Being in the public eye brings a barrage of public scrutiny and negativity and, following a particularly difficult and public setback, Ferne was determined to find inner peace and strength.

“Through being in the public eye, I knew I needed to work to keep myself grounded and accountable, which led me to focus on my own health and wellbeing,” said Ferne. During moments of doubt, Ferne found strength through self-improvement and adopting daily practices such as meditation, maintaining a gratitude journal, and exploring spirituality and self-discovery.

The birth of Shoorah

It was when she met her partner, and later Co-Founder, Lorri Haines that the idea for Shoorah was born.

“When Lorri and I met, we laid all our cards on the table and bonded over our own traumas. We chatted through everything and the more we talked, the more we connected, and the idea of Shoorah was born,” said Ferne.

When talking about the apps each of them used to help with their mental health and wellbeing, they discovered they were using multiple, and that there wasn’t anything on the market which had everything they needed under one roof.

Shoorah is a fresh and comprehensive app that is designed to support mental health and nourish wellbeing through a wide range of wellness tools.

“I have always wanted to start a business and always had ideas ticking over in the back of my head, but I never thought that it would be a tech startup. Lorri is a tech geek and an introvert at heart (although he speaks publicly, giving talks to thousands of people!) and with my interest and passion for mental health and wellbeing, it all just fitted and made sense,” notes Ferne.

Balancing fame and business

It has been a real change for Ferne, going from a reality TV personality to an entrepreneur. She admits that she has had moments of imposter syndrome, however she has thrown herself into learning as much as she possibly can and, as she states: “No one can argue when you have a true passion for something.”

Ferne’s experience in the public eye has garnered her some amazing contacts and, as a result, Shoorah is now working with some of the UKs biggest companies.

“We have had an amazing first year in business and there have been lots of highlights, but we recently had a tent at our first wellbeing festival, and it was just an amazing day. I felt like all our hard work was there for everyone to see.

“We brought Shoorah to life with our experts running live workshops for people to enjoy. The energy and vibe in the tent was amazing and I just felt so grateful and proud as I looked around thinking ‘we did this’,” notes Ferne.

This has inspired the team to launch their own Shoorah Circle events later this year, based in a London warehouse, in the hopes of building a face-to-face community.

But, of course, running a startup comes with its own set of challenges. For Ferne, some of these have been educating companies on new methodologies within wellbeing and stepping into a new industry and a new role.

Working with her partner has also been more a personal challenge for Ferne: “We both have our own strengths and weaknesses, and we had to take our time to learn our roles within the business – when to take a step back and let the other one speak or take the spotlight. It can be a lot sometimes, but we make sure we have time where we can switch off from the business and have our own time, like going on date nights. It really is about finding balance and I think we have found that now,” said Ferne.

Building a better you

Committing to self-work and love has been the key that unlocked the door to Ferne’s happily ever after. This journey isn’t linear, there are bumps, twists, and turns along the way, but Ferne has always believed that’s where the real growth happens.

Her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is that timing is everything, so don’t feel rushed: “For so long I knew that I wanted a wellness brand, injecting my personal experience into something that would help others. But it was never the right time.

“Trust in the universe to present you with the right time and, when that time does come, lean into the fear and use it as a true indicator that it [the business] is going to grow into something spectacular.”

Shoorah is in heavy development right now as it looks to launch its very own EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) called PEAP (‘PEAP’ into the future of wellbeing), and for the B2C users it will be a full support tab to connect users directly to experts – ranging from life coaches to doctors, and everything in-between. They also have Shoorah Kids coming this year and a cool game called Affirmation Burst. The rest of the features are secret for now!

Ferne is also in the middle of filming her reality TV show and she shared with us some personal wellness routines and habits that have been particularly impactful as she balances her time between her TV career and her business: “My non-negotiable when it comes my personal wellbeing are working out, evening meditation, 10k steps, drinking water and, every night when I put Sunday to bed, we do our daily gratitude’s together as I think it is really important to instil that for a young age.”

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2024 issue of Startups Magazine. Click here to subscribe