Every week we publish an interview with one of our female internet heroes. This is an opportunity for you to MEET interesting women, READ about their WORK, THINK about how they PLAY the internet industry and see how you MATCH them. Be inspired! This week, we meet Glenys Berd.

People told her that her online-shoe selling business would never work because people needed to try the shoes on. But she went ahead and set it up anyway, building on the experiences she had from starting an internet-retail business. Now her company is growing "faster than we can hire people to run it". Glenys Berd is owner and founder of lovethoseshoes.com, a website selling shoes with health benefits. What are her experiences with setting up an internet-business?

• Tell us about your company and why it was set up?

In 2003, I had another company on the internet, Ladybwear which sold designer and made fashion. One day, when I was surfing the internet, I came across these shoes with technology in them that had health benefits. I had never seen that before and I thought 'what a good idea.' If I want them, I wonder if anybody else wants them. Then I spoke to the manufacturer and they told me it was a very new idea. That's when I thought: this is something we can sell. I set up a shop on the internet, lovethoseshoes.com and it all went from there.

• How did you arrange financing?

I started my fashion business, ladybwear in 1998. At that time the internet was very new. So we approached three venture capitalists who said ‘oh no, there is no future in the internet.' Amazing, isn't it? Even though we had a really good business plan, and we had the idea, and we had the website, and the machinery to manufacture it. They were scared of the internet, there was not enough in it. So in the end we put 5000 pounds in ourselves, that was the initial investment.

• Who were your mentors/advisors?

Well, I had none. I was going to say unfortunately, but fortunately no. It was such a new area, the internet. People had not worked on the internet, people had not sold on the internet. So we got a lot of negativism. But I never believed in can'ts.

Also, in a way, it is good to do it yourself. You make your own mistakes and learn from them.

• Where do you see your company in 3-5 years?

Well, if the last five years are anything to go by, it will be much bigger. We are growing so fast, we are growing faster than we can recruit people. At the moment we are going more European. We have a website in different languages, so we are getting people in customer service who speak the languages. We are looking at distribution in different countries too, for example in the US. Also, we are about to open a first land-based shop in the UK before the end of the year. Hopefully that will turn into a small chain. I certainly would not go on every high street because we have such a premier product.

I suppose world- domination is where I am going. There is no ambition too big for me.

• How do you see the future for the (internet) business you are in?

I think more and more businesses will move onto the internet. But, it is a mistake to think you can do all business on the internet. You also need other channels to market your products. Often people make the mistake in internet businesses that they do not to make an attempt to interact with the customer. You have to compete on products, and have exclusive products, but, at the end of the day a customer made, is a customer happy with the service they have from you.

• What was the most useful experiences that helped you succeed as business woman?

I have been in business all my life. So I just keep going. It is a bit like that energy bunny in the adverts. It is not that when things get tough, I fall back and I get a job. I have never worked for anybody else. So I think I just brought that persistence into the business.

Specific lessons? To go to experts to do certain things. When we grew too big to send our own goods out, for example, we went to an outsourcing company that kept our stock and did dispatch and distributions. That was a major mistake because they made such a mess of it. They duplicated orders. It would take really long before they sent the goods out. There was no flexibility with them that enabled us to give good customer service. And because they were incompetent, it made us look incompetent. So I guess, the big lessons learned there was: you have to do it yourself.

• What is a business woman to you?

It think women bring a really big extra into the business. It is not just about competing, just about succeeding. It is about doing it in the right way and doing it for a good reason. I think men in business are so terribly competitive. I think woman in business work together. There is an understanding. It sounds trite to say a sisterhood. But they relate to each other. They understand what makes each other tick.

• What advice would you give to young aspiring women?

It is very important to believe in yourself. It will give you confidence. If you get knocked down, which will happen a lot in business, get back up again. It is not personal. It does not mean anything. It is just a little lesson learned. Keep going and believe you can do it. I always think, when my guts tells me to do it, I do. That would probably be the advice: go with your guts and believe in yourself.