Femmeprenista
Holistic business coaching for women founders.
About
Practical business insight, grounded in research
Carlene Nisbett-McBlack is a business coach, founder and doctoral researcher. She founded Femmeprenista, which offers holistic business coaching for women founders, and she is Founder and Lead Coach of Thrivology Executive Coaching, which delivers coaching programmes for universities and MBA cohorts. She also founded Thrivology Digital, an AI consultancy for UK service businesses. All three sit under The Thrivology Company (Thrivology Limited).
She holds a BA (Hons) from the University of East London, an MBA from Cranfield School of Management, and is in the final write-up phase of a PhD at Hertfordshire Business School, University of Hertfordshire, where her research explores the experiences of Black women entrepreneurs in the south of England.
That combination of a founder’s experience, a business-school grounding and a researcher’s discipline shapes how she works: practical, evidence-informed and attentive to people’s real experience of building a business or a career.
Formerly Carlene Nisbett: some earlier work, documents and profiles use that name.
What She Brings
Areas of expertise
Drawn directly from her work as a founder, coach and researcher across The Thrivology Company.
Business coaching for women founders
Holistic business coaching through Femmeprenista, looking at the founder as well as the business, with a focus on growth that is sustainable.
Executive coaching in business education
Coaching programmes for universities and MBA cohorts through Thrivology Executive Coaching, designed to sit alongside academic study.
Research on women’s entrepreneurship
Doctoral research into the experiences of Black women entrepreneurs and the impact of intersectionality on entrepreneurial success, built on in-depth qualitative interviews.
AI consultancy for UK service businesses
Through Thrivology Digital, a practice of The Thrivology Company: AI systems and implementation for UK service businesses, grounded in a Cranfield MBA and founder experience.
Ventures
Her three businesses
The practices Carlene leads today under The Thrivology Company.
Thrivology Executive Coaching
Coaching programmes for universities and MBA cohorts. A practice of The Thrivology Company (Thrivology Limited).
Thrivology Digital
AI consultancy and AI implementation for UK service businesses. A practice of The Thrivology Company (Thrivology Limited).
Research
Doctoral research on Black women entrepreneurs
Carlene is a doctoral researcher at Hertfordshire Business School, University of Hertfordshire, and is in the final write-up phase of her PhD.
Her study explores the experiences of Black women entrepreneurs in the south of England: the challenges they face and the strategies they use to navigate them. While ethnic minority entrepreneurship is rising, Black women remain significantly underrepresented, and their experiences are largely absent from UK policy and academic research.
She has completed her literature review and the empirical phase of the study, a series of in-depth interviews with Black women business owners.
View the research study pageTaking part, or took part, in the study? The participant information, study documents, ethics details and support services are on the research study page.
- Study Title
- The Experiences of Black Women Entrepreneurs in the south of England: Understanding the Impact of Intersectionality on Entrepreneurial Success
- Institution
- Hertfordshire Business School, University of Hertfordshire
- Stage
- Final write-up phase. Literature review and empirical phase complete.
- Ethics Approval
- Protocol 1609 ST SSAH 2026, approved by the Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities (SSAH) Ethics Committee with Delegated Authority
Credentials
Education
PhD in progress
Hertfordshire Business School, University of Hertfordshire
Doctoral researcher, in the final write-up phase.
MBA
Cranfield School of Management
Class of 2020.
BA (Hons)
University of East London
Bachelor of Arts with Honours. Undergraduate degree.
Get in Touch
Contact
Carlene Nisbett-McBlack
MBA, BA (Hons)
Founder, Coach, Digital & Doctoral Researcher
Enquiries
Coaching programmes for universities and MBA cohorts
Through Thrivology Executive Coaching.
thrivology.co.uk →Research enquiries
About her doctoral study at the University of Hertfordshire.
c.v.nisbett@herts.ac.uk