International Women’s Day: Female Entrepreneurs Share Their Ultimate Advice

It’s been going since 1909 but this year’s International Women’s Day feels like it has even more significance than ever.

The day is a chance to celebrate and admire the achievements of women worldwide while reflecting on the gender equality changes that have been made but a chance to call out the inequalities we still face.

Here at TLL we’ve decided to celebrate International Women’s Day by feeling empowered and inspired by asking some of the most entrepreneurial women we know one simple question: What’s the number one piece of advice you’d share with other women?

Here’s what they had to say:

Amber Leach, Founder of Liberty Pearl Photo & Film Collective and Audacious Lives: As women, we should support and encourage each other and champion our successes. I’m a firm believer in community over competition and always work closely with other female entrepreneurs on collaborations.

Melanie Lawson, Founder of Bare Biology: On the whole, women are less confident than men (or less likely to blag our way through business situations) and the best bit of advice I can give is to ignore the voice in your head that says you can’t do something.  Once you’ve blagged a few times (or what feels like blagging), you’ll grow in confidence and realise you are just as good, if not better, than everyone else and have a voice worth hearing.

Jane Taylor, Creative Director at Jane Taylor London: Women are brought up being told they are the caregivers and the ones who must put others first, which is completely wrong. If you are not happy with your own choices, you will not be able to make others happy or be truly content yourself.  Be strong and if you are determined to do something and it’s from the heart, you will not fail. Ignore doubters, move on from your past issues and focus on creating your happy space. This will ultimately result in you becoming strong and successful, as you only define it.

Helen Marriage MBE, Director of arts charity Artichoke: Have confidence and believe in yourself; everything is possible with determination, charm and a little negotiation.

Maggie Bolger the co-founder and CEO of the family member’s club Maggie & Rose: Don’t be so hard on yourself and don’t be so on hard on others! We women are very compassionate and emotional creatures, which is absolutely a strength. However, there are times when we can be our harshest critics and we need to keep our emotional reactions in check and practise some self-love for positive growth and development. Likewise, learning to be a little bit more compassionate towards others in tough times and trying to see things more objectively by putting yourself in positions where you’re constantly pushing your own boundaries can help you keep things in perspective and build resilience.

Pippa Murray, founder of Pip & Nut: Don’t down play your achievements. It’s important to celebrate them and shout loudly about your business because if you don’t, nobody else will.

Emily Grace Wright from T&Shop in Stoke Newington, one of Trouva.com inspiring female boutique owners:  To be constantly striving to support other women. For too long women have been pitted against each other (especially in the media) so we need to be celebrating and empowering each other.

Inspired and want to read more? Sign up to our next magazine for Free HERE