Startup Session #5 – Fuel & Fire: The Mindset Behind Scaling a Business

This event is now sold out.

Entrepreneurship can be exhilarating, but it’s often emotionally demanding, isolating and mentally exhausting. This session pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to build and scale a business without losing yourself along the way. Through open, honest conversation with founders and coaches, we’ll explore the mindset shifts, leadership habits and personal resilience needed for sustainable growth. From navigating burnout, imposter syndrome and failure, to leading with clarity through chaos, you’ll hear real stories and gain practical tools to stay grounded, focused and true to your values. Whether you’re just starting out or scaling fast, this is a space to reconnect with your purpose, challenge toxic startup culture and walk away with renewed energy and insight for the journey ahead.

What founders will gain

1. Master your inner narrative and emotional resilience

• Understand the emotional highs and lows of scaling, from impostor syndrome to burnout
• Learn daily habits to stay grounded and maintain clarity
• Shift limiting beliefs and use adversity as fuel for growth

2. Discover how coaching accelerates growth

• Learn how coaches help uncover blind spots, define purpose and elevate decision-making
• Hear how coaching has helped founders grow their companies and themselves
• Reflect on whether now is the right time to bring a coach into your leadership journey

3. Lead with clarity in chaos

• Gain tools to make decisions when under pressure or stretched thin
• Learn how to lead with purpose when things feel messy or uncertain
• Explore how to stay true to your values as you grow

### What you’ll take away from this session:

• A real understanding of the emotional and mental toll of being a founder and how to build resilience
• Practical mental habits and routines to stay grounded through uncertainty and stress
• Insight into common mindset traps and how to challenge toxic narratives in startup culture
• One mindset tool you can use every day to reset and refocus
• A reflection prompt to help reframe your toughest moments as opportunities for growth
• Leadership strategies for navigating exhaustion, overwhelm and self-doubt
• A clear sense of how coaching can support your growth and when to invest in it
• New perspectives on what success really looks like in the startup world
• A refreshed, human-centred view of leadership, purpose and personal capacity

This session is designed for founders who:

• Are building something bold and want to scale without burning out
• Know they need to grow as a leader to grow the business
• Want to build courage, not just strategy

Click here for tickets

Registering on Meetup does not grant you access to this event, please apply for a ticket using this link, this will send you a QR code to scan on entry.

Location – Maslow’s 1 Warwick St, London W1B 5LR

Doors open at 6:00 PM
6:30 PM Intro and welcome from David Loughlan and Jessica Willis, Co-Founders @ Founders500
6:35 PM Panel
8:00 PM Networking
Doors close at 9 PM

Meet the panel:

Claire Koryczan is an award-nominated leadership expert with over 25 years of experience spanning creative agencies, technology, innovation, and HR. Her approach blends coaching with strategic insight, enabling leaders to navigate complexity and unlock meaningful change. Recognised globally, she’s been shortlisted for Best Business Coach by the Coach Awards, named a Top Team Leadership Voice on LinkedIn, and featured in SohoWorks’ Future50 and Grant Thornton’s Faces of a Vibrant Economy. Through her work, Claire champions entrepreneurial leadership to build cultures that elevate human and technological potential.

Kit James is the founder of Kit James Coaching, a private practice working with ambitious individuals who’ve hit the traditional markers of success, yet find themselves questioning ‘what next?’ His clients are high-achieving and often in positions of influence, yet beneath the external milestones lies a deeper search for clarity, meaning, and legacy.Kit’s approach is personal and instinctive. It’s shaped by his own decision to walk away from the expected path and define success on his own terms. He brings challenge, sharp perspective, and real precision to the process, helping clients cut through noise, confront difficult truths, and move forward with purpose. This is coaching for those who are serious about change. It’s rigorous, honest, and designed for people ready to do the real work.

Jen Smith’s entrepreneurial journey began in 2009, driven by a desire for flexibility and creativity after becoming a parent, and soon evolved into a successful digital marketing agency. Recognised as one of the Top 100 women leaders in business in 2021, she pivoted in 2023 to become an accredited Executive Coach and Mentor, combining her creativity, business acumen and lived experience of physical disabilities, ADHD and Autism to champion inclusion, accessibility and neurodiversity. Known as ‘The Curious Mentor,’ Jen draws on practical neuroscience, coaching techniques and her ILM Level 7 studies in Coaching Supervision to support a wide range of clients, particularly neurodivergent individuals. She collaborates with Small Business Britain on initiatives including The Lilac Review and The Maple Review, and was shortlisted for The Small Awards in 2023. Jen also leads Those Interesting People, a neuroinclusive consultancy collective, and remains active in her community as a trustee of the London Titans Wheelchair Basketball Club, a qualified table official, and a dedicated Girlguiding leader of over 30 years.

Click here for tickets

Registering on Meetup does not grant you access to this event, please apply for a ticket using this link, this will send you a QR code to scan on entry.