For the last 18 months, Hayley has been quietly hosting one-on-one dinners with female founders - and every single one has been an unlock. With not a sales pitch or panel insight. Just two women in a restaurant, talking honestly about what it actually takes. Those dinners became the seed of something bigger: Date Night. An intimate, curated dinner for female founders, pulled together in seven days.
This episode is the full debrief.
How it came about, why it happened faster than expected, what went into building the room, and what the night itself felt like. From locking in the venue in 48 hours to designing a seating plan based on personality types, to the non-alcoholic cocktail that outsold the wine - this is all the stuff you never see on social media.
The catalyst was Grace Miller, Head of Experimentation and Failure at Steven
Bartlett's Flight Story, who told Hayley "I'd love to come" to a dinner that didn't yet exist - and was free the following Friday. One week. twelve female founders. One exceptional space.
In this episode Hayley covers:
• Why she stopped going to networking events 18 months ago - and what she did instead
• The one-on-one founder dinner format that became the unlock for her business
• How Grace Miller from Flight Story accidentally pushed Date Night to launch a year early
• Pulling off an event in seven days: venue, guests, branding, ticketing - from scratch
• Why the seating plan was the most important and most time-intensive part of the whole event
• The psychology of seating: how she matched founders by energy level, industry, and personality
• Why she doesn't drink - and the one language shift that changed every conversation about it
• Why the non-alcoholic cocktails outsold the wine and what that tells us about how events should be designed
• The conversation that happened in the room: AI, star signs, Alex Earle, being a mum in business - all of it
• Why women being multifaceted is a strength, not a contradiction
• The emotional car debrief on TikTok and what the feedback from the room has meant
• What's next: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Perth, Adelaide - and how to register your interest
If you are a female founder and want to join our next event – you can register your interest here:
https://forms.gle/RUqQWm7YxGoXb9V59
You can also follow Date Night on Instagram at @datenight.aus
If you have a question about business, marketing or personal branding that you want answered:
Leave us a voice note: speakpipe.com/TopOfMindPodcast
DM us: @topofmind.pod
Email: hello@topofmindpod.com
Or drop a question in the Spotify Q&A box or in the comments!
Sign up to our emails and get the ideas, exclusive event invitations, and tools that'll keep you inspired, confident, and showing up like the brand you know you can be: https://www.gambitcollective.com.au/lets-chat
Top of Mind is an extension of our business Gambit Collective, Australia's first pay-as-you-go agency simplifying and humanising marketing for founders and brands ready to be known, respected and experienced.
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Follow along on your preferred channels:
Date Night on IG: https://www.instagram.com/datenight.aus/
Top of Mind on IG: https://www.instagram.com/topofmind.pod/
Top of Mind on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@topofmind.pod
Gambit Collective on IG: https://www.instagram.com/gambit.collective
Hayley on IG: https://www.instagram.com/hayleywestoby/
Hayley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayleywestoby/
Hayley on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hayleywestoby
