5 Female Founders Give Their Younger Selves Advice
Aimée Felone, co-founder of Knights Of — an inclusive publisher which has launched a crowdfunded pop-up shop.
“I wholeheartedly believe that it’s our experiences — positive and negative — that make us who we are. I’d just encourage younger Aimée to believe in the power of her voice, and let her know that its OK to not always have everything planned out.”
“There is one piece of advice I would like to give a younger version of myself, and it is the same advice I give myself every day even now and that is.. it is OK to think you can change the world even if others think that it is not possible. It doesn’t mean you are big headed or full of yourself. In fact, in 2015 after attending a Tony Robbins event I took a really long look at what I believed about myself, and I wrote myself a reminder which sits on my wall in full view today, and if I had little Jacqui here I would paint it on her wall too, and it says… ‘I don’t have to sit down because of what someone might think of me, I have to stand up because of what I think of myself’.” Jacqui Holth is Founder and Director of Adventurous Life Project — a school project which is dedicated to helping the boy who saved her husband’s life in a remote village in Nepal over twenty years ago.
“Mel, you know what. Have faith and confidence that, even if you mess up, you can fix it. It’s not a big deal.” I still struggle with this idea that it has to be perfect first time and as adults, we lose that little kid thing where we just want to have our go. We just want to try something new — even if it’s not perfect, we want to learn new things. And so I’m always encouraging myself and I would encourage the younger version of myself to, “Just have your go Mel — it doesn’t have to be perfect the first time. It’s all about progress, not perfection.” Melanie Eusebe is an entrepreneur, award-winning business strategist and founder of the Black British Business Awards.
“Never doubt the importance of a network, whether personally or professionally. Every person you meet might have an impact on your path. Whether that is right now, or at some point in the future, know that every person you meet is part of your journey.” Michelle Kennedy, founder of peanut app. Read Michelle’s full interview here.
“I always considered myself confident but in reality I still had self esteem issues, particularly being an underrepresented person in the workplace. I would encourage myself to get mentors and coaches and be in a community that makes me feel confident about who I am and what value I can add in the workplace. I would also say to start something — it took me years to finally bite the bullet on starting a company. The sooner you start the sooner you learn what works and what doesn’t.” Abadesi Osunsade — founder of Hustle Crew and co-founder of newly launched women in tech network Elpha. Read Abadesi’s full interview here.
