Founder feature: Celebrating International Women’s Day with Reflections Magazine
This International Women’s Day, we’re delighted to share that CRUSH’s Founder, Natalie has been selected for Reflections Magazine’s ‘Women who mean business’ column.
Featuring an inspiring collection of female business owners from across Derbyshire and the Peak District, this column sets out to celebrate our region’s most successful women in business – appropriately coinciding with International Women’s Day 2026.
As a female-founded creative agency, stacked against the odds in an industry saturated with male owners and directors, at CRUSH we feel particularly passionate about supporting fellow female business entrepreneurs both in and outside of the creative sector. As such, we feel deeply fortunate to have been selected for Reflections Magazine by Editor and copywriter Fiona Stubbs.
CRUSH’s inspiration as a female-founded agency
Our Founder and Creative Director, Natalie, started CRUSH in 2003. Since then, we’ve seen a lot of change in the industry. But one thing that hasn’t changed much? The number of agencies with female owners and directors. As of 2026, we stand as part of the less than 1% of creative agencies founded by women, with some reports suggesting that as little as 12% of creative directors in the UK are women.
So, given the rather disheartening statistical realities, what motivated Natalie to start CRUSH?
As quoted in Reflections Magazine, Natalie accredits the determination behind CRUSH to the simple desire of providing good work, for good people. No protest or pity. No nonsense.
“When I started out as a young designer, I was in a sector dominated by male leadership. I began CRUSH at a time when female agency founders were few and far between. As a single mum in my early 20s, it certainly wasn’t easy but, 23 years later, we’re still here – with the same mission to deliver exceptional work that genuinely helps businesses to realise their full potential.
I’m deeply driven by the people I work with – from our brilliant team (over half of whom have been with us for over 10 years) to our fantastic clients who trust us with projects that never cease to inspire us.”
– Natalie Burkinshaw, Founder and Creative Director, CRUSH
To read the full column, visit Reflections Magazine online (page 27!).
Next story