In this episode of Femme and Fortune, I sit down with Victoria Peppiatt, three-time founder and Co-CEO of Hey Savi, the AI-powered fashion platform she describes as Shazam for fashion.Vic's journey is remarkable. She ran creative agency The Pink Group with her husband for 11 years, sometimes putting the mortgage on a credit card to keep things going. Then she co-founded Phrasee, an AI marketing platform, and scaled it to a multi-million pound exit. That sale changed everything, not just for her but for the friends and family who backed her early. Some of her angel investors walked away with life-changing, tax-free returns.We talk about what it actually takes to build a business worth selling, the difference between a lifestyle business and one built for an exit, why timing your sale matters so much, and what she learned taking on VC money. Vic is also refreshingly honest about the cost of it all: the years of travel, the time away from her children, and the moment a family illness put the money into perspective.And we get into a subject close to my heart: why women don't talk about money enough, how deals get done in networks we're often not part of, and how to start angel investing even if you're beginning small.If you've ever wondered whether you could build something worth millions, or back someone who will, this one is for you.Sign up to my newsletter for more on building wealth: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/

In June 2023, the world watched as the search for the Titan submersible gripped every news channel and feed on the planet. Christine Dawood was on the support vessel. Her husband Shahzada and her 19 year old son Suleman were on board the sub.Three years on, Christine joins Ayesha for her most personal interview yet. This is not the story the headlines told. It is the story of who her family really were, what those 96 hours were actually like, and how a woman rebuilds a life, and a financial future, when the worst happens in front of the whole world.Christine shares how she moved from a small town in Germany to Pakistan for love, built an organic farming business supplying the country's biggest supermarkets, and why being involved in her family's finances long before the accident became the thing that protected her. She talks openly about the hate comments, the assumption that wealthy people's grief counts for less, and why she rebuilt her entire financial team with only women.She has since written 96 Hours, with all proceeds going to her foundation, which is building a residential healing centre for trauma and loss in Devon.In this episode:Why every woman should understand the family finances, even if she never leads themWhat a widow is legally entitled to in different countries, and why it matters where your assets areThe reality of grieving in public while the internet commentatesHow Christine chose her all female team of advisersHer advice for couples on money, transparency and planning for the worstGet Christine's book, 96 Hours: https://www.waterstones.com/book/ninety-six-hours/christine-dawood/9781918191042Chapters:0:00 Introduction1:30 Growing up in Germany and the family textiles business5:00 Meeting her husband and choosing to move across the world7:30 Relocating to Pakistan and learning English from scratch10:00 Marrying into the Dawood family and culture shock12:30 Navigating the wealth gap in a relationship14:00 Building an organic farming business from seeds in a suitcase20:00 Motherhood, confidence and wanting something of her own23:00 Learning the financial basics and managing money as a team27:30 The Titan accident and the 96 hour wait31:00 Online hate and the dehumanisation of wealthy people35:00 Widowhood, inheritance law and the Global Fund for Widows38:00 Rebuilding with an all female advisory team42:00 Writing 96 Hours and the story behind the book43:30 The healing centre for trauma and loss46:00 Walking 500 miles from London to Glasgow for Suleman47:30 Advice for women in relationships with unequal wealth49:00 The Femme and Fortune Five quick fire

What if everything you were taught about money came too late? Louise Hill was 47, a single mum with two kids, a mortgage and virtually no savings when she quit her job to build GoHenry, the app that has taught millions of children how to earn, save and spend. In this episode she tells me how it really happened: the years of dead ends, the record breaking crowdfund that raised £4 million in a single weekend, and the truth about what founders actually take home when their company sells for a reported £180 million.We talk about why schools are still failing our kids when it comes to money, the habits children form far earlier than most parents realise, and what Louise believes every parent should be doing at home instead of waiting for the education system to catch up.We also get into the reality behind the headlines. GoHenry's UK business was bought by Barclays, yet Louise will tell you herself that she is not rich yet, and her explanation of why is one of the most honest conversations about founder wealth you will hear.In this episode:00:00 Introduction: the £180 million question1:47 From kitchen table to iTunes overspend: how the idea was born3:23 Quitting a job at 47 with a mortgage and no safety net8:39 The early rejections: "nice little charity"13:15 Sheer bloody mindedness: surviving the early slog17:41 Raising the first £672k and learning to scale properly25:28 Why CrowdCube changed everything31:16 The £4 million weekend that broke records36:29 Marketing 101: what made the raise actually work39:53 The black cab story: what building GoHenry actually cost her42:39 "I don't think there is a balance"43:56 The Little Red Book of GoHenry49:03 GoHenry sold twice: Acorns, then Barclays50:10 "I hadn't walked away with pockets full of cash"55:01 So is she rich? The truth about founder payday55:36 The Femme and Fortune 5Sign up to my newsletter for weekly wealth building insights: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/

Everyone tells you that you need a completely original idea to build wealth. Here's why that's nonsense.In this Femme and Fortune deep dive, Ayesha breaks down one of the biggest myths in business: that you need a never been done before idea to build real wealth. Drawing on a conversation with Vivian Wong, cofounder of Little Moon's Mochi Ice Cream, Ayesha unpacks the concept of an edge, and why it matters far more than originality ever will.Little Moon's did not invent mochi ice cream. Viv and her brother took something that already existed and made it better, bootstrapping the business by hand for over a decade before it became the viral brand you know today.In this video, Ayesha covers:Why an edge beats an original idea every timeThe four edges that built a multi million pound ice cream brandHow to find your own edge, whatever your background or industryWhy real wealth is built slowly, and rarely looks glamorous from the outside.The difference between a salary and ownership, and why it mattersWhat actually happens emotionally when the big payout finally lands.This is a taster of a much longer conversation. The full episode with Vivian Wong is out now on the Femme and Fortune podcast, link below.Watch the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4h157Y53U4 Subscribe for Season 2, coming very soon: https://www.youtube.com/@FemmeandFortuneJoin the weekly wealth newsletter: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/

Because for every Revolut, there are thousands of startups that go to zero and take every penny with them. In this Femme and Fortune deep dive, Ayesha Ofori breaks down how angel investing actually works, why you don't need to be wealthy to start (you can invest from as little as £10), and how two UK government schemes, SEIS and EIS, can give you back up to 50% of what you invest through tax relief.This deep dive is based on Ayesha's full podcast conversation with venture capitalist Yvonne Bajela, linked below.LINKSWatch the full episode with Yvonne Bajela: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxbFjidz8Ik Join Ayesha's weekly newsletter, and be first to hear when her angel syndicate opens: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/Subscribe and hit the bell so you don't miss Season 2 of the Femme and Fortune podcast, coming very soon.ABOUT AYESHAAyesha Ofori is a former Goldman Sachs wealth adviser and an angel investor of more than 15 years, who has also raised millions of pounds in angel funding for her own company. Femme and Fortune is her platform helping women build wealth and confidence as investors.DISCLAIMERThis video is for education only and is not financial advice. Startup investing is high risk. Your money is locked up for long periods and you can lose everything you invest. SEIS and EIS are UK government schemes for UK taxpayers, so if you are watching from outside the UK, look for your local equivalent. Always do your own research.

A high salary is not the same as wealth. For years Ayesha Ofori managed money for some of the wealthiest people around, and the thing that surprised her most was that almost none of them had a remarkable salary. What they had was ownership.In this Femme and Fortune Deep Dive, Ayesha breaks down the four shifts that separate people who earn well from people who actually build wealth, drawn from her podcast conversation with Lamide Elizabeth. You'll learn why your net worth matters more than your salary, how to turn what you earn into what you own, why "multiple income streams" can be one income stream in disguise, and how lifestyle creep quietly catches out even the highest earners. She finishes with a clear, do-it-this-week list so you can put it all to work straight away.Join Ayesha's weekly wealth newsletter for more like this, straight to your inbox:https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/If this was useful, hit like and subscribe, and turn on the bell so you don't miss Season 2 of the Femme and Fortune podcast, coming very soon with some amazing guests. And share this with someone you want to see killing it financially.Watch the full podcast episode with Lamide Elizabeth: https://youtu.be/KFrDGV0Ck3gLove, Ayesha 💜

I managed half a billion pounds for some of the wealthiest people in the country. Not one of them built that wealth from their salary.

To close out Season 1 of Femme & Fortune, Ayesha Ofori turns the tables. After a whole season asking other women how they built their wealth, this time she's in the guest seat, answering the questions she gets asked most about her own journey.

From a state primary to a private school in Hampstead, where she first saw what real wealth looked like (a school friend with a lift in her living room), to a physics degree at Imperial, an MBA at London Business School, and a career at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs advising ultra-high-net-worth clients.

Ayesha walks through the decisions, the turning points and the hard-won lessons that shaped how she thinks about money today.

She opens up about the moment she realised that climbing the corporate ladder would never make her wealthy, why owning assets rather than earning a salary is what actually builds wealth, the golden handcuffs that quietly trap high earners, and the day she finally walked into her boss's office, dropped her resignation letter on the desk, and left to build something of her own.

In this episode:

What she learned about money growing up, and why your money habits are set by age seven

How she fell into investment banking (and the free popcorn maker that started it all)

What the ultra-wealthy do differently that most people never get to see

Why high income does not equal wealth, and what does

Why she left a successful career at Goldman to help women build wealth instead

The truth about being a solo founder, raising funding as a Black woman, and building in a regulated industry

Where she's headed next

Whether you're just starting to think about investing or you're rethinking what wealth really means, this one is a masterclass in building it on your own terms.

About Femme & Fortune Femme & Fortune is the podcast on how women actually build wealth, hosted by Ayesha Ofori. Every episode unpacks the real decisions, risks and strategies behind building lasting wealth.

She Turned a Loyalty Card Into £92 Million | Edwina Dunn OBE

Every time you scan a supermarket Clubcard at the till, you are using something Edwina Dunn created.

In this episode, Ayesha sits down with the woman who changed the way the entire retail world understands its customers. Edwina co-founded Dunnhumby with her husband Clive Humby, built the data engine behind the Tesco Clubcard, and went on to sell the business for around £92 million. Today she is the founder of The Female Lead and one of the most influential voices on women, money & ambition in the UK.

The road to success was not a tidy one. Edwina grew up in a home where the daughters were expected to become wives and mothers, not founders. She started working a supermarket checkout. Then she became a "Girl Friday", fetching the dry cleaning. After working her way up, she was fired ten minutes after her husband resigned - because she was his wife. And she built a global business while juggling a new baby, a big mortgage.

This episode is about building wealth from nothing, the boardroom moment that made Tesco billions and why Edwina is done waiting for anyone else to close the gap between women & money.

In this episode:

• How a loyalty card became a £92 million business

• The Tesco boardroom moment that changed how supermarkets work

• Getting fired for being married to the boss

• Why women don't earn most of the money but decide how it's spent

• Her experience of inheriting wealth & being talked over by her own bank

• Why financial empowerment is the real route to change for women

Femme & Fortune is the podcast about women & money, hosted by Ayesha Ofori. Subscribe & turn on notifications so you never miss an episode.

From medicine to millions - Dr Ifeoma Ejikeme on building wealth through expertise

Dr Ifeoma Ejikeme didn't follow the traditional path. She trained as a doctor, studied business management at Imperial College London, completed a fellowship at Columbia University, and then walked away from surgery to build something that didn't exist yet.

Today she is the founder and medical director of Adonia Medical Clinic, a premium aesthetics and skin health clinic that has won Best Clinic London six times in six years. She holds two medical patents, has performed over 30,000 procedures, and has built multiple revenue streams from a single area of expertise, including brand partnerships, consultancy, and her own LED skincare device.

In this episode, Ayesha and Ifeoma get into the conversations that don't happen enough. How high earners fail to build real wealth. Why being of service is the foundation of financial success. How to identify your gift and turn it into income. And why perfectionism is the enemy of progress.

If you are a professional woman who is earning well but not yet building the wealth to match, this episode will change how you think about money.

Topics covered: building wealth as a doctor, turning expertise into a business, multiple income streams, investing for women, aesthetic medicine, female entrepreneurship, skin health, wealth mindset, financial freedom, Black women in business, women and investing UK

Charlotte Baroukh is a chartered accountant and tax expert at Pie, the UK's first free tax app. She has built one of the most engaged finance communities on Instagram, breaking down the tax rules that most people were never taught.In this episode, Charlotte and Ayesha get into why your salary will never be enough to build real wealth, the tax mistakes that are costing self-employed women thousands, and why equity ownership changes everything.They also get honest about the realities of corporate life, the politics nobody warns you about, what it actually means to go part time after having children, and why bigger doesn't always mean better.In this episode:Why significant wealth comes from ownership, not salaryThe number one mistake sole traders make with their moneyHow to legally reduce your tax bill at any income levelPensions, ISAs and the basics that nobody taught usFiscal drag - what it is and why it matters to youWhy Charlotte left Deloitte and never looked back.Charlotte Baroukh on Instagram: @tax.queen.cJoin Wealth Circles: https://ayeshaofori.com/membership/Follow Ayesha on Instagram: @ayesh.ofori