Before the pandemic swept in, Danielle Holland used to enjoy making the occasional chocolate brownie outside of her job working for an international exhibition company.

But when travel restrictions and a ban on gatherings came into force, her role as head of operations was put on hold and she was furloughed last March.

Meet the female entrepreneurs taking over the Kent business world

Determined to keep busy, she decided to start a business selling boxes of brownies from her home in Sittingbourne.

"I thought if I could do 15 boxes a week that would just keep me ticking over and give me something to do," she explains. "But now it's 75 boxes a week."

Brownie Eyed Girl has proved a hit, riding a wave of popularity after pictures of her treats were spread on social media and where she does much of her marketing.

Danielle adds: "Furlough enabled me to not have the financial pressure of setting up a business. So I didn't need to make a certain amount of money.

"I had the massive luxury of just seeing how it went. It's grown, but naturally so, rather than me having to push it even more."

She is far from alone in seeing triumph emerge from the challenges posed by Covid.

And at a special event in Medway, some of the county's successful female entrepreneurs were finally able to meet face-to-face after becoming friends on social media - all helping each other with advice to keep afloat in these troubled times.

Staged outside the Sip cafe at the Sisu Fitness Centre on the Medway City Estate, the gathering was not only to celebrate their successes and survival but to encourage more women to take the plunge and feel they can adjust to any future challenges.

Like Ellie Lehane. She first started her florist and flower barn business, Hellebores And Hedgerows in 2018 in Marden, with the following year giving her time to set up the business with a view to a full-on launch in 2020.

She explains: "The plan was to be a wedding florist, as that was what I had experience in, but growing all my own flowers and using eco-friendly methods.

"Last year was supposed to be my first full year and I had quite a few weddings booked. But obviously they all postponed and I had to take the business in a different direction.

"The whole direction of my business had to change. The plan I had just didn't work anymore. In 2020, I didn't know if the weddings would be postponed, so I had to keep growing all the flowers - because obviously you have to start growing everything nine months in advance. Then I ended up with all these flowers that I couldn't use for their initial purpose, so I started doing a lot more local stuff and selling wholesale to florists."

And she is convinced of the value of the get-together of those women who survived the challenges of the pandemic.

Ellie adds: "It's so lovely to meet other women who know the joy of running your own business but also how difficult it can be and how much hard work you have to put in.

"It's a 24/7 job - but you can do what you want with your business so it's great to meet others in the same situation.

"My advice to women thinking of going into business? Have a good plan in place. You have to know what you're doing before you start, but give it a try and see how it goes. If you enjoy it you'll love it, then you'll put your heart into it and it will succeed."

Natasha Eaton started her Bels Boutique business in Medway in 2017 and saw the pandemic help grow her bottom line as people turned to her and her range of personalised balloons, event decorations and gifts when high street shops were forced to close.

She explains: "If you can find a good group of women who support each other it's half the battle won as you know you have that network and that support if you need help or just to chat some ideas through with someone.

"There's enough business out there for all of us and we could work together more, do more events, do more networking and have really great support for everybody."

The event was hosted by Sarah Negus, owner of specialist plant-based coffee shop "with a protein slant", Sip.

Opening in September 2019 within the Sisu Fitness Centre, it was only six months old when it was forced to close due to the first lockdown.

She explains: "The pandemic was really scary as we had no idea how long we would be closed. We couldn't sustain just waiting to open, so we had to be really creative so that's when we started subscriptions and deliveries. We delivered all around Medway - we turned a negative into a positive.

"During the lockdowns we, as business women, had to find ways of empowering each other and social media was a massive part of that. So we started to build a local network of women who had started businesses during or just before the lockdown and it's been fantastic getting to know them.

"Today's been the first day I've met some of them in person. It's really positive to send a message of empowering women to be in business on their own, but to feel like they're together in a big group."

Also represented was the The Little Soy Candle Company, based in Rochester and run by Jenna Turner. It produces homemade vegan candles.

Head to our business page for all of the latest news about businesses in Kent