The pair only found out when both their nomination confirmations arrived.
A Lichfield mother and daughter have discovered they are both nominated for the Woman Who Solopreneur Awards 2026 after each entered the national awards without telling the other.
Ruth Redgate, founder of artisan Real Bread bakery Hunnypot Cottage Bakery (and Lichfield Radio Programme Director), and her daughter Caitlin Redgate, founder of independent travel agency Travel With Cait, only learned of each other’s entries when their nomination confirmations landed in their inboxes this week.
The Woman Who Solopreneur Awards, now in its eighth year, was founded by Sandra Garlick MBE and celebrates women running businesses on their own. Entrants can nominate themselves and are no categories and no public voting. Instead, every application is independently assessed by a panel of judges.
For Ruth, who received the Woman Who Special Academy Award in May and was a finalist at both the Woman Who Achieves and Solopreneur Awards last year, entering has become an annual discipline as much as a celebration.
I enter every year because it makes me sit down and honestly evaluate how the business has developed year on year. This year, that meant everything from launching my 30-Day Plant-Based Transformation programme to curating the Festival Flavour Stage at the Lichfield Food & Drink Festival with Rosemary Shrager and Michelin-starred chef Liam Dillon.
But nothing has made me prouder than finding out Caitlin had entered too without saying a word to me. Watching her come back from seven months of travelling with the confidence to do that entirely on her own says everything about how far she’s come.
Caitlin, who launched Travel With Cait at just 21, recently returned from travelling through Australia, Bali, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia, among other countries. She said that “I’ve watched Mom enter these awards and seen the difference they make to her every single time”, pointing in particular to “the confidence, the connections and the way she comes back to the bakery with fresh ideas”.
I wanted that for Travel With Cait, too, so I entered quietly on my own. I didn’t tell her because I wanted to do it for myself. Finding out we’d both been nominated was the best surprise. Whatever happens next, we’re on this journey together.
Finalists will be announced on 3 August, with judging interviews taking place on 14 September. The Awards Lunch will be held on Friday 9 October at the National Conference Centre, Solihull.