HLN meets… The 9 women on our new billboard
The secret is out — our first-ever billboard has arrived! We caught up with the inspirational women behind our new campaign to find out why they love being part of our HLN community.
Here at HLN, we celebrate the North East and the women who make it. Which is why, when it came to creating our first billboard campaign, we knew we wanted them to take centre stage in it.
Long-time readers will know that High Life North started out at our Editor, Laura’s, kitchen table back in November 2019. Over the past two and a half years, we’ve grown a fantastic community of 40,000 North East readers every month, most of whom are women. The response we’ve had is pretty overwhelming and it drives us to continue to build our online and offline community. Cue, our latest billboard campaign.
Our region is blessed with such a diverse community of women that we’re proud to be a part of. From businesswomen to health professionals, social workers to jewellery designers and head rangers to artists — so we knew we had to invite eight of them to be a part of our exciting new campaign.
Bringing the magazine to life in this way really showed us what High Life North means to people – so thank you so much for being a part of our journey.
We caught up with all the women at our billboard shoot, who shared with us everything they love about High Life North and why they feel it’s so important to have a platform and a community like ours in the region.
You’ll find our new billboard at Times Square and on the large digital screen on the Newcastle Central Motorway towards the Tyne Bridge between 4pm and 8pm every day for the next two weeks.
Stay tuned for our upcoming features, where we catch up with these pioneering women in more detail.
SOPHIE MILLIKEN
CEO of Moja
Multi-award-winning entrepreneur, author, public speaker and investor, Sophie is professional goals. With her latest business venture of her new profile-building agency Moja, Sophie uses her experience and expertise to empower professionals to learn how to put themselves out there in their chosen industry.
‘I love the fact that the content within High Life North is so varied. There really is something there for everyone. Age isn’t an issue for readers; there’s loads that I would read, there are articles my Mum would read, and there are articles that my daughter would read as well. It’s amazing to have that spotlight on all the fantastic businesses that we’ve got across the North East.’
CHECK OUT MOJA
KIM WHITE
Founder of Daint Jewellery
We’ve worked with the lovely Kim for over two years and it’s been great to watch her business grow. Using sterling silver, gemstones and hand-picked sea glass from Northumberland beaches, Kim uses her creative flair to create classic, bohemian and sustainable jewellery for women to treasure and which is unique to each customer.
‘High Life North is very empowering for women and I like that all the ladies that run it are very on it to get to know the business they work with and make sure to have a personal relationship with their community and readers. High Life North is so important because it focuses on female-led business owners, which is really inspiring for younger women who read their stories and successes.’
CHECK OUT DAINT JEWELLERY
DR CHARLOTTE GOODING
NHS GP and Associate at Menopause Care
After recently connecting with Charlotte, she’s now our chosen expert in residence when it comes to anything concerning women’s health issues and menopause. Charlotte is passionate about empowering women and offers her support to help us make positive lifestyle choices at every stage of our lives through her work with Menopause Care.
‘I love High Life North because it champions women in the North East and it’s a positive, supportive environment. There’s so much negativity out there within the media and anything that makes women feel supported and important and really promotes them is a great thing. It’s been amazing to finally meet the High Life North team and to meet other strong women and hear their stories about how they started off their businesses and careers.’
MARGARET ANDERSON
Head Ranger at Northumberland National Park
In an industry dominated by men, Margaret has made history here in the North East by becoming the first female Head Ranger in Northumberland National Park’s 65-year history. Margaret’s responsible for the management of the entire NNP ranger team who work to connect the Park with local farmers, residents and the public, all while making sure rights of way and visitor sites are both safe and accessible.
‘After chatting to the other women at the shoot, we realised that we all come from such different backgrounds, but we all had such an interest in what each other is doing. High Life North is somewhere where people can come together and celebrate being a woman and celebrate the things we‘ve achieved. High Life North proves to all of us that everything is perfectly achievable. Through High Life North, we can take inspiration from each other to achieve our personal goals.’
HANNAH EVANS
Founder of Cake Stories
After starting her business in her family’s kitchen, now Hannah – alongside her parents and her husband – serves over 100 different varieties of delicious cake through her two coffee shops, 30 local retailers and by postal delivery through online orders. We love Hannah’s bold style, passion for people and positivity, and general love for life – so, of course, she had to be part of our billboard campaign.
‘I love how High Life North represents such a range of women. I love how it connects me to things that I’ve never heard of before. And how real it is – it’s authentic, but it feels really honest, too. High Life North is key to helping more women become recognised for their achievements by creating opportunities to hear about those women, to be inspired by them and have them as role models.’
CHECK OUT CAKE STORIES
DR CLAIRE OGAH
Owner of Overlay Couture
‘Self-taught digital artist, bespoke jewellery designer, PhD holder and a day job in a local foodbank – Dr Claire Ogah is one impressive lady. After moving to the UK from Nigeria, Claire uses her heritage for inspiration in her art which celebrates women, fashion and culture. That’s what we’re all about, too, so who better to have on our billboard?’
‘I love the fact that High Life North is about fishing out women who may feel obscure in a man’s world but ensuring that their stories are captured and validated. In my opinion, women in the North East have been underrepresented until now. So, having a magazine dedicated to telling the stories of women here in the North East is super special and is needed in our society now, more than ever before.’
CHECK OUT OVERLAY COUTURE
HUFFTY MCHUGH
Project Coordinator at West End Women and Girls Centre
Huffty is at the beating heart of the West End community and has dedicated her career to empowering women and girls in Newcastle. From youth clubs to domestic abuse services, training and volunteering opportunities and access to ICT facilities and childcare, Huffty and her team at WEWAGC support women from diverse backgrounds to have better opportunities.
‘High Life North is amazing because it’s glossy, it’s all about women in the North East, and it makes our region look like a great place to be as a woman. We still experience a gender pay gap, gender inequality, and violence against women and girls. That’s why it’s really important that there’s a magazine that shows the best of women in the North East and which supports us.’
CHECK OUT WEWAGC
SHARON MACARTHUR
Miss Menopause
Sharon — aka Miss Menopause — has always been our go-to when it comes to our questions about menopause. With her no-holding-back attitude and mission to stop the taboo, Sharon educates organisations on how to support their female colleagues who are going through “the change.”
‘I just love the fact that women in the North East are getting access to loads of interesting, relevant and important information, as well as all the fun stuff. High Life North is important as I feel that people in the North get left behind. There’s such a variety of interviewees and types of features and every article is so current, too!’
LAURA KINGSTON
Founder and Editor of High Life North
After starting High Life North magazine from scratch at her kitchen table back in 2019, Laura has grown HLN’s readership to 40,000 North East women every month and has created a community of like-minded, female-led businesses and makers in the region. It was Laura’s brilliant brain behind the billboard; here’s what she thinks of the finished masterpiece.
‘Doing the photoshoot for our billboard a couple of weeks ago really was a pinch-me moment. It brought home how far High Life North has come in such a short space of time, and most touching was what it means to women I respect so much. Building and celebrating a community of like-minded women has always been at the core of what we do and I can’t wait to develop this more in the coming years.’
Photography by Christopher Owens Photography
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