About this Event
Hear from the women behind Biscuiteers, Don’t Buy Her Flowers, Lune & Wild and Stretching the City - then join founder-led small-group conversations about your own business or idea.
Friday 6 November · 10am–12pm · Patch Twickenham
An idea you keep coming back to. A business you’ve just started. A question about what to do next.
Sometimes, what helps is getting into a room with women who have taken those steps themselves - and having the chance to ask how they did it.
Following last year’s sell-out morning, Women Founding Differently returns with four brilliant founders sharing what it has really taken to build their businesses: finding their first customers, making the finances work, taking risks and deciding what success looks like alongside everything else in their lives.
Meet the founders
- Harriet Hastings, co-founder of Biscuiteers: turning a creative idea into a recognisable gifting brand.
- Steph Douglas, founder of Don’t Buy Her Flowers: building a business from an insight sparked by becoming a mother.
- Nadia Simonds, co-founder of Lune & Wild: creating a children’s food business with her cousin Lara.
- Sally Lovett, founder of Stretching the City: growing a yoga side business into a workplace wellbeing business.
Hosted by leadership coach Kate Rainford-Foakes, the conversation will explore the decisions behind those journeys - including the mistakes, uncertainties and trade-offs that rarely make it into a founder biography.
Hear their stories. Bring your questions.
We’ll explore questions such as:
- How do you move from thinking about an idea to actually starting?
- What helps you find customers and make your work financially worthwhile?
- When should you ask for help, invest or take a bigger step?
- How do you build a business alongside family life and other commitments?
Choose one of five breakout conversations, led by our founders and host
After the panel, you’ll join one smaller group to explore the topic most relevant to your business or idea:
- From Idea to First Sale, with Steph DouglasTesting your idea, finding your first customers and taking those first steps.
- Making It Pay, with Sally LovettPricing your work, paying yourself and deciding when to commit more time to your business.
- Getting Seen Without a Big Budget, with Harriet HastingsUsing PR, collaborations and your story to help people discover your business.
- Ready to Grow? With Nadia SimondsFinding your first help, working with co-founders and exploring investment.
- Deciding What Comes Next, with Kate Rainford-FoakesWorking out what you want from your business - and what “enough” looks like for you.
Bring a question, an idea or something you’re finding difficult. You don’t need to have it all figured out to join the conversation.
We’ll finish with relaxed networking over coffee, with time to continue conversations and get to know people.
You don’t need an established business to belong here
You’re welcome no matter what stage you're at - whether you’re exploring your first idea, growing a side project, finding your feet as a freelancer or already running a business.
Come on your own or with a friend. Children are welcome. Patch will provide toys and colouring.
This is a not for profit event - all proceeds go to charity.
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 Coaching) for the purposes of post-event communication an
Event venue & nearby stays
Patch Twickenham, 42 York Street, Twickenham, United Kingdom
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