Share an experience or challenge that has shaped you? Working in Rescue from the age of 16 certainly shaped me. It taught me self-discipline, patience, strength, resilience, compassion, forgiveness – every high and every low you could think of. All of which I use to this day.

Best piece of advice you have ever been given? One of my lovely clients once said to me, “Mistakes will happen; it’s how you deal with them that matters most.”

What advice would you give to your younger self or a woman just starting her career? I hear a lot of advice in business that focuses on maximising each stereotypical “masculine” trait (“be assertive, climb to the top, make your presence known”) and to suppress any “feminine” traits to succeed (“don’t get emotional, don’t be sensitive, it’s not that deep”).

Ignore all that. My advice is to just be you.

Yes, you’ll need to mould yourself to your audience, and yes, there’ll be a time and place for each of those traits to be used, but the one thing that will always make you memorable is your individuality. I’d rather be remembered for sticking out than be forgotten overnight. Use your voice. Laugh at everything. Find your balance between being professional and showing your personality. And if worst comes to worst, reassure your imposter syndrome with this quote, “Any press is good press if you market it right!”

What does success mean to you? Solidifying your place without compromising your morals along the way.

How do you handle challenges and changes? What's in your toolkit? Self-discipline!!! If you vow to make that your one and only non-negotiable mindset hack, you’ll never get stuck in a funk again. On tough days, zoom out and look at the bigger picture.
A quote I like to remind myself of on days like this is: “1% every day”, meaning as long as you move one percent closer to your goal each day, you have done enough. Not every day needs to be a groundbreaking one.

Why is it important to support women in business and women-led business? After having a rough time from the age of 9 to my mid-teens, I unfortunately developed mental health issues that still affect me to this day. I left school at 13 because I was unable to cope with the pressure, and whilst I thankfully had an amazing support network and was able to be home-educated, learning the value of real-life experiences, I was never able to complete a single GCSE. Something that, at the time, was embedded into every teenager was that they would be the key to all their hopes and dreams of a successful future. I spent years with no confidence, interests or motivation. I had absolutely no idea why I was so different, nor how on earth I was going to get a job or earn enough money to survive as an adult.

Had I known of a single female-led business that made it against all the odds… A female business owner who came from a similar background to me… Or any kind of motivational speaker whom I could have related to and looked up to, it would have changed that mindset and my life without a doubt. Representation matters.

Now, as a neurodivergent, 23-year-old business owner, I know how valuable it can be to just have a seat at the table - to be seen and heard just like our typical middle-aged white male counterparts. Having a supportive network around you, particularly filled with people who understand what it’s like from your demographic, is the most powerful, reassuring and motivating gift we can give each other.