Confidence Grows When Someone Has Your Back

Starting and scaling a business is often talked about in financial terms, but for me it has always been just as much an emotional journey. Confidence is one of the most important resources a founder has, and it doesn’t develop in isolation.

Before co-founding Barford Owen Davies, I spent more than a decade working in professional services. That experience gave me technical skills, but more importantly, it gave me exposure to different businesses, leadership styles and to decision-making under pressure. Even so, taking the step to build something of my own was daunting.

What made the difference was having people who had my back. Mentors who believed in me, but who were also willing to challenge me. Peers who were honest about their own struggles. Those relationships turned fear into perspective and uncertainty into informed decision-making.

As our business grew, we faced the same big decisions many founders do: hiring senior people, taking on finance, investing ahead of growth. Even with a finance background, those decisions carried weight. Having trusted advisors to talk things through with made them manageable rather than overwhelming.

I’ve also seen, through my work with clients, how isolating leadership can be, particularly for women. Support networks act like informal boards, offering challenge, reassurance and experience. They help founders recognise that what they’re facing isn’t unique or a personal failing – it’s part of the journey.

Support also has to reflect real lives. Timing matters. Accessibility matters. Representation matters. If women can’t attend events or don’t see people like themselves in leadership roles, they disengage, not because they lack ambition, but because the system wasn’t designed with them in mind.

Visibility is powerful. When women see others navigating similar challenges and succeeding in different ways, growth becomes imaginable.

International Women’s Day is a reminder that progress doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when we invest in people, confidence and relationships, and not just capital.

Confidence grows when someone has your back. Our challenge now is to make sure more women have that support early and consistently so they can build businesses with belief as well as skill.