The longest six-month trip ever: how Heather Baker built and rebuilt success in the UK

What began as a six-month experiment turned into a 22-year journey – and counting. When Heather Baker arrived in London in 2004, fresh out of university in Cape Town, the plan was simple: experience life abroad, then go home. Like many South Africans of her generation, she was curious, mobile, and open to possibility. What she did not anticipate was that the UK would become the place where she would build, scale, sell, and reinvent multiple businesses.

Arriving in London in the early 2000s was exhilarating. There was a large South African community, a ready-made social network, and a shared sense of adventure among friends who had all made the same leap. Professionally, however, the reality was more challenging. Without an established network, finding meaningful graduatelevel work took time. The early years involved temporary roles and persistence before Heather secured her first proper position in a small PR agency – the beginning of a career that would later span entrepreneurship, leadership, mergers and acquisitions, and now artificial intelligence.

Rather than following a linear corporate path, Heather chose to build. In 2008, in the shadow of a global recession, she founded a PR agency. Over time – and with plenty of hard lessons along the way – that agency grew into a successful international business delivering digital content, lead generation, and video campaigns for clients ranging from American Express and Samsung to the University of Cambridge.

In 2015, the company expanded into South Africa, opening an office and deepening Heather’s commitment to building bridges between home and abroad.

In 2021, after more than a decade of growth, the agency was sold. Heather became a board director and later Chief Executive Officer of the acquiring company, leading that business through rapid growth to £14 million in revenue. After stepping back from that role, she began plotting her next move.

That move was AI.

In 2025, Heather founded The AI Edit and The Humans in the Loop, two closely connected brands built around a single mission: helping people and organisations use AI intelligently, safely, and to real commercial advantage.

Her work today centres on AI educating and mentoring – supporting professionals, leaders and managers to use AI strategically for efficiency, ethical growth, brand building, lead generation, and supercharged sales.

She has proven the model in her own business. In its first four months, The AI Edit generated 1,268 leads and closed 81 sales, built largely through AIenabled systems designed and operated by Heather herself.

Crucially, she is not an advocate of AI at all costs. Her approach is deliberately pragmatic. She recognises both the enormous opportunity and the very real risks posed by AI, and she helps others do the same – integrating AI where it adds value, while also understanding where AI introduces risk and how to mitigate it.

Alongside her upskilling and mentoring work, Heather is an active content creator. Through her Humans in the Loop brand, she publishes analysis and commentary on AI across YouTube, Substack, and LinkedIn, becoming known for translating complex technological shifts into clear, practical guidance for professionals who need to make real decisions.

Building a life and career abroad has been iterative, sometimes uncomfortable, often rewarding, and always shaped by community for Heather.

Fellow South Africans in the UK have played a significant role throughout her journey offering introductions, support, friendship, and a sense of belonging that never quite disappears, no matter how long one has been away.

That sense of connection remains central to how Heather operates today. She is building her current business with an eye on the South African market, and she actively supports South African-led networking, collaboration, and talent wherever possible. She describes the global South African community as uniquely warm and instinctively supportive – a constant thread running through her time abroad.

Looking ahead, Heather’s focus is on scale and impact. Through The AI Edit and Humans in the Loop, she aims to help a new generation of business owners and leaders become genuinely competent, confident users of AI – without losing the human judgement and skills that underpin long-term success.

For fellow South Africans abroad, her message is simple: stay connected, support one another, and build boldly. For those at home, the door remains open. Heather’s career may have been built away from South Africa, but it has never been disconnected from it.

Be lekker. Be bold. Transform differently.