LJ

Accessibility: Step-free access via the accessible entrance on Arragon Road

Parking: Public car parks nearby, including Arragon Road Multi-Storey, York House and Church Lane

Transport: Five-minute walk from Twickenham station

Check-in: At the front desk on arrival

Disclaimer: By registering for this event, you agree to your name and email address being shared with the event organiser (Kate Rainford-Foakes) for the purposes of post-event communication and community updates.