The Story Behind ‘Ask Joan’ – Katy Longhurst on Escaping Abuse and Inventing a Life-Saving App

"Do I stay here and die—whether by his hands or by my own—or do I walk away, run, sprint in the middle of the night with nothing?" – Katy Longhurst

Welcome back to wo0 pod, where women refuse to be told what to wear or how to run their businesses. Hosted by Wendy Gannon (aka wo0), this podcast is part of Female Five Million—a movement created to empower women to speak up, own their space, and rebuild on their own terms.

In this episode, Wendy is joined by Katy Longhurst, the unapologetic tech innovator behind Ask Joan—a discreet safety app that allows women experiencing abuse to activate a silent panic alarm using everyday appliances like a kettle or hair straighteners.

Katy’s story is one of resilience, rage, and reinvention. After surviving years of domestic abuse, economic control, stalking, and coercive control, she used her background in IT engineering to create the tool she never had—and it’s already saving lives.

This episode is both heartbreaking and hopeful. If you’ve ever wondered what real strength looks like—this is it.

In This Episode – Katy & wo0 Discuss:

• How Ask Joan works – And why triggering a panic alarm through your kettle might just save your life
• Surviving coercive control and gaslighting – How Katy documented 169 police incidents and was still seen as a “nuisance”
• Why bones heal but psychological wounds don’t – The unseen scars of emotional abuse
• What economic abuse really looks like – How Katy’s ex racked up £45,000 debt in her name
• How a police officer changed everything – The role of DCI Oliver Tween in recognising the pattern and proving her case
• From isolation to invention – How Katy reclaimed her power through tech
• Why we need to stop saying ‘you’re so brave’ – And start holding systems accountable
• The importance of male allies – The men who backed Katy and helped bring Joan to life

About Katy Longhurst:

Katy is a former IT engineer and founder of Ask Joan, a safety app created for people experiencing domestic abuse. Her invention uses energy surge data from common household appliances to trigger silent alerts to emergency contacts or authorities. Katy is an outspoken advocate for recognising abuse in all its forms, and is working to change how society and systems respond.

Connect with Our Guest: Katy Longhurst

• LinkedIn: Katy Longhurst
• Email: katy.longhurst1986@outlook.com
• 
  

Resources & Support

If you are experiencing or have experienced abuse, help is available:

• Women’s Aid – www.womensaid.org.uk
• 
  
• Refuge – www.refuge.org.uk
• 
  
• Surviving Economic Abuse – www.survivingeconomicabuse.org
• 
  
• Rights of Women – www.rightsofwomen.org.uk
• 
  

If you are in immediate danger, please call 999.

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• wo0 on Linkedin: Wendy (wo0) Gannon
• wo0 on the ‘gram: @wo0photography
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‘Dont F**king Tell Me What To Wear Or How To Run My Business’ on the wo0 pod is more than just a podcast—it’s part of a movement… 

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Female Five Million is an unapologetic celebration of women who’ve faced male to female abuse, broken free, and are now thriving on their own terms. This is a story of empowerment and resilience against abuse and toxicity from men, in business and beyond. This is a multi-faceted project made up of two empowering photoshoots, conversations, research, exhibitions, art and a beautiful coffee table book. 

“This project is deeply personal to me because I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to suffer domestic, sexual, financial, mental abuse and general misogyny in the workplace and my private life. I’ve been there but I’ve also found the strength to rise above and overcome it. 

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We're not just survivors, we're f*cking queens, and our stories deserve to be told.” - Wendy Gannon, Female Five Million Founder.

>> Katie Longhurst: Every single day is like fight mode. Can he read my mind?

Like I was convinced that he could. And then

something happens where for you and your

normal life in your zombie world, breaks that, that breaks

something in you that ignites that fight.

>> Wo0: Welcome to don't fucking tell me what to wear or how

to run my business. This is the

Woopod.

>> Katie Longhurst: You have to make that choice. Do I stay here and

die, whether by his hands or by my own?

Or do I walk away, run, sprint

late in the middle of the is nothing.

>> Wo0: I'm your host, Wendy Gannon, but most people call me

Woo. I'm a photographer, adhder,

female advocate, and let's be honest, an all

round legend. Can you tell I didn't write this

script?

This podcast is part of Female5Million, a

movement founded to empower women to step the up,

take control and unapologetically own their

space. It all started

with some Jebin's LinkedIn post

SP spouting some sexist about how women should dress

to succeed in business. And you know what?

Stuff like that really me

off. It really me off.

So I posted about it and that post ignited

something bigger. a nationwide photography project, a full

blown movement, and now this

podcast here on the Woo Pod,

we're raising the voices of women who refuse to be told what to

do. Women who are done playing by the rules and are now

saying, don't fucking tell me what to wear or how to run my

business. If you've ever been told to tone it down,

dress more appropriately or run your business like a

man, fuck that.

Expect raw, unfiltered conversations with women who

have fought through sexism, abuse and

outdated patriarchal to build success on their

terms. all whilst wearing whatever the fuck they want.

Oh, and there's more swearing than our producer is willing to

beep out. Sorry, buckers. Speaking of

which, you'll probably hear me ask producer backers to chime

in from time to time, because like I give a shit

what she says. We've both got adhd. We bounce well off each

other. Deal with it. We're here

to celebrate women doing business their way and shine a spotlight

on the incredible ways women are fighting back and lifting each other

up. Because, to be honest, that's what it's all about.

And, for those who aren't able to speak up right now, for

whatever reason. I see you.

Okay, let's crack on then.

Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the Woo

Pod series. Don't tell me

what to wear or how to run my business. Today we

are joined by an absolute legend, Katie

Longhurst, and of course, producer

bookers. Hi, Katie. How are

you doing?

>> Katie Longhurst: I'm good. How are you, babe?

>> Wo0: I'm great. Always good to see you.

And it's nice to see you with, clothes on.

Last time I saw Katie, when we met up for the photo shoot,

she'd just come out of her house and spilled something down her

top. Ran back in to change, and,

all you had was, like, this little bra thing. Wasn't.

Was so small, she kept having to yank

it up. Oh, my God, it was so funny. It was

brillian. And then I was making a go. I was making

her jump up on things.

>> Katie Longhurst: I can't wait to see these pictures. It's basically

because it was like half term or

summer holidays, wasn't m it or something?

>> Wo0: Yeah.

>> Katie Longhurst: And I got ready

and then in the car, like, dropping my child off, he was just like,

oh, can you open my drink? And it was. I had

a white shirt on with, like, a

black. No, it's white and black shirt with, like, a black

corset underneath that I wear to, like, squash

my boots. Didn't work. And his legal stage

went all the way over me. And I was like, I haven't got time to go home and

get changed. So I took my shirt off. So I had to leave my

blazer on all day. And it was, like, really hot. And I was just like.

And I turned up with socks in my hand because, like, he asked

for spare socks. And I just remember getting to London,

I was like, I'm naked under my blazer, and I don't know why I've got

Nike socks in my hand. And then,

like, I had them throughout the photos. And Helen's like, you need to put the

socks down.

>> Wo0: Oh, that was such a good day.

Katie, you are an absolute legend. We

have already met, haven't we?

The beautiful Hell's sorted that out for

us. We, have

done, the photos for female 5 million book,

which is out now.

We out the same time, this podcast. Hopefully.

Hopefully it'll all be done. Yeah.

So why did you get involved with female 5

million?

>> Katie Longhurst: Just because I really liked your story. So I

think by now everyone knows who I am, kind

of because there's so much awareness around domestic abuse. So I was a

survivor of domestic abuse. I, like, don't like that terminology.

More of an escape is of domestic abuse. So when I read

your story and why you had done it, I feel impelled to be

involved. Also, Helen forced me because I hate having my

picture taken. So she didn't really give

me a choice.

>> Wo0: Helen forced me.

>> Katie Longhurst: Who is Helen, by the way?

>> Wo0: Do you want to explain who Helen is, Katie? Because you've worked together

a lot, haven't you?

>> Katie Longhurst: She is a legend. So basically she does all of the

brand work for my products. Joan and

Cyril Madden and a box of frogs. But

absolutely amazing and really passionate and

crazy. A bit like Wendy. So like two peas in a pod,

but also really scary. So if she tells you to do something,

you're doing it.

>> Wo0: Do you think she'd scare me?

>> Katie Longhurst: Like she's told. She uses her teacher voice to tell me off

quite a lot.

>> Wo0: So Helen actually wrote the press release for female 5

million and she's an absolute legend. We'll

pop her, details in the show notes.

So

what was that?

>> Katie Longhurst: My dog. Hang on. The child and the dog have escaped you

in two minutes.

>> Wo0: No worries, no worries.

>> Katie Longhurst: It sounded like thunder.

>> Wo0: It did.

>> Katie Longhurst: Thunder.

>> Wo0: It's like thunder.

lightning.

So you mentioned that you are, a, survivor of domestic

abuse. and you've mentioned Joan.

>> Katie Longhurst: I have.

>> Wo0: Can you tell us what Ask Joan

is?

>> Katie Longhurst: So basically, it's probably easier to explain my

background, say, as we've

mentioned, I'm escapist of domestic abuse. So I was in a

relationship with someone from ex

military. So I experience,

yeah, the face says it all.

Economic control, violence,

stalking, harassment and coercive control.

And when I was going through my journey, I

recorded 169 police instances.

Because domestic abuse then wasn't really

recognised how it is now in the press. And it wasn't a public

conversation, I was just seen as a nuisance. The police

dealt with my case in silos. So it started

where I used to have, like, journalists, not journalists, policeman come

out to me and said, oh, life's like a psychedelic thriller. This would make a

good series. Or on the other hand, I was seen

as a bit of a nuisance that I was harassing the police because I would

call every single day and the reason I would ring every

single day is because he used to do some

fucked up shit to me. So one thing was he used

to break into my house, move things around, make things. I was

going mad, but always leave something from Wales, so it

would be like a new Welsh magnet on my

fridge, a rubber duck in my bathroom, just so I knew

he was there. Then it got to a stage where I was

put under high risk because he had broken several bones in my

body. So they put a high risk alert on my

house and a panic alarm stored in my home. The first

time I went to activate my panic alarm, they had disconnected

it, which is always helpful. Luckily m, my next door

neighbours heard all the commotion and called the police.

The second time I was unable to press the, the big

red button in my house because of how hostile and volatile the

situation was. But like many women and

men in my situation you can determine your partner's

behaviour. So I always knew when his

behaviour is about to change. I used to know I've got an hour window when I get

home from work and in that hour, I need to try and keep him

as happy as possible so the situation doesn't escalate.

When his temperament would change, I would always say

to him, sit down, I'm going to make you a cup of tea.

So I'm by trade I'm an IT engineer and I always,

I went to work every day and I was like I wish there was something on the kettle.

Because at that time we was building like smart homes

so where you integrated your lights, your

electricity and I was like I wish there was something on the kettle.

But unfortunately there was nothing on my kettle and I had to

rely on the police and my panic alarm. So

last year I decided to tell my story. Not

publicly, but openly admit, hey, I survived

domestic abuse and I want to help others. So

I integrated energy data, because we own it as our

consumers, into an application. So

you can now trigger an alarm from your kettle, your hair

straighteners, your air fryer, your iron,

whatever you want to do just by turning it on for

10 seconds, off for 10 seconds and on for 10 seconds.

Because for me that would have prevented a hell

load of pain just because I would have made him a cup of

tea, he wouldn't have suspected anything. And the help I

would have got that intervention that I needed. So that's

really what our shown is, nothing like any fancy

invention. We're just using energy surge

data to send push.

Well okay, so it is an invention but

it's basically we look at abnormal

surges in energy data and then use that to send

a push notification over to their local authority. It can

be sent to a police force. Lots of

the survivors using the application at the moment have it

going to their next akin because they're out of that

relationship but they're still at risk or some of them

are still in the relationship but they're not being,

they're not managed by like a local authority, they're just part of

programmes of support. So one lady

is still living with her husband but she's also a perpetrator

and she said they was getting ready for a night out. She could

see that his temperament was changing. So she's like, I'm just going to curl my

hair. So was able to activate the

silent panic alarm, with her, with her curling channel. So her

sister then knocked on the door because she lived next forward one, and managed that

situation because like most of them they act up and put

on a nice fancy act like the, the nicest person in the world

when someone is present. So that's really how it was

done and came about. Just because I

needed something that I could have used. And now I'm

out the other side. After all these years, I figured why not

help others?

>> Wo0: You're amazing.

>> Katie Longhurst: I won't go that far, but

I would.

>> Wo0: You're amazing. Like you've taken your experience.

I'm probably going to cry now. You've.

You've taken your shit experience

and invented something

that is going to save women's lives. Basically.

>> Katie Longhurst: I just want. Is I that now you

want to save the world? You know,

just so casual. No, I

think for me I thought I was alone. It's different

now because you turn on the tv, you can't miss it. You log on the

Internet, you can't miss it. But people in that environment,

one, they don't recognise what abuse is in some

cases. So I used to blame myself

and like the day that he broke my nose I was

like. But I was talking to the bouncer so he obviously thought that I was

having an affair. It's the way that I

like I play. I had self blame and I was like, no,

it's not him, it's me. I'm accountable. And I think it's

one. Hopefully by telling my story people can

recognise what signs of domestic abuse are because coercive

control is very, very difficult to prove. So it's

economic abuse and people define domestic

abuses. He's broken, he's bruised me,

he's put his hands on me and it isn't. And I think a big,

big part of my journey was trying to understand what

domestic abuse actually was. Because

the psychological pain hurt more than the

physical. So one is.

>> Wo0: Yeah, go on. I 100% agree

with you there.

>> Katie Longhurst: Me too. I'm covered in I'm a human colouring book because

I use that to cope. Because I could do.

If you broke my neck, he broke my nose, I could deal with that. He broke my cheekbone, that's

fine. Like he broke my ribs, they heal. But what

doesn't heal are the scars from the mental torture that

he gave. So my coping mechanism, I'm a

human colouring book. I don't think I've got any spare skin. Just

because that helped. Well, my face,

you know, this is really touching. No, it's

not. But it helped me cope and I

think now it's trying to, one, help people recognise what

to miss abuse actually is and the early signs. So

the education. Then it's two you, because you

feel like you're in an invisible prison, but it's knowing that

you can get the help that you need without, aggravating the

situation any further. Which is why we've created the silent panic alarm.

but I'm also really lucky that

the detective that took over my case,

and that's why it's only landed at 169

instances, he has developed this with

me in partnership and been my biggest cheerleader.

So without him saying, one, that he believed

me. And two, when I built Drone, initially,

I literally messaged him out of the blue. I was like, ollie, I don't

know if you remember me, but you saved my life and now I want to

save others. He has been by my side through every step of

the journey. His name's Oliver Tween, so everyone should, like,

fangirl over him because he's amazing.

>> Wo0: What's his name?

>> Katie Longhurst: His name is Oliver Tween.

>> Wo0: Oliver Tween. I'm going to go and find Oliver Tween and

Fangallo. Oh, my

God. So you mentioned a couple of

abuses there that I don't even know what they are. So what's

economic abuse?

>> Katie Longhurst: So that's financial abuse, so. Oh, okay, I

was the main. So. Well, he

claimed that he had lots of money and he was starting all these fancy businesses around

close protection, which, looking at it now, kind of,

yeah, it's close protection from him. It's great.

So I was the main broken, or I used to go up to

work. He would stay at home and chase his

entrepreneurial dreams of creating a security business.

But I wasn't allowed access to my own money.

So he would take control of my bank account and give

me my allowance for what I was allowed to use. And then on

the other side of that, he also, in parallel,

racked up, £45,000 worth of debt in my

name and

completely destroyed my credit file. But

lucky for me, we're not lucky. We're not. When

he decided to go down getting all of the credit accounts out

in my name, I was moved to Northern Ireland by the police.

So I was able to go to court saying, I was moved to Northern

Ireland by the police. I didn't have. I was not in the country to

take out, any of this debt, so I was able to get that removed from my credit file. But

lots of people aren't, lucky enough because they're still in that

environment, they're still in that situation. They don't have the evidence that it's not

them.

>> Wo0: Yeah. What a nightmare.

And, yeah, I. I had that.

My money had to get paid into his bank account.

and then I was given him that one.

>> Katie Longhurst: Your pocket money for the week.

>> Wo0: What? The right. Jesus. And

then I got made redundant. So I. I had a bank account by

then. That's right. But my wages were still getting paid into

his bank account. I got made redundant, got job seekers

allowance. He gave my account details and he

was livid.

>> Katie Longhurst: Yeah, because he'd lost control. Because that means you had some form

of income.

>> Wo0: Y. Yeah. Oh, my God. And that.

That is worse than that relationship with the

coercive control and the, financial

abuse and all of that was much worse than the violent one.

Just. Just up much more.

>> Katie Longhurst: Yeah, yeah, I agree. Because bones heal,

bruises recover. But you don't

say. For me, looking back, I don't understand. Everyone's

like, why didn't you not leave? And it's. You question your

own sanity. And to you, you've normalised

it. So I remember talking to someone about it. She's like, the

way that you explain your journey, it's normal to you. But I was like, that was 10 years

of my life. So to me, that was normal for a very long

time. And you have to. You have to

be ready to leave. You have to find your breaking

point. And it's really. That's what annoys me still this day, like, you

see online, why aren't you leaving? Why are you still there? If you

like this hands on me, I'll be gone. But it's not that simple. And I

think you have.

>> Wo0: Not that simple.

>> Katie Longhurst: You have to reach that point where even something and what

you've classed as normal and you've normalised

has to trigger, you over the edge. And for me, it

was my son, like, hurting my son.

Do anything to me, touch my son.

No.

>> Wo0: Yeah. I had to plan as

well. I had to plan where

to go because it was me and my daughter where to go.

Like, how am I gonna do it? I've

got all of this stuff. It's still got loads of my stuff. This

was years ago.

Anyway, you mentioned something that

just now that. That

ignited a Question in me.

A, Lot of people say, oh, you're so brave. You were

so strong. I don't think

I was right. Let me explain.

I. I was just coping.

I don't feel like I was

brave. Oh, I'm gonna do this. I'm so brave. It

was like there was. There was no

choice. Do you know? Am I explaining that

right? What do you think? Yeah, what do you think about

that? Do you think. What. When people say you're so brave or you're so

strong, what do you think about that?

>> Katie Longhurst: I think. I don't like the terminology. Like, I don't like

the terminology. Survivor, you're not brave and you're not strong.

You're living every day for me. Ah.

As for you, you're fighting for survival, so you're trying to

make something normal of your life while you're still in that

situation. And looking back now, like

from pictures and to who I was into who I am now,

I'm a complete different person. I don't recognise the person I was in

those pictures and I don't recognise the life that I lived.

I was kind of a zombie. I was there, but I

wasn't there. And when someone says, oh, you're so brave for

telling your story, you're not. You survived,

you lived through it and you found a way out. And I always

say I wasn't brave. Like, for part of me, I was

stubborn. I'm stubborn as hell and I refuse to be

beaten in wrong terminology, because

obviously. But,

like, I don't think it's bravery. I think we

become.

>> Wo0: We.

>> Katie Longhurst: We normalise that behaviour and we accept that that's our

life. It's like fight mode, isn't it?

Constantly, every single day, it's like, fight mode. Can you read my

mind? Like, I was convinced that he could.

And we just. We have to live, I

think. And then something

happens where, for you and your normal life

in your zombie world, breaks that, That breaks something in

you that ignites that fight, and then

you're not brave. You have to make that choice. Do

I stay here and die, whether by his hands or

by my own? Or do I walk away, run,

sprint in the middle of the night with

nothing?

>> Wo0: It's hard with kids as well, right? I remember,

on a weekend, especially, like a Saturday,

because Friday night was always Stella and

Coke. I would make sure that I

got up before him and went

out for the day. Didn't know where I was

going, to the town, whatever. And

then I would come back knowing

that he would have gone out and then make sure that I was

asleep, pretending to be asleep by the time

that he got back in. And, like,

I was scared, but

we're scared. It's not brave to be scared.

So, yes, that I. I'm glad I'm not the only

one that thinks that it's. Yeah.

There was another. There was another form of control you

mentioned. You said it's really hard to prove coercive

control. How do you prove it, then? And

what. What is it for our listeners?

>> Katie Longhurst: So, for me, coercive control is where they control

aspects of your life. They control who you see, they control what

you wear, they control what you like in terms of

work, they control what your access on social

media. And, I was lucky that I had

Ollie. So to this day, I don't know how you prove

it, because you can see that someone has changed and you can record a

diary, and I had a diary, but his level

of control with me was he would

by harassing and stalking my friends. So

I knew that if I kept him, if I kept on his good

side, he would leave my friends alone. If I didn't go

out, if I went to work. And I, was home by the time that he thought I'd be

home, but my train was delayed. I notified him and sent him evidence

that my phone was delayed. I knew, not my

phone, my train was delayed. I knew that I could manage, that situation. And

I thought by isolating myself, I was protecting my friends and

family, but I was also putting myself in more

danger. But when it come to, investigating my case, a

big part of my case was gaslighting.

So he used to break into my house when I was

at work. So he knew he had surveillance jobs done on me because he's

ex fortis, so he had all the resources that he's

had like, that he needed. So he used to break

in my house, move things around. I thought I was going

mad. Again, full control.

Whereas Ollie, the Oliver tween,

everybody hero, he, the police

before, basically deemed me as a nuisance. And I walked

in the room and I'll never forget this day, he had

printed out every single case file and he went to

me. This is coercive control. This is stalking and harassment.

This is violence, this is financial abuse. And

he categorised it all and he's like, there is a pattern to his

behaviour. He harasses you. That doesn't work, he

moves on to violence. If that doesn't work, he moves on

to damage to your property, damage to your car. That

doesn't he escalates to your friends and your family, because that's

been your cave. And he was just like. You can see the pattern

of his behaviour. But the biggest thing was proving that

he was in the house when I was saying he's in the house, that

he was used to hide in the basement, move things around, change

things. Ollie got all of the mobile data. So

you know where you ping on the cell towers.

>> Wo0: Yeah.

>> Katie Longhurst: And try angulated the data and was like, he is in that area. He

is by your house because there's a thing that's pinging behind

your house and the dates and time that you've called us. So he was able, able to

evidence that. But lots of people aren't that lucky. It's just I had

Ollie that saw that as he went to me. It was just my job,

Katie, I just did my job. But none of the other police

officers had done that for me when I had called.

And with Ollie, he just said when he interviewed him, he could

see that he was a master manipulator. He's sure

straight through his immediately.

And everything that I had reported Holly's. I just saw it.

He's just like, I saw it straight away and I didn't. I didn't know. No

one else did. So it's like he created loads of

pseudo identities to abuse me online and create hate

campaigns. So Ollie seized his router

and took his laptop, his phone and his 12

page Go Sim cards that he used to harass me with day and

night. And Ollie went for Ollie, he

was just doing his normal job, but for me, Ollie had

gone above and beyond. Which is how he was able to

prove what he was doing to me. Just

because Ollie took the time and effort to actually

understand the history and not see it as she's reported a

stalking harassment case.

>> Wo0: How long ago was this?

>> Katie Longhurst: So when

we finally. I wouldn't say it stopped

because there's still noise because obviously I've been in the media.

But yeah, he has left me alone for the last two

years until recently.

>> Wo0: Bless you. If it's only two years

ago, why are the police not

doing what? Why are all of the police not

doing what Ollie's done?

>> Katie Longhurst: I don't know. That was the thing. I think one of the

concerns, one of the risks in my case was

I was managed by Met Police, Kemp Police,

Northern Irish Police and North

Wales Police. And the police, the police forces worked in

silos. Whereas Ollie actually picked up the phone, you know, it's crate new

inventions and actually contacted the other police

services, whereas they didn't. When I say it was two

years, it was two. My case wasn't settled two years ago.

My case was settled in about.

In 2020, so five years ago.

But for two years, up until

the first, the Evening Standard article, I had

no. For two years I, ah, had peace and quiet.

And it's only because that article went live. He

saw my name in the press is what he's come back with a

vengeance. But the reason I did it is

one of my friends, bless him, and my child's

godparent, told me that me not speaking

out and not taking Joan to market was giving him control. And

it really annoyed me. I didn't speak to him for about a week

because I was like you, how dare you say he's still got

control of me, but in reality he

did. So I was still giving him that control because I

wouldn't put myself out there. Like, I don't have social media, I

don't. I didn't want

anything about Cyril or Joan to be published with my

name. And he was right, I'd still given him that level of

control because I was still isolating myself and not helping

others. And the fact that he said that's me, really wound me

up. So that's why I bought

Joan to market and I decided to say that I was an

escapist of domestic abuse.

>> Wo0: Good, well done. Because,

I still kind of tiptoe.

>> Katie Longhurst: Around, but lots of people do

and it's normal.

>> Wo0: It is annoying though, like, but like,

until, until they're dead,

I kind of don't wanna. It's. It's that

your friend's right, they've still got control.

And that is actually really upsetting.

one of the questions that we've got is have you got any

positive examples of men showing their

support? And because I want everybody to know that

FFM is not about

slagging off men. We hate men, blah, blah, blah.

Because we love men. But you've already done

about Ollie. What have you got anybody else that you can talk about?

>> Katie Longhurst: I think if you look at my board that I've

assembled for Jane, they're

actually a majority male.

Because you've got. They won't mind me naming, you've got

Stuart Dicker. So I worked, I had my

first ever project management job with Stuart Dick when I was

21 and we've kind of followed each other's

careers. So he was my business mentor, he was my friend.

He has parental rights to my child. I trust him

that much.

>> Wo0: Is that who said that they're still.

>> Katie Longhurst: Controlling you that day,

he was bad.

He has been my number one fan and number

one supporter. And then you have

Ollie, who we found, go over, who did save

my life, and he's continued to motivate me. And I think without

them two in my corner by my side,

I wouldn't have the courage to bring Joan to

market. And then you've got people

that, like. My business partner and co founder is also

male, someone called Mike Collins. So

he's an IT architect in banking. But

again, our, careers crossed at

NG when I was in the midst of my

abusive relationship and he was like my sounding

board and I used to come to work and where he had strangled

me one day I had a scarf on and he was just like, take your scarf off. And I was

like, no, it's really cold. He's like, katie, it's May, take the

scarf off. I said, no, it's cold. And he

recognised the signs of abuse and was trying to get through to me.

And I think those people in my corner the last couple of years, the

ones that got me through and also proved to me that

not all men are bad, because without

them, I wouldn't be here today. And it's true.

Dickie and Ollie, Mike, they've all saved my life on.

For different reasons on different occasions.

>> Wo0: Legends. We love you guys. Thank you for saving her.

She's looking great.

Final question, Katie. Can you

tell us one piece of

clothing or an outfit or, or accessories or

whatever, that make you feel your most

powerful or beautiful?

>> Katie Longhurst: So, for me, it's. I'm obsessive.

Kurt Geiger. Not, like, brand selling here,

but it is Kurt Geiger. So. Kurt Geiger

over the knee boots, black leather with the gold

eagle all the way up the side. Love them. They're like my

powerful boots.

>> Wo0: Now, that is not what you said earlier. no.

>> Katie Longhurst: I was thinking about how to, like, say their

fuck me boots without saying their fuck me boots. Now you can

only say it.

>> Wo0: So, Kurt, Geiger Fuck me boots over the

knee. Beautiful. I love that.

Katie, I want to thank you so much for coming on to

the podcast. I want to thank you so much for your

invention.

Yeah. And I want to thank you so much for

being in the book and getting your

photos done, even though you hate it.

So I appreciate you, my darling. Thank you so much.

>> Katie Longhurst: Thank you for letting me be a part of it. I think what you're doing is absolutely

amazing. It wasn't just because Helen believed me. I

think what you're doing and the way you're doing

it is phenomenal.

>> Wo0: Thank you so much.

>> Katie Longhurst: And Helen did believe me, but look, it's me.

>> Wo0: Thank you so much, Katie. See you soon.

>> Katie Longhurst: Thank you. Bye.

>> Wo0: That's it for today's episode. Episode of Don't Fucking Tell Me what to Wear

or How to Run My Business on the Woopod with me,

Wendy Gannon. This is more than just a podcast.

It's part of female 5 million. Head to the link in the

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