Six women founders share leadership insights from their mentors

Success in business takes a village. Women-owned businesses are consistently underfunded, with only a fraction of VC funding going towards them.

There are many contributing factors that need to be tackled to achieve equality for female entrepreneurs – from an increased number of women on boards to encouraging women to apply for funding and back themselves more. Just as men apply for a job when they meet only 60% of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100% of them – the same imbalance can be seen in funding applications. However, this is only part of the problem.

Rarely, if ever, will an entrepreneur thrive without various supports around them. Being connected with a mentor and other business owners through organisations like Entrepreneurs’ Organization (17,500+ members globally) who have faced the same daily challenges, is essential.

Entrepreneurs’ Organization Queensland spoke to six female members of the organsiation about the most significant and impactful lessons their mentors have imparted.

Kate Save, Co-Founder and CEO of BeFitFood and Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Melbourne Member

Kate Save. Source: Women’s Agenda.

My female business mentor was Janine Allis. She told me to ‘hire slow and fire fast’ and she used an analogy that ‘one rotten apple could ruin the whole bunch’. She also believed that there were two types of people and she classified them by their attitude as either those who were VERB’s (Victim, Entitled, Rescue, Blame) and those who would SOAR (Solutions, Ownership, Accountability, Responsibility).

I have never forgotten this advice as I believe that I am more ‘grey’ rather than ‘black and white’ when it comes to making decisions. Therefore, I will often procrastinate when it comes to ‘off-boarding’ team members who are not the right fit due to my strong dislike for conflict, however, I would always seek those employees who had the ‘SOAR’ attitude as it was easy to avoid those with the ‘VERB’ attitude by using a good interview technique and a strong line of questioning about previous employment.

Alicia Cook, founder of Emerson Health and Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Melbourne Member

Alicia Cook. Source: Women’s Agenda.

I’m still practicing this one. EO appointed me the most brilliant mentor I could hope for… and Caroline is constantly asking me “What did I say no to?”. Truthfully, it’s a daily struggle, because I want to do more than I have time for. It pains me every time I have to knock back an opportunity that sounds interesting or challenging!

Lauren French, managing director of Motto Fashions and Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Queensland member

Getting new customers is the only way to grow your business. Focusing on repeat buyers or business will only allow you to grow so far, so always make sure a portion of your time is solely focused on customer acquisition.

Belinda Vesey-Brown, founder of Meet Aandi and Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Queensland member

Belinda Vesey-Brown. Source: Supplied.

I have for some time been working on becoming more feminine, after I had one of my business coaches said to me, “Belinda, you operate with so much male energy, have you ever thought about the business leader you could be if you were your feminine self?”

At the time, I had short hair, only wore pantsuits, and drove a navy almost black very male-looking car that was loud and confident. It was what I needed to stand out, and be seen and heard, as a blonde woman in a male-dominated world.

I was working mostly with 50+ corporates, you know the ones who would put their hands behind their heads and lean back in their chair before saying “so how can you help us with …”. I learnt how to take back control of that conversation, how to bring them out of that power pose and get them to listen to what I had to say. It served me, but I lost who I was. I became something that deep down I didn’t really like.

About 10 years ago I started to grow my hair longer, I wore more skirts, and sold the car. I started to engage with more empathy, as I was trying to figure out who I really was as a female business owner and leader in my circle of influence.

Today I am still evolving and working on ensuring that I am being true to myself as a female business leader. The lesson I have taken from this awareness is that it is so important to be yourself and not reflect the traits that I had observed in the men competing for the same work. I now bring a different type of confidence that comes from within, instead of trying to reflect it on the outside.

Shivani Gupta, CEO of AskShivani and Entrepreneurs’ Organization Queensland member

Shivani Gupta. Source: Women’s Agenda.

One of my mentors told me to believe in myself and create space before taking big actions. He said that key decisions need space to not only think through but also feel through. We also speak about feminine and masculine energy. I am female with male energy and he is male with female energy. It is important to balance these out. I try and remember this guidance he gave me when making bigger decisions in business and in life. The space gives me an opportunity to tune into my intuition. The balancing of energies helps me step more into my feminine when I need and more into my masculine when I need to. I also practice saying positive affirmations to myself to create belief in myself.

Emilya Colliver, director of Art Pharmacy & Sugar Glider Digital and Entrepreneurs’ Organization Sydney member

Emilya Colliver. Source: Women’s Agenda.

My female business mentor is Jane Bianchini, a fellow sole female founder. She helps me look at various business challenges through a different lens and perspective. One of my favourite quotes from Jane is ‘sacred cows make the best hamburgers’ which helped me make tough decisions on people and business challenges. Jane also believes that business is not black or white, nor shades of grey, yet shades of colour. This energises me and reminds me that all problems can be solved with a bit of colour.

She constantly reminds me that what I focus on grows which ensures my energy goes into the right areas of my business to ensure it thrives. She reminds me constantly that most businesses fail when the founder gives up. So no matter how difficult owning and running your own business is, I’m determined to never give up!

This article was first published by Women’s Agenda.