This International Women’s Day, girl power isn’t just alive and well but thriving so at Fizzbox, an online events marketplace, we’re celebrating the extraordinary women in our lives with our favourite stories about female bosses.
We love celebrating female business owners and directors because they are changing the world, showing us what it means to be a boss, to be a leader, to be brave, and inspiring. So, Fizzbox has asked its experience providers to share success stories from their female business owners and directors.
Let’s dig into some of our favourite stories and top tips from women in business who are crushing it out there!
One tip you would give to a young buzzing entrepreneur“Try to focus on one key deliverable at a time. It can seem impossible when faced with an endless list of things to do, and milestones to reach, but it really is the only way to move forward with purpose, and successfully navigate the inevitable feelings of overwhelm. Of course you’ll always be juggling a hundred tasks at any one moment, but always have one clear strategic goal in sight – work towards it, hit it, then celebrate, pause, breathe, and move on to the next. If your focus needs to shift, that’s a natural and necessary part of being agile – but shift your focus wholeheartedly to achieve the new or revised isolated goal.”
“I know it’s cheating to sneak a second tip in but…also…embrace meditation! You don’t have to know how to do it well to find comfort from it. The power of simply stopping for a few minutes amongst the chaos, grounding yourself in the moment, and tuning into your one true constant – your breath – is immeasurable.”
“If my younger self, in previous jobs, knew what I know now, I would have spoken out without fear when I witnessed injustices around me, or felt sidelined because of my gender. I once heard the phrase ‘lead loudly’ on a webinar and it stayed with me. Softly, quietly, carefully is often appropriate, but on the big issues, on the themes of humanity, and fairness and justice – lead loudly, from the heart, with integrity, and never compromise on the personal values that you hold most dear.”
One tip you would give to a young buzzing entrepreneur“Just do it and do it now! Whenever I’m scared in business I just think there’s one thing scarier than this and that’s looking back and regretting I didn’t take the opportunities or didn’t try. Eventually you get used to feeling uncomfortable and if you’re not feeling that way it’s time to push some more. Also mindset is everything, if you believe you can achieve you will and vice versa! It’s a bit airy fairy but a lot of my start up time was spent brainwashing myself with Bob Proctor’s advice on the Law of Attraction and using vision boards which I still use now.”
“I started Sashay Dance as a hobby so when it really took off I had to learn everything from pitching, accounts, social media, to web design and SEO. To fast track the vast amount of knowledge needed (as I had no prior business experience) I learned from everyone I could. I was mentored from day 1, accepted on the NatWest Business Accelerator Programme and received a lot of training/mentorship from the Ad:Venture Programme. Learning from others in business, surrounding myself with likeminded people and making the ultimate sacrifice of a lot of time really fast tracked the business to success. I started the business at 28 years old and by the time I was 30 it was national. I joke as I currently feel about 20 years older than I actually am but it’s all worth it to be doing what I love delivering fun across the nation and create happy dancing memories to last a lifetime!”
One tip you would give to a young buzzing entrepreneur“Try to leave any ego out of it – if it ‘fails’ it doesn’t matter – the fear of failure will prevent you going for it!”
“Allowed for another 10-15% of extra overheads when planning… it will always happen!”
One tip you would give to a young buzzing entrepreneur“Focus, focus, focus. Rigour of planning and follow up is everything.”
“There is no silver bullet to any business. It takes dedication, graft and tenacity. Rejections and criticisms – whether from funders or other business-start up groups or customer focus groups make you stronger. Keep pushing, keep trying, an opportunity will open – you’ll seize that. So, when others tell you anything negative, just let that feedback make you stronger.”
One tip you would give to a young buzzing entrepreneur“Take that opportunity and don’t be afraid to fail.”
“If I could do anything differently, I would’ve started sooner. I wouldn’t have let the fear of what other people might think stop me from trying earlier.”
One tip you would give to a young buzzing entrepreneur“To be confident about the activity provided, with a lot of pictures of events previously run, and be very enthusiastic!”
“I started to run my workshops in 2007, and I have developed a unique activity that brings a lot of joy! Having a good insurance, and good reviews help a lot too. I first only run workshops for kids and totally forgot that the adult’s market was an option for my workshops, I only started adult workshops in 2019!”
We hope that’s been inspiring. Who will you be celebrating this International Women’s Day?
