THE SISTERHOOD
Ordinary Women achieving Extraordinary things
Born from a meeting between two highly competitive individuals in 2006, The Sisterhood came to fruition not on a whim, but on a challenge, and less than a year later an elite group of fearless females turned up on a sunny beach in Dover to undertake the original challenge - to race The Brotherhood across the English Channel to France.
11 months of training through wind, rain and sun, and more injuries than our on-board physio could cope with, The Sisterhood reached France in a World Record time of 3 hours 42 minutes.
They are now a community of over 150 extremely driven women from a variety of professions and sporting backgrounds, ranging from professional athletes to female founders who’ve achieved multi million pound business exits. They spent 2007 and 2008 taking part in adventure races, triathlons and dragon boat regattas around the world before smashing the World Record across the English Channel and completing the Great Amazon Raft Race - a three day stage race over 180km down the Amazon in Peru. The Sisterhood’s Art of Sport photoshoot - featuring sporting celebrities such as Freddie Flintoff and Josh Lewsey - was picked up by the Sun and sold as The Sun’s 2008 calendar. Since then, world domination has continued, with Sisters partaking in new adventures including Coast to Coast Adventure races across Yorkshire and Costa Rica, Kilimanjaro climbs, Everest base camp treks, and Marathon de Sables running, 2019-2023 saw them take on The Speed Project - a 340 mile running relay race from LA to Las Vegas, as well as a relay Channel Swim and 1000km rickshaw race around Chennai
The social events and online group chat side balances out the adventures and provides a level of sisterhood community of women supporting women on a level you cannot find in many female networking groups, it is in a nutshell the Wi on speed
All in aid of various amazing women and children’s charities. To date raising over £1,000,000
MEET THE HOOD
Emma Sayle
Emma made her name launching the global female empowerment brand Killing Kittens in 2005, now incorporated into the KK Group with over 200,000 members having launched events across the US, Australia and Europe and has grown online into an online community network with sexual empowerment at its core. April 2023 saw the group launch the world's first sex positive social dating app WeareX now the WAX app. The press have pronounced her a leader at the cutting edge of the new dawn of female liberation. She regularly appears in national and international media from TV shows to broadsheets to radio debates and corporate talks. When she’s not dominating the male-heavy adult entertainment world or blow torching doors open at the hinges, Emma can be found running the Sisterhood. The Sisterhood is a group of gritty females boldly going where not many girls have gone before, competing in extreme and adventure sports, creating havoc whilst maintaining a perfect ph balance between Lucozade and wine. The group to date has raised over £1,000,000 for various women's charities. Emma herself has run the worlds hardest ultra marathon: the Marathon de Sables across the Sahara, won the women’s Great Amazon raft race, climbed kilamanjaro, swam 6.5km across the Bosphorus, swum the Channel, relay run from LA to Vegas and is now showing women can have it all, only via teamwork across all aspects of life, by juggling a 9, 7 and 5 year old with KK world domination.
Francesca James
Francesca James is the founder of Ideas Forums, a powerhouse organisation supporting and championing the UK's entrepreneurial ecosystem. With her initiatives - the prestigious Great British Entrepreneur Awards, UK StartUp Awards, UK Fast Growth 50, and Ideas Fest - Francesca has built a thriving community of ambitious entrepreneurs, championing entrepreneurial excellence. Receiving over 5,000 applications annually, her awards have become the benchmark for entrepreneurial success, earning the reputation as the 'Grammys of entrepreneurship' and Ideas Fest being called 'Glastonbury for Business
Bertie Stringer
Bertie is the CEO & Co Founder of DNA Hormonal Health with her husband Sheldon.. The 1st natural brand to championing testosterone health and Andropause. Innovating in a global market desperate for solutions to rapidly failing male hormonal health. Our mission is to take testosterone health mainstream by addressing a critical gap in men's health. Launching the first range of natural supplements to help men balance their hormones, including the first supplement in market to address the increasingly common issue of Andropause (male menopause) impacting 1 in 4 men over 40. Filling black holes in the fast emering men's health market that has undserved men for years. Bertie is a passionate men's health advovate. Naturopathic Nutritionist Bertie is championing for parity in the men's hormonal health market which has been largely ignored outside of pharma. Having boostrapped to market, our products just launched in Boots with our Andropause supplement selling out in 4 weeks. Bertie was previously in TV, Music and Celebrity PR for 25 years with her last role being Director of Publicity for MTV. She's a keen biohacker and just completed her first triathlon aged 50.
Carmela Carrubba
Carmela is Company Director of Real SFX, one of the UK's leading special effects companies, recognised for its outstanding contributions to the film and television industry. Alongside her husband, Danny Hargreaves, Carmela has played a pivotal role in growing Real SFX into an award-winning business, earning prestigious accolades such an Emmy, BAFTAs, and several RTS Awards. Since co-founding Real SFX, Carmela has been instrumental in the company’s exponential growth and success. Her strategic vision and leadership have helped Real SFX establish a reputation for excellence and innovation in special effects. The company’s impressive portfolio includes work on high-profile projects - including cult TV classics Peaky Blinders, Doctor Who, YOU and Fool Me Once, as well as feature films including Expendables 4 and Havoc. Carmela’s background and passion lie in training and development, areas where she has made significant contributions to the creative industry. She is an influential figure on the Creative Board for Wales and actively participates in the Apprenticeship panel. Under her guidance, Real SFX has placed a strong emphasis on apprenticeships, raising the profile of these opportunities and advocating for the next generation of special effects talent. Her dedication to mentorship was highlighted when a Real SFX apprentice recently won the prestigious Apprentice of the Year award. Committed to sustainability, Carmela has championed several green initiatives within the industry. Her most recent achievement includes the launch of the ground-breaking initiative KIT4CREW. This initiative reflects her commitment to promoting environmentally friendly practices and sustainability in the special effects field, whilst looking after future generations. Charity lies at the heart of Carmela’s endeavours. She is a proud ambassador for the Dreams and Wishes charity, which fundraises to make the dreams of terminally ill children come true. Over the past few years, Carmela has been instrumental in raising nearly £40,000 for this noble cause. Her dedication to philanthropy and community support is a testament to her compassionate nature and commitment to making a positive impact beyond the professional realm. Carmela’s leadership extends beyond her directorial duties at Real SFX. She is a role model and mentor, continuously advocating for professional growth, sustainability, and innovation within the industry. Her contributions have not only elevated Real SFX but have also positively impacted the broader creative community in Wales and beyond.
Caroline Cooksley
Caroline was ACT's Development Director/owner for over 30 years, where she has helped grow the company into Wales's leading Training provider, before selling it. Achievements have included: Winning BITC Wales Most Responsible Business, Investors in People UK Employer of the Year 2021, and being in the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For since 2012. She has a wealth of experience in business development, employer relations and Work based Learning. During this time she also helped set up 2 alternative curriculum schools for kids who were disengaged with mainstream education and in 2019 was awarded an MBE for her services to Education. She is still a Director and still works as a consultant for ACT. Caroline is also an investor/owner & Director of GroupEd, an education software company, Do IT a neurodiversity screening company, a bakery and a pub. Caroline is a Trustee with Cerebral Palsy Cymru Children's charity and a founding member of Reaching Out, who help disadvantaged families across Cardiff. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and a proud mum of 4 children.
Caroline Phipps
Caroline is the CEO of Barod a large Charity working with people affected by drug and alcohol issues in Wales. Caroline has grown the organization over the last 25 years growing the range of evidenced based services offered to the people of Wales and expanding services into the cities and rural communities. Her passion is to help the most vulnerable and marginalized people in our society access support designed for their needs, in turn this will support them in achieving more positive change and hopeful futures for individuals families and communities.
Celia Gaze
Celia Gaze is the Founder and CEO of The Wellbeing Farm, a unique wedding and events venue in Lancashire, UK, that combines sustainability and wellbeing principles. With a background in NHS management, Celia transitioned from a high-pressure career to pursue her passion for creating a space that fosters joy, creativity and a unique experience. Under her leadership, The Wellbeing Farm has garnered numerous awards, including the prestigious Wedding Industry Award and recognition for its environmental practices. Celia's innovative approach to business has made her a sought-after speaker on topics such as resilience, mental health, and sustainable entrepreneurship. Celia is also an advocate for mental health, drawing from her own experiences of burnout to inspire others to prioritize their wellbeing. She shares her journey and insights in her book, "Why Put a Bow Tie on a Llama?", which provides a candid look at her entrepreneurial path and the lessons learned along the way.
Cheryl White
Cheryl is the founder of Apollo Care Franchising linited, a multimillion pound franchise network with a national and international reach. Cheryls passion for franchising goes beyond her own business, and in 2015 she set up her passion project, Mercury Franchise School, to work with service based business owners, teaching them how to use the franchise model to scale their business, increast their impact and skyrocket their income. An advocate of ethical franchising, Cheryl is an active member of the British Franchise Association (BFA) Encouraging Women into Franchising (EWIF) and was recently awarded Elite status as one of the top 100 franchises in the UK.
Hannah Murray
Hannah has hosted her own radio show on Talk Radio Europe in Spain for almost 20 years and has interviewed more than a hundred thousand people from politicians to bestselling authors to sports people. She’s also a weekly contributor to Good Morning Spain TV, (the first English language television breakfast show in Spain), talking ‘all things books’. She and her husband run the San Pedro Guide (where they live in Southern Spain) and a weekly podcast called ‘Marbella with Him & Her’
Katy Fletcher
Katy Fletcher - Founder of specialist creative agency Hermione Wells Design; storytelling through PowerPoint. Katy’s passion for creativity and nerdy obsession with PPT drove her to start HWD in 2019. Taking over the world, one slide at a time, from leafy Surrey, where she lives with her partner Ben, sons (4 & 10) and cat Mavis.
Louise Hill
Louise Hill is co-founder and CEO of GoHenry - the prepaid debit card and financial education app designed to teach kids and teens to be smart with money. Louise has built the business from the ground up and played an integral role in its international growth, first launching GoHenry in the US in 2018, then acquiring French Fintech Pixpay, followed by the merger with US Fintech Acorns. As a passionate advocate for financial education, Louise tirelessly campaigns to make the subject compulsory in all schools from primary age. She is a Trustee of The Centre for Financial Capability, where she contributes to initiatives promoting financial literacy among young people. Keen to nurture UK businesses, she is a mentor for the Creative Destruction Lab accelerator programme at Oxford University and part of Innovate Finance's Unicorn Council for UK FinTech (UCFT), driving growth in the UK FinTech sector. She is also a huge supporter of women in business, regularly mentoring female founders to drive cultural change around female leadership.
Komal Baldwa
Komal is a serial entrepreneur and a passionate advocate for women's health. In 2018, she founded Bleu, a pioneering venture dedicated to crafting vegan condoms tailored for women's concerns like yeast infections etc. Her innovative approach led to Bleu's successful acquisition. Currently, Komal has moved on to the present company, Waleria Healthtech which focuses on delivering scientifically validated and clinically studied herbal and ayurvedic ingredients (aspurus) that help to improve Menopausal symptoms of women. These herbs have been used for millennia in India and her company focuses on validating the same with innovative scientific and clinical studies. Komal's dedication to women’s health improvement cause has made her a compelling figure in the field of women's health advocacy. She is a tireless advocate for women's rights and a powerful voice for change. Her story is one of resilience and a relentless pursuit of a healthier, brighter future for women everywhere. Beyond her pursuits, she enjoys running, yoga, and cherished moments with her family.
Linda Thursby
Linda Thursby is a compassionate Trauma Therapist and founder of Barn Therapy, a sanctuary for holistic wellbeing. With over 25 years of experience in complementary medicine, she has developed a unique approach that gets to the root of physical, emotional, and mental concerns. Her expertise in trauma relief, BodyTalk, and myofascial release therapy enables her to craft personalized treatments that nurture the whole person. Alongside her husband Jonathan, she also co-owns Epic Studios, Norwich's premier venue for live music, sports, comedy, and more. Through her work, Linda inspires others to unlock their full potential, overcome challenges, and thrive in body, mind, and spirit.
Paulien Paterson
Pauline Paterson is a distinguished entrepreneur and beauty expert, with over 25 years’ experience in the hair and beauty industry. She is the co-founder of Dr.PAWPAW, a global multi-award winning, multipurpose lip and skincare brand with sustainability at its heart, available in over 40 countries. Pauline has won awards globally both for Dr.PAWPAW and for her individual achievements. Notably, she was named the 2021 Aphrodite Winner of the very prestigious NatWest Everywoman Awards. She is a UK London Export Champion, as appointed by the Department of Trade UK, Gov+ for her success in exporting globally. Today, Pauline is a champion of women in business and, despite her demanding schedule leading Dr.PAWPAW, she still finds time to support other female entrepreneurs.
Rachel Drapper
Rachel is an entrepreneur, academic researcher, and gender equity advocate. She founded Fairshare, a startup to help households share the physical and mental load of running a home and family. Rachel is an academic researcher at Harvard and is co-authoring a paper on the intrahousehold negotiation of domestic labour during COVID. She is also leading a project with WVC:E, a community of over 1,000 European women in venture capital, to investigate women’s experiences of having children, taking parental leave, and returning to work in the male-dominated industry. Rachel is a content creator on TikTok and Fairshare has been featured by the BBC and MIT Tech Review. Prior to Fairshare, Rachel was a strategy consulting Manager at PwC and Chief of Staff at a European tech unicorn. She has a first class Egyptology degree from Oxford and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Fulbright Scholar.
Rosa Dos Santos
Rosa Dos Santos, founder of Exact Sourcing Ltd, is a connector at heart. With a vast network built over several years, she brings people and businesses together, identifying top talent that sparks growth and innovation. As a entrepreneur who has built her business from scratch, she understands the challenges and opportunities of startup life and some of the growing pains involved in growing a business Her warm, approachable, and entrepreneurial spirit inspires confidence, while her team of experienced recruitment experts delivers personalised, results-driven solutions. Together, they help businesses find their dream team and take their growth to the next level, with a deep understanding of what it takes to turn a vision into a thriving reality.
Rachel Vetch
Rachel Vetch is the Founder and CEO of RR Luxury Connoisseur, the Private Aviation Specialists. The company specialises in: Private Jet Sales and Acquisitions, Private Jet Charter Services: Offering bespoke private jet charter solutions tailored to the unique needs of discerning clients. She is a distinguished figure in the aviation industry, with two decades of experience in both commercial and private aviation. She has made significant strides in leveraging her extensive knowledge and expertise to cater to a high-end clientele. She has built a reputation for her meticulous attention to detail, strategic thinking, and unwavering commitment to her clients' needs. Her entrepreneurial spirit and industry insight is characterised by a blend of innovation, integrity, and enthusiasm, which has been instrumental in the growth and success of RR Luxury Connoisseur. Rachel's journey from a young aviation enthusiast to a leading entrepreneur and founder of her private jet brokerage, is a testament to her dedication, expertise, and visionary approach to the aviation industry. As a loving mother of three children, Rachel balances work and family life. She actively fundraises for a variety of charities, both fundraising financial contributions and active involvement in social development initiatives, that are close to her heart.
Tanya Semerad
Tanya Semerad is the owner & Founder of Certified High Performance Coach and part-owner and director of Tanya Lesley LTD and Strategic 10 LTD. Many professionals struggle with being high-impact in business while balancing personal needs. As a Certified High Performance Coach, Tanya gives busy professionals proven frameworks for quickly becoming high-performers. This means increasing clarity, energy and balance, focus, self-confidence, and influence in their roles. With these plug-and-play tools, professionals reduce overthinking, win back time for themselves and their loved ones, and become the inspiring leaders they have deeply wanted to be. With a background in construction law as well as commercial organisations leading marketing and sales teams, Tanya understands what it’s like to be both an individual contributor and business leader. Over the last 8 years, Tanya has coached more than 700 professionals in 1:1 and team workshops across the UK, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Tanya is sometimes referred to as a “secret weapon”.
Emma Hardcastle
Sister Deej is a shy and retiring sort with a mischievous side that comes alive after an espresso martini or two. A dark horse with a dry sense of humour, she is often the quiet one in the background, helping hold it all together when the wheels are falling off, the torches have run out of batteries, the IVs need refilling and the 18th consecutive serving of rice and beans in incessant rain has driven others to madness. Since joining the Hood as a bright-eyed whippersnapper she has nailed the jungle of Costa Rica, braved the carnage of the Venetian Vogalonga, ticked off the Great River Race, run a marathon before breakfast (bad drills!) and will soon be joining her tribe on the LA to Vegas bimble that is The Speed Project.
Gaby Stevenson
Gaby joined the Sisterhood after being inspired by their channel crossing record attempt. After moving to London and enjoying too much alcohol and chocolate, the Hood was the perfect reason to rekindle a love of sporting activities. Many jobs and fun adventures later, such as taking a home built raft down the Amazon, Ironman triathlons, Etapes, Vogalonga. Now for hardest challenge of all - an epic relay run from LA to Vegas, but all made worthwhile by knowing we are supporting some well deserved charities along the (very hilly) way.
Georgie Sayle
Georgie was a Jerry Maguire in the making but gave it up and left Arsenal FC once she realised that the expression ‘you can take the monkey out of the tree, but you can’t take the tree out of the monkey’ really is true in the world of football, and she is just way too classy for all of that! Georgie is superhuman when it comes to food, managing to keep her supermodel shape whilst consuming entire packs of weetabix and kilo bags of pasta in one sitting and repeating the whole process an hour later! Legendary.
JoJo Henderson
JoJo is seeking to add to an already impressive CV of sporting and entertainment achievements by undertaking epic challenges with The Sisterhood. A nationally-ranked track and field athlete in her youth where she could often be found imparting training tips to Fatima Whitbread, Jojo gave up the chance of Olympic gold to pursue her love of Shakespeare and the silver screen. Film and TV credits followed, including a celebrated stint as ‘Helga’, the Nescafe girl of eastern Europe. After winning The Fear Factor in Argentina and embarking on a cross-continental ski, surf and safari expedition, Jojo is currently redesigning a pied-à-terre on Park Lane by day, and by night single-handedly keeping Maggie’s solvent. The man from Del Monte…he say yes!
Bella Malim
Bella is a figurative painter, trained at The Heatherley School of Fine Art. She has exhibited with the Royal Portrait Society and as part of the Notting Hill Arts Festival. She was awarded a young artist prize from the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. She is an ex-model (albiet not very successful one,) and reached the dizzying heights of catalogue modelling, mostly pyjamas. Bella has recently ‘done a Britney’ and is now sporting the most asymmetric haircut this side of the 80′s. She believes it makes her more streamlined, but in fact she just ends up going round in circles! She has set pizza eating records which will remain in place for a very long time!
Lora Elliot
Growing up the daughter of a multi-talented father who can list Olympic swimmer, stuntman, feature film star, crooner and jazz pianist on his CV and a model mother, it was an odds on bet that DJ Lora would follow the family tradition into showbusiness. Science and maths were never her strengths, instead she won the school trophy for ‘Biggest Contributor to the Arts’ and wrote plays and banged on the drums for fun.DJ Lora is now an internationally renowned artist and Europes top female DJ, who has performed in all corners of the globe, from London and Hong Kong to Spain and Brazil, Oslo to Miami and France to India. Now based in London, where she holds residencies at three prestigious private members’ clubs, and has supported stars including Eric Clapton, the Black Eyed Peas, Jamie Cullum and Razorlight at private events. For 2011 she is exclusively signed for the Formula 1 circuit race after parties. Her main claim to fame however is dj’ing the monthly sisterhood parties at The Wellington Club.
Heather Geluk
When not working on global finance transform projects or helping to develop scripts for Hollywood blockbusters, Heather actively fosters her affinity for lipgloss and lycra. She recently cycled 700kms across northern Tanzania and then 7,455 kms from west to east across Canada. Not content with staying at sea level, our ‘diva in down’ then went on to assert her mountaineering prowess by climbing lofty peaks across the globe including Mera Peak, Mt. Aconcagua, Mt. Kilimanjaro and finally the notoriously difficult North East Ridge of Mt. Everest where she broke 4 ribs 7500m into her summit attempt… by coughing! She plans to head back to Everest in 2011 and will this time pack a yak load of throat lozenges.
Lizzy Grenfell
Fighting for what’s right is what drives this sister. Lizzy co-founded a charity which exists to prevent, liberate and support girls who have been trafficked into the sex trade. Highly competitive and in true hood style, she will push herself and everyone around her to the max. Inspired by athletes, Lizzy developed and ran her own sports massage business for several years. With the LA to Vegas race and a channel swim in her cross hairs, this sister is not slowing down any time soon!
Em Ford
From her sheltered upbringing on the Apple Isle known as Tasmania, Emily underwent drastic and extensive surgery to have her second head removed, so she could live on the civilised ‘mainland’ of Australia. During a stint as a trolley dolly over the Perth skies, Emily discovered her true passion was for dance poles, sparkly hot pants and platform shoes. As much as she hates to admit, she followed a boy overseas and now bases her dance school, Contours Pole from North London. When she isn’t eating her weight in muesli bars, Emily spends most of her time figuring out new ways to get her legs to stretch over her head, and yelling at people, ‘point your toes!’
Steffi Tappin
Born in the tropics, raised in the mountains. Growing up with a baseball sports scholar Dad meant a sporty childhood spent cycling, swimming, horse riding and skiing. Steffi’s an avid slalom skier, rower and cyclist. Even hypermobile knee joints, torn ligaments and broken bones can’t deter this Sister from pulling off the seemingly impossible and completing triathlons, marathons and anything else thrown at her. Steffi is always up for Hood challenges, taking part in the Venice Vogalonga, London river race, relay duathlons, the list goes on...
Off-piste, she is often found behind her desk at one of the US investment banks; most of the days are spent trying to make sense of overflowing financial information, mapping her schedule for the unexpected long days ahead and chairing finance meetings with the trading desks. Away from city life, she’s found at a CrossFit box or planning the next travel adventure to over 120 countries and counting.
Faith Trethewy
A true London girl at heart, with big shoes to fill from her Mother’s footprints on the runways of Dior, Faith modelled and acted before defecting for a more fulfilling, warmer lifestyle in the Balearics. After four years in Ibiza undertaking a huge 400 year old finca renovation, (including a drunken evening there with her bestie Emma Sayle plotting out some hair brained idea for a female driven exclusive members only sex party club… I mean as if THAT was ever going to take off…. ) welcoming 2 baby boys and with a new language under her belt, Faith upped sticks to rural Mallorca.
Having been profoundly affected (read ‘utterly traumatised’) giving birth in a foreign country where the midwives spoke zero english, she went back to Uni to study childbirth, assisting deliveries and collaborating with the islands hospitals and top Ob / Gyns .. This led to the founding of Doula Mallorca in a bid to in her own small way help drive a culturally archaic protocol of childbirth on the island into the 21st century…
More recently an art collaboration with another fellow female entrepreneur founder of the retro poster art company Stick No Bills..
Having lost her ultimate best friend, her mum, to breast cancer in 2014, Faith says “my love and commitment to the incredibly resilient, empowering women I’m privileged enough to call my friends is stronger than ever. They have carried me, we carry each other.
It´s not really about this divisive word “ feminism” . It´s about embracing every new challenge that we face .
Bravery, laughing, growing, supporting.
That is the Sisterhood.”
Nikie Lundquist
Nikie is a new member of the Sisterhood. Born and bred in Stockholm, Sweden, she is a true Anglophile at heart who loves listening to Desert Island Discs, drink buckets of G&T’s and read Nancy Mitford novels.
After completing a degree in International Relations and Political Science she decided to go a little off piste to do an MBA in Food Business Management at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester. As well as a love for the countryside, she is also a firm believer in sustainable and organic farming.
She’s worked for start-ups and his year, her focus is on the launch of her online platform offering high quality and unique vintage clothing, Sigrid Maria Vintage. The garments are handpicked from all over the world and given new life through washing and repair, offering a more sustainable alternative to fast fashion.
Liz McClarnon
Sister Liz is one third of Britain’s biggest girl band Atomic Kitten and has travelled the world on sell out tours, has countless awards and number 1 singles and albums under her belt and sold 10 million records globally. Since her early Atomic Kitten days, Liz has effortlessly made the leap from starlet to superstar, been schmoozed by Hollywood hotshots and partied with pop royalty. Since then Liz has been busy in the studio writing great song after great song. Her debut album was released in 2009. In July 2008 Liz swapped her microphone for an apron, as she took part in the new BBC 1 prime time, series of
Celebrity Masterchef where she triumphed in being crowned Celebrity Masterchef winner. Heat Magazine have described her as ‘truly beautiful’, Glamour Magazine say she’s ‘always perfectly dressed’ whilst we at The Sisterhood say ‘yeah she’s ok, but can she paddle?’!
Cerys Furlong
Cerys Furlong is Chief Executive of GroupEd, a software company based in Cardiff providing brilliantly simple software for schools. Designed for schools, by education professionals and parents, we provide cashless payments, communications, registration and activity planning software that will save money, streamline communications and improve security and safety for all schools. Prior to joining GroupEd, Cerys was Chief Executive of Chwarae Teg, Wales’s leading economic development agency for women and charity that campaigns for gender equality. Cerys has been a passionate Governor of Fitzalan High School since 2009, where she has played a particularly hands on role in advocating for the school to secure funding for a £54m new build due to complete on 2023- providing world class facilities for the pupils of Butetown, Grangetown, Riverside and Canton. Cerys joined the governors of Fitzalan while still a Councillor representing the Canton ward on Cardiff Council between 2008 and 2013. In that time she sat on the Children & Young People Scrutiny Committee, chaired the Constitution Committee as it sort to modernise the working practices of the Council, and was rather briefly the Lord Mayor. In 2018 Cerys was appointed to the Cardiff City Region Economic Development Board, which oversees the proposals submitted to the city region and advising the joint Cabinet. Cerys was previously a Board member of Chapter Arts Centre and the Bevan Foundation. In addition, with her business partners Cerys has set up a number of successful businesses and runs a small group of pubs and restaurants in Cardiff including currently The Lansdowne and The Grange pubs in Cardiff and Milkwood restaurant. Cerys was previously a founding owner of the successful Potted Pig restaurant in Cardiff, before selling her shares in 2017. Cerys lives in Cardiff with her husband Tom, and two young daughters.
Elaine Atkinson
Elaine Atkinson (she/her) is an accredited coach and owner of In Wonder Coaching, dedicated to empowering women in tech to break through leadership barriers and achieve their full potential. With 20+ years of global corporate experience in talent acquisition and leadership development, Elaine understands the unique challenges women face in male-dominated industries. She fosters a mindset of curiosity in her clients, helping them overcome self-doubt, build confidence, and develop the skills and strategies needed to succeed at life and in work. As a trusted advisor, Elaine also guides women founders and entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses, including delegating effectively, and hiring the right talent. Through her expert coaching and advisory services, Elaine helps her clients stay focused on what they want, amplify their voices and assert their authority to achieve their most ambitious goals.
Inge Hunter
Founder and CEO of Clue Content, a pioneering content creation company that generates three months of high-quality social media content in just three days. Currently, I’m developing innovative predictive performance marketing technology leveraging AI and Machine Learning, recognised by Innovate UK for its cutting-edge potential. My achievements include being named in the top 25 of TechRound’s AI Top 35 companies. Honored to have won the GBEA Creative Entrepreneur award in 2023, and winner of the East of England Start Up Awards 2024. Since starting my entrepreneurial journey at 17 while homeless, I have grown Clue Content into a 16-person national company in just 14 months, aiming for a unicorn exit by 40.
Kelly Newton
Kelly Newton is co-founder of NIXI Body - washable, absorbent & very discreet knickers for periods and leaks, designed for active women to keep them moving through menstruation, motherhood and menopause.
Lucy Cohen
Lucy Cohen is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mazuma, the UK's first subscription-based accounting service for small and micro businesses. Founding the business in 2006 at the age of 23, Lucy has spent the bst part of two decades at the forefront of innovation in the accounting space.A fierce campaigner for women's rights, she successfully got guidance changed on pain relief for IUD fittings in 2021, and is currently tackling the gender gap in the accounting industry. Her company is the most successful female-founded accounting firm in UK history.
Olivia West
Olivia West is a freelance photographer with 15 years of experience working for magazines and the press. She specializes in feature photography, capturing the essence of celebrities, politicians, notable figures, and everyday people. Passionate about social issues, Olivia has contributed to numerous campaigns for women's rights and empowerment. She continues to document events and stories both at home and abroad for national newspapers, always eager to embrace new adventures through her lens.
Rachel Hayward
The MD of multiple award-winning procurement consultancy Ask the Chameleon Ltd, Rachel is an experienced bid writer with specific expertise in Central Government Departments (eg DfE, DWP), UKSPF, European and private tenders and contracts for SME’s and grant funding for the third sector. She has won a total of £117m in contract value to date. A trustee of The Star Trust, the Area Lead for the Federation of Small Business in D2N2, and small business representative on the D2N2 LEP Business Growth subgroup, Rachel is also a small business coach and mentor for Enterprise Nation and NatWest Accelerator Programme. A long time advocate of business awards to shine a light on the many accomplishments of small businesses, Rachel is currently the FSB's Self Employed/Freelancer East Midlands winner 2024.
Ria Burrage-Male
Ria is a seasoned leader and former international athlete who has transitioned into the wellness industry as the founder and director of KIBO, a mindset and wellness business that prioritises the human being first. The name KIBO, which means "Hope," is a heartfelt combination of her children's names. Through KIBO, Ria offers a range of learning experiences, group coaching, and one-on-one coaching services designed to support individuals and organisations. Her expertise spans athlete mindset, effective communication, authenticity, positive psychology, and high-performing environments. The flagship program, Eat, Sleep, Breathe, Connect, is a signature offering that empowers individuals to thrive and live more consciously. With over 20 years of experience in leadership and sports, Ria is dedicated to helping people discover their inner "KIBO" (hope) and live more intentionally. Her impressive background includes stints as a PE teacher, coffee shop owner, door supervisor, and charity director. In addition to her professional pursuits, Ria has had a storied athletic career, with 33 caps representing Wales in hockey and at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, playing football for Cardiff City Women in the Champions League playoffs, and winning the WCKA club kickboxing championship. She has also explored white-collar boxing, runs 10K runs, and enjoys playing golf.
Alexandra Lloyd
Alex's journey began in the world of finance as a senior consultant for IBM and Ernst & Young, before she transitioned to the world of digital fashion where she specialised as an e-commerce consultant for renowned brands such as Gucci, Mulberry and Moet Hennesy. Currently, Alex is a global product lead for a luxury fashion brand, and oversees the development and release of new features and functionalities on the ecommerce site and custom built app. With a background in psychology, she is fascinated by what drives customer behaviour and how to enhance their online shopping experiences. Alex is based in London and loves new adventures and challenges, although she hasn't driven in about 10 years, so it's going to be a bumpy ride!
Amy Polly
Amy Polly is an international and TEDx speaker, and founder of Funfulness Inc. After almost 20 years working in finance and as a leader in the Fire Service she also took on the role of strategic lead for mental health and wellbeing. Throughout her career, her personal life, and through her training as a mindfulness teacher, she realised that she didn't really fit into the expected boxes. Mindfulness had changed her life and it felt like a secret she didn't want to keep to herself, the problem was it didn't feel accessible and inclusive. Her mission is to make it so. Especially for those who are neurodivergent. To change the face of wellbeing in workplaces and schools, and encourage people to have more fun (because it's good for you)! Living her motto 'Grab Life By The T*ts' she left her career to persue her passion. She has worked with household names such as Virgin Media O2, Bupa, Arla, BrewDog, Ella's Kitchen, National Grid, Sweaty Betty, HSBC, and Heineken, and has been featured in The Guardian, Stylist Magazine, BBC News and The Metro.
Annie Leach
Annie is the CHRO of hyper-scale talent solutions business Join Talent, having made the bold leap from a career in SMEs into the start-up/scaleup world in 2022!
Audrey Spearing
Audrey loves to help people with their body, mind and spirit. She uses many modalities including life coaching, massage therapy, reflexology, yoga, breath work, nutrition and much more. She loves people and enjoys life to the full.
Billy Laser
Billy Laser is a curious and upbeat Business Development Executive at Counterculture Partnership LLP, where they leverage their writing and social media skills to drive awareness and growth. As founder, producer, and presenter of the Legally Feminist Podcast, Billy brings passion and creativity to their work. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for building strong networks, Billy is dedicated to driving progressive ideals and innovative solutions that bridge the business, creative, and cultural sectors.
Jemma Bowie
With a passion for business and having grown up in an entrepreneurial family, this was always a path Jemma wanted to follow. She completed a degree in Business Studies and spent most of her early career in finance, culminating as Finance Director and a co-owner with her husband of one of Europe’s largest independent CCTV distribution companies, DVS Ltd. With a fantastic team the company won multiple awards across several years, including winning the B2B Award and the Sustainable Growth Award, in the Wales Fast Growth 50 Index. Spearheading the exit strategy for the original shareholders, resulting in a multi-million pound MBO, allowed Jemma to follow her dream to train as a yoga teacher. She spent a number of years taking life a little easier, teaching yoga and focussing on family, whilst also internationally expanding the property portfolio she has established with her husband. Founder of the up-and-coming lifestyle and wellness brand and community, HAVIVAlife™, 'life a life you love™', Jemma’s current focus is on practising doing just that and empowering others to do the same. She loves family, friends, travel, adventure and living life well; and is a keen advocate for supporting and uplifting each other, through community and giving back. She joins the sisterhood just as her youngest finishes school, and can’t wait for things to get a little crazier!
Katie Webster
Katie Webster is an award-winning female entrepreneur with 20+ years of small business experience. From age 6, she knew she'd be her own boss. Inspired by her successful businessman father, she forged her own path, earning the title 'The Queen of Money.' With a fierce determination to succeed, Katie has built a thriving business, driven by her passion for empowering others to achieve financial freedom.
Oonagh van den Berg
Award-winning compliance expert Oonagh Van Den Berg has 20+ years of experience in financial services. Founder of Virtual Risk Solutions and RAW Compliance, she's a sought-after speaker and thought leader. Oonagh specializes in regulatory compliance, financial crime risk management, and remediation. With a strong track record of leading complex projects and teams at top institutions, she's dedicated to ethical leadership and innovative solutions. A proud mother of three, she resides in Portugal, shaping the global compliance landscape with her expertise and passion.
Rachel Bedgood
Rachel Bedgood is the Founder and CEO of Complete Background Screening (CBS), a leading UK-based provider of pre-employment screening and criminal checks. Since establishing CBS in 2005, Rachel has driven the company's growth through innovative solutions and a personally managed service, boasting a 5-day turnaround. Under her leadership, CBS has become a dominant force in its industry, synonymous with robust screening and signature safeguarding products.
Katrina Hutchinson O’Neill
Having left university after one year and starting at the bottom rung as an ‘agency temp’, Katrina worked her way up the business ladder quickly and, over 2 decades, built a successful in-house corporate career specialising in Talent Acquisition and business transformation. Her kitchen table founded & bootstrapped company, Join Talent, which in 2018 she took the big leap of leaving her corporate career to set up, quickly built a reputation for quality, demonstrable ROI and high-octane agility. That compelling combination has seen the company grow to span 21 counties, with more than 250 employees, and working with cutting-edge brands from start-ups through to global household names. In 2023 Katrina became the first ever female CEO to place 1st in the 28-year history of the Sunday Times 100 rankings for the UK’s Fastest Growing Companies, as well as placing 12th in Europe in the Financial Times 1000 list and one of only 2 female CEOs to make the top 20. Katrina is from Northern Ireland originally but has lived in rural Scotland since 2012 with her husband and their three children aged 15, 14 and 11, plus three dogs and 2 cats (which is ‘altogether too many pets’ according to her husband!). She loves travelling, time spent on adventures with friends and family and anything involving great food & great company!
Kim Antoniou
Kim is a passionate serial entrepreneur on a mission to enhance the world through innovative tech solutions. Believing in transforming negative experiences into positive outcomes, Kim is the CEO and founder of Auris Tech, the creators of Fonetti, the read-aloud app which is an exciting reading platform which uses proprietary, multi-patented automatic speech recognition technology developed specifically for reading, Fonetti aims to boost children's oracy, fluency, literacy, and English language skills. Kim is also the exited inventor/co-founder of Kafoodle, an award-winning FoodTech born from a deeply personal experience. After a near-death incident involving her husband due to incorrect allergen information, Kafoodle was created to ensure accuracy and safety around allergen information in food service. Impacting the food service, health, and education sectors, Kafoodle's influence has been profound, leading to its acquisition by Retail 365 in April 2023. With unwavering ambition and determination, Kim continues to create impactful and meaningful tech solutions that make a significant difference in people's lives. Through Fonetti and Kafoodle, Kim has shown resilience and innovation, demonstrating a commitment to improving quality of life and safety globally.
Elizabeth Evans
Elizabeth is the CEO of Elizabeth Styles Interiors, creating luxurious commercial and private residence designs. Elizabeth is passionate about providing support to young individuals exploring a career in the creative industry.
Susie Hill
Currently working on my business offering. Excited about the Goa challenge but don’t want any publicity quite yet 🙏🏻🙂
Tanya Kapur
Tanya founded Hub175 in her final year of university, with a passion for problem solving and fixing things, she quickly grew the HUB 175 in one year into a games community over 500 strong with the aim of bringing people together to form both friendships, upskill and a professional network. Her aim is to grow it into the everyman's private members club for those who play games and those who make games, with a particular focus on young adults like her at university.
Vanessa Moulton
The Hood’s mind Doc, Sister Dr V is the professional Psychologist of the group. This doesn’t mean she is constantly analysing the group’s psyche but does mean more insight into a bunch of gritty, determined and committed women.
Vanessa has invested a lot of her career into military mental health, having headed up the Psychological Well-being teams for Help for Heroes, supported the South Pole expedition for Walking with the Wounded which Prince Harry joined and is currently working with The Royal Foundation to promote Psychological Fitness to all serving personnel.
She takes her passion for promoting psychological fitness and grit into all aspects of her life and work, having set up her Psychological Consulting business Mindflex Group. This also includes making sure she gets her adrenaline and girlfriend time kicks!
As well as being a passionate mind expert, Vanessa likes to clock up challenges whenever she can with the Hood which has included swimming the Bosphorous twice which has motivated her to swim the channel as part of a Hood relay team in the summer.
Louisa Yates
Sister Louisa aka Shoes has been a part of the Sisterhood for over 10 years. During that time she has found herself paddling down the Amazon, getting lost in the jungles of Costa Rica, swimming from Asia to Europe despite hating swimming and having many other amazing adventures with the group. More recently she completed her first ultra marathon closer to home in the Lake District and is looking forward to running the very much flatter route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for the Speed Project.
Susan Glenny
Susan Glenny (Glenda) - Professional Sailor and Motivational speaker, founder of @TeamTigress and Tigress Sport Ltd. 4 times Transatlantic Race Skipper and will be skippering her 5th Fastnet Race this year Susan is a well known name on the global yacht racing circuit. Glenda is an original Sisterhood veteran who trained in the winter of 2006 for the first Sisterhood dragon boat Chanel crossing. This year Susan will take part cross channel relay swim and in her time has wracked up the following as a “Sister” Amazon River Race (2008) 3 x Asia to Europe Bosphorus Swim (2009, 2011, 2013) 4 x Venice Vogalonga Dragon Boat Race 4 x Great River Race St Agnes Triathlon (2009)
Liv Knight
Sister Liv has been roaming alleys and blocks of the 'hood for about 10 years now . Data on this rare, sometimes mysterious creature can be hard to track, often confined to nocturnal activity and erratic routines .. Luckily however, in nature such proud pack creatures never stray too far from the nest and it would appear more regular sightings have recently been recorded of this exact species.. Sister Liv will be outside her comfort zone soon , chasing coyotes and snakes in the desert ; a far cry from the city lights and hooded street corners .. But possibly characteristic of her duplicitous life as both day AND night walker ...
Julia Kendrick
Sister Julia is the over competitive one who relishes sports challenges as much as late night antics, the crazier the better on both fronts. By day she wears a wig and gown fighting for justice, by evening she stalks the backstreets of Brixton caring for two unsurprisingly feisty young daughters, and by night she happily drags on her dancing shoes to try to live by her (former) motto “sleep is for the weak!”... Slightly broken by her membership of the Motherhood/lack of sleep, this Sister will be forcing the pace on the LA to Vegas Speed Project, most likely to be heard screaming “pain is just weakness leaving the body!”.
Caroline Popham
Caroline (AKA Searlo) is another convert to ‘going forwards’. She is an ex Manchester Uni and Parrs Priory rower. She is an also big rugby fan – so much so that her husband even looks a bit like Lawrence Dallaglio! She ski’s, plays tennis and has recently returned to ‘going backwards’ with surf boat rowing! When not being sporty she is a Marketing and events consultant.
Antonia Bothner
Antonia is a qualified accountant, but maintains she is not your average bean counter! She comes from a set of quadruplets, one of the first in South Africa, thus hit fame at an early age! Work has taken her to some interesting places like Tokyo, back to South Africa and now London. When not working, coming from a family of 3 brothers, she loves most sport and knows what it’s like to be part of a team. Toe is also lucky to be alive having been fortunate to survive the Tsunami while vacating in Kho Phi Phi in Thailand. Her philosophy since then is that life is too short not to do crazy challenging things. It is only by doing them that you feel truly alive!
Alice Hobden
Alice is a Mermaid. Not only is she a PADI Divemaster and a Commercial Diver in her spare time but her actual job is an Underwater camera assistant in the film industry! Some of her credits include “Mamma Mia” “Harry Potter 1,4 and 6″ “Batman Begins” and “Johnny English” (a classic!). Not content with life above the waves she has been learning to sail over the last year and has managed to stow away on a few occasions for some races off the Isle of Wight. She’s also got a horse but we are not entirely sure how she manages to get the Mermaid tail onto the saddle!
Gina Moore
Gina Moore grew up by the chilly waters of Britain’s south coast before moving to the warmer climes of Gran Canaria for a stint marketing cars and managing petrol stations. This little island became too small for this party princess so she upped sticks to London becoming a glamorous Private PA to the jet set. Flying all over the world accumulating airmiles, shoes and an enviable fancy dress collection, she is a little more inclined to sunbathe by the Bosphorus rather than swim across it. But swim across it she has - twice – and dragon boated 40km around the islands of Venice, her proudest sporting achievements since being picked for the Dorset under 12’s squash team. Now living in the beautiful wine country of Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada with her partner and 3 year old son, Gina looks on with pride as her sisters continue to do amazing challenges, whilst training in preparation for the day she can tempt the girls over to the True North to partake in some ultra-marathon wine tastings.
Lucinda Davies
Lucinda is a fully qualified PGA Pro! Selected for the England Regional training squad at 15 she went on a full golfing scholarship to Western Carolina University in the US of A where she studied a degree in Sport Management. However she soon found out about University of Birmingham’s unique degree ‘Applied Golf Management Studies’ (acknowledged in the Sunday Times and Guardian for its mickey mouse status) and achieved a 2:1. Following uni she became the first female golf pro in Egypt at Taba Heights Golf Resort. Now coaching back in the UK, Lucinda is based at Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club in Richmond, where The Sisterhood receive its golf tuition and according to our Luce are by far the funniest and liveliest golf beginners she’s ever had (not to mention full of great golfing potential)! Four ball anyone?
Nikki Cooper
Nikki is a corporate lawyer educated to a degree level…. but unfortunately missed the class on common sense. With her penchant for dancing and cocktails she has been more likened to Ally McBeal than to Cherie Blair and is still dreaming of one day waking up as Beyonce. Nikki has joined the Sisterhood to channel her insatiable appetite for running for the good of others and looks forward to the new adventures of paddling. With a competitive streak that would rival Monica’s, her mantra is that of the wise Ricky Bobby “if you’re not first, you’re last”.
Alexa Ergatoudis
Late to the party but not forgotten….. Alexa is a digital design lecturer, cushion business entrepreneur, house builder, interior designer & fitness-bunny. When she’s not working, she’s competing in triathlons, cycling from Fontainebleau to London (averaging 80 miles a day for 4 days), riding ‘the North’ at 90 miles a day for 2 days, trekking mount Toubkal in the Atlas Mountains & the Picos de Europa in Northern Spain just for kicks & charity. Addicted to the delights of outdoor swimming, cycling & completed Tough Mudder 3 times… hell she just likes rolling her sleeves up & getting on with it! This year sees her churning across The Channel with the Sisterhood!! Can’t wait!! She lives in Surrey with her husband & 2 sons; who all work in the music industry.
Dolly Theis
Dolly is a recent sisterhood recruit. Upon hearing about this kick-ass group of incredible women going on incredible adventures for important causes she simply had to get on board.
Working 9 to 5 Dolly is completing her PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Cambridge (what a way to make a living) and spends the rest of her time putting on the annual Big Tent Ideas Festival (a cross-party political ideas festival), running 50:50 Parliament's #AskHerToStand campaign and fighting hard to show that a better politics is possible.
When Dolly's not train-setting around the UK actively supporting superb women to stand for Parliament she is showing the good people of Cambridge that you really can cycle in heels. And not just any heels...charity shop heels. Dolly is a strong advocate of charity shopping and loves nothing more than taking people along with her to help transform their wardrobes. Her mantra in life is: "If you can dream it, you can be it".
Yeeman Lam
I have been a consultant anaesthetist at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead for past 18 years I teach the trainees coming through the system and offer whatever advice they might seek. I have 3 children the first 2 when I was at the beginning of my training and studying for my professional exams the last just before I was appointed at my current place of work. I found my sport (badminton) was one of the things that helped me keep my sanity especially during the teenage and absent husband years. Maybe the other one is gin! I eventually found my work-life balance during the final years of my training and have not looked back since. I firmly believe that you need to stay active to be healthy in old age which is a message I try to impart to my patients. Although I don't like water (it's the cat in me) I am planning to try out different water sports and learn to sail and travel round the world with my husband now the children are 'self-caring'. I didn't take a gap year off as a teen but it's never too late, I'll try anything once!
Amber Lort Phillips
Amber is a passionate health and wellbeing entrepreneur, co-founder of The Big Retreat Festival, an immersive adventure celebrated for engaging all five senses. Recognised as one of the 'Top 5 Wellbeing & Adventure Festivals' by The Guardian, The Big Retreat Festival offers a unique blend of energy, inspiration, music, literature, culinary delights, and inner calm. Amber is also the visionary behind The Little Retreat, a serene wellbeing destination nestled in the stunning Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. As a co-author of *A Wellbeing Guide to Pembrokeshire*, she shares her passion for the region's natural beauty and mindfulness. Her dedication to the travel and tourism sector has earned her the title of Wales Business Woman of the Year. Through her initiatives, Amber strives to inspire others to embrace wellness and adventure in their lives.
Charlie Hurlock
Meet Charlie: Mum, Founder, Entrepreneur, Wife (in that order!). At 38, Charlie is shaking up the world of sustainable fashion with her straight-talking, zero-BS approach to life and business. As the Co-Founder of Swoperz, she's revolutionising how we think about kids' clothing. Swoperz isn't just another preloved clothing platform - it's the eBay for kids, but with a safe and verified community twist. Run by kids and managed by grownups, it's turning the traditional model on its head. Before diving into the world of sustainable fashion, Charlie worked in global exhibition sales. She thrives on the thrill of the chase and brings that same energy to her entrepreneurial ventures with the team most recent winner of the Ebay circular fashion fund 2023. When she's not busy changing the game at Swoperz, you'll find Charlie sweating it out at the gym, perfecting her swing on the golf course, or enjoying time with her family. Charlie's mission? To spread the joy of sustainable fashion far and wide, one stylish kid at a time.
Cien
Cien, CEO and Co-founder of Launchlemonade, is on a mission to democratise access to AI, making it available to non-techies worldwide. Recently shortlisted as an Early Stage Standout in the Great British Entrepreneurs Awards, Cien is a thought leader in AI, with UK speaking engagements throughout the year. As a startup advisor and fractional AI officer, she brings a unique perspective to the industry. With Launchlemonade, Cien is revolutionising AI enablement, likened to the 'WordPress for AI.'
Dominnique Karetsos
Dominnique leverages over 25 years’ experience spanning 40+ markets, leading and working for major brands reshaping and reengineering brand strategy for profitability.Coupled with a career-long nurtured talent for pinpointing trends and predicting market change, she has become an established authority in the sexual health and technology industry acting as an investor, advisor and global brand expert to guide start ups, market leaders and challenger brands in increasing market share, expanding distribution channels and maximising investment opportunities. Such was the case with Intimina, where she grew the business across EMEA, substantially improving topline performance. A force for change, Dominnique is a seasoned speaker presenting on global stages, including panels at Management Today and Sigma Health Tech, Malta, key notes at sTARTUp Day, Estonia and thought leadership talks at Women in Tech Global Summit, Paris. Furthermore, for three years, Dominnique has served as a UN Delegate for CSW65 and the Future of Innovation, a humbling experience understanding the fabric of global pain points echoed in each country’s socio-political system. As a born leader, she foresaw the need for investment as a key driver of business growth in the industry. This led her to co-establish the first, and to this day, the only investment fund dedicated to investing in sexual health and women’s health technology businesses, Amboy Street Ventures, where she also holds a seat as General Partner.
Julia Elliott Brown
Julia Elliott Brown is a highly respected entrepreneurial advisor with a wealth of experience in inspiring, advising and supporting high-growth potential businesses, and a passion for empowering female founders. Julia is the founder and CEO of Enter The Arena, providing investment and business growth expertise to ambitious female founders thought board advisory and executive coaching. Over the last 8 years, Julia has supported over 1,500 women in building long-term value for their businesses, providing straight talking strategic guidance, objectivity and perspective, and her heartfelt and unwavering support. Supporting start-ups every step of the way, Julia is committed and highly involved with her clients as they progress through their growth journey. As strategic advisor, she helps clients to navigate the scaling and investment process effectively, developing fundraising skills, leadership skills, business acumen and the confidence needed to enter the arena and smash down the barriers to success. She is a fierce champion for the founders and businesses she works with, inspiring, encouraging and motivating them to achieve great things. Julia is the host of leading business podcast Fundraising Stories with Female Founders and author of best-selling book RAISE: The Female Founder’s Guide To Securing Investment which was shortlisted in the Business Book Awards 2023. She is also a member of the Women and Enterprise All Party Parliamentary Group, contributor to the Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, and a long-standing judge at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards. She regularly chairs and presents at leading start-up events including the Evening Standard’s SME Expo, London Tech Week and Enterprise Nation, and speaks regularly in the media, representing the voice of the female founder.
Elizabeth Cowper
Elizabeth Cowper, aka Cowps, is the Founder of Ludo. With 25 years of HR experience in luxury brands, she has channelled her expertise into driving wellbeing and inclusion at companies through her tech platform and providing Fractional HR support. As a trained Master Coach, Strengths Finder Coach, NLP Master Practitioner, Master Hypnotist, and Time Line Therapy expert, she is dedicated to transformation and empowerment. Recognized as one of the top 10 most influential HR professionals in 2023 and 2024, she has won awards for her groundbreaking work in reshaping the workplace. Outside of her professional pursuits, Elizabeth is a devoted mother of three and a passionate advocate for women in the workplace, having delivered a TED Talk on the topic. She also leads an online community for HR, DEI, and Wellbeing leaders called Ludo Collective. When not working, Elizabeth can be found pursuing her love of fitness, spending time with her three dogs, or exploring her passion for biohacking and personal growth. She lives life with energy, purpose, and a touch of madness.
Natalie Ford
Natalie, a seasoned entrepreneur with 25 years of business experience, understands the struggle of ambitious women who've sacrificed their happiness for success. As a former owner of a successful cleaning company for 18 years and a landlord with 4 buy-to-let properties, she's lived through the chaos and burnout. Now, she helps high-achieving women break free from the cycle of exhaustion and rediscover joy, balance, and fulfillment in their personal and professional lives. With a passion for empowering women, Natalie is dedicated to guiding 100,000 women in reclaiming their spark and living a life that truly reflects their values and desires.
Rachael Flanagan
In 2005, Rachael Flanagan received an 'Unclassified' in Business A-Level. Despite this setback, she launched Mrs Buckét with just £20, flyers, and a mop. Today, she leads a multi-million-pound cleaning empire employing over 400 people. Her journey to success has earned her numerous accolades, including Businesswoman of the Year, and appearances on Channel 4, BBC and in The Times, among others. Rachael's story is a testament to resilience and determination, inspiring many with her ability to overcome challenges and achieve remarkable success, transforming a simple idea into a thriving business.
Charlotte Leyshon
Charlotte is the founder of Lux Family Law, a boutique specialist family law practice. Charlotte is widely regarded as one of the leading family law specialists in South Wales and beyond. Charlotte gives advice in high net worth cases where issues and/or assets are complex and multi jurisdictional. Charlotte's secret power though is her insight. Having gone through her own divorce she is able to show empathy and understanding that goes beyond her legal knowledge. Charlotte's usual passions are fashion and food. Riding a rickshaw was not up there on Charlotte's bucket list but she is beyond excited to take on this challenge with this incredible group of women.
Dani Wallace
Dani Wallace is a fearless motivational speaker, champion of enthusiastic inclusion, LGBTQIA+ Ally, producer of The Festoon Effect documentary, and the international celebrity public speaking coach for entrepreneurs, celebrities and business owners who want to use their voice, speak about their mission, and take up more space in the world. Through her world-renowned business and life development event, The BIG Festoon, she’s helped thousands of people to release the fear of speaking in public, take inspired action, break down barriers, unite communities and step into their birthright of success! Her books ‘Closed Mouths Don’t Get Fed’ & ‘I Am The Queen Bee: How I Overcame Self Sabotage to #FLYANYWAY & How You Can Too’ reinforce her mission to spread the word that wherever you come from, whatever troubles you’ve faced, or are facing now, you too can #FlyAnyway.
Diana Dredge
After 24 years in premium spirits marketing, including pioneering work in Cameroon and across West Africa, Diana retired at 50 to West Wales. There, she ran a small holding, entering local horticulture shows. In 2026, worked with Amber and co-founded Wales' top wellness festival The Big Retreat - her speciality was delivering the gin workshops! Widowed in 2022, Diana faced many challenges. Golf surprisingly became solace - and now she is Tenby Golf Club's first female board member, spearheading its marketing revamp. Diana thrives on challenges and empowering others.
Gina Parker
Gina Parker is a Chartered Financial Planner with over 20 years of experience in wealth management. As a Principal Partner of St. James's Place Wealth Management and Co-Founder of Panthera Private Office, she provides trusted advice to private clients, families, and charities. Gina is passionate about helping others, as seen in her work as a Trustee and Co-Founder of the Nepal Youth Foundation. She is highly recommended by Spears and features in the renowned Spears 500 list.
Hannah Lanel
Known for her balls of steel & heart of gold, the inimitable Lanel is a game changer. Watch this space for the future of complete health”. (Top 10 Women in Wellness). Renowned for her resilience and compassion, Hannah has been blazing a trail to challenge an industry often driven by fear and failure, and striving to make health and fitness accessible, enjoyable, and straightforward. Her business, The Fore, sits at the forefront of the industry with a vision to dismantle the barriers to wellbeing and empower individuals to lead healthier, happier lives. Spanning diverse communities, including minority groups, young offenders institutions, charities, hospitals, and schools, as well as global corporations and blue-chip brands, The Fore’s innovative approach addresses every aspect of wellbeing, providing a comprehensive solution to everyone, regardless of an individual's background or starting point. Under her leadership, The Fore has emerged as a leader in its field, and is frequently ranked among the UK's top 10 health and fitness businesses, whilst Hannah has featured in Forbes Magazine as one of the Top 10 Women in Wellness, and is widely regarded as a pioneer in the future of holistic health.
Miranda Christophers
Miranda is a Sex and Relationship Psychotherapist and Co-Founder of The Therapy Yard - a large, modern therapy platform specialising in psychosexual and relationship therapy. She is an expert advisor for Issviva Menopause, a speaker and a regular media contributor for newspapers, magazines, tv and podcasts including The Times, The Guardian, Women’s Health, Radio 4 Women’s Hour and Made in Chelsea.
Nikki Brougham (Moore) aka 'Lady B'
Baroness Brougham & Vaux is founder of award-winning tech and gadgets site for women. Technology presenter on BBC2 ‘something for the weekend’, host of women in technology events across the uk. Technology consultant in investment banks and hedgefund.
Hannah Williams
Hannah's corporate journey began as an ACCA Chartered Accountant, but her passion for innovation soon led her to be a-part of the team behind Tiny Rebel, a Welsh start-up brewery. After 13 years as CFO, she now leads the Alacrity Foundation, a tech start-up accelerator in Newport. Hannah is insanely passionate about entrepreneurship and connecting different communities. This year, she was a founding partner of "She Who," a South Wales community group dedicated to empowering and inspiring women and the next generation of female leaders. In addition to her roles as a board advisor and non-executive director, Hannah balances career with family life alongside her husband and five children. Outside of work, you’ll find Han somewhere across the world with her love for travel and adventure, so her involvement in the Goa escapade is right up her street! With relentless ambition, community spirit, and fearlessness, Han is ready to take on Goa!.
Sam White
Sam White is the founder and CEO of Stella Insurance, a female-centric motor insurance business that’s unapologetically led by women and designed for women, and the founder and Chair of Freedom Services. Having started her first company in 1999 aged just 24 in her sister’s conservatory, 20 years later she employs over 200 staff with offices in Cheadle, Cheshire, and Sydney, Australia with a turnover of over £20 million. Her company Action 365 was ranked by JP Morgan as one of the top 200 female powered businesses in the UK in 2021 and Sam herself is a multi-award winning business leader having been named as a 2022 finalist in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and British Small Business Awards for her human-led leadership approach. Sam cares passionately about diversity, equality, innovation and above all, making business human. Motivated by a desire to change the insurance industry for the better, Sam is a vocal advocate for levelling the playing field for women and championing female leaders within the industry. Sam is a regular business commentator in media and can be found discussing current business affairs on BBC’s Wake Up To Money and Live with Ian King on Sky News. You can also catch her co-hosting Toast, the spin-off series from BBC Radio 4’s Sliced Bread where you’ll find her breaking down the why’s and how’s of big idea products that have failed. In addition, Sam hosts her own podcast “Human Business with Sam White” where she candidly discusses the successes and failures with fellow business disruptors. In addition to being a successful entrepreneur, Sam is a mum of two and married to Jennie, a children's book author promoting diversity in children's reading and play.
Stacey Bunn
Leaving school at 14, Stacey embarked into the rose-selling industry, which really was War of the Roses. Each Cartel fought for dominance over the Midlands and surrounding areas; however, within six months, aged 15, Stacey, with over 50 staff, rose to the top and was the only company selling roses in the pubs, clubs and restaurants in the mid to late 90’s Becoming the original Theresa Mendosa, Queen of the Midlands. This thriving business allowed her to buy three homes before the age of 20 and awakened her inner She-Ra for future businesses! In the last 30 years, Stacey has had many ventures, from working as an Art Dealer for Clarendon Fine Art and a live TV Auctioneer (US AVC) to conducting funerals as a Celebrant. She is now co-founder of Advanced Therapy Systems, holding the UK distribution rights for hydrotherapy beds in the Care Home, Leisure, Hotel, and Spa Sectors, and is currently working on dominating the UAE market.
Sophie Stardust
Sophie Stardust is an award-winning entrepreneur who specialises in creating bespoke planners and journals, coupled with expert marketing support for entrepreneurs, incl speakers, coaches and authors. Renowned for her innovative approach to productivity and marketing, drawing on 20+ years of business experience working with a diverse range of people and industries, a history in the holistic and wellbeing space, and a passion for work-life balance, Sophie’s unique blend of creativity and strategic insight empowers her clients to achieve the winning combination of both professional success and personal fulfillment.
Suzy Bain
Suzy Bain is a trailblazer in the world of hair, yoga, and sound healing, spreading her message of self-love and empowerment wherever she goes. With a heart full of passion and a mind full of creativity, she's built a career that's all about helping others shine. As a creative force to be reckoned with, Suzy brings her infectious energy and passion for self-expression to everything she does. With over 30 years of experience, she's rocked hair shows, music videos, and fashion shows, and educated professionals around the globe. At her boutique salon, Suzy serves up personalized style with a side of fun. As a yoga instructor, she guides students through dynamic classes that fuse movement with music, helping them find their inner groove. And, as a sound healer, Suzy brings her unique vibe to the corporate world, helping busy pros chill out and find their flow. With her trifecta of hair, yoga, and sound healing, Suzy offers a holistic experience that's all about embracing your true self and having a blast while doing it!
Catherine Loveless
Catherine co-founded The Sisterhood with Emma as one of the original members, having been crew in The Channel Challenge back in 2007. 12 years of high jinks later, she has swum from Asia to Europe and paddled the Vogalonga with the girls, as well as attended many an epic fancy dress party. When she’s not hanging with the Hood she can be found teaching Ballet to children with Butterfly Ballet and launching a sustainable Christmas tree business with Holly Berry Trees.
Amy Du Rand
The hood Sandra Bullock lookalike is officially ‘superstroke’ and a water babe. Having spent 8 years rowing up and down the Thames, she turned her attention to the sport of ‘going forwards’ (or Dragon Boating). As Stroke, the subtle nuances of ‘rhythm and timing’ are not lost on our Ames as she secretly dreams of being on Strictly Come Dancing. Having found some like minded rowing Sisters she stepped back into a rowing boat and her ‘going backwards days’ have been revived by trips to the Cornish coast for fun in the surf and races at Henley! Her proper job is marketing luxury property and golf resorts in Italy, although it’s not half as fun as helping Emma run The Sisterhood!
Anna-Louise Felstead (A-L)
A-L is a reportage artist who draws and paints on location. She studied Graphic Design at Central St Martins, gaining an MA at the Royal Collage of Art in 2003. She has been known to draw backstage at London Fashion Week, Crufts, The Dubai World Cup, Monaco Grand Prix and many others. Her most recent exhibition was Glamourous London Restaurants where she spent time in the West End painting people dining in places such as Zuma, The Ivy and Cipriani. She has recently taking up racing vintage classic cars and is in training for the Historique Monaco Grand Prix (for vintage cars)! She’s also got the coolest gallery in Port Isaac, Cornwall!
Kitty Buchanan-Gregory
Kitty joined the Hood in 2010 and has been part of various exploits including the Great River Race, London’s rowing marathon, the Sisterhood all female sailing crew at Cowes Regatta, 5 Venice Vogalonga races plus countless hours in the Dragon Boat on the Thames. The only crew member with a pacemaker she is an Ambassador and Heart Patient Spokesperson for The British Heart Foundation for women with cardio disease. She is found in Westminster during the week working for central government and stalking Larry the Prime Minister’s cat.
Susanne Judd
A random chat on a Greek beach in 2008 whilst planning a climb up Kilimanjaro led to Susanne getting into the Sisterhood Dragonboat a week later - and then paddling 120 miles down the Amazon River in north Peru 6 weeks later. Since then the 6.5k Bosporous swim, the Etape du Tour, the Vogalonga, numerous obstacle races, mountain hikes, marathons, duathlons, triathlons and 21mile Great River Races. By day Susanne is VP of Marketing at a women’s healthcare company, and mentor across a number of corporates.
Catherine Markwell
Clinging onto her 30s by a long blond hair thread and mother to a 21 year old (how?). Triathlete, geriatric gymnast and runner going after her Six Star world marathon major & London classics medal in 2019.
Not the fastest runner on the course, unsurprising when race prep generally includes dancing on the tables at Archer Street wine bar and sobering up just in time for the finish line. Also room for improvement in the swim discipline after being asked to “please dismount the inflatable pig madam” at the 2017 AJ Bell triathlon.
Been single longer than Bridgette and instead co-habits with a shoe collection subject to its own insurance policy and her proudest possession, a built in champagne fridge.
Laura Flegg
Sister Laura Flegg brings her powerful combination of Devon country lass, high achieving athlete and globe-trotting documentary maker to the Sisterhood. She’s most happy when in the midst of taking on a challenge, whether that be rafting up the Amazon, cycling over the Alps, getting tight to the wind at Cowes Week or filming bears in Northern Canada. From early days as a County sprint and hurdle champion Laura has kept her competitive bite and though she may not be the loudest of the Sisters she brings a quiet determination not to be messed with! As a wildlife and science documentary director her work has reached our screens through all the major broadcasters and has carried her across almost all continents… but she’s most at home dancing on the tables or putting the world to rights with her Sisters until the wee hours… that and sofa cuddles with her dog Llew and hubby (in that order!).
Kirsty Williams
Kirsty is another South African and has always been up for a physical challenge. From Bikram to Capoeira (they sound like cocktails rather than exercise!) she always finds something to keep her body busy. She works as a physio in leading private hospitals in london and is also currently involved in setting up a school for kids with special needs in Chelsea. In her free time you’ll either find her somewhere on the Kings Road looking for new party dress or planning her next adventure to another far flung exotic destination!
Maly Sayle
Maly (aka ‘the mothership’) refused to just be a spectator when watching her daughters nailing every mountain, river and ocean they could find. On being being replaced by an uglier younger polish model instead of having meltdown she donned new running shoes, a bike and an ipod with dolly partons finest on, threw the wedding ring in the thames and has been part of the sisterhood winning venice and great river race crews. She can also drink most of the hood members under the table and has been grounded several times by her offspring.
Annie Abbatt
At the moment, you’ll either find Annie running round after two small kiddies/wildlings, drawing and painting portraits, running her marketing consultancy & building websites (like The Sisterhood’s website you’re on now!) Or galavanting in the countryside, doing up a very old house piece by piece herself (with zero DIY skills to speak of), or - very importantly - drinking wine with friends and escaping to party! She has paddled marathons with the hood in various countries, lugged enormous masts up at Cowes week (being one of the token tallies of the group), and hood-partied all night long.
Katie Millett
Sister Katie is a tale of two halves! By day she juggles life in clinic as a Health & Wellness Coach, two highly energetic boys and a charmingly chaotic home. By night however, the coin flips, hand her a glass of bubbles and turn up the tunes and this sister will be found dancing until dawn (where the bubbles will be promptly swapped back to milk thistle & ginger shots!) Katie’s first hood race was Venice 2017, an experience never to be forgotten, and the rest is history……..
Em Roberts
A self confessed tomboy, Em is the founder of Bird + Wolf, a sustainable and gender neutral fashion label. She helmed her own comms agency for many years, working with brands from luxury jewellery to wildlife charities. A keen writer Em has also published several blogs and articles for magazines. Four years ago Em sent herself back to college for a year to study humanistic counselling. She lives in Surrey with her husband, who is a film set decorator, her two teenage sons and two dogs. Being part of The Sisterhood was quite unplanned. After meeting Emma Sayle through Bird + Wolf and learning of the group, she voiced that it was something she needed in her life. The next thing she knew she had signed up as a driver on The Speed Project!
Cleo Mason
Cleo is the Global Events Director for Killing Kittens and the Robin to Emma’s Batman, having been her right-hand woman for 12 years. She goes at 100mph and doesn’t sleep - merely rests her eyes. The raver of the group, if we lose her on The Speed Project then an RV is needed to get her out of Burning Man.
Erin Hurst
Born and bred New Zealander - travelled to the UK some 20 years ago for an ‘OE’ and now have 4 children and a business here.
Worked at Diageo in New product Innovation before setting up London’s best butchery ‘Provenance’ 5 years ago in Notting Hill. Continued to expand with 3 shops (4th imminent).
Long but not very impressive career in endurance events… but I do love them! Fell in love with endurance sport when first completed the Coast to Coast whilst at University in Otago. Run, Kayak and cycle from one side of NZ to the other. I’ve also done the Davos mountain marathon, the Haute route (skiing), the Vatterunden (cycle) and the L’etape (cycle) … although the TSP will see the end of a 10 year ‘sabbatical’ which has been joyously filled with having 4 children.
I met Emma at a dinner party 10 years ago and have been angling for an opportunity to join an event ever since.
Claire Worman
Claire has been involved in the health and fitness industry for over 20 years. She is a registered Osteopath, graduating from Oxford Brooks University, and also has a diploma in Animal Osteopathy. Claire has been teaching Pilates for over 18 years, and has been involved in writing Level 2 and 3 qualifications, as well as running instructional courses and delivering qualifications in Pilates Matwork, Studio Equipment and more recently the Level 4 Certificate in Exercise Management of Low Back Pain. In the past, Claire was also a college lecturer and verifier for the NVQ/OCR awards and VTCT qualifications. Claire has 3 children and lives in Laleham, Middlesex. She spends her remaining spare time running, cycling and more recently swimming as part of the Tribal Gym Team.
What people don’t realise is that her blood in pure red wine and that it’s no coincidence that her impressive race times have come along since the addition of CBD red wine protein shakes into her diet.
THE SISTERWOOD
The Sisterwood is the merry band of men that would follow the hood to the ends of the earth and back. They are the brothers, boyfriends, husbands and friends of the girls and they take part in pretty much all the Hood events, both sporting and social. They carry us over finish lines when we are not carrying them over, they carry us out of bars, and they balance out the crazy.