Starting Small, Thinking: Big Women Founding Differently is a special women in business event taking place at Patch Twickenham on Friday 28 November, designed to inspire, support and connect local women who are building businesses, considering a start up, or exploring a new direction in their working lives.
Hosted by local leadership and career coach Kate Rainford-Foakes as part of the Small Business Saturday UK campaign, this event brings together four remarkable female founders who each represent a different path into entrepreneurship. All four have built purpose driven businesses, many while balancing young families, managing caring responsibilities or navigating career pivots. The event offers an honest look at what it really takes to create and grow a business in ways that fit real life, rather than the traditional start up model.
The panel discussion will explore how women are increasingly founding differently. Instead of long hours, rapid scale plans or high risk investment routes, many women are choosing different paths. They are starting businesses in the margins of the day, launching ideas from their kitchen tables and building in creative and flexible ways. This event opens up the conversation behind this shift and gives attendees the chance to learn directly from women who have done it.
The four panellists include:
Steph Douglas, Founder of Don’t Buy Her Flowers, known for creating thoughtful gifting solutions designed to genuinely support people during big life moments. Steph speaks openly about motherhood, relationships and modern life, and her business has grown significantly since its early days in Twickenham.
Nadia Simonds, Co founder of Lune and Wild, who left a career in beauty to create handmade meals for babies and children. The business began during her maternity leave in 2020, and has since delivered more than a million meals to families across the UK.
Amanda Bell, Co founder of SeparateSpace, an accessible online platform offering legal, financial and emotional support to people navigating separation. Amanda is a long standing divorce lawyer who witnessed how confusing, costly and isolating the process can be.
Dani C Coombe, Founder of Fowler’s Syndrome UK, the worlds first charity dedicated to this stigmatised women’s health condition. After receiving her own diagnosis quickly, she discovered that most women wait years to be diagnosed. Her organisation now provides support, advocacy and research leadership both nationally and internationally.
The panel will explore topics including how they started, the first moment they believed their idea should exist, the challenges of building a business around family life, what they wish more women knew before starting, and how they define success on their own terms. Attendees will hear candid insights into the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, and the creative, scrappy or unconventional decisions that shaped each business.
After the panel, the event will move into small group conversations where attendees can share their own ideas, challenges and next steps. These sessions will be guided by individual panellists and offer a supportive space for networking and community building. The morning will finish with informal connection over coffee.
Children and babies are welcome. Patch Twickenham will provide toys, space and colouring materials to help make the event accessible to mothers with young children.
Whether you already run a small business, are developing an idea, or simply want to feel more inspired and supported in your work life, this event offers insight, encouragement and community. It is designed to help women feel seen, to hear real stories behind successful businesses and to leave with greater confidence in their own path, whatever stage they are at.
Tickets are available via Eventbrite.
