Femme & Fortune

Ayesha Ofori

👉 A podcast about how wealth is actually built. Hosted by Ayesha Ofori, it explores the real stories behind successful women. The decisions, risks, instincts and turning points that don’t make it into headlines. Each episode goes beyond the surface to look at how money, mindset and life experience shape outcomes. From career moves to big leaps, from setbacks to defining moments. Because building wealth is not just about what you earn. It is about how you think, and the decisions you make along the way.

  1. 5d ago

    From GB Athlete to Multimillion Pound Founder. Now She's Helping Parents Raise Exceptional Kids

    In this episode of Femme and Fortune, I sit down with Kike Agoro, former Team GB athlete turned founder of BYP Network, the platform connecting Black professionals with career opportunities and building community across the UK.Kike takes us right back to the beginning. Growing up in Hackney and Dagenham, she represented Great Britain in javelin, interned at banks like Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, and then walked away from it all to build BYP Network from her bedroom at 24, without ever putting a penny of her own money in.We talk about the cold emails that landed her a fully funded 100k scholarship to the University of Florida, the week she won £40,000 that gave her the confidence to quit her job for good, and buying her first house at 26 entirely off her own back.Kike also opens up about her newest venture, Raising Greats, an intentional parenting community helping parents raise the next generation of leaders, and why she believes building your child's future takes the same intention as building a business.Chapters00:00 Introduction3:24 Discovering a talent for javelin12:41 Building a network from nothing16:17 Calling out fake networking21:53 Why banking wasn't for her28:24 The cold email that landed a 100k scholarship34:26 Starting BYP Network48:26 The £40,000 week that changed everything52:45 Buying a house at 2654:07 Launching Raising Greats1:01:06 Would she do it all again?Newsletter: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/

  2. Sep 8

    Left a Well Paid Banking Job to Build a Fashion Brand Worn by the Duchess of Cambridge. Here's How.

    From Goldman Sachs to a PhD in virology, Polly McMaster's path to founding The Fold was anything but a straight line, and the real story behind building the brand is one she's never fully told before. In this episode, Polly opens up about the parts of the entrepreneurial journey that don't make it onto LinkedIn: the panic attacks, the sleepless nights, and the wall of cash running out just as the business started to take off. She talks candidly about closing an angel round while quietly falling apart, signing a major funding deal 36 weeks pregnant, and being back in board meetings just five weeks after giving birth. We get into what it really took to raise money as a female founder, including the investors who "got it" instantly and the ones who asked if her products were even needed because "my wife doesn't work." Polly breaks down the brutal maths of fundraising, and why she now calls the mindset that got her through it "delusional conviction." Chapters 00:00 Trailer: rejection, sacrifice and resilience 00:49 Meet Polly McMaster, founder of The Fold 02:44 Growing up across three countries 05:00 Money lessons from her mother 08:27 School days: science versus art 19:57 Leaving private equity to start The Fold 30:31 The wall of cash and 99 rejections 33:52 Panic attacks and the lowest point 53:03 Redefining success and building wealth 1:04:56 Femme & Fortune Five If you haven't already, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode, and sign up to Ayesha's free weekly wealth newsletter to join tens of thousands of women who read it every week: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/

  3. Sep 1

    Patricia Bright Reveals: How to Build a Following That Makes You Millions.

    Patricia Bright built one of the biggest platforms in the UK, then walked away from the version of it that didn't feel like her. In this episode, we talk about the £2,000 a month she was making before she understood her own worth, the mansions she has watched get repossessed, and why she is still not satisfied even with a seven figure property portfolio, all of it mortgage free.We get into her journey from banking to becoming the UK's first Black female creator to hit a million followers on YouTube, why she walked away from viral content that made her millions but did not sit right with her, and how she rebuilt an entire audience around financial education instead.Patricia breaks down exactly how she thinks about wealth: the foundations she says everyone needs before anything else, why her investment portfolio needs to cover her living expenses twice over, and the tax strategies she uses, including how she pays her own children for the work they do in her content.This is a conversation about building wealth that lasts, not just wealth that looks good.Sign up to the newsletter for more: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/

  4. Aug 25

    When You Take Investment in Your Business You're Not Just Getting Money. You're Losing Control.

    From a market stall in Primrose Hill to six bakeries and £6 million in revenue, all without a penny of outside investment, Kim Innes, founder of Humble Crumble, joins the podcast to talk about turning a simple observation ("why is this ice cream shop empty in winter?") into one of London's most viral food brands.Kim opens up about the £60 she made on day one (and the money she lost that same day), the two years of grinding through weekend markets before things clicked, and the moment a Time Out post sent 50 people queueing for a pumpkin crumble she didn't have enough stock to sell. She also gets honest about why she's turned down investor after investor, how asset finance let her grow without giving up equity, and the ISA habit her dad instilled in her as a teenager that she still swears by today.If you've ever had an idea you couldn't stop thinking about but talked yourself out of starting, this one's for you.For more on building wealth, growing your money and hearing from women redefining what success looks like, sign up to the Femme and Fortune newsletter: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/Chapters0:00 Introduction1:26 Humble Crumble was Kim's fourth business4:04 Where the entrepreneurial spirit came from6:51 The idea: an empty ice cream shop in winter16:50 Day one: £60 and no customers19:15 The two year grind before meaningful change24:16 A permanent spot in Spitalfields Market30:57 The pumpkin crumble that went viral38:38 Why Kim has never taken outside investment44:57 What she learned about money and tax from her dad

  5. Aug 18

    I Negotiated a Full Year's Salary as a Sign-On Bonus - Twice: Tara's Guide to Negotiating

    From a council estate in Peckham to Goldman Sachs, McKinsey and the Financial Times, Tara's career reads like a masterclass in building wealth as an employee. In this episode, we get into exactly how she did it.Tara opens up about growing up between two worlds, the shame she felt hiding where she lived, and the moment she realised her story wasn't a weakness but her biggest asset. We talk about what it actually takes to build a network from nothing, why finding a sponsor (not just a mentor) changed everything for her, and the negotiation tactics she used to secure a sign-on bonus worth a full year's salary, twice.We also dig into something I don't think gets talked about enough: the difference between how men and women get judged at work. Tara breaks down why men are so often hired on potential while women have to prove it first, and what that means for how you should be negotiating your pay.And finally, Tara tells me why she walked away from a corporate career managing millions of customers to build her own health tech startup from scratch, and what it actually took to make that leap.If you've ever wondered how to build real financial security without owning your own business, this one's for you.Chapters:0:00 Intro0:52 Welcome, Tara1:44 Growing up between Nigeria and a council estate9:39 Luck, opportunity and building a network24:35 How to build wealth as an employee28:18 Men get potential, women get proof33:47 Negotiating salary, bonuses and equity39:15 Investing and why women hold onto cash48:41 Why she left corporate to build a startup59:12 The Femme and Fortune FiveNewsletter: https://ayeshaofori.com/newsletter/

  6. Aug 11

    She's a Risk Expert Professionally, But Too Scared to Take Any Risk With Her Own Money.

    Livia advised governments and multinationals on political and geopolitical risk for a living. She spent her career helping some of the world's most powerful organisations decide who to trust and where the danger was. Then she sold her own company, walked away with millions, and left it sitting in cash for three years because she couldn't bring herself to trust anyone with it. In this episode she sits down with Ayesha to talk about growing up in a family where knowledge mattered more than money, staying with a business everyone else was fleeing and coming out of it an owner, hiding a pregnancy from the buyers during the sale, and the long, honest road to finally understanding what to do with her own wealth. It is a conversation about ownership, agency, financial independence, and why so many capable, successful women freeze the moment the money is their own. Chapters 0:00 Introduction1:43 Welcome back, and the episode we lost the first time2:14 A family that prized knowledge over money6:00 The wartime history that shaped her8:52 Studying politics, and her first job in risk13:48 The sinking ship: becoming an owner when everyone else fled16:09 What ownership actually feels like20:04 What the company really did21:08 The exit, and the pregnancy they hid from the buyers24:45 Motherhood and the 80 per cent rule25:58 Why having her own money mattered29:38 The cash that sat untouched for three years34:34 Why women hoard cash36:32 Distrust, 2008 and learning to invest41:35 What she had to unlearn, and the two flats44:25 Money as a motivator, and its limits46:38 Raising daughters who get it50:40 Why she ran for office54:08 Her advice for women sitting on cash57:46 The Femme and Fortune Five

  7. Aug 6

    She built a business and made life changing money. Now she’s doing it again

    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/

  8. Jul 28

    She Married into a Billionaire Family. Then her Husbad Died. The Financial Truths No One Talks About. | Christine Dawood

    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

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About

👉 A podcast about how wealth is actually built. Hosted by Ayesha Ofori, it explores the real stories behind successful women. The decisions, risks, instincts and turning points that don’t make it into headlines. Each episode goes beyond the surface to look at how money, mindset and life experience shape outcomes. From career moves to big leaps, from setbacks to defining moments. Because building wealth is not just about what you earn. It is about how you think, and the decisions you make along the way.

Information

  • Creator
    Ayesha Ofori
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Ayesha Ofori
  • Show Website
    Femme & Fortune

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