In this special bonus episode of the Lightning 50, we speak to an entrepreneur going places.

Samanah Duran is a British fashion designer and retail entrepreneur that launched a clothing label and founded a media company – all before turning 30.

At 22, Duran launched fashion brand Critics Clothing, and recently made Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. In support of International Women's Day, Samanah's sits down with Caroline to talk through why passion - and timing - is so essential to success for female entrepreneurs.

Samanah's also takes the time to chat through the background of her businesses, and explains how a fierce emphasis on inspiring each individual to embrace their identity and to take pride in their individuality led to her vision for innovative clothing line Critics Clothing, which has revolutionised  the indulgent streetwear trend, and has brought about many celebrity admirers, including Rita Ora, A$AP Rocky and Cara Delevingne.

In 2016, Duran launched BEYOUROWN, a full-service digital media company, and Samanah talks through why she is now dedicating her time and passion to inspiring and supporting other female entrepreneurs.

Today we are releasing a special bonus edition of the Lightning 50 in support of International Women’s Day, and we speak to none other than Dr Cameka Smith, founder of The BOSS Network.

Smith bootstrapped and founded digital platform The BOSS Network in 2009 to provide online and in-person resources, networking and community for Black women looking to build their own brands and start businesses. Since launching, the platform has reached more than 200,000 people nationally and maintains a non-profit arm that provides leadership development programs for young women of color. Smith recently announced that Sage is partnering with The BOSS Network to empower Black women entrepreneurs with the launch of the Sage Invest in Progress grant.

In this episode, Cameka and Caroline talk through how the BOSS Network came about, the prominence of female-led businesses in last year’s Lightning 50 league table, and they identify what these entrepreneurs are doing that is leading to such success, and what can others take from this.

The pair also discuss the issues that many women, and many Black women, have that prohibits them from scale, and, with it being International Women’s Day, Smith shares her advice and top tips for women who want to become entrepreneurs, or are in business, but looking to scale this year.

In this episode, Wild Cosmetics CEO Freddy Ward shares some fascinating insight into how the brand achieved a whopping 322% growth during 2020/21 to be crowned as the fastest growing Health & Beauty brand in Britain on Brightpearl’s Lightning 50 UK. He also revealed the tech stack that’s powering the brand’s growth and how the business is living up to its sustainability promise... 

Launched in 2013, Goose & Gander is a unisex clothing brand based in the South West of England, UK. The brand was the brainchild of childhood sweethearts, Olly and Maz. What they lacked in fashion industry experience, they made up for with vision, creativity and a bold determination to succeed.

In today's episode, we speak to founder Olly White, who recounts the 'terrifying' challenges associated with rapid scale, and how they overcame them to see huge success and  140% growth last year, resulting in a 13th place spot on Brightpearl’s Lightning 50 UK.

Freedom Rave Wear (or FRW) is a fashion brand that specializes in bright, colorful freestival clothing. Founded in 2014, FRW creates unique styles made in San Diego, California, and is known for a commitment to sustainability and quality.  For this podcast, we spoke to Co-Founder Michael Hodgen. 

In this episode Michael reveals the core values - and tech tips - that have driven the firm to new heights over the last year.

In today's episode, we catch up with Lazy Susan - a garden furniture brand based in Portsmouth, UK. Founded in 2007, the brand specializes in outdoor furniture.

During the podcast, the brand’s founder and Chief Executive Michael Scott reveals how the business has overcome the challenges of the pandemic and Brexit to achieve impressive growth over the last 12 months, resulting in Lazy Susan being ranked highly on Brightpearl’s Lightning 50.

In today’s episode, Caroline speaks to Piglet in Bed, a luxury bedding, sleepwear and homeware brand founded in 2017. During the podcast, the brand’s CFO Axel Stelk shares how the Brightpearl-powered brand achieved its incredible YOY sales growth to be named one of the top three fastest growing homeware brands in the UK. He also reveals which tech tools they’ve been using to drive growth – and what they’ll be looking at in future to keep up their impressive momentum. 

In series two, episode 10, we chatted with Redpost Equestrian, a leading online supplier of equestrian goods that launched way back in 1992 and has since experienced impressive organic growth online as a family-run, Devon-based brand.

During the podcast the brand’s Director, Ben Tuff, dived into how the business achieved 73% growth in the last year, despite wavering post-pandemic demand and supply chain issues. He revealed the tech tools that have been used to drive growth and what it means to be ranked on Brightpearl’s 2022 Lightning 50 league table of the fastest growing online brands in the UK. 

Heat Transfer Warehouse is a leading online retailer of heat transfer-related products, including heat transfer vinyl, presses, printers and custom printed clothing. During the podcast, Senior Sales Manager Kirk Anton and Director of Operations,  AJ McAleer, revealed how the brand achieved impressive 30% year-on-year growth and saw a 2X order increase, driven by its tech stack of Brightpearl and BigCommerce.

Kick Game is a high growth brand which stocks exclusive, collectable, and rare sneakers and streetwear by big names such as Nike, Off-White, Air Jordan and Yeezy. Launched in 2013, Kick Game ships worldwide via its popular Shopify webstore and operates through six UK retail stores. 

On today's podcast, we speak to CEO of Kick Game, Alicia Thompson, who shares her story of how the brand's innovative marketing strategy achieved 353% revenue growth, leading them to nab 4th fastest-growing brand in the UK in the Brightpearl Lightning 50. She also revealed how the business intends to maintain high levels of growth going forwards...