In honour of International Women’s Day we are recognising, celebrating and championing the amazing achievements of pioneering women across the globe, whilst continuing much-needed conversations around the challenges we still face.
It’s the perfect time to make our voices heard and this year’s International Women’s Day theme is #BalanceforBetter, a call to action for accelerating gender balance across multiple fields including business, politics, media coverage and wealth to name but a few.
Two entrepreneurs who are passionate about supporting the International Women’s Day movement are founders of top business podcast Secret Leaders, Dan Murray-Serter and Rich Martell. After launching in 2017, the podcast – which sees some of the world’s biggest entrepreneurs interviewed – has an equal balance between male and female guests. Some of the trailblazing women featured include Jo Malone CBE, Baroness Martha Lane-Fox (lastminute.com) and Holly Tucker (Not On The High Street).
To mark the recent launch of the third season of Secret Leaders and ahead of International Women’s Day, Dan and Rich have rounded up the top pieces of advice they have learnt from some of the inspirational women featured on the show.
Be your own cheerleader
“Never feel frightened to use your voice. Keep being present because it’s really important. Never feel like your voice isn’t worth putting out there.”
Martha Lane Fox, founder of Lastminute.com
Follow your instincts
“I think sometimes in business you get that real gut feeling and when you know something is right, don’t keep questioning it because you will eventually talk yourself out of it.”
Jo Malone, founder of Jo Loves
Surround yourself with people who inspire you
“The best advice I ever got was from my Dad. He said to always, always not be afraid to hang out with people who are clearly smarter than me. If you’re going to go anywhere, you’re going to hang out with people who are going to be scarily brighter or more polished and smarter than you – just choose them.”
Anne-Marie Huby, co-founder of JustGiving
Take care of yourself as well as the world
“You know when you’re pursuing these great businesses and these great dreams, make sure it’s not coming at the cost of something that you might regret and just make sure you’re always giving a little bit more of a shit than you think you are about the rest of the world.”
Gail Gallie, founder of Project Everyone
Never get too comfortable
“I think the moment you feel successful, you’ve probably lost it. Building a start-up is a constant battle against not dying and the minute you get to a steady state you’ve got to make that choice about whether you want to break it to make something bigger.”
Alice Bentinck MBE, co-founder of Entrepreneur First
Find an environment that nurtures your strength
“You need to work for a boss who likes you. If you work for a boss who doesn’t like you – quit and get another job, okay? You need to be in an environment that actually supports your strengths; avoid the boss that tells you to fix your weaknesses. Great things are done when individuals work to their strengths.”
Anne Boden, founder of Starling Bank
Series three of Secret Leaders is now live. Listeners can subscribe, as well as listen to series one and two on iTunes and Spotify. For more information, visit www.secretleaders.com.
