What our Doers are Busy Doing…
At The CFD, we don’t sit on the sidelines – we roll up our sleeves and get stuck in.
We do with others. We do for ourselves… Because the best way to grow is to keep doing.
doing with others -
doing with others -
These are the projects we’re helping to build, alongside the bold founders making things happen.
Louise Marie Stage School – Lagos
Founder: Temi Holloway
Status: 🔨 In Build – Launching Summer 2025
Temi Holloway is a powerhouse. Building a business in Nigeria takes serious grit – and she’s doing it with style, soul, and unstoppable energy. Originally founded as a stage school, Temi’s vision has evolved into something much bolder: a full family destination designed to inspire and empower the next generation.
We’ve been proud to support her every step of the way – from refining her business model and mapping out revenue streams, to creative direction, soft play strategy, and fundraising guidance. Together, we’re shaping a space that blends nanny and me sessions, soft play, family dining, workshops, classes, and unforgettable parties.
A space for joy, creativity, and community, run by one of the most exciting women in the Lagos business scene.
Wonderlost – London
Founder: Dami
Status: 🔨 In Build – Launching Autumn 2025
Dami had a vision: a family-first space on the high street that actually works for parents. Tired of awkward cafés and unfriendly layouts, she set out to create something different – a hybrid between a members club and an accessible, stylish, child-friendly hub.
As a first-time founder, securing a site and building belief in her idea was no small feat. But Dami made it happen. We’ve guided her through the process – from business planning to fundraising, operations to build. The result? Wonderlost: a beautifully designed café, soft play, and co-work space for families to meet, recharge, and share the journey of parenthood.
Get Set Go – London
Founders: Claire & Alina
Status: 🚧 4th Site Opening October 2025
Taking a board seat with Claire and Alina has been an absolute pleasure. These two are the real deal – smart, determined, and resilient. After weathering the chaos of Covid, they’ve rebuilt Get Set Go into one of the most exciting swim brands in the UK.
More than just swim schools, Get Set Go sites are designed to create a real community for parents and kids alike. We’ve been supporting the scale-up strategy across everything from new site search and operational models to funding and five-year exit planning.
With new sites opening later this year and next, Get Set Go is primed for national growth – and we’re proud to be in the lane with them.
Ubomi – South Africa
Partnered with: Shape History
Status: 🚀 Scaling Early Pilots
We teamed up with Shape History to answer a bold question: how do you deliver childcare in places with no access to water, power, or infrastructure? Ubomi is the answer – beautifully designed, fully sustainable childcare hubs for remote communities in South Africa.
We supported the initial research, design development, and operational thinking – shaping a solution that’s solar-powered, waterless, and off-grid. Each hub includes play spaces, learning zones, SEN support, and mindful gardens – everything a child needs to thrive, even in the hardest-to-reach areas.
Innovation meets impact – and we’re proud to be part of it.
Link coming soon
Flow and Throw
Founder: Mercedes
Status: 🌱 Live – First Site Secured
Paired through the Big Issue Invest programme, Maggie had the privilege of mentoring Mercedes as she took her first bold steps into entrepreneurship. From setting up her company and launching her website to running her first workshops, it’s been a joy to watch her vision come to life.
Flow and Throw is a beautiful blend of yoga and pottery – designed not just for mindfulness, but for community. Mercedes is on a mission to make these kinds of wellness experiences more accessible to people of colour, creating spaces that feel welcoming, healing, and full of possibility.
From dream to doing – she’s blooming, and we couldn’t be prouder.
doing ourselves -
doing ourselves -
These are the projects we’re building inside The CDF. Because the best way to advise founders is to keep being one.
Otii – Smart Compliance for Early Years
Founder: Maggie
Status: 🚧 In Build – MVP Launching Sept 2025
Born out of years of frustration with bloated software and inspection stress, Otii is our own in-house SaaS project – led by Maggie and built for real-life early years providers who want less paperwork, more peace of mind.
Otii is a traffic-light tool that keeps nurseries inspection-ready every single day. It cuts the noise and shows you what needs doing – whether that’s uploading evidence, reviewing a policy, or giving staff a nudge on training. No jargon, no clunky tech – just simple, smart compliance designed by people who’ve actually run nurseries.
It’s the system we wish we’d had. So we built it.
What it does:
Tracks safeguarding, curriculum, training, and compliance triggers
Sends smart prompts and inspection-ready “show me” requests
Builds confidence across teams with tools that actually support them
The Great Childcare Reset – by The CFD
Status: ✅ Live Campaign
This one’s a passion project – built from the lived experience of our team, who’ve worked across childcare, public service, education, and entrepreneurship. We’ve seen the cracks up close. And we’re done waiting for change.
The Great Childcare Reset is our bold call to action: a new vision for the future of childcare that actually works – for families, for providers, for government. It’s part business plan, part policy provocation, and all heart. We're putting it out into the world to spark ideas, start partnerships, and push for big, systemic change.
Core ideas include:
The National Childcare Corps to solve the workforce crisis
A unified funding access model that simplifies entitlements
An SOS fund to keep vital settings from closing
An innovation fund backed by social investors
This isn’t consultancy. It’s activism. Let’s see who’s ready to do something about it.
Read the Manifesto on Gamma (campaign page)
Assyrian Heritage Storybook Series – by Arblina Nissan
Status: ✏️ In Development
Inspired by her Assyrian roots, Arblina is creating a joyful, beautifully illustrated storybook series that brings culture, identity, and childhood to life. Aimed at children across the diaspora, these stories help young readers see their families, language, and heritage reflected on the page —something many have never had.
Developed within The CFD’s internal studio, this project goes beyond books.
It’s a storytelling platform designed to spark pride, build connection, and preserve cultural legacy for the next generation.
From self-publishing to merchandise to school and community outreach, we’re crafting something bold, beautiful, and deeply meaningful.
What we need: Publishing collaborators, cultural educators & distribution partners
I Am Woman / Live Fully Now – by Shaline
Status: ✏️ In Development
What started as a bold empowerment tee brand – I Am Woman – has grown into something much deeper. Born from Shaline’s lived experience as a cancer survivor, the project has evolved into a full-scale social impact movement: Live Fully Now.
The ethos remains the same: empowerment, visibility, and joy. But now, it’s taking the form of a wellness app for life after cancer. Designed to support women – especially women of colour – navigating survivorship, Live Fully Now offers daily rituals, mindset support, and joyful community. It's not clinical. It's not data-heavy. It's human, emotional, and full of heart.
The app is the natural next chapter for I Am Woman. Where the tees helped wear your truth on your chest, the app helps you feel it in your body, your mind, and your day-to-day life. Together, they form a platform for post-cancer empowerment – through style, through wellness, through solidarity.
We’re building this as a social enterprise with a long-term vision. Empowerment that starts with a statement and grows into something you live by.
What we need: Early funders, survivor collaborators, and partners in the wellness, fashion, and impact space.
Final Word
We don’t just build with clients – we build within.
The CFD is a collective of doers, and that means backing each other’s ideas, sharing what works (and what doesn’t), and learning through the doing.
Every venture we launch – solo or together – is a live testbed.
A space to experiment, refine, and prove what’s possible.
And every insight we gain gets fed straight back into the work we do for others.
Because the best way to stay sharp…?
Keep doing.
Ready to build something bold?
More Doing Coming Soon…
FAQs
Anything else you’d like to know? Just drop us a line…
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The CFD, or The Company for Doing, is a collective of entrepreneurs and industry experts dedicated to turning bold ideas into reality. We focus on action, collaboration, and innovative solutions to help businesses thrive.
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We offer a range of services including one-on-one advisory, interim staffing, strategic guidance, product development workshops, marketing and branding, and operational audits. Our goal is to help you hustle smarter, pivot with purpose, and scale with impact.
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Collaboration is at the heart of what we do. We believe that many heads are better than one. Our team works closely with clients to ensure we understand their needs and can deliver tailored solutions that drive results.
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Our pricing is flexible and tailored to your specific needs. We offer options ranging from one-off consultations to ongoing partnerships. After discussing your project requirements, we’ll provide a clear outline of costs so you know exactly what to expect.
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We work with entrepreneurs, startups, established businesses looking to scale or pivot, investors seeking expertise for their portfolio companies, and think tanks or universities in need of entrepreneurial insights.
Ready to Do?
Got a challenge that needs solving yesterday? A big idea that needs legs?