I wanted to collect stories from female entrepreneurs that I knew so I could share them but I ended up with stories from women I had either never met or never spoken to before from all across the world. Starting from just around the corner from where I live; Ramsgate to Australia, Dubai and Canada. Their generosity and willingness to collaborate with me is truly inspiring. I hope you enjoy their stories.
The 19th November might not be recognised widely as Women’s Entrepreneurship Day yet. It was founded by Wendy Diamond in 2014, the inaugural event is held in New York at the UN, other similar events are held simultaneously in a variety of countries. Everyday should be WED but to acknowledge this proclaimed day I asked these entrepreneurs what it meant to them..
For me, being an entrepreneur is an opportunity to inspire women to empower themselves by using their intuition and in turn, create lives and businesses that they love. I encourage women to feel rich in intention and rich in satisfaction. For women to know that they are always enough and always worthy is incredibly powerful, and when women rise up and show that power, anything is possible. Its not what is possible but what we believe is possible. For me being an entrepreneur is feeling like anything is possible. – Pandora Paloma, Intuitive Living & Business Coach and Author of Intuitive Living, founder of ROOTED LIVING
Coming from a household of three girls there was no such thing as ‘my brother will do it’. In fact, my parents made it their mission for myself and my sisters to be self sufficient, independent and powerful women. Being an entrepreneur was always on my agenda since I was a child. Being a female entrepreneur is truly something special as it wasn’t an opportunity that was enabled to my mother or my string of female ancestors. It’s taken women years of fight, demonstration and hard work to gain this enablement and now some of the most idolised and respected women on earth are entrepreneurs. My aim is if I can help even one girl realise that she too can be a female entrepreneur I’d be blessed. I think it’s unjust to think one sex is more superior than the other. Instead It’s more important for every woman to realise that they each hold such power within them and as individuals and together, we can truly change the world. – Sonali, Nutritional Therapist, Founder of Body Plot
Ever since I was a little girl I’ve been an entrepreneur with a dream. Being able to create a business and make my own money has changed my life and entrepreneurship is the best way for women to feel empowered to create their own First Class lives. The world needs more women entrepreneurs and more women with money – rich white men built this world and now we have to fix it. – Denise Duffield-Thomas, Money Mindset Coach and bestselling author of Get Rich, Lucky Bitch! and Chillpreneur
I want to celebrate my circle of women supporting women. I love my business, I love sharing my work with the world and I love the feeling that somebody is wearing something I have designed. But something I found really challenging when I started working for myself was how isolated I felt. Despite the feelings of community and connection that being on social media can bring, It didn’t make up for the fact that I was essentially alone in my house trying to be disciplined about working. I am a self-confessed extrovert and thrive when I am with other people, so I soon found myself floundering no matter how many Facebook groups I joined!
I started to try and combat this loneliness by arranging to meet up with other women who also had creative businesses that lived locally. We started having a regular breakfast meeting where we shared what we were working on. These meetings became a hothouse for ideas for all of us. This group became the Daughters of Industry and within a few months we opened our first pop up shop here in Folkestone! Exactly what I needed to get out of my own office and into the real world.
That was just a year ago. Since then we have collaborated on more Pop Ups and supported one another to do more markets and events. It has been amazing to take Milk & Moon offline and into real life spaces and I’ve learnt loads, but that hasn’t been what has been amazing about collaborating as the Daughters Of Industry. The feeling that there is a group of women who have my back, who understand the ups and downs of indie business, who are there when things are tough and ready to celebrate when things are great is priceless. The energy when we come together is so exciting, inspiration and motivation is never far away.
The Daughters of Industry – @daughtersofindustry / @stellen_uk / @makewaves.studio / @penandplant / @joypolloi / @harbourcrochet / @kiitos_studios / @milkandmoonuk – The next POP UP Shop opens on November 28th at 8 Squared, The Old High Street Folkestone and runs for 2 weeks. – Katy Lockey, Women Supporting Women and creator of Feminist jewellery, pins and tees, founder of Milk and Moon
Women’s Entrepreneurship to me means independence and advancement. Its not that long ago since a woman stopped needing their husband or father to create a bank account. Independence, so we can follow our passions and allow work to fit in with our lives. – Diana Von R is a London freelance photographer & SM Consultant, founder of Hampstead Mums
Women’s Entrepreneurship Day is a day to honor all the amazing women crushing it in their business and life. And I am grateful for my entrepreneurial life. This road isn’t easy and can often feel damn lonely, but I couldn’t have done it without the support of my fellow entrepreneurial ladies who get me, hold the space for me when I need it, challenge me when I want to quit, and keep me accountable to my big vision. As cliche as it might sound…it truly does take a village! When we help each other rise, we all rise together. – Kathryn Thompson, Messaging Coach & Copywriter, founder of Creatively Owned
Being both a woman and an entrepreneur are two things that already come with a pretty big load of pressures. Our image, our daily responsibilities as CEO, our goals, balancing life, and so much more. When we get on this journey, we may feel alone and want to give up. I admit, there are the days when the task list is so long, I don’t see a way out. On this day, I remind you, it’s ok to have bad days. It is NOT ok to give up. These challenges have a way out. Seeing the light might take a few days, but know you are not alone. You can do it! Have the confidence and the courage to take that next step. – Dr. Nancy Haines, Confidence Coach & Author and Founder of The Centre of Confidence in Dubai
When I started my first business in 2011, I didn’t realise that there was an amazing online community of other entrepreneurs supporting one another. This community is possibly one of the best things about having your own business. Cheerleaders from all over the world who have your back. Who are there for support or to bounce ideas off of. They get you because they also understand what it’s like to be in the situation. Something our friends from home just don’t get. There are people who will help you grow as an entrepreneur and as a person. It really is a whole new world, that I am very thankful to be part of. – Katie Tovey-Grindlay, SM Consultant and founder of Business Wonderland
Face your fears with a spiritual friend whenever you set out to do something new or assign for yourself a higher goal, fear may get in your way. It’s the great paralyzer. This is where supportive, ‘spiritual’ friendships come in. My friend and Rabbi explains it best: “A spiritual friend is someone who wakes you up when you go to sleep, so to speak, and reminds you of who you are in your core. Your spiritual friends have this magic ability to lift your spirit and guide you back to you.” I reflect on this quote often as I navigate my own journey. As I continue to travel the country on my Fair Play book tour, I’ve brought many of my closest spiritual friends along to remind me of why I do this work… to help other women reconnect with their core and share their special talents and gifts with the world. This can be hard work at best, but your spiritual friends will provide you with the uplifting soul support you’ll likely need to untangle yourself from the tentacles of self-doubt that can threaten to stall your progress, or knock you backward and away from what you’re hoping to achieve. On top of that, these friends will encourage you to keep going because they already know what you’re capable of. – Eve Rodsky, Author of Fair Play (New York Times bestseller and Reece Witherspoon’s bookclub pick for Oct 19′)
Once again, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone that took the time to write to me because when women support each other incredible things do happen.
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