Empowering female-owned businesses & supporting mental health with Fiona Grayson, founder of Can.Did.
Hi Fiona, thanks so much for joining us! Can you tell us a little more about yourself and what you do?
Yes sure! I’m the founder of a company called Can.Did. (rebrand of She.Can.She.Did), a new kind of networking for more candid conversations. We’re here for all women who run businesses in the UK, so if I was speaking directly to them I would say that Can.Did. is here to cut through the overnight success noise on their behalf and connect them with other business owners that crave transparency and meaningful connections.
Given that we’re living in a viral world, where when you run a business it’s so easy to get caught up with the overnight success idea that’s often projected on social media platforms. We’re also here to provide tangible security to protect them along with their business so they can focus all of their energy on building their business sustainably and for the long term.
Firstly, how do you feel women are currently supported when starting a new business?
I would say that support definitely exists if they know where to find it, but that is a tricky bit, some people are able to launch businesses with zero network around them. But I would always say that there are blogs, articles, you can connect to other business owners via social media, join networks, listen to podcasts *hint hint Can.Did. and She.Can.She.Did podcasts*. But I think, in the same way that we have different tastes in fashion or music, I feel that you have to be really careful on the outset about which support you choose, and where you choose to get that support. And by that I mean there are so many different types of support out there so it’s really just about working out what values you stand for and then finding support that aligns with those values.
It’s #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek and we know it can be a tough journey for many, so what about mental health support for entrepreneurs? Issues such as burnouts, overworking, stress & anxiety are quite common…
Absolutely, I think it can be brutal. From day one it’s been my goal to highlight the honest realities behind the scenes, and I think one of the things that goes hand in hand with being your own boss is that kind of mental game you have to play to keep going, so it’s not just things like burnout and overworking but it’s also imposter syndrome, comparison, culture etc. Thinking ‘have I got what it takes’, ‘am I good enough’… And also just playing the long game, that can also be draining. So this is where burnouts happens. And I think the hardest part of all is learning the hard way. Speaking from personal experience, last year I interviewed hundreds of female business owners, wanting to know about this mysterious burnout that we talk about and it wasn't until last September that I experienced it myself. I wasn’t sleeping, I just felt like a bit of a zombie. That’s when I felt like ‘okay this is what people really talk about’, and it was only then that I started understanding and seeing the signs to look out for. And because I’m so passionate about the fact that we do need more mental health support, we’ve partnered with a company called Vala Health, so all our Can.Did. members have free ongoing access to Vala Health (a one-off appointment with them is worth £49.99 I believe). Our membership is £18 a month, so they can have as many appointments as they want. The reason why I felt so compelled and passionate about the fact that we needed to partner with them is exactly this. It’s not just physical health that they support, they have a 24/7 line open if members just want someone to talk to. It’s something that we all need to talk about for sure.
You created a benefits program for women in business, how does it work and why did you feel the need to develop it?
Before Can.Did., we were a company called She.Can.She.Did. We started in 2017, and I was 25 at the time, just providing the honest reality of what happens behind the scenes, not just about the launch, but also in growing and sustaining a business. And because women really were opening up to me about the challenges they faced, I started seeing recurring challenges pop up across the board. It’s things like you don’t just walk away from your salary when you start a business, you walk away from the company benefits package which includes things like your pension, your eye-care, your gym memberships etc, and that hits you at a time when you’re working harder than ever before. So that was a constant challenge that kept cropping up, the lack of security. There’s also the fact that until you are financially secure as a business owner, in some cases and speaking from experience this can take years, money is tight, so as there is also a massive focus on self-care and treating yourself at the moment but when you can’t afford to do so, it becomes a vicious cycle. So things like recommendations that people might say, you might instantly think ‘oh I can’t afford that’. There’s also that aspect that definitely encouraged me to create this benefits membership as well. The idea behind this program is a comprehensive benefits package. We’re the only network for women-owned businesses that provide a comprehensive benefits package. It basically gives them access to all the health and financial benefits that come hand in hand with a corporate career: things like access to pensions, their free Vala Health cover, discounted business and legal support, maternity, and insurance… They also have access to a whole suite of fashion, beauty and lifestyle rewards as well, to not just simply support their journey but ultimately reward their resilience.
What would like to see more of in the next 5 years for women entrepreneurs?
I would definitely want to see more collaboration across the board. Support for women-owned businesses currently exists in silos, so there’s very little all-rounded support in all areas. It would be amazing if people could come together and worked to tackle the problem with a more structured approach.
But also I think more honesty and real-time is needed. When I set up She.Can.She.Did. a while back it was to highlight those honest realities, but we’re in 2021 and the internet still makes you believe that overnight successes happen and that it’s a lot easier than it actually is. So talking about challenges and setbacks as they happen to normalise that process, because every single person I admire, no one’s got to their end goal straight away. And I think sometimes you have to go through a few things that don’t work out and learn from them. I think in today’s world when things don’t quite go to plan, people do see it as ‘oh does she really have what it takes’, and I think actually all those setbacks are part of the parcel that make people stronger and allow them to hone in on what’s working.
Finally, I think we need more definition in what success looks like in mainstream media. Banks or big campaigns that we supporting women-owned businesses are currently aiming to help women scale their businesses, become multi-million-pound businesses, go global… But actually not every woman wants that, and some definitions of success are simply about earning enough money that you can live a life that you want to live and stay very much local and even UK based. Some women might not want to have a team, or want an office and prefer working from home, in order to be able to drop their kids off and pick them up… And that is absolutely fine! So it’s just about normalising this, as opposed to the idea that going global is the only successful result.
Can you tell us about some exciting things you are currently working on?
Absolutely, so I’ve actually been having some technical issues with our re-launch, which meant we’ve had to delay it slightly (but it’s now launched and live!). As I explained earlier, I’m really proud of launching Can.Did. as a new kind of network for more candid conversations. It’s not just your classic Facebook meetup group, it’s an amazing app that we are building, where women can connect, search via location or via industry, they can look into topics they are interested in… The idea behind the networking side is to really encourage honest conversations, and there is absolutely zero pressure to perform on Can.Did. I’ve been in this space long enough to know that if you don’t have a set number of Instagram followers, people can treat you like you’re irrelevant, and none of that happens in Can.Did. I’ve made that really clear to our members, whether you have 500 or 50k followers, it doesn’t matter, there’s a real ‘we not me’ mindset there already.
Can.Did. is now live! So do visit meetcandid.com for more information on how you can join.
On the Sanctuary App, you can find lots of useful advice for a more productive and mindful workday. Check out our website to find out more about our app and how our programmes can help your company 👉 www.mysanctuary.io
