Finding your passion as a woman entrepreneur is not about having every answer. For most of my life I believed the opposite: that being in control, knowing every step of my future and setting fierce goals was the only way to stay safe. Hi, my name’s Katie, and I am a recovering control freak. There, I’ve said it.

My life was turned upside down when I was nine. My mother and I left my father, though I did not understand that was what had happened until weeks later; I thought we were simply staying with my aunt for the school holidays. In an instant I lost contact with school friends and every point of reference I had. I did not see my father again for two years. Looking back, I can see that was the moment my carefree, spontaneous self went into hiding and the controlled, shut-down version of me took over. She ran the show for decades.

Then, in my early fifties, that controlled self was challenged. Both my parents died within a short space of time. As an only child, I had no siblings to share the grief or the practicalities. A relationship ended badly, followed by stalking and harassment that only stopped when the police intervened. Suddenly I was in my fifties, completely alone: no parents, no siblings, no partner, no children. It was a jolt I could not ignore.

My antidote was to work. I turned my experience into a book, which became a kind of therapy. The book led to speaking invitations in the United States, which led to more talks, more networking and, eventually, a plan to move abroad. I hired an immigration lawyer and submitted a petition for a visa. Everything had flowed so smoothly that I assumed it was meant to be.

Then the petition was refused.

Up to that point, every door had opened. The refusal stopped me in my tracks. At first it felt like failure; within days it began to feel like freedom. I had been a passenger on a very fast-moving train, unable to slow it down long enough to hop off. The rejection gave me permission to stop, regroup and ask a question I had been avoiding: what do I actually want?

When “certain” is just another word for “stuck”

Like many women in business, I had confused certainty with safety. The 2023 Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship progress report estimates that the UK now has around 1.6 million women-led businesses, contributing roughly £108 billion to the economy. That is a huge achievement. Yet many of us still run our ventures as if one wrong move will bring the whole thing down. We over-plan, over-deliver and over-please because we have been conditioned to prove our worth.

That conditioning is expensive. It shows up as saying yes to clients who drain us, pricing too low, chasing funding rounds that do not fit our values, or building a business that looks impressive on LinkedIn but feels hollow at the kitchen table. For years my work was empowering women to step into their own spotlight. What I did not admit was that I was using their spotlights to avoid standing in my own.

The people-pleasing trap

When my childhood world shifted, I became a people pleaser. My confidence was dented, so I detached from my feelings, built armour around myself and faced the world through achievement. Being controlled, disciplined and emotionally absent suited me very well. It also made me excellent at rescuing everyone except myself.

That pattern nearly followed me to another continent. People in the UK were excited by my plan to move to the US. People in the US were encouraging. Many women I met through speaking and networking saw me as a kind of saviour. To a control freak who loves being needed, that is seductive. But it was not my dream; it was a performance of a dream. The visa refusal forced the curtain down.

Finding your passion as a woman entrepreneur

Once the noise stopped, I did what I encourage other women to do: I found my authentic voice. I dug deep and got in touch with my true passion. I have always been passionate about empowering women, but now I want to take that passion to a much wider audience. This is my heart talking, not my head. My head has had dominance for 45 years; now it is my heart’s turn to speak.

How am I going to do it? Honestly, I do not know yet. My heart knows. My soul knows. My head has absolutely no idea right now, and that is fabulous. That is the liberation of not knowing.

Practical ways to sit with uncertainty

“Not knowing” is not the same as “not doing.” If you are at a crossroads in your business, here are the practices that have helped me turn uncertainty from a threat into a tool.

• Name your safety behaviours. Do you over-plan, over-work or over-give to feel in control? Recognising the pattern is the first step to choosing differently.
• Check whose voice is in the driver’s seat. Before you commit to a big move, ask whether you are pleasing investors, clients, family or your own ego. Your passion has to come from you.
• Replace the five-year plan with a minimum viable plan. Know your next right step, not every step. Test ideas cheaply, gather feedback and adjust.
• Build a network that challenges you, not just cheers you on. Surround yourself with women who will ask the awkward questions and hold you accountable to your own values.
• Let your values lead. When the path is unclear, your values are the compass. Mine are empowerment, authenticity and global sisterhood. What are yours?

Why this matters in 2026

The UK business landscape is changing, but the fundamentals for women founders remain challenging. According to the British Business Bank’s 2025 Small Business Finance Markets report, businesses with no women on their founding team continue to attract the majority of UK equity investment, while women-led teams receive a small fraction. The 2023 Alison Rose Review also found that if women started businesses at the same rate as men, the UK could gain up to 1 million additional women-led businesses.

The good news is that support is growing. The British Business Bank has introduced new funding rules for women founders, and the Women Backing Women Fund, a £130 million initiative launched in 2024, is deploying capital specifically for women-led ventures. ONS data from 2024 also shows that self-employed women over 50 are on the rise, with many starting businesses after a career break, redundancy or caring responsibilities.

If you want the full picture, see the UK women in business statistics on our cornerstone facts page. Then ask yourself whether your current business model is built around your own values, or around what you think the market, investors or family expect.

Uncertainty is not a flaw in the plan. It is part of the plan. The more we can tolerate not knowing, the more room we create for intuition, creativity and genuine passion. That is where a business stops being a coping strategy and starts becoming a calling.

So here I am, no longer running from not knowing. Finding your passion as a woman entrepreneur means accepting that not knowing is not failure. It is the space where a real business, and a real life, can begin.

Practical action steps for women entrepreneurs

• Write down one “certain” plan you are clinging to and ask what would happen if you released it.
• Identify one client, commitment or expectation that drains you and set a boundary this week.
• Find one women-led network or mentor who will challenge your assumptions.
• Define your three non-negotiable values and use them to filter your next business decision.