Female Founders Summit 2025: Speaker pleased to see emphasis on business owners valuing wellness

This one-of-a-kind experience is returning to Northampton from June 12 to 14, for its second consecutive year in the town and fourth year since it first launched.

There will be a wide variety of masterclasses, workshops, networking opportunities and keynote speakers to enjoy – as well as a full day of holistic wellbeing at Delapre Abbey, one of the much-loved venues from 2024.

Organised by master coach Lucienne Shakir, this event welcomes business owners from all over the world and epitomises the importance of women supporting women in the push towards equality in the business world.

Rae-Anna Wright, the director of WHOLE Health & Fitness, has undergone a huge transformation over the past seven years – and is dedicated to helping women live happy, healthy and sustainable lifestyles.

The business owner, from Bedfordshire, has learnt to cope and manage her anxiety disorder, depression and lost four-and-a-half stone in the process.

She launched WHOLE Health & Fitness to communicate her “life-changing finds” and create a movement of healthy and happy humans, which she will share once again at this year’s Female Founders Summit.

April 2019 was the right time in Rae-Anna’s journey to create an accessible programme for others to learn about her experience with mental health problems, including agoraphobia and clinical obesity.

Rae-Anna describes her work as a wellbeing mentor for women in helping them “reset their lifestyle with an accessible, implementable and sustainable programme”.

The business owner supports people on their running journeys, with a couch to five kilometre course over nine to 12 weeks, as well as offering in-person wellbeing walks and online wellbeing audios on YouTube.

Rae-Anna also provides a 12-week lifestyle reset, which includes yoga, nutrition and mindfulness all bundled into one.

“I’m very proud of myself,” said Rae-Anna, when talking about the fact her business is now six years old. “It’s been slow and steady, but that’s how you win the race.”

The founder has seen a shift in the way people value their health and wellness, and is pleased that this year’s Female Founders Summit has a dedicated wellbeing day.

“That’s super exciting for me,” said Rae-Anna. “It shows how far we’ve come in realising that wellbeing is part of your business journey. If you’re not well, or don't have a healthy mind or body, you won’t be able to run your business.”

Rae-Anna’s all-encompassing talk is planned for the wellbeing day and she will be sharing her tips on how to live a happy and healthy life.

“I took away the confidence from being a speaker last year,” Rae-Anna continued. “That has enabled me to speak up more this year.”

The business owner also found a lot of value in learning about marketing strategies and the importance of putting herself out there on social media, which she has worked hard to improve.

Rae-Anna is most looking forward to Lucienne’s coaching approach at this year’s Summit, as each individual will constantly be reminded of their goals and what they need to implement in order to get there.

When asked what attendees stand to gain from the experience, Rae-Anna spoke of the importance of connecting with fellow female entrepreneurs.

“It cannot be stressed enough,” Rae-Anna concluded. “It is important to speak to people facing similar challenges and sharing is so valuable.”

General release tickets are now available and attending all three days, which includes the wellness day and business summit, is currently £520 plus VAT. For just the business summit on the final two days, tickets are currently £420 plus VAT. These prices will rise on May 17.

Having been the exclusive media partner of the Female Founders Summit 2024, the Chronicle & Echo is delighted to be partnering with the event again in 2025. Join us for new stories every Monday and Thursday in the lead up to June.

For more information on the Female Founders Summit 2025, and to secure your ticket, click here.