High Flying Design

Today, Mollie is 30 years old. She runs The Hair Hut from a salon her parents built in her garden in Essex, with 160 clients, fully booked five days a week, weddings twice a month, and an ever-growing waitlist.

Before we sat down, she told me she'd been trying to figure out what she possibly had to say.

“What the hell am I going to say? I'm just a hairdresser.”

Turns out, plenty.

Mollie Barnard, The Hair Hut: "I Was Supposed to Be a Dancer — High Flying Design She had her place at dance school confirmed and turned it down the day before she left. Mollie Barnard on building The Hair Hut from a garden salon in Essex.

How do you spend the last hour of your day?

Scrolling? Sending last minute emails? Or do you take the time out to slow down?

Psychotherapist, author and yoga instructor Eloise Skinner wrote a piece for High Flying Design on why the way you end your day matters more than most of us realise, with three gentle yoga poses to try tonight 👇

https://www.highflyingdesign.com/magazine/lifestyle/bedtime-yoga-flow

Photography by Robyn Halliday (http://robynhalliday.com/).

"You're not a visionary, you're a vendor."

It's the line in The Devil Wears Prada 2 that several reviewers have come back to. It's also a question every female founder should be asking herself.

After watching the film for herself, Shannon Kate Murray sat with what Miranda really meant once you lift it out of fashion media and into the real world of women building businesses. The cost of getting it wrong, she found, is bigger than it looks. 👇

Vendor or Visionary? The Question The Devil Wears Prada 2 Raises for Every Female Founder — High Flying Design The Devil Wears Prada 2 has one line every female founder should hear. What it means, why it matters, and why most women are hiding visionary work in vendor language.

👀

Eight out of ten young people cannot name a single female entrepreneur.

You could be the person who changes that number. Not by waiting until you've made it. Not by waiting until you're ready. But by letting yourself be seen, right now, exactly as you are.

Somewhere out there, a younger version of someone is watching. She doesn't need your highlight reel. She needs proof that someone like her is already doing it.

Why Female Founders Don't Share Their Work (And What It's Costing All of Us) Almost every female founder I approach to be interviewed says the same thing. Not a flat no.

Barry Whitehouse, a fine artist and art tutor, recently posted a side-by-side of AI-generated spring fair posters from across the UK.

They all looked identical.

And it got us thinking... this isn't just a community event problem. It's happening across small business marketing everywhere. 👀

The more founders reach for AI tools to save time on their content, the more invisible their brand becomes.

Our latest piece looks at why AI-generated ads are hurting your brand identity, and what to do instead, including options that won't break the budget.

https://www.highflyingdesign.com/magazine/business/how-ai-ads-kill-brand-growth

Have you noticed this in your own feed? Or tried stepping back from AI for your content?

Why AI Ads Are Hurting Your Brand Identity in 2026 — High Flying Design Discover the dangers of using AI-generated ads for your small business, plus why human creativity and “homemade” content are the keys to business growth in 2026.

How do you actually eat well when you’re busy running a business?

That’s exactly the question .nutritionn answers in her article for 💻 📰

When your days are busy, meetings run over, and your to-do list never seems to end ( 😅 ), eating well can quickly slip down the priority list... but healthy eating really doesn’t need to be an all or nothing game.

In this article, Lucy shares simple, realistic strategies to help you stay energised and focused, even on your most busy days.

Find the article here: https://www.highflyingdesign.com/magazine/lifestyle/how-to-eat-well-when-you-are-running-a-business

Carla Pooran, the founder of SkinRenewal Clinic, opened her clinic in Colchester during a time when many would have opted for caution. She has since gained a reputation for investing in advanced, non-injectable technology and providing results-driven skin education.

In our conversation, she shared how her experiences with acne shaped her career, the valuable lessons she learned about true expertise from her time on Harley Street, and how the 40+ Skin Bootcamp was created in response to a growing number of midlife clients who feel overwhelmed by the noise of online skincare information.

Read the full interview here: https://www.highflyingdesign.com/magazine/founder-stories/carla-pooran-skinrenewal-colchester

We’re living through a global trust recession.

You can feel it everywhere. Not just in politics, the media or big institutions but in business, marketing, leadership and in the way people buy, behave and decide who to believe.

As Danielle Thompson writes in her latest piece for High Flying Design:

"Let’s be clear, trust hasn’t dipped… It has collapsed, and the old playbook no longer works."

So what actually builds trust now? Danielle shares six principles in her latest piece 👇

The Trust Recession in Business: Why Audiences No Longer Buy the Performance — High Flying Design Danielle Thompson, founder of goldspun support, explores the “trust recession” in modern business and why audiences now demand honesty, proof and human leadership over performance.

Doing everything isn’t the flex. Running your business well is. 😉

This week on , Ellie Johnson shares how introducing non-negotiables transformed the way she leads, and why success is less about hustle and more about how you protect your time.

Read it here: https://www.highflyingdesign.com/magazine/business/built-to-win

“Just be authentic.”

That’s the advice.

Usually delivered by personal branding gurus selling popularity disguised as authority.

In her latest piece for High Flying Design, Giada Nizzoli of Crafty Copy argues that authenticity alone won’t attract high-ticket, perfect-fit clients.

Because clients investing at a higher level aren’t buying personality.

They’re buying certainty, perspective, and someone who sounds like the authority.

If you’re tired of creating content, being visible, “showing up as yourself”… and still hearing price objections?

Read this.

https://www.highflyingdesign.com/magazine/business/being-authentic-is-not-enough