Susan Judd
Hot, Foggy & Fabulous™ is a thoughtful, cheeky and beautifully designed brand supporting women through perimenopause, menopause, midlife and beyond.
Founded by author, keynote speaker and emotional intelligence specialist Susan Judd, HFF blends reflection, emotional wellbeing and practical tools to help women feel seen, supported and less alone during one of life’s most misunderstood transitions.
The range includes the Hot, Foggy & Fabulous Midlife Reflection Journal, companion reflection cards and curated gift boxes designed to offer calm, clarity and permission to pause.
At its heart, HFF exists to change the conversation. Midlife is not a meltdown. It is a transition, a reckoning, and often, a powerful reintroduction to self.
What inspired the idea for your business?
Hot, Foggy & Fabulous was born from a mix of professional experience, personal I am most proud that we have created an environment where women connect and feel safe to talk about what has typically been taboo.
When women share their personal experiences, from brain fog and body changes to identity wobbles and fear, I never take that trust lightly.
I want women to feel seen, empowered and hopeful.
Many are trying to understand who they are now and what is happening in their bodies and minds. Helping them realise this is not the end of the world, and that there can still be clarity, strength, humour and beauty in it, is what makes this work so meaningful.
If HFF gives women language, validation and hope, that is what I am most proud to be building.
Where is the business now? And where is it headed?
Hot, Foggy & Fabulous has grown from a research project and book idea into a product and conversation brand with a clear purpose: supporting women emotionally through midlife while helping workplaces create safer, more informed conversations about menopause.
We now have a beautiful product range including the Midlife Reflection Journal, reflection cards, candles and curated gift boxes designed for women, friends, colleagues, corporate gifting and retailers seeking meaningful wellness products.
We’re also seeing growing interest from retailers, workplaces and corporate gifting partners who recognise that women want resources that feel supportive, thoughtful and beautifully designed rather than purely clinical.
The brand is entering an exciting stage of growth. We are expanding our retail presence, building wholesale partnerships and continuing to develop products that combine beauty, practicality and emotional insight.
Alongside the product range, we are continuing the workplace conversation through keynotes, workshops and education, because this topic belongs not only in bathrooms, bedrooms and group chats, but also in boardrooms and leadership conversations.
The goal is to make Hot, Foggy & Fabulous a trusted and recognised brand for midlife women, and for organisations wanting to support them better.
How does your brand differentiate itself in the market?
Hot, Foggy & Fabulous is different because it is not just a product brand. It is a conversation starter.
Our products are giftable, practical and emotionally intelligent. They are not clinical, sterile or doom-and-gloom. They are designed with warmth, humour and honesty, because midlife women do not need another thing telling them they are falling apart.
They need tools that say, “You are not broken. You are changing. Let’s make sense of it.”
The brand also draws on my background in emotional intelligence, leadership and workplace culture. That gives HFF a deeper layer than a typical wellness product. It sits at the intersection of personal wellbeing, identity, emotional awareness and workplace support.
For retailers, HFF offers products that are meaningful, timely, beautifully designed and genuinely niche, created specifically for midlife women navigating perimenopause, menopause and emotional wellbeing, rather than generic wellness.
Everything was intentionally designed to feel calming, luxurious and worthy of the woman receiving it, from the hard-cover journal and full-colour botanical styling to the gold-gilded details and reflective card decks.
HFF is not about “fixing” women. It is about helping women feel seen, supported and more connected to themselves during a season that is often misunderstood.
Can you share the challenges you’ve encountered and how you’ve navigated them? What have been your key strengths and weaknesses, and what have you learned from them?
One of the biggest challenges has been bringing a sensitive topic into the open in a way that feels safe, honest and not overly medicalised. Menopause and midlife are still topics many people whisper about.
The challenge has been finding the balance between truth and lightness. We do not want to minimise the experience, but we also do not want to make midlife feel like a crisis wrapped in a heat pack.
There were moments where I questioned whether people were ready for these conversations publicly. But every time a woman said, “I thought it was just me,” I knew this mattered.
Another challenge has been moving from idea to product. Creating something beautiful, useful and commercially viable takes patience, testing and a willingness to make decisions before everything feels perfect.
A key strength has been my experience in emotional intelligence and workplace conversations. I understand people, behaviour and what sits beneath the surface. That has shaped the voice and purpose of the brand.
A weakness? Like many founders, I have a lot of ideas and can move quickly. I have learned the importance of structure, focus and surrounding myself with the right people to help turn ideas into sustainable execution.
The biggest lesson has been this: when something is deeply human, people respond to it.
What are the core values and principles that shape your brand’s decision-making process?
The core values behind Hot, Foggy & Fabulous are honesty, empathy, dignity, humour and usefulness.
We want every product, message and conversation to help women feel seen rather than sold to.
We filter decisions through a few simple questions:
Does this validate women’s real experiences?
Does it make conversations easier to start?
Does it support emotional wellbeing in a practical way?
Does it feel thoughtful, beautiful and worthy of the woman receiving it?
We also believe midlife should not be framed as decline. It can be a powerful season of reflection, clarity and reinvention. That principle shapes the tone of everything we create.
We are not here to “fix” women. We are here to give them tools, language and space to reconnect with themselves.
And if we can do that with a little gold foil, a good laugh and a moment of calm, even better.
What advice would you give to aspiring business owners?
Start with the problem you care about deeply enough to stay with when the shiny part wears off.
A business is not just an idea. It is a thousand decisions, a lot of uncertainty, and a surprising amount of admin hiding behind the pretty photos. So make sure the heart of it matters to you.
Talk to real people. Listen more than you assume. Let your audience show you what they need, not just what you want to create.
Also, do not wait until it is perfect. Perfection can become a very elegant hiding place. Start with something useful, test it, learn, adjust and keep going.
Surround yourself with people who bring the skills you do not naturally have. Founders do not need to do everything alone, and frankly, most of us should not.
Most importantly, build something with integrity. People can feel when a brand has a real heartbeat.
What achievement are you most proud of?
I am most proud that we have created an environment where women connect and feel safe to talk about what has typically been taboo.
That is incredibly humbling.
When women share their personal experiences with me, the confusion, the grief, the humour, the fear, the body changes, the brain fog and the identity wobbles, I never take that trust lightly.
Yes, I want women to feel seen. I want them to feel empowered. But I also want them to feel hope.
Many women I speak with are struggling to understand who they are now, what is happening in their bodies and minds, and whether this season means they are somehow losing themselves. Helping them realise this is not the end of the world, and that there can still be clarity, strength, humour and beauty in it, feels like a gift.
Creating a beautiful product is wonderful. Seeing the brand grow is exciting. But the deeper achievement is building something that helps women feel safe, less alone and more able to articulate what they are experiencing.
If HFF can give women language, validation and hope, then that is what I am most proud to be building.
