What it actually takes to build something meaningful — without overnight success, a perfect plan, or losing yourself in the process.
There’s a particular kind of founder talk that does the rounds at accelerators and women-in-business events. It’s polished, narratively tidy, and bears almost no resemblance to what building a business actually feels like from the inside.
This isn’t that talk.
Sally Lovett built Stretching the City, a workplace wellbeing consultancy serving 350+ organisations, including Amazon and the Cabinet Office, from a one-woman yoga side hustle, over fifteen years, without external investment, a PR agency, or a business plan.
She did it through two maternity leaves, multiple recessions, and the kind of slow, unsexy middle years that founder lore tends to skip.
Build It Anyway is a keynote for founders, ambitious women and operators who are tired of inspiration porn — and ready for something more honest about what long-term building actually requires.
What audiences leave with:
- A more honest, less anxious mental model for building over the long term
- Permission to ignore most of the founder content their feed serves them
- Specific moves for getting through the “messy middle” years that founder lore skips
- A clearer sense of what to optimise for when things aren’t yet working
Themes explored:
- Building without the standard credentials, capital or playbook
- The economics of the long game — why slow, unglamorous growth often beats the hockey-stick
- How to recognise “the messy middle” and what to do when you’re in it
- Founder loneliness, and the structural fix that isn’t community
- Building through life stages – pregnancies, maternity, school runs, caring responsibilities
- Money, fees, and the conversation founders avoid until it’s expensive
- How to keep going when the numbers don’t yet justify it The difference between resilience and stubbornness, and how to know which one you’re using
About Sally Lovett
Sally Lovett is a workplace wellbeing keynote speaker, founder and entrepreneur. She built Stretching the City from a one-woman yoga side hustle into a multi-six-figure workplace wellbeing consultancy – working with 350+ organisations including Amazon, the Cabinet Office, Universal Music, Soho House and Accenture, without external investment, a PR agency, or a business plan.
She did it whilst raising two sons, navigating the messy chaos of family life and figuring it out as she went.
Her talks are evidence-based, commercially grounded, and full of the kind of insight that only comes from actually building something — not from a business school case study.
Contributor: The Guardian · The Times · Condé Nast Traveller
Author: The Wellbeing Guide to London
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Build it Anyway Keynote: FAQs
Is this talk just for women founders?
No. The keynote works for any founder building over the long term and is regularly delivered to mixed audiences. The content is rooted in fifteen years of operating, not in gender — though Sally is candid about the founder-mother experience where relevant.
What stage is this most useful for?
Particularly useful for founders 2–7 years in, who are past the launch hype and into the unglamorous middle. Also lands well at accelerators with first-stage founders who are about to encounter that period.
Is this a “lessons learned” story talk?
Partly, but the format is built around principles, not chronology. Sally uses specific moments from building Stretching the City to illustrate patterns founders can apply to their own businesses — not just to admire.
Can it be tailored for a specific accelerator cohort?
Yes. Sally runs a briefing call with the programme team before the event to tailor examples and emphasis to the cohort’s stage, sector and themes.
BOOK SALLY FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT
Sally personally reads every enquiry and replies within 2 working days. For urgent enquiries: sally@stretchingthecity.com.
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