Wing People Is Leveling Up!

The cofounder you are looking for might already be walking beside you

For years, I kept saying I wanted a cofounder.
Someone who understood the chaos and joy of building something from scratch.
Someone who matched my energy.
Someone who would hype me, steady me, and stop me from running away to join a circus when a spreadsheet hurt my feelings.

And here is the twist.
She was already in my life.
For seventeen years.

The beginning

In 2007 I walked into Factotum Letting in Edinburgh with a suitcase, a dream, and absolutely no clue. Orlaith hired me on the spot.

Then we survived Edinburgh lettings and the Fringe festival together. If you know that world, you know it is pure chaos. Deposits, drama, missing keys, missing patience. People crying. People shouting. Us trying not to join them.

We learned fast.
We laughed a lot.
We trauma bonded in the best possible way.

The stubborn chapter

For years, Orlaith told me to start my own business.
Gently.
Supportively.
With that tone that says I love you, and also, please listen to me.

Naturally, I ignored her.
Repeatedly.

Then I got laid off.
Then again.
Then again.
By the fourth time, even I had to admit the universe was clearing its throat.

So I started Wing People.
And of course she cheered the loudest.

The parallel founder path

This is the part we did not fully register.
We were both founders.
We were both building something meaningful.
We were both lonely in the work in ways only founders understand.

She built a business centred on clarity, psychology, sustainability, and helping small businesses grow without burning out.
I built Wing People, centred on human connection, community, events, and creating opportunities for people to meet the right people at the right time.

Different directions, same heartbeat.
Different clients, same purpose.
Different angles, same magic.

We offered so many of the same strengths.
We just aimed them at different corners of the world.

And for two and a half years we hyped each other through every wobble and win.
We talked strategy.
We swapped ideas.
We admitted the loneliness.
We kept saying how nice it would be to have someone beside us on the inside.

Two founders standing at two different doors to the same room.

The moment everything clicked

It happened on one of our regular calls.
The kind where we check in on work, life, kids, ideas, and whatever crisis has arrived this week.

I said out loud how lonely it felt to build everything alone.
I said I wished I had a cofounder.
Someone who really got it from the inside.

There was a small pause. Not dramatic. Just honest.
And then it hit me.

Hang on a second.

She had been here the whole time.
Supporting me.
Building her own business with similar values.
Seeing the world the same way I do.
Offering clarity where I offer connection.
Creating structure where I create momentum.
Holding the same strengths, just shaped differently.

We were mirrors.
We were complements.
We were already a team.
We just had not named it yet.

The shift

Everyone tells you to go searching for the perfect cofounder.
Go to networking events.
Look for the person who fills your gaps.
Scan the horizon.

But sometimes the person you need is someone who has already lived life with you.
Someone who knows who you are behind the scenes.
Someone whose strengths match yours because they are not meant to replace you, but to amplify you.

Every wing person needs a wing person.
Orlaith is mine and I am hers.

So we teamed up.

Wing People levelled up.
Wing Strategies began to take shape.
And suddenly everything made sense.

The takeaway

Look at the people already in your orbit.
Someone you know may be walking the same path without either of you realising it.
Someone whose values match yours.
Someone who already speaks your language.
Someone who is just as lonely, just as hopeful, and just as ready.

Sometimes the cofounder you are searching for is already holding your hand.

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