Madeleine Hoggett

Durham University Business School

“Diabetic mother and entrepreneur on a mission to reduce the burden of a GDM diagnosis.”

Age: 39

Hometown: Tasmania, Australia. Now based in London.

Fun fact about yourself: I’m a dual pilgrim, having walked both the Kumano Kodo in Japan and the Camino de Santiago in Spain. A perfect combination of some of my favourite things: nature, hiking, podcasts, and delicious local food and wine, all while covering roughly a half marathon each day.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Masters in Digital Marketing, University of West London.

Where are you currently working? Founder and CEO, Hi Sugar

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? In my personal essay when applying to Durham, I had a clear mission of wanting to support women with diabetes. Throughout my MBA I developed the idea and spent my Strategic Consulting Project validating it and interviewing healthcare professionals across England. I then went on to found this company in the final months of my MBA.

My mum was part of many long conversations when developing this idea. Having lost her near the end of my MBA, the achievement I am most proud of is naming my new venture, Hi Sugar, in her honour. The name is the warm greeting she would use with every call and text, and it represents the love and support she showed me when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. It acts as my North Star and a constant reminder of why I am doing this, to emotionally support, educate, and empower other women diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM).

Why did you choose this school’s online MBA program? I chose Durham based on their reputation and the course content. The New Venture Creation module was in line with exactly what I wanted to be working on. I was also awarded the Executive Dean’s Women in Business Online MBA Scholarship, based on my personal essay of wanting to help women with diabetes, which signaled Durham understood and believed in what I wanted to achieve. The flexibility it offered was also a major factor, whether that was in-person classes, trips to places like San Francisco, or completing modules online. With my busy life and family, it was needed in fact.

What was your favorite part of being in an online MBA program? Two things. First, it was being able to fit it in with family commitments and never feeling like I was being pulled too hard in one direction. At the same time, I was able to achieve a great qualification. Second, going straight from nappy changes and nap times to studying felt really nourishing for my brain and I made sure I didn’t take it for granted. Having not studied in a while, learning such a variety of interesting and thought-provoking case studies and research papers – all from engaging lecturers – felt like it came at a perfect time in my life. It was something I valued even more than if I had completed this when I was younger.

How did your online MBA experience compare with your in-the-classroom experience as an undergraduate student? If you’re someone with a busy life, I found the online MBA was a way more efficient way to study. The time it would have taken me to travel back and forth, or sit through breaks during lectures, I had nearly completed my study for that day. It also meant I could work at a different pace specific to just me. And since I was looking at founding a company, I could follow my curiosity and go off on tangents, explore potential ideas and look more closely into opportunities than if I were in a classroom environment.

What is your best piece of advice to an applicant for thriving in an online MBA program? Chip away at it, don’t do long catch-up sessions if it can be helped. The brain remembers more when it is approached this way and I definitely noticed a difference in retaining information when I did. The way Durham sets out each module is perfect for being able to dip in and out and always know exactly what section you were up to.

How has your online MBA education helped you in your current job? Founding my venture was a direct result of undertaking my MBA, which essentially created my new dream job. Beyond that, the most valuable thing I have acquired for my new role is a network of trusted professionals specific to my startup, including physicians, dietitians, midwives, and psychologists, who have expressed interest in helping me with my mission. This also includes mentors from Durham University whose insight and knowledge have directly shaped how I have approached setting up the business and what I’m focusing on.

Did you earn a promotion while in the program or immediately after graduation? Yes, I founded Hi Sugar as a direct result of the program.

Why did you pursue an online MBA program instead of a full-time residential or executive MBA program? Quite simply, with a young family, I needed to be home and have flexibility.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? The culture at Durham encouraged staying up-to-date with current events and keeping an eye on advancements in technology across modules. This led me to exploring AI agents. Whilst a lot of the literature talks about not going it alone as an entrepreneur, AI agents are actually a turning point for businesses moving forward, and especially for new founders. Resources that would normally sink you on cost, like video production, are now accessible. Time spent on research, customer insights, and monitoring the external environment can now be freed up and spent operationally on developing the MVP. There is so much added value and so many opportunities AI agents can add to startups which before would not have been in scope due to budget constraints. It is something I have begun exploring now for Hi Sugar and already finding it a huge leveller.

Number of Hours Per Week Spent on an Online MBA: 20 to 25 hours, Monday to Friday.

What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? Since gestational diabetes is the most common medical condition to affect pregnant women, with 35 million diagnoses globally every year and rising, my goal is for Hi Sugar to be the trusted digital companion women globally turn to when they are diagnosed. I want to utilise AI to give women the most personalised, accurate information for their particular circumstance, to effectively manage gestational diabetes and help prevent up to half of these women developing type two diabetes within five years.

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