Whether by opportunity or need, the number of women entrepreneurs is growing. About 30% of all private businesses in the world today are operated or have a woman as their creator.
It really seems that “women will rule the world“. This is what predicts the sociologist Domenico De Masi, author of the bestselling book ” Creative Idleness” (2000), in an interview to the website “O Globo“, published this November. According to the Italian, female domination already has a date to occur: 2030.
De Masi explains that women will live on average three years longer than men and will be 60% of college students, and the same percentage of graduates and master’s degrees, which will lead them to the “centre of the social system”.
“Run the World (Girls)” (2011), Beyoncé.
The growth of female entrepreneurship and predictions on the subject are promising, but there is still a long way to go. Only a small part of women-run businesses is considered a high impact company. One of the main reasons is an uneven investment by financial institutions.
Less than 10% of women-run companies receive external investment. If they had the same financial support as men-run businesses, six million jobs would be created in five years.
In addition to the difficulty of obtaining investments, women face low representativeness in leadership positions and lack of public policies focused on ending inequality. They also have to deal with double journeys, as they are responsible for the housework.
On November 19th is celebrated the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. Inspired by the date, we listened to five entrepreneurs from different sectors, locations and backgrounds to better understand their loves and pains.
Yonara Mateus (The English Affair)
Yonara Mateus defines herself as an “introspective” woman, “an eternal unsatisfied” who never had “a very conventional way of thinking”. It was in her introspection that she found the ability to “create solutions to world problems.” Disappointments with the labour market were the last straw to undertake.
Owner of The English Affair (TEA), a school that offers personalized teaching of English and Portuguese as foreign languages in Portugal and Angola, Yonara was born in Lobito (Angola) and lives in Lisbon region (Portugal). Before opening the school, which was founded in 2013, she was already teaching language classes in companies and working as an independent trainer.
Graduated in Psychomotor Rehabilitation and International MBA (among other qualifications), the 36-year-old teacher says that her project was gradually generated, “without formal support or any incentive or funding.” “There are always some supportive voices, but they are much less than those of disapproval and criticism, which can also be seen as an incentive.”
The main challenges faced by Yonara at the head of TEA are bureaucratic issues, managing some specific areas of the business and “almost innate discrediting” for being a woman. “As if a woman’s business is more a hobby than something serious. We have to work twice as hard to prove that we’re not kidding, that we really believe in what we do.”
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Perhaps this difficulty led the school to become “a women’s business for women”. Yonara says she didn’t plan the business that way, but that happened. “Over 90% of CommuniTEA teachers are women, over 85% of our students are women and I want to believe that we make a difference in their lives every day. […] Our goal is to help these women break the pattern of self-sabotage they bring in their speeches.”
Regarding the growth of female entrepreneurship, Yonara believes that women have always been entrepreneurs, what we have witnessed is the “professionalization of this characteristic”.
“We live longer, we are more biologically resilient and as a rule we have more flexibility and adaptability. There is nothing in our genetic code that says we cannot perform the same functions as men. This does not mean that all women have to be entrepreneurs, but it means that women can be whatever they want.”
Luciana Rodrigues (Ativamente Assessoria)
Luciana Rodrigues, the founder of Ativamente Assessoria, company that provides personal development advice to clients around the world, reveals that she was led to undertake after the discovery of her life purpose, which came with the cure of Crohn’s Disease (chronic inflammation in the intestine).
Graduated in Psychopedagogy and Master in Neuropsychology, Multiple Intelligences and Mindfulness, Luciana used to work as a Portuguese teacher. After experiencing the health problem, she was sure that her mission was really to teach, but teach people to lead a life with more lightness, happiness and emotional autonomy.
Now 45 and an entrepreneur for three years, Luciana says that her main challenges are to “position herself in a different way”, because she is not a coach or holistic therapist; consolidate its methodology, which is new and exclusive in the market; and make people realize that they need help.
From Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), but living in Lisbon (Portugal), the psychopedagogue says she has had many difficulties as a woman: “In the universe of knowledge about the brain, in neuroscience, most are men”.
When asked if she believes her business makes the difference in other women’s lives, Luciana is adamant: “I don’t just believe my business makes a difference, I’m sure about it!”. Luciana has created a method that guides people to make more assertive decisions and focus, besides disassociating themselves from beliefs, fears and blockages that prevent them from undertaking.
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About the growth of entrepreneurship, the consultant says that “woman is born entrepreneur. From the moment she becomes a woman and mother, she already has entrepreneurial characteristics”.
“What I would advise a woman to undertake is mainly that she needs to have focus, discipline and consistency. She needs to know where she wants to go and seek for self-knowledge to manage her own emotions.”
Victoria Bosko (Miller Cake Studio)
Diversifying our shortlist of great women entrepreneurs, we present Victoria Bosko, owner of Miller Cake Studio, a confectionery in Dublin (Ireland).
Born in Budapest (Hungary), Victoria holds a Master of Political Science. Before opening the confectionery, still in her homeland and already on Emerald Island, she worked in the luxury fashion market and in finance.
She decided to make a radical change during maternity leave, after having her first child. “I knew I wanted to do something that involved creativity and I always loved baking. I was on maternity leave with my first child and came across cake decorating. I sold my first cupcakes at the local Christmas fair and the business basically just started to form / build itself.”
Victoria is not in this endeavour alone, as she has her husband as her business partner and a “very supportive” family, as well as “lucky enough to meet some amazing entrepreneurs along the way who gave us very good advice and recommended our product to their clients”.
As her main challenge, she mentioned time and space management. “Raising two babies while working nonstop was very difficult. We also manage the space in our home because we started out as a home bakery.”
Regarding the growth of female entrepreneurship, Victoria believes that today “there are a lot more opportunities and support for women. Also, there are many great women with fantastic ideas and they now have the tools to start their own business.”
To conclude, the 37-year-old confectioner advises:
“Don’t start without having a solid plan. Make sure you know what you are doing. […] Do what you want to do, keep going even if things are hard sometimes. Learn from every situation. If you come across a difficult client or receive a complaint take what you need to learn from it and move forward.
Waneska Valois (Secret Boudoir by Valois)
Born in Recife (Brazil), Waneska Valois is graduated in Advertising. In Brazil, she worked as a database and troubleshooting supervisor for a money transfer company. Eleven years ago, she immigrated to Dublin (Ireland), where she had to reinvent herself: she worked as a nanny, cleaner, waitress, marketing promoter, a saleswoman in a clothing store, photographer and other activities.
After a “crazy” trip across the US, Waneska returned to Ireland unemployed and feeling lost. At this time, she got acquainted with boudoir photography and realized that there was an opportunity to make money and to make a difference.
At 37, Waneska owns Secret Boudoir by Valois, a photography studio in Dublin 100% dedicated to empowering women through sensual and elegant photography.
At the beginning of this journey, the photographer’s main challenge was to change people’s view of boudoir. Boudoir photos are photos of women for themselves, not for those who are looking for pornography.
Waneska believes women need self-esteem to undertake. “Women have always been entrepreneurs. In my opinion, much more than men. What is happening now is that we are using this ability in other areas as well.”
For the photographer, women who want to undertake, first, need to make an analysis of their values and preferences and rely on women who are in the same enterprise.
“Get to know yourself! Try to understand who you are, what you like and, most importantly, find out what you don’t like. With all this information, you will find out if you really want to undertake, because own a business is not easy. But at the same time, it’s wonderful, especially when you meet other women on the same journey and can count on them.”
Lilian Nira (helloNira)
A sabbatical year made Lilian Nira, founder of helloNira, digital marketing agency, realize that she could no longer pursue her career in the “traditional” way as a corporate employee. That’s when her own business was born.
Focused on the female audience, helloNira was founded in 2017 in Lisbon (Portugal), especially to help women entrepreneurs and professionals from around the world.
“As their businesses grow, they mature, set new goals and improve their living conditions. With this growth, they positively change not only their lives but their surroundings where even more women are involved, creating a cycle of mutual support and development.”
Although the agency was not born overnight, the 34-year-old from Sao Paulo (Brazil) confesses that she “had no idea of the journey she was beginning” and the support she received from people and institutions was essential to establish herself.
Graduated in tourism with MBA in Digital Marketing, she claims that her main challenges are learning about all areas of a company in practice (between mistakes and hits) and finding a balance between personal and professional life.
Lilian believes that women undertake because they are not represented in the job market. “By not finding a way to grow, we decide to create our own opportunities and entrepreneurship is one of those ways. A liberation from paradigms and prejudices that no longer fit nowadays, but which for so many years we have been taught to follow so much that even we doubt our own abilities.”
If she could advise a woman who wants to undertake, Lilian would recommend her to “understand well why she wants to undertake, and whether those desires match the challenges of running a business. Believe in long term planning and don’t expect everything to happen in a week. Search and chat with people in the same area and others as well. Empower yourself! Go to meetings, courses and read as much as you can. And especially, don’t give up on the first 300 losses.”
These journeys, even distinct, reveal convergences, such as the perception of women’s ability to undertake and issues related to their traditional role in society. All of them also left messages of resilience and perseverance, and guaranteed: all effort is worth it.
