Left a Well Paid Banking Job to Build a Fashion Brand Worn by the Duchess of Cambridge. Here's How.
Femme & FortuneShow Notes
From Goldman Sachs to a PhD in virology, Polly McMaster's path to founding The Fold was anything but a straight line, and the real story behind building the brand is one she's never fully told before. In this episode, Polly opens up about the parts of the entrepreneurial journey that don't make it onto LinkedIn: the panic attacks, the sleepless nights, and the wall of cash running out just as the business started to take off. She talks candidly about closing an angel round while quietly falling apart, signing a major funding deal 36 weeks pregnant, and being back in board meetings just five weeks after giving birth. We get into what it really took to raise money as a female founder, including the investors who "got it" instantly and the ones who asked if her products were even needed because "my wife doesn't work." Polly breaks down the brutal maths of fundraising, and why she now calls the mindset that got her through it "delusional conviction." Chapters 00:00 Trailer: rejection, sacrifice and resilience 00:49 Meet Polly McMaster, founder of The Fold 02:44 Growing up across three countries 05:00 Money lessons from her mother 08:27 School days: science versus art 19:57 Leaving private equity to start The Fold 30:31 The wall of cash and 99 rejections 33:52 Panic attacks and the lowest point 53:03 Redefining success and building wealth 1:04:56 Femme & Fortune Five If you haven't already, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode, and sign up to Ayesha's free weekly wealth newsletter to join tens of thousands of women who read it every week: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/
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How to Invest in Startups With Just £10If you’d put £1,000 into Revolut in 2016, it would be worth around £900,000 today. And you didn’t need to be rich to do it. Early investors got in through equity crowdfunding, from as little as £10.In this video, I walk you through exactly how startup crowdfunding works, how to get started on platforms like Crowdcube and Republic Europe, which type of investor you are (and why it matters), and how UK tax schemes SEIS and EIS can give you up to 50% of your investment back.I’m Ayesha Ofori, former wealth adviser at Goldman Sachs and an angel investor for over 10 years. This video is based on my Femme and Fortune podcast episode with Louise Hill, founder of GoHenry, who raised £13 million from everyday investors through crowdfunding.📩 Join my free weekly wealth newsletter for more money, investing and wealth building insight, plus first access to my investment club: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/🎧 Listen to the full Femme and Fortune episode with Louise Hill: https://youtu.be/UNgJrMENdxAImportant: This video is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Investing in startups is high risk. Your money is likely to be locked away for many years, and you could lose all of it. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change. Past performance is not a guide to future returns. Always do your own research and consider seeking independent financial advice.
Are you paying more tax than you need to? There's a good chance you are, not because of anything dodgy, but because nobody ever explained the rules.In this Femme and Fortune deep dive, former Goldman Sachs wealth adviser Ayesha Ofori breaks down the legal tax allowances the wealthy use every year, and why you don't need to be rich to use them too. Every pound you legally keep is a pound you can invest and grow for years.Inspired by Ayesha's podcast conversation with Charlotte Baroukh, the accountant known as the Tax Queen on Instagram, this video covers:🎧 Watch the full episode with Charlotte: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjxlCsDddUM 🚀 Ayesha's deep dive on SEIS, EIS and startup investing: https://youtu.be/H_UppfedoEw?si=aLUxs4kvu0D9HBWh📩 Join Ayesha's weekly newsletter: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/Found this useful? Subscribe and hit the bell for more money deep dives.Chapters0:00 Are you overpaying tax?2:10 Tax efficiency isn't just for the rich3:25 Tax wrappers explained: pensions6:26 ISAs and the 2027 cash ISA cut8:04 SEIS and EIS for startup investors8:36 The £100K tax trap10:48 Self-employed? Don't get caught out12:15 Why paying less tax mattersThis video is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or tax advice. All information is UK specific and correct at the time of recording. Please seek independent professional advice for your own circumstances.
When a life-changing amount of money finally lands in your account, most people expect pure joy. Often it feels flat, and that's exactly when the costly mistakes happen.In this Femme and Fortune deep dive, former Goldman Sachs wealth adviser Ayesha Ofori breaks down what to do (and what not to do) when a windfall arrives, whether it's a business sale, an inheritance, a divorce settlement or a £10,000 bonus.Inspired by Ayesha's podcast conversation with Edwina Dunn OBE, co-founder of Dunnhumby (the company behind the Tesco Clubcard) and founder of The Female Lead, who sold her business for around £92 million, this video covers:Why sudden money often doesn't feel how you expectWhy you shouldn't make big decisions in the fogThe hidden cost of leaving it all in cashWhy you need to learn about money before it arrivesThe trap that catches so many women with advisersHow to choose the right help, and the questions to askSetting boundaries when people start askingWatch the full episode with Edwina: https://youtu.be/vcxjS4Tj_XAJoin Ayesha's weekly newsletter: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/Found this useful? Subscribe and hit the bell for more money deep dives.Chapters0:00 When the money finally lands1:49 Why it doesn't feel like joy3:41 Don't make big decisions in the fog4:13 Don't leave it sitting in cash5:54 Learn before the money arrives7:24 The trap that catches women9:28 Choosing the right help10:24 How people see you changes11:07 Five things to rememberThis video is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. All information is UK specific and correct at the time of recording. Please seek independent professional advice for your own circumstances.
In this episode of Femme and Fortune, I sit down with Kike Agoro, former Team GB athlete turned founder of BYP Network, the platform connecting Black professionals with career opportunities and building community across the UK.Kike takes us right back to the beginning. Growing up in Hackney and Dagenham, she represented Great Britain in javelin, interned at banks like Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, and then walked away from it all to build BYP Network from her bedroom at 24, without ever putting a penny of her own money in.We talk about the cold emails that landed her a fully funded 100k scholarship to the University of Florida, the week she won £40,000 that gave her the confidence to quit her job for good, and buying her first house at 26 entirely off her own back.Kike also opens up about her newest venture, Raising Greats, an intentional parenting community helping parents raise the next generation of leaders, and why she believes building your child's future takes the same intention as building a business.Chapters00:00 Introduction3:24 Discovering a talent for javelin12:41 Building a network from nothing16:17 Calling out fake networking21:53 Why banking wasn't for her28:24 The cold email that landed a 100k scholarship34:26 Starting BYP Network48:26 The £40,000 week that changed everything52:45 Buying a house at 2654:07 Launching Raising Greats1:01:06 Would she do it all again?Newsletter: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/
Patricia Bright built one of the biggest platforms in the UK, then walked away from the version of it that didn't feel like her. In this episode, we talk about the £2,000 a month she was making before she understood her own worth, the mansions she has watched get repossessed, and why she is still not satisfied even with a seven figure property portfolio, all of it mortgage free.We get into her journey from banking to becoming the UK's first Black female creator to hit a million followers on YouTube, why she walked away from viral content that made her millions but did not sit right with her, and how she rebuilt an entire audience around financial education instead.Patricia breaks down exactly how she thinks about wealth: the foundations she says everyone needs before anything else, why her investment portfolio needs to cover her living expenses twice over, and the tax strategies she uses, including how she pays her own children for the work they do in her content.This is a conversation about building wealth that lasts, not just wealth that looks good.Sign up to the newsletter for more: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/