Jane Shepherdson, age 46, is considered the most influential woman in British retail. Until late last year she was the head of Topshop, a fashion chain that made over $200 million dollars in profits last year while most of the British retail fashion industry was suffering.

Shepherdson has never held a job outside of Topshop. She started working there right after completing her university degree. She worked her way up to the top.

A few months ago she had a disagreement with the owner of the larger company that owns Topshop. Her work at Topshop was suddenly over.

The timing was off. Huge new stores were just opening. She was also working on Paris and New York store openings. Topshop was really taking off.

Some people speculate the decision to contract with Kate Moss on new designs was made over her head and she was not happy with her loss of control over the future of the fashion collections at Topshop.

The question now is, what will Jane Shepherdson do next? It's a private metamorphosis for someone who gave everything of herself to build an incredibly successful brand only to have to begin from scratch all over again.

The Telegraph photo above is Shepherdson, her ex-boss, and Kate Moss.