After Severing Ties With a Business Partner, This Entrepreneur Had to Trust in Herself and Go It Alone Posted by June 27, 2018 Leave a comment on After Severing Ties With a Business Partner, This Entrepreneur Had to Trust in Herself and Go It Alone As a college student, Haley Hoffman Smith founded a nonprofit, wrote a book and started another company. But when things turned sour with a business partner, she had to cut ties and start over.