ACCELERATING ACTION: An interview with Sophie Creese CEO of HeyFlow and Founder of MotherBoard

Get comfortable with discomfort. The entrepreneurial journey is full of highs and lows, and resilience is often the difference between success and giving up.

This International Women’s Day 2025, our Emerging Companies team is highlighting the gender funding gap. Burges Salmon is proud to be connected with a number of inspirational women and will be sharing a series of articles and interviews (see our previous interviews with (i) Jane Pearce, CEO of Rookwood Operations Ltd, (ii) Cristina Diez Santos, CEO of Open Hydro, and (iii) Natasha McKenzie, CEO of Talisman Sparro) to inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs, and demonstrate the potential and impact of investing in female innovators and female-led businesses.

This week, we are shining a spotlight on Sophie Creese, co-founder and CEO of HeyFlow. HeyFlow is a company that focuses on creating truly inclusive workplaces by addressing the impact of women's reproductive health on their careers. Sophie is also the founder of MotherBoard, a non-profit business charter, community, and event series dedicated to creating meaningful change for mothers in the UK tech industry. MotherBoard focusses on discussing, educating, challenging, and revolutionising how companies support mothers at work. Sophie kindly took the time to share her insights and own story as an entrepreneur and business owner. 

What inspired you to start your company?

Looking back, I can see that I’ve always had an entrepreneurial streak. At university, I won an award for a small business I started, and by 21, I had launched a fashion label with a friend. I was always drawn to the idea of building something from the ground up.

The idea for HeyFlow came from a combination of personal experiences that collided at the right time. In 2017, after having my first child, I saw firsthand how motherhood impacts women’s careers, often in ways they don’t anticipate or choose. At the time, I was working in recruitment and became increasingly aware of the barriers women face in the workplace. This led me to launch MotherBoard, a not-for-profit initiative focused on retaining women in tech after becoming mothers.

MotherBoard opened unexpected doors, immersing me in the gender equality space. I was suddenly in the middle of conversations with women sharing their lived experiences, with employers and leaders discussing workplace challenges, and with policymakers addressing systemic barriers. What became abundantly clear was that many leaders had no real insight into what was happening within their own workplaces.

After having my second child in 2021, I started thinking about how we could drive even greater impact across all areas of reproductive health – because women’s workplace opportunity is hinged on our biology. It was also not just a tech industry problem. If we wanted to create change, businesses needed both data and solutions, they needed more than just awareness; they needed practical, actionable steps. That realisation led to the birth of HeyFlow, we are a SaaS start-up, working with businesses to evolutionise their female talent lifecycle through data-driven insights, solutions and learning programs.

What were the biggest challenges you faced in the early stages, and how did you overcome them?

One of the toughest challenges has been commercialising our offering. We went from project based work, to building our platform and that meant pausing my time on selling and delivering projects whilst we built the new platform. Maintaining some level of cash flow during that time has been no easy feat, all within a very lean founder team. As a start-up, there’s always a tension between building for the long term and ensuring short-term sustainability.

I’ve also learned that no matter how well you think things are going, there will always be curveballs that test your resilience. I’m naturally optimistic, I see opportunities everywhere, but that optimism also means facing the reality that not every door will stay open. Learning to embrace the unexpected without dwelling on setbacks has been incredibly helpful. 

What are the key factors that have contributed to your company's success?

Without a doubt, funding has been instrumental. As a female-run start-up, we’ve been incredibly fortunate to receive investment from ADLIB Recruitment and Aer Venture Studios, which has provided not just financial backing but also strategic support and infrastructure. Without that, getting off the ground would have been significantly harder and we wouldn’t have had the time to really work out what products businesses needed from us. 

Beyond funding, self-awareness has been key. I know my strengths, but more importantly, I know where I need support. That’s why I’ve surrounded myself with the right people, my co-founder Sabrina Walls, our wonderful investors, Kate Thompson our non-executive director, and crucially female-founder peers to keep me sane. I actively seek feedback because I want to improve, and I believe that being open to learning is one of the biggest advantages any founder can have.

What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs looking to start a business?

Find the right network. Someone once told me to surround myself with people who will level me up - whether that’s in experience, intelligence, or mindset. By osmosis, you start adopting those traits yourself. When you work in a start-up your team will be lean, finding your network to bridge the gap that you would ordinarily have when bouncing off your colleagues. 

Just get something out there. It’s easy to get caught up in perfecting your product or service, but ultimately, a business is only as strong as its ability to generate revenue. Before we had the investment from Aer Venture Studios we had no proprietary tech – we just used what we could off the shelf to get off the ground. 

Get comfortable with discomfort. The entrepreneurial journey is full of highs and lows, and resilience is often the difference between success and giving up. It’s a journey where you feel on a tightrope all of the time. Accepting that as your reality is a must.

Celebrate the small wins. We didn’t do this enough in our early stages, because the highs were always met with the next goal. We are learning to celebrate the small successes and not forget how far we have come, and it is making day to day life more fun!

How do you balance work and personal life as an entrepreneur?

At the moment? Not very well! I have two young children, and balancing their needs with the demands of running a startup is a constant challenge. Luckily, I have an incredibly supportive husband who takes on a lot of the daily responsibilities like school drop-offs, school needs and doesn’t moan when I need to be out for the evening. 

Last year, we went through a turbulent period at HeyFlow, and during that time, I realised I needed to prioritise my own well-being. I refocused on my health and fitness, not just for physical benefits but for mental clarity. Taking time for myself, whether through exercise or simply switching off for a while, has helped me reset after stressful periods, making me a better founder and a more present parent. 

The reality is, balance looks different at different stages of the journey, and I’m still figuring it out. But I’ve learned that investing in myself, being focused, ignoring outside noise and distractions all whilst ensuring I am present for my family is my best strategy right now. 

We would like to thank Sophie for taking the time to share her experiences and insights!

If you would like to discuss any of the points raised in this article, please get in touch with your Burges Salmon contact or the Emerging Companies Team on [email protected]. In addition to providing legal advice generally to start-ups, scale-ups, founders, and investors, we deliver legal advice to early-stage companies through the firm’s legal accelerator: BScale, with the aim of supporting early-stage businesses in scaling up their operations by providing corporate, regulatory, tax, employment, IP and commercial advice.

Written by Eleanor Furlong and Joanna Gray.