Female Founders Thrive
An event for local Female Founders to help them grow their confidence and sell their stuff.
Thursday 5th March 2026, 09:15 – 16:00, Ashridge House
Join us on 5th March
Our annual Female Founders event is coming back in 2026 to bring you another inspirational and energising day for local female business owners.
The focus for our day will be around building confidence to sell your stuff!
As well as hearing from our speakers we will have plenty of time for you to meet and connect with fellow attendees and to have discussions on the theme of the day & more.
Key Information
The event is taking place on Thursday 5th March 2026 between 09:15am and 4pm, at Ashridge House, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, HP4 1NS
As a small business owner and working parent myself I fully appreciate the “juggle” that we all face. So although we will have an agenda running from 9:15am until 4pm if you need to arrive slightly late or leave slightly early that is more than ok.
The event is open to all local business women in and around The Chilterns.
The Agenda
Our agenda is designed to allow time and space for discussion and reflection throughout the day. A key part of any event like this is connection and that’s what we always prioritise.
I completely understand the “juggle” and appreciate you may have other priorities on the day. If you need to arrive slightly late or leave early that is more than ok.
09:15 – Arrival tea & coffee
09:40 – Welcome
09:50 – Why Do We Fear Being Salesy? with Corinne Wallington
10:10 – Understanding Imposter Syndrome with Gemma Holmes
11:15 – Break
11:30 – Permission to Sell with Rebecca Cracknell
12:10 – Reflection and discussion
12:30 – Lunch
13:15 – Book Swap Networking
14:00 – What You Really Sell activity, facilitated by Corinne
15:30 – Wrap up and Close
Meet Our Speakers
Gemma Holmes
Gemma Holmes is a fellow female founder, confidence therapist and local mum of two. She knows all too well how imposter syndrome can keep women playing small and procrastinating to do anything other than the thing that will make them stand out and get what they deserve… because what if it’s the thing that makes everyone realise they’re not good enough?!
Gemma combines a decade of therapeutic coaching with her brand management and acting experience to provide an inside-and-out approach to helping women develop authentic confidence that makes an impact. So they can know, show and earn their worth.
Rebecca Cracknell
Rebecca Cracknell is a coach, mentor and teacher leading women to reimagine how good their lives get to look with businesses that burn all of the rules.
Her work sees millennial women become more visible both on and offline, embrace their vulnerabilities as their greatest strengths and unlock more ambitious visions for just how unimaginably satisfying their lives might become. She invites you to break free of the ‘shoulds’ 90s and noughties society has taught you and create a personal mission that feels as powerful as you are.
Rebecca challenges female entrepreneurs to question everything they previously believed might be possible for them, rewrite the rules about how they want to show up for this game, and build something that truly honours their greatest ambition, purpose, and potential. Rebecca is available for conversations that go deep on topics including amplifying your ambition, giving yourself permission to pursue your desires and unlearning everything you thought to be true.
Corinne Wallington
Corinne is your host and facilitator for the day. She is the owner of Chiltern Biz Collective and her true passion is community and bringing people together. She also works as a Marketing Freelancer supporting Sole Traders and Small Businesses to manage their social media and other marketing channels.
With a background in HR, a foray in running a homemade product business, training as a social media manager and now running Chiltern Biz Collective she’s done quite a lot, learnt even more and gained a ton of experience.
She shares her knowledge and experience generously to provide new perspective and to give practical guidance to support sole traders to build their own version of success.
Our Event Partners
We’re so grateful to our Event Partners for supporting our Event. These female founded businesses perfectly align with our values and aims of our event; please do keep reading to find out more about them.
Groves Creative
Founded by Samantha, Groves Creative specialises in creating designs that not only look great but make life easier for you. From one-off projects to monthly design support, they’re here to keep your brand consistent, your marketing materials fresh, and your visuals scroll-stopping.
VAA Solutions
VAA Solutions is a 2025 nominated VA Award team, offering a range of solutions to help you to escape the Admin Jungle, maintain your entrepreneurial progress and scale your business. Solutions are provided in a flexible, alternative way to fulfilling your administrative demands, in a cost and time efficient way.
Would you like to sponsor our Event?
Now in our fourth year, this event brings together an energised and highly engaged community of local female founders. We’re offering businesses the chance to connect with this audience by sponsoring the event, with additional opportunities to feature across our online channels.
We have a range of sponsorship packages designed to suit different budgets and levels of involvement, and every contribution helps us deliver an outstanding experience for attendees—including an exclusive goody bag.
If you’d like to explore how your business can get involved, simply complete the form below to receive our Event Support Pack or contact Corinne to talk some more.
Book Swap!
For 2026 we’re inviting all our attendees to join in a book swap!
Simply bring a book along with you that you would recommend to a fellow female founder. It may be fiction or non fiction, something that has inspired you, has provided practical guidance or just something you think everyone should read!
Pop a note inside it explaining why you love it and your name, and bring it along to the event to include in our Book Swap networking after lunch.
Note: We don’t want this to add any great cost or effort. Follow your gut on what you would recommend and we really encourage you to shop second-hand – see if you can find a copy in a local charity shop or check out sites like World of Books for great deals.
What Our Attendees Say
This is our fourth year running this flagship event to celebrate International Women’s Day, here’s what some of our attendees said about our previous Female Founders Events…
Informative, inspiring and definitely worth the day out and the investment. I came away feeling invigorated.
Lisa, Gomm-Gomm Design
Female Founders Rise, 2023
An incredible and supportive event by women, for women. A wonderful atmosphere for sharing ideas and experiences. No judgement, no agenda. A fantastic day.
Ally, Cherry Baby
Female Founders Succeed, 2025
It’s a really positive event, a chance to network and hear from other female founders.
Rebecca, Weave Interiors
Female Founders Shine, 2024
I’d encourage any female founder to attend this event, it has such a feel good factor, is really well organised and will make you feel SO GOOD!
Anna, ADF Consultancy
Female Founders Succeed, 2025
Really enlightening to take time away from the business to think about other things that still affect your work and day to day life. Great feeling of support and community, left cup feeling very full.
Tanya, Aldcroft Photography
Female Founders Rise, 2023
Female Founders Thrive Ticket
£110.00
Your ticket includes everything you need for the day – there are no hidden extras.
You will receive refreshments and lunch at the venue, plus an exclusive goody bag.
The only additional thing you need to bring (and may need to purchase) is a book for the swap.
Chiltern Biz Members receive 10% off ticket price; find out more about Our Membership here.
IMPORTANT: Please note one of our sessions is not suitable for anyone with a history of the following conditions/symptoms due to the nature of the content: psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or a personality disorder. If this affects you please contact Corinne before booking.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does my ticket include?
Your ticket includes everything you need for the day! You will receive refreshments and lunch at the venue, plus an exclusive goody bag.
I came last year, will it be the same?
Although the event is at the same venue as last year – which I hope you agree was amazing – with a new theme and different speakers the event won’t be the same.
Can I park at the venue?
Yes there is ample parking at the venue.
What should I wear?
Absolutely anything you feel comfortable and confident in! We hope it’s going to be an inspirating and special event and is obviously a chance for a work day out, but there’s no dress code and we’re definitely not corporate!
The most important thing is for you to relax and enjoy the event.
What should I bring?
Yourself, plus a pen & paper.
We’re not big fans of mass business card swapping but do bring some along so you can share with fellow attendees who would like to find out more and connect with you.
Who is the event for?
The event is designed for local female business owners. You may be a solopreneur, have a small team or freelance with other businesses.
I don’t like networking is this event right for me?
Maybe you’ve been going to the wrong kind of networking events?!
Really the networking going on here will be chatting with other female founders over coffee & lunch. There won’t be any elevator pitches, selling or signing up to affiliate schemes.
The aim with all our events is to create a comfortable environment for business owners to connect with like minded people to support and learn from each other.
After I’ve bought my ticket can I cancel and get a refund?
I’m afraid we are unable to offer refunds on tickets purchased for Female Founders Succeed.
If you are no longer able to make it, you may transfer your ticket to someone else; just make sure you let us know change of details.
I’ve got some more questions…
Send me an email at corinne@chilternbizcollective.co.uk and I’ll get back to you ASAP!
I’d like to advertise my business at the event.
Get in touch with me at corinne@chilternbizcollective.co.uk and I can send you further details about our sponsorship packages.