MOMENTUM 2026

Anyone who runs events will know how incredibly stressful they can be.

There are so many things to think about and coordinate, and always a thousand and one things that could be forgotten. I usually feel completely exhausted once an event is over.

But MOMENTUM was different.

Instead of feeling relieved that it’s over and ready to take a break, I’m already thinking about the next time I can get our community back in the MOMENTUM room for Take 2.

Last Thursday, 24th September, at the stunning Wood Norton Hotel in Evesham, we hosted MOMENTUM – a first of its kind for The Women Who Business Community.

Guests were greeted with warm welcomes, great coffee and fresh pastries before being guided up to The Orangery for the start of the days events.

Starting with the bigger picture

The day began with two engaging talks from members of our Advisory Board, Julia Chesney-Roberts and Mandy Deakin-Snell.

Julia, founder of Optiroute, opened by sharing her expertise in governance and sustainability, explaining how every single person in the room is impacted by, and has an impact on, both.

When I first met Julia about a year ago at our Ludlow meeting, I was immediately inspired by her knowledge, her passion for independent governance and her deeply rooted professional values. I just knew it was the start of many more interesting conversations.

Having had just one proper conversation with her, my mind widened. That was when I really started thinking seriously about the bigger picture for Women Who, not simply where we were going next, but how we could grow responsibly and build something that would last.

Mandy Deakin-Snell, founder of MDS Alignment, then shared her expertise and passion for aligned leadership and people development, another subject that makes so much sense to me.

Back in February 2025, I recorded a podcast with Mandy and became so engrossed in what she was saying that it completely threw me off hosting the podcast. I remember thinking, “She’s going to think I’m so unprofessional.”

Thankfully, my slight obsession with her was met with grace and understanding!

It was a real honour to introduce Julia and Mandy as my Advisory Board, two women who care about The Women Who Business Community almost as much as I do.

Then it was my turn to talk…

The bit I always dread and get myself in a right tizz over!

But it was OK. It went OK.

I spoke from the heart and shared my future vision for Women Who: creating more opportunities for our members, expanding the support we provide, the work I want us to do in schools and colleges, and ultimately the number of lives I believe this community can have a positive impact on.

Then the work began…

We started the first of our table rotations, giving guests the opportunity to take part in conversations, exercises and tasks designed to help them improve key areas of their professional and personal development.

Every guest was given a Women Who Workbook containing questions, prompts, tips and plenty of space to capture their thoughts and takeaways from the day.

And this is where our brilliant Table Experts got to work.

The Psychology of Confidence was hosted by Kate Collins of EduKate Consulting and Louise Squires of Louise Squires Hypnotherapy. Together, they got guests thinking about what might be holding them back from moving forward with a particular idea and what could change if they challenged those barriers.

Financial Foundations for Business Owners was led by Laura Harvey of Harvey Bookkeeping & Accounts and Kasia Ostler of Key Steps Financial, who talked about the importance of keeping your books in good order should a third party need to see them, whether that’s an investor, mortgage broker or lender, alongside protecting the things you’ve worked hard to build.

Creating Capacity for Growth saw Natasha McCann of Admin Experts Online and Hannah Prosser of The Operations Project helping guests think about the systems they could put in place to save time, reduce overwhelm and prioritise more effectively; including diarised ‘CEO Days’ to make sure you’re spending time working ON your business, not just IN it.

At Building A Brand People Will Remember, Kaye Heseltine of Kaye Heseltine Design and Helen Yandell of Helen Yandell Photography, created quizzes to help guests identify what might be missing from their brand and where there could be opportunities to strengthen it.

Understanding The Numbers That Matter was hosted by Lynne Thomas of The Business Builder and Jenni Henderson of Sterling Academy, who helped guests get to grips with some of the numbers business owners should be paying attention to – from working out networking ROI to understanding how to pay yourself properly.

At Turning Potential Into Progress, Carrie Orgee of W.E.A.L.T.H.Y Wellbeing and Wendy Garrett of Garrett Learning coached guests to think about their progress, potential barriers and mental blockers and introduced everyone to ‘Eat The Frog’. You’ll have to ask Wendy about that one!

Creating Cultures of Belonging was led by Helen Cochrane of Alvechurch Reiki and Maisie Cass of Diversity Does, who invited guests to reflect on their own personal mask-wearing and consider what might shift if they felt able to drop the mask that can so often protect us.

Vicky Kangurs of Tabby Tiger and Emma Murrills of EBM Brand Photography hosted Building Relationships That Matter, helping guests identify and connect with specific people in the room who had the skills, experience or expertise they needed.

At Protecting Your Financial Future, Rebecca Widdowson of HWH Law and Caroline Laudren of Consequential Planning talked about the importance of Wills and LPAs and challenged the idea that investing is something reserved for the super-rich.

Backing Yourself In Business was hosted by Julia Williams of Sterling Academy and Zoe Whitehouse of Brookes Catering, who shared their own experiences of self-doubt and the ways they have learned to overcome it, build self-trust and keep backing themselves through many years in business.

And finally, Jo Follows-Smith of The Word Woman and Ella Shorthouse of EllaVate Digital hosted Creating Your Marketing Toolkit, helping guests get clearer on three fundamental questions: Who are you talking to? How are you talking to them? And where are you talking to them?

So much value. So much skill. So much support.

Keeping marketing real

Before lunch, we brought everyone together for our Marketing Panel:

How To Keep Things Real In A World Becoming More Unreal.

Our panel shared their thoughts on how marketing is changing and how we can embrace new tools and technology without losing the human connection at the heart of what we do.

We also played Keep or Ditch, where the room shared their thoughts on the marketing tools, platforms and tactics they’ll be taking with them into 2027 and which ones they might be ready to leave behind.

Time to refuel

A buffet lunch was served in the Fleur De Lys restaurant and, somehow, we even managed to order sunshine.

Guests enjoyed freshly squeezed juices, freshly made burgers, fries, samosas, coleslaw, salads and sweet treats out on the garden terrace while the conversations continued.

We then gathered back together in The Orangery for four more table rotations before finishing the day with open networking.

By the end of it, the room was still buzzing.

Guests left with full workbooks, new connections, fresh ideas and, most importantly, actions they could actually take away and do something with.

And the feedback has already made all the work worthwhile:

“What a great community we have and there are people there who are genuinely happy to help and support you. There is so much knowledge across the group.”

“Lots of very valuable information was shared.”

“I had such an amazing day, and now really excited to hear there will be another one! Thank you so much. I knew it would be a great day, but it was so much more than I wished for.”

Thank you

There are so many people to thank.

Thank you to our speakers, Julia Chesney-Roberts and Mandy Deakin-Snell, for helping us start the day by thinking bigger.

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting events like these and helping us continue to create opportunities for women in business.

Thank you to our Marketing Panel for sharing their insights and opinions.

Thank you to every single one of our Table Experts who certainly put in a shift, talking, listening, coaching, questioning and sharing their knowledge with so many women throughout the day.

Thank you to The Wood Norton for taking such great care of us from the first coffee and pastry to the final goodbye.

And, of course, thank you to every woman who bought a ticket, showed up, got involved, moved around the room, shared openly, listened to others and trusted us with their day.

MOMENTUM was the most perfect reflection of our community – women supporting women in so many different ways.

And perhaps that’s why I didn’t wake up Friday morning thinking, “Thank god that’s over.”

I woke up thinking:

When can we do it again?

So, it turns out MOMENTUM wasn’t a one-off.

Until next year.

Blog

This section offers a summary of the blog, presenting a range of articles, perspectives, and materials to educate and motivate readers.

View All
Scroll to Top