Last Tuesday many hopes were resting on Hillary Clinton’s shoulders. One of them was an opportunity to break the ultimate glass ceiling and become the first female president of the United States. The day after the US elections brought these hopes crashing down and proved once again that we, as women, have still a long way to go before achieving true equality within the workplace, be it politics, academia or business.
Talking about the latter, I would like to focus on a part of business that is the closest to my heart –start-up companies and small businesses. When people talk about startups, there is a lot of doom and gloom about the risks associated, the long hours and the hard work, which are all absolutely valid points. However, very few mention the flexibility and the freedom that comes with being your own boss. In the current day and age when more and more people strive for a sense of purpose and a decent work-life balance, when the job for life has become a thing from the past and the world seems to be facing continuous uncertainty, starting your own business might not be as risky as it has been in the past and would certainly enable a founder to be in control of one’s life and fortune. There is also a much better developed ecosystem offering support and advice to fledgling companies that reduces the risks of starting up. Many of Converge alumni have been supported by a number of organisations in Scotland such as RSE Enterprise Fellowship, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Edge and many others and it is delighting to see that over 80% survive beyond 3 years.
As today is Women's Entrepreneurship Day, I want to go back to the work life balance question that seems to be a real struggle for many entrepreneurs. Randi Zuckerburg who is reported to be worth a $100 million had posted a very concise message on twitter a few years ago declaring that as an entrepreneur you will have to choose between work, family, friends, fitness and sleep and can’t have more than 3 out of 5. I really like this quote and I think it can be applied not just for entrepreneurs but for all people who have career and family to juggle.
At Converge our team is 80% female and on a daily basis we try to manage families and hobbies, work and friends and some of us have given up on fitness. Each year we see over 200 potential company founders enter the programme, 30% of them are women. We teach them to build their MVPs (minimum viable product) and go out there and try to sell them. And what I came to realise is that the same principal applies to life. Being successful does not mean being perfect and in order to one day have a female leader of the free world, we need more women to say - I won’t be a perfect mother, perfect wife, perfect business woman, perfect scientist but I will be the best I can and I am not scared to try.
By Dr Olga Kozlova, Director of Converge Challenge, mother of two, wife, daughter, scientist, mentor and startup ambassador.
