Scientist, entrepreneur and founder of SökerData, Dr Elsa Zekeng is working to address one of the biggest blind spots in modern healthcare: who is represented in the data. In this STYLISA FoundHers interview, Elsa reflects on her journey into STEM, the realities of building as a Black woman in health tech, and why the future of medicine, AI and personalised treatment depends on creating systems that work for everyone.

From London to Kenya, Joanna Maiden has built more than a fashion factory. She has built a model for what ethical, people-first business can look like in practice. In this interview, she shares how SOKO Kenya has grown from four employees to 150, why she refuses to compromise on values, and what it really means to use fashion as a force for good.

There’s a phase in building something meaningful where it feels like nothing is happening. You’re doing the work, but the response hasn’t caught up yet. I’ve been sitting with that recently, and I think we’ve misunderstood it. This isn’t a waiting room. It’s a proving ground. The question is whether you recognise it before you walk away.

From watching Jean-Paul Gaultier on television as a child to designing handcrafted couture gowns in her Brussels atelier, Valentine Avoh’s journey into bridal fashion began almost by accident. In this conversation, the designer shares what she learned from working at Alexander McQueen, the power of storytelling in fashion, and why creating a wedding dress is about far more than just the garment.

Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with twelve remarkable women through the STYLISA FoundHers platform. Different industries, different journeys, different ambitions. Yet when you sit with these conversations long enough, patterns begin to emerge. In this FoundHers Notes reflection, I step back from the interviews themselves to share twelve observations about purpose, reinvention, courage and the realities of building something meaningful.

Five interviews. Five patterns. FoundHer FundHers was created to open up honest conversations about money. What I didn’t expect was how clearly those conversations would reveal the deeper truths about confidence, protection, identity and financial literacy. This is what five women have taught me so far, and why this platform is only just getting started.

From modelling at 17 to styling campaigns, building sets and presenting live on QVC, Emma Lightbown has built a 20-year career rooted in creativity and graft. In this candid STYLISA FoundHers interview, she shares her pivot from “seen and not heard” to finding her voice, the reality of freelance feast and famine, and why fashion should feel like self-care, not pressure.

In a world where inclusion remains conditional, access alone is no longer enough. This article reflects on why building our own structures has become essential, not reactive. Rooted in history and lived experience, it explores the difference between visibility and ownership, and why STYLISA FoundHers exists as a deliberate, enduring act of authorship and power.

There is a stage in the founder journey where visibility is no longer the issue, yet progress still feels elusive. This piece explores the quiet plateau that sits between being seen and being selected, and why clarity, not confidence or more content, is often what moves founders forward.

Farirai Gora didn’t set out to become a founder, she set out to solve a problem. After thirteen years working in insurance, she understood risk, systems, and innovation. But it was living with chronic pain from dysmenorrhea in silence, while continuing to perform at a high level, that gave her a front-row seat to a hidden crisis playing out across workplaces: reproductive health challenges that are silently impacting millions, and costing the UK economy over £20 billion a yea