MIND THE GAP!
The Female voice in Startup
The world is awash with symbols of female empowerment, positive affirmations, stories of women achieving against the odds and every other piece of upbeat inspiration you can imagine.
It’s International Women’s Day. It’s a day for celebration, but also a day for asking questions.
The first official National Woman’s Day was held in New York City on February 28, 1909. It became more mainstream in the 1970’s but it’s only since 2014 that it’s truly taken on new life, becoming more digital and less political.
But why do we still need it? Surely after so many years women don’t still need a specific day to bang the drum, celebrate their existence and ensure their voice is heard.
Or do they?
Over this period we have seen a fundamental shift in the attitudes and opportunities offered to women, but gender equality has not been achieved. And, according to the World Economic Forum, the gender gap won’t close until 2186.
Just sit with that for a moment.
Women’s rights in general have been all over the news for the last few years. From #TimesUp to #MeToo, the female agenda has dominated yet we still fail to make change at pace when it comes to actual equality.
I’ve always counted myself lucky. It may be down to my own naivety, but I’ve never felt my gender has negatively impacted my progress in business or how seriously people have taken me.
Yes, I’ve encountered derogatory workplace comments about my looks, my body, my attire. The kind of comments that many men brush off as ‘just playing’, but can actually harm self esteem and how you’re viewed by those who overhear.
I got through unscathed, but I’m in a hugely privileged position and am very much in the minority.
Female founders are under-represented at all stages of the VC process — from getting pitchdecks seen to securing VC deals, and data from research by British Business Bank, shows that 83% of deals made by UK VCs went to companies with no women on the founding team.
Even mixed-gender teams only secured 10p of every £1 of UK VC money that was invested in 2019.
Judging from these stats, it seems that having a woman on your founding team is a liability! No wonder there aren’t more of us…
Luckily for me, that’s not how we see things at Eastnine!
Diversity is absolutely vital to the success of our business — and gender equality is a very core part of this.
We provide a fitness solution that is rooted in the power of the human connection.
Creating large scale change to exercise habits relies on understanding the different relationships people have with fitness, the varying emotional journeys people go on and the breadth of problems they face, as well as appreciating the alternative solutions that can be provided.
We couldn’t do that with only one set of opinions around the table.
We have some of the best women in the business as part of our team and they all contribute their voice with equal power and equal clout.
If Eastnine had no female founder, do I think that would be the same?
Absolutely not — and that’s not because my male counterparts are unapproachable or unopen.
It’s because by being a woman in this role, I set standards and give permission for the other women around me to voice their opinion and feel heard. I make it okay to disagree and to show emotion, and I make it possible to offer the alternative perspective businesses need.
So, this International Women’s Day you won’t find me burning my bra or posting self affirming instagram posts, but you will find me doing my day job, representing women in a male dominated field of business and continuing to take to the stage to represent that.
Change has to happen quicker!
