The Stack World x Squarespace Ready to Launch Mentorship Programme Announces Mentors

You may have heard that The Stack World have partnered with Squarespace to offer TEN spots to be mentored by a business expert... Well, the full, female lineup is here and our all star list does NOT disappoint!

If you’re a Founder, Co-Founder or Creator looking to make your bold idea a reality, leverage your business or ultimately get your business Ready to Launch, this is the perfect opportunity for you. Over the course of 6 weeks, selected applicants will receive exclusive 1:1 Mentoring from one of these incredible women.

This is an extraordinary programme for burgeoning entrepreneurs to learn from successful business leaders with a wealth of experience behind them.

Our Mentors cover a broad range of disciplines, from beauty, to tech, to design, so no matter your business, there will be an opportunity for learning and development.

So, without further ado, let’s introduce you to your Mentors…

Sharmadean Reid, Founder and CEO, The Stack World

Sharmadean Reid, MBE, began her career as a brand consultant and fashion stylist, working with some huge brands. She started WAH as a hip hop magazine for girls in 2006, while still at university. She then founded WAH Nails as a side project in 2009. WAH completely changed the beauty landscape with its millennial voice, feminist attitutde and innovative salon space. She went on to write two books, deliver global pop up nail salons for 100s of brands and created a product line with Walgreen Boots Alliance. Sharmadean was awarded an MBE in 2015 for services to Beauty and Women. In 2021, she founded The Stack World a community for mission driven women.

Danielle Chadha, International Marketing Director, Squarespace

Danielle Chadha is the International Marketing Director at Squarespace, responsible for the company’s strategic growth development across Europe. As Squarespace’s first ever international marketing hire outside of the US, Danielle is driving culturally impactful activity to solidify Squarespace’s mission to support creators in making any bold ideas they have a reality. Originally from the US, Danielle has spent an expansive career of 13 years in London, where she has previously led marketing for high growth, world renowned tech companies including Bumble and NET-A-PORTER, as well as spearheading the rebranding of London’s iconic Camden Market.

Olivia Ferdi, Founder of TRIP

Liv is the founder of TRIP, the UK's leading CBD brand on a mission to create calm in the everyday chaos. Liv practiced law at Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy LLP, and Farfetch before leaving law to launch TRIP in 2019. Featured in Vogue, described as "Glossier for CBD" by Dazed magazine - TRIP's range of CBD infused wellbeing products are crafted to support daily stress and anxiety. In retail and on menus nationwide in some of the most prestigious bars and restaurants including Soho House globally, TRIP is disrupting the narrative for alcohol alternatives and shifting consumption moments.

Victoria Prew, Co-Founder and CEO, HURR

Victoria Prew is the Co-Founder and CEO of HURR, the fashion marketplace changing the way we wear. Recognised by Forbes “30 Under 30”, Prew was the first to tap into the booming circular economy, spearheading rental fashion and shifts in Millennial and Gen-Z behaviour. HURR is on a mission to reinvent ownership and provide all the short-cuts to a sustainable wardrobe. Disrupting the £21 billion UK fashion industry, HURR has been named one of the world’s “Top 50 retail-tech startups” and the “Airbnb of Fashion” by Forbes.

Venetia Archer, Founder and CEO, Ruuby

Venetia is founder and CEO of Ruuby, the UK’s leading on-demand beauty & wellness services platform. One of the Forbes 30 Under 30, she launched the business in 2015. Ruuby is London's first digital beauty concierge, offering five star beauty services to private clients, corporates, hotel groups, and luxury concierge services. With a network of over 600 professionally vetted, experienced beauty providers, Ruuby delivers consistently high-quality beauty services to their clients.

Eve Lee, Founder and Managing Director, The Digital Fairy

Eve founded The Digital Fairy in 2012 aged 24, creating a company she wanted to work for but which didn’t exist at that time. The Digital Fairy is a Marketing Agency specialising in strategic and creative partnerships, working with some of the biggest and coolest brands in the biz to connect them to youth audiences. They build creative solutions and amplify cultural relevance on and offline. Often helping commercial brands become cult, and cult brands become more commercial. Eve has led a female-first team to be a multi-million pound business, which is highly regarded in the creative industries and amongst global clients including Hinge, Converse and Nike.

Sarah Drinkwater, Entrepreneur and Angel Investor

Sarah is a London based entrepreneur, angel investor and community builder, with over 15 years experience building community and coalitions online/offline and for big and small tech companies. She believes that the best distribution mechanisms, product feedback or marketing plans are built with, and by, fans and co-owners. Through her work at Omidyar Network and in various web3 projects, she is also passionate about new power and see’s tech as a vehicle for change. She is a contributor at Gitcoin, Crypto, Culture and Society and Startupy. Sarah is excited to help her Mentee build the perfect pitch deck.

Bethany Koby, Social Entrepreneur and Creative Director

Bethany Koby is a social entrepreneur, educator, creative director, designer and mother, on a mission to create new models and experiences that are good for people and the planet. She is the former CEO and Co-founder of award winning STEAM experience business Tech Will Save Us who in 2016 grew their STEAM play universe and partnered with the BBC to design the micro:bit, the most ambitious education product the BBC has created in over 30 years. A pocket-sized computer used to teach young people to make and code, the micro:bit was given to 1 million children for free and there are now more than 4 million of them across the world. TWSU sold in over 97 countries and in over 4000 retailers globally including Target, Best Buy, John Lewis, Hamley’s and MoMA design stores. In 2021 Tech Will Save Us was sold to MEL Science, a science based subscription business. Sarah is also on the board of trustees at the Institute of Imagination (iOi), Part of the advisory board for the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), a founding professor at the Vermont College of Art and now the co-founder and Chief Vision Officer of Fam, the family inventions studio.

Hannah Fisayo, Beauty and Luxury Lead, Snap Inc.

Hannah Naomi Fisayo is currently at Snapchat leading their beauty vertical for the UK. She works with key digital-native beauty brands on advertising and creative partnerships, performance-led digital media and e-commerce solutions to help grow their businesses on the platform. Outside of her day-to-day role, she is an advocate for women in tech, and has co-founded the initiative Tech Sisterhood which aims to support black women in tech by giving them a forum to feel seen, empowered, and inspired by each other.

Kim Darragon, Marketing and Events Consultant

Kim Darragon is a marketing and events expert with 14 years of experience and is the Founder of Kim Does Marketing, a consultancy for creative small businesses and startups. She specialises in helping all founders – particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds – grow their profiles and see results. She regularly mentors new entrepreneurs who are launching their businesses. Recent programmes she's worked on include Atelier100 (a creative incubator backed by H&M and IKEA), The Entrepreneurs Hub of the Design Museum, and TERN (The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network). Previously, Kim led marketing for fast-growing brands such as the global magazine Monocle, startups in the programmatic and med-tech spaces, and many more.

Aasiyah Abdulsalam, Founder, The Renatural

Aasiyah is the founder of The Renatural, the company reimagining wigs. She is the inventor of the viral Wig Fix and has gained the first patent in the industry in over 55 years. With 70,000 units sold and her product stocked in 600 stores, Aasiyah was recently named in the Forbes 30 under 30 List 2022 for retail and ecommerce.

Serena Guen MacLeod, Founder, SUITCASE

Multi-national Serena founded the award-winning travel-lifestyle brand SUITCASE remotely in her third year at NYU. Her accolades included being named as Forbes 30 under 30 in 2017, 25 under 25 most influential Londoners by the Evening Standard, winning a Woman of the Future Award for media and Natwest's Entrepreneur of the Year Award. She is also one of the co-founders of the #CookForSyria movement and cookbooks which generated global awareness for the Syrian crisis and raised over £1m for Unicef.

See what we meant when we said our lineup is fire!?

The Stack World and Squarespace aim to support women’s talent and amplify female voices. With a united mission to help raise awareness around wage inequality, Squarespace is offering The Stack World Members 15% off a new, annual website subscription - a percentage that represents the average wage discrepancy between women and men in the UK.

For the full lowdown on how to apply see here. But be quick, as the deadline is fast approaching on Friday 23rd September. Successful applicants will be contacted privately by 30th September and announced publicly at The Stack World Conference on 8th October.