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Kathryn S Kelly - Balance Work and Health
Alisha Stephens - Follow Passion, Seek Mentors
Dr. Pamela Ellis - Embrace Risks and Self-Care
Uma - Turn Limitations into Strengths
Taylor Ryan - Prioritize Mental Health and Resilience
Amy Hopper - Live Authentically, Ignore Critics
Ashley Dowden - Know Your Worth, Leave Toxic Environments
Trisha Crookes - Embrace Uniqueness and Resilience
Jennifer Pearson - Prioritize Happiness in Life
Pamela Salvador - Balance Personal and Professional Growth
Balance Work and Health
Slowly but surely. Don't let others get in your way. Make sure to take time for yourself and to take care of your mental and physical health. It may seem like work is never enough but if you don't take the time to manage your own needs, you'll be forced to with sickness and not enjoy any part of it.
Kathryn S Kelly, Founder, Taste Buzz Food Tours
Follow Passion, Seek Mentors
Pursue your passions, follow the fire. Life's too precious to wonder what if.
More tactical advice. The following has been the most helpful for me:
- Find good advisors and mentors. I've had incredible success through my local SCORE group.
- Find other entrepreneurs that inspire you. Follow them, learn from them, they will inspire you with what's possible on the days you want to give up.
- Reach out to your heroes. They're people too. Ask if you can have coffee.
- Do whatever it takes to get over any fear of asking for help.
Alisha Stephens, Founder, umanos
Embrace Risks and Self-Care
Entrepreneurship will require risks on a daily basis. Forget the notion of “perfect time” because there is no such thing. When it’s time to launch, trust your instinct and don’t wait on the perfect time once all the details have been decided.
Entrepreneurship requires 100% of your authentic self. Make an appointment with yourself daily to think and reflect, weekly for downtime and monthly for self-care/self-compassion time. These moments will recharge you.
Dr. Pamela Ellis, Founder, Compass Education Strategies
Turn Limitations into Strengths
Your limitations can actually be your greatest strengths. Once you recognise them, acknowledge them, work on them, build on them - they become your ally. Because if you can overcome your greatest fears and make them work for you.. what or who in this world can stop you?
Uma, Founder, Pixelphrase Creative Studio
Prioritize Mental Health and Resilience
Absolutely, for young women aspiring to become entrepreneurs or already navigating the entrepreneurial journey, I would emphasize the importance of prioritizing mental health. Entrepreneurship can be incredibly rewarding, but it also comes with its own set of challenges and stressors. Investing in your mental well-being by seeking support from a therapist, establishing a network of trusted mentors or accountability partners, and setting healthy boundaries is crucial for maintaining balance and resilience. Additionally, cultivate a mindset of perseverance and resilience. In the face of adversity, never take "no" for an answer. Stay determined, adaptable, and always believe in your vision and capabilities. With dedication, self-care, and a refusal to accept defeat, you can overcome any obstacle and achieve your entrepreneurial aspirations.
Taylor Ryan, Founder, Change Today, Change Tomorrow
Live Authentically, Ignore Critics
You belong in this room. Take a breath, roll your shoulders back and show them who you are. It's already yours, you just have to step in and take it.
There will always be those who don't like you, can't understand what you're doing, or want to bring you down. That's okay, that's their journey. What people think of you is none of your business. Take the constructive advice; use it to grow and improve. Leave the rest and live in your authenticity.
Amy Hopper, Founder, TOA Group
Know Your Worth, Leave Toxic Environments
A few years ago I worked on a project with a company that I originally applied for as a contractor but later was offered a full-time role instead. I didn’t think the role itself was a good fit, but I decided to take it on as a challenge and learn something along the way. I did learn a lot, in Hubspot to be exact, when it first came out but I was tasked to write out an entire strategy in the first six weeks on the job, that set the tone and pace for the entire marketing department. I did so using some tools I’m familiar with but shortly after I finished that project (that was way out of my position description) I was let go from the role. I learned after that moment that I never wanted to work anywhere or with anyone else I didn’t know again. Or that required that amount of time or effort. I’m sure we have all been there before, scratching our heads and asking “what went wrong?” but sometimes you just have to stop questioning because likely it’s due to lack of funding and time. If you at w a woman struggling to find her footprint in a world that is dominated by mad men at old school companies, do yourself a favor, and leave . Never look back, and that is exactly what I did. Which is a big component of why I find value in understanding my worth and knowing I can work for myself and never feel taken advantage of again.
Ashley Dowden, Founder, Dowden Consulting
Embrace Uniqueness and Resilience
There is so much advice I would give to myself if I could go back in time! And I hope that it might also help others:
1. Embrace Your Unique Voice: Your perspective and experiences as a woman bring valuable insights to entrepreneurship. Own your voice and share your ideas confidently.
2. Build a Strong Support Network: Surround yourself with mentors, peers, and allies who offer guidance and encouragement. Seek out communities of like-minded individuals for support and connections.
3. Develop Resilience: Embrace failure as a learning opportunity and bounce back stronger. Cultivate resilience to navigate the inevitable ups and downs of entrepreneurship.
4. Prioritize Self-Care: Take care of your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Make time for self-care activities that recharge and rejuvenate you.
5. Trust Your Intuition: Trust your instincts and believe in yourself. Take calculated risks and follow your intuition, even in uncertain situations.
6. Advocate for Yourself: Negotiate for what you deserve and assert your value in business negotiations and partnerships. Advocate for your worth confidently.
7. Foster Collaborative Relationships: Build collaborative relationships with others in your industry. Collaboration can lead to innovative ideas, new opportunities, and mutual support.
8. Maintain a Growth Mindset: Recognize that nobody has all the answers, and that's okay! Keep a growth mindset and continuously ask for help, research and learn new subjects and skills and surround yourself with people that have the skills that can help you. Don't wait for perfection before taking action; get out there and learn as you go!
Trisha Crookes, Founder, I-Innovate
Prioritize Happiness in Life
You only get one life and it is incredibly short, don't waste another day doing anything that doesn't make you happy whether it be work or personal.
Jennifer Pearson, Founder, Treasury Edge
Balance Personal and Professional Growth
I am a true believer in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Since our beginnings in 2019, we have been part of the AEI (Entrepreneurship and Innovation Association) in Ecuador, the largest startup hub in the country. Through them, I have had the opportunity to meet other founders, valuable mentors, advisors, government officials, researchers at universities with whom we have collaborated, investors who have shown interest in our project, and more stakeholders in the entrepreneurial world who have, in one way or another, contributed to our growth as founders and as individuals. Networks are extremely important and for us they have helped us travel to other entrepreneurship hubs around the world, meet investors, get accepted to fellowships and accelerators and many more opportunities. Over the past year, one of my most significant lessons has been that your business will grow at the same pace as you grow as an entrepreneur. The personal development of the individual/founder is essential for the development of the business idea and the ability to transform a small venture into a consolidated and scalable company. Entrepreneurship can be a lonely path and an emotional roller coaster, and one must have the tools to manage all the doubts, questions, feelings, challenges, and satisfactions that are part of the journey. That's why I am always actively seeking spaces for personal and professional growth that nourish me as a person to be my best self and, in the process, become a great entrepreneur, mother, wife, and woman. I really appreciate this award because the incredible effort that women entrepreneurs put into balancing everything on our plates is truly remarkable. Personally, I am a mother of two children under 6 years old, and it has definitely been a challenge to be there for them in their upbringing, be at home with my family, while also pushing a business forward. I hope there would be more a more spaces that nurture women. I decided to apply to this Award because I want to send other women a message that it is possible to be whoever you dream to be, that is it possible to dream big, to have a family and at the same time to realize yourself professionally and be the CEO of your own company. I want to set an example and humbly be an inspiration, just like many other women have been to me.
Pamela Salvador, Founder, Keif Probioticos
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