Here, we admire the entrepreneurs who see opportunity where everyone else sees something a little unusual. The founders who step into interesting niches, unexplored ideas, and unexpected human needs and build real companies out of them.
Meet three entrepreneurs proving that the most unconventional ideas can fuel serious commercial momentum.
Yula Andrews – the “menopause choir” leader
At 50, Yula Andrews is the founder of seven feel‑good Pop Chorus choirs across Suffolk, which attract a large number of midlife women who come for community, confidence and most of all, joy.
Fourteen years ago, on maternity leave with her son, she realised that much of the singing world she knew as a trained vocalist felt formal, rigid, inaccessible. So, she set about building the opposite – no auditions, no judgment, no pressure. Just feel‑good singing.
Fast forward, and Pop Chorus has grown into a local cultural force. They’ve performed at festivals like Latitude, the choir has been shortlisted for a BBC Make a Difference Award, Yula was recognised in the 2025 Kindness in Leadership list and she’s now also behind free community singing initiatives bringing music to people who need it most.
But her newest venture might be her most interesting yet.
Inspired by her own midlife journey and her research with the University of Essex into how singing can ease menopause symptoms, Yula has launched a dedicated menopause singing group designed to support women experiencing brain fog, sleeplessness, mood swings and the emotional turbulence of perimenopause and menopause.
For Yula, the menopause choir is step one in building a fully evidence‑based singing programme aimed at redefining how women navigate the complex midlife stage of life.
Roy Shaby – creating homes for TikTok shops and tattoo artists
Roy Shaby has built builds the thing he wishes he’d had when starting his first business. He’s lived the late nights, the creative problem‑solving, and the endless hunt for a space that actually supports the way modern founders work.
So, he created the perfect spaces for them himself.
Tradestars is an offline home for businesses that build online – spaces designed by an entrepreneur, for entrepreneurs. With fully bespoke studios and flexible workspaces, Tradestars has become a go‑to hub for London’s most creative founders: TikTok Shop sellers, tattoo artists, nail techs, hairdressers, designers, and a whole wave of ecommerce entrepreneurs rewriting what businesses look like today.
But Tradestars is far more than four walls and a door. Roy has built a community and a support system shaped by someone who’s genuinely been through it. His lived experience is baked into every studio layout, every piece of guidance he offers, and every decision behind the brand. He knows what it takes to launch something from scratch because he’s done it.
And that journey started far from the polished studios he builds today.
Roy was born in London but lived abroad for some of his childhood. He came back to the capital to settle age 24 and, having had a difficult upbringing financially, he was determined to create a solid business for himself. He had just £3,000 to invest, and, having bought takeaways from Just Eat he became interested in the food models behind them. He noticed that there was no Japanese offering in Camberwell where he was living, and thought he’d see if he could fill that gap.
He persuaded a kebab shop to let out their space, found a sushi chef (as he had no sushi cheffing experience), and some drivers who would be paid in arrears. Then he created a menu and started selling.
That first day they turned over £500, and the first year, £300,0000. He was living hand to mouth, though, and during challenging times he let go of his rented flat share and slept on his chest freezer to ensure he could still pay staff. The business grew, he moved to a bigger premises and decided to let out half of the space to be a dark kitchen for other food operators.
That was when he realised the potential of dark kitchens and how they were short in London. Helped by a Virgin startup loan of £25,000 he started investing in building and renting dark kitchens, let go of the sushi business and grew to 45 dark kitchens across London (co-founded under the name FoodStars). In 2017 he got a call that changed his life. Travis Kalanick, founder of Uber, made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
This was a life-changing deal and led to Roy working with Travis for three years before the entrepreneurial bug got him again and he started his next business – Tradestars.
He now runs three sets of studios for growing brands – to enable them to work and trade from their workspaces. They’re in Southwark, Hackney Wick, and Islington.
Dr. Dilan Fernando – the surgeon rebuilding patient confidence one hair at a time
Not many CEOs can design a growth strategy and a natural hairline with equal skill, but then Dr. Dilan Fernando isn’t a typical founder.
Before entering the world of aesthetics, Dr. Dilan was working as a neurosurgical doctor – a demanding, highly specialised field that shaped his meticulous approach to patient care. Choosing to step away from that path and pursue hair transplantation was a genuine leap of faith.
A leading hair transplant surgeon, he co‑runs an award‑winning clinic with lifelong friend Dr. Roshan Vara, whom he met in childhood and later again at medical school. The idea for the business was born, fittingly, on a beach in Sri Lanka, after a mutual friend suffered a bad transplant experience. The pair realised they could do far better.
Today, their clinic, The Treatment Rooms London, delivers exactly that.
Both Dr Dilan and Dr Roshan are passionate advocates for men’s mental health and building a medical business the right way – with patient care at the heart. They work to reduce the stigma associated with hair loss and seek to educate the masses about safe and ethical hair transplant practice.
What unites these three entrepreneurs?
All three are building businesses in unexpected niches. From hair transplants and dark kitchens to creator studios and menopause choirs.
They’re quietly reshaping industries most people never think about until they suddenly need them.
Unusual jobs. Serious businesses. And exactly the kind of founders we love to spotlight.