From Group Chat To Global Platform: Female Founder World
Her platform, Female Founder World, has become a go-to community and content hub for women building consumer brands. With a mission to support entrepreneurs 'from idea to launch and beyond,' it offers tactical resources, founder-led advice, and a sense of solidarity that's often missing in the startup space.
Female Founder World is leveling up, starting with a new partnership alongside Adobe Express designed to supercharge its mission and expand access to creative tools for the next generation of founders.
'Our community is hungry for specific, tactical content to help move them towards their goals, and they want to learn from real-world founders and operators,' says Garnsworthy. 'This partnership with Adobe Express will span four new, live workshops on the topics our community is asking for — turning real experiences into actionable courses.'
What started as a casual group Zoom call has evolved into a full-fledged movement.
Today, Female Founder World is powered by a chart-topping podcast, a global group chat with nearly 4,000 founders, and a high-engagement Instagram presence that reached over 11 million users last year. Its sold-out Female Founder World Summit in New York City drew over 700 attendees in 2024, and this year, that number is expected to top 1,000.
But before Garnsworthy built a brand that resonates with thousands, she built one that didn't scale.
'I didn't have one big idea. I had a lot of small ones. I started side hustles, ran a mini PR agency when I was still in school, tried blogging… I was always experimenting,' she shares with me over Zoom.
It's also worth noting that before becoming a founder herself, Garnsworthy was a fashion and beauty editor and writer, working for publications like Popsugar, StyleCaster, Refinery29, Byrdie, and Allure. That's what inspired her to launch her own skincare brand and it's what makes her skilled at podcast interviews and storytelling. She is also a former consultant to UN Women, further cementing her commitment to supporting women at every stage of their entrepreneurial journeys.
The common throughline in her work? Giving women the tools — and the mic — to tell their own stories.
In 2016, Garnsworthy launched The Buff, a personalized skincare brand born from the Glossier-era beauty boom. She studied organic skincare formulation, launched with a few hero oils, and leaned into customization. But the backend, everything from manufacturing and fulfillment to cash flow, proved to be a steep learning curve.
'It was 2020. Sales had plateaued, and I couldn't crack the logistics. I didn't have the capital to fulfill larger orders. I was tired, overwhelmed and it just wasn't giving me enough back to keep going,' she says.
That moment — go all in or let it go — became a turning point for Garnsworthy.
'Letting go gave me distance. The space to reflect. One of the biggest lessons I learned was: you have to protect what makes your brand special, and also trust other people to help you scale it. I didn't know how to do that when I was 27.'
That same vulnerability is what makes Female Founder World work well. She's not afraid to talk about what didn't work and founders are craving more of that honesty.
'There's a fine line in how much you want to share, but the storytelling that resonates the most is always the honest stuff,' she says. 'When I was building my skincare brand, I told that story through the lens of my own skin journey. Now, with Female Founder World, I speak to the small business owner experience because I've lived it.'
What began as casual founder Zooms during lockdown became the early blueprint for Female Founder World.
'At first, they were super casual. I had no plan. I'd just invite people from Instagram or my network to join. But quickly, I saw how needed it was.'
Determined to build with intention, she recorded over 50 podcast episodes before publishing a single one.
'I needed to prove to myself that I'd follow through.'
Eventually, the podcast and Instagram account launched simultaneously, giving the project a name and a foundation to build from. A few months later came the first group chat, which quickly became the heartbeat of the community. Today, Female Founder World has built several ways to offer members (and non-members) resources, such as live virtual 'Mentor Sessions' with notable female founders and executives, as well as downloads like a list of editors to pitch to.
So what's next for Female Founder World?
'We're relaunching our membership platform in January with re-filmed resources and refreshed tools,' Garnsworthy shares. 'Next year is about refinement. Doing what we already know works, but better. And we'll be scaling our events thoughtfully. It's not about doing more, it's about doing it right.'
That sense of focus — of slowing down to build with clarity and conviction — is one Garnsworthy has earned the hard way. After shutting down The Buff, she spent time unpacking what she wanted her next chapter to look like, not just professionally, but energetically.
'The business can't grow faster than I can,' she says. 'So I invest in myself, with coaches, mindset work, inner development. It's non-negotiable.'
Garnsworthy credits tools like Lacy Phillips' To Be Magnetic manifestation work with helping her rewire her sense of worth and possibility.
'I had to shift a lot of subconscious beliefs. That I had to hustle constantly to be worthy. That things had to be hard. The more I did that inner work, the more aligned opportunities started showing up. It wasn't magic — it was clarity.'
That blend of strategy and soul now threads through Female Founder World. It's why the brand resonates so deeply with thousands of female founders, because it doesn't just share success stories. It demystifies them.
Which is exactly what makes its new partnership with Adobe Express such a natural fit.
'Creativity is one of the most powerful tools an entrepreneur can have, but too
often it can be limited by time or out-of-reach tools. This partnership is about
changing that. By bringing Adobe Express to such a community driven by
entrepreneurs, we're empowering more founders to design smarter and move
faster," shared Elise Swopes, Senior Adobe Evangelist and Community Advocate.
The partnership launches with Launch Lab, a free four-part digital workshop series that brings tactical education to life, kicking off on July 1 with the topic, 'How I Secure Six-Figure Sponsors: Secrets Behind FFW's Success,' hosted by Garnsworthy.
'In this workshop I'll be teaching the partnership strategy and pitch process that's working in our business, and walk the community through how to use tools like Adobe Express to build a beautiful and impactful deck that can sell your vision," she shared.
'We asked our community what they needed help with — pitching, content creation, sponsorships — and built the series around that. These aren't coaches. These are founders who've actually done it.'
Garnsworthy's hope?
'Confidence. Practical skills. Templates. And a reminder that good storytelling, paired with the right tools, can open a lot of doors.'
What started as one founder's group chat has become a movement and a mentorship loop for a new generation of women in business. And as Garnsworthy says: 'There's no one path to success. Just your own.'
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