SHE CAN SHE DID MIDWEEK MINGLE

I first met Fiona Grayson, founder of She Can She Did, when she interviewed me back in August 2017 for her blog that shines a spotlight on female entrepreneurs in their teens, twenties and thirties who have made the leap to go solo and launch their own businesses in the UK.

Fi and I met on a sunny day in Granary Square, London, and chatted all things small business over coffees and croissants at Caravan. You can read Fi's incredibly kind write-up here. It begins; 'Her jacket is covered in monkeys. My T-shirt is littered with dinosaurs', and we both knew from that moment that we'd get on very well.

It's always a privilege to be asked for my perspective on running a small business, and to be honest it's always incredibly useful to be forced to take the time to reflect. I know I really value the insights from my peers to help me navigate this long and windy road, so I hope our hiccups strike a chord with other Female Founders too who might be experiencing the same. 

One of the best things about being a Female Founder is connecting with other Female Founders - they really are an incredible lot, and Fi is the cream of the crop. She's full of ambition and passion, and makes it her mission to bring together the Women in Business community in the UK to share the realities of starting and running a business so that we all feel inspired, motivated, and cheered on by likeminded business women who know exactly what it's like. In a world of Instagram filters and curated content, Fi brings small business back to the basics - she keeps things real, honest and, by doing so, allows everyone to feel there is room at the table for them.

Our paths initially crossed because Fi had seen a feature in Elle Magazine where I'd been included in a list of '23 Female Entrepreneurs Under 30 Who Are Bossing Life' and got in touch off the back of that. That article still makes me laugh as I was neither bossing life at that time, or even technically under 30. I'm always so grateful to be featured in any pieces celebrating Women in Business, but at the same time I feel the cringe of praise (don't we all?) and the need to qualify the article with the reality that we really are winging it in Postcards Home HQ each and every day.

In Autumn 2018 Fiona asked me if I'd join a panel discussion at Brighton's vibrant co-working space Platf9rm and talk about the highs and lows of running a company. I sat on a panel with Anna Newton from The Anna Edit, Krisi Smith from Bird & Blend Tea Co., Alice Rivers-Cripps from Posh Totty Designs and Lola Hoad from One Girl Band and we all discussed the highlights and lowlights of our small business careers and why we were motivated to keep going.

I am honestly a proud advocate of each and every one of those businesses so it was fantastic to hear how each company had started and what adventures they had along the way.

I love Women in Business networking events and I can honestly say hand on heart that the She Can She Did Midweek Mingles are my absolute favourites. The atmosphere is welcoming, the women all have such different businesses and interesting stories to tell, and I always come away feeling charged-up rather than drained by a night networking.

I've met some really good small business pals through the She Can She Did Midweek Mingles who form an important part of my creative community.

I'd also really recommend the She Can She Did Podcast if you are interested in starting a small business or are simply interested in hearing about the business journeys of some of your favourite independent brands. Available to download and subscribe to in iTunes and Spotify.

Image Sources: (1) She Can She Did, (2) She Can She Did, (3) She Can She Did, (4) She Can She Did, (5) She Can She Did