What are the key milestones on your path to leadership?
I’m the CEO and Co-Founder of Angel Academe. There are two aspects of Angel Academe: the first is trying to deploy more capital in female founders to close the funding gap, and the other aspect is mobilising more women as angel investors.
Traditional angel networks were run for men by men and angel investing just didn’t get on the radar of many female leaders. Also, when women pitched their businesses to these male dominated groups, it didn’t tend to go well. Their messages didn’t land with the men in the same way as for male entrepreneurs, regardless of the type of business it was. This felt like a good business opportunity to me.
I became an entrepreneur quite late. I think you really need to be driven by the problem you want to solve. It has to be something you care about a lot because building a business is way harder than you ever imagine it will be. It's not such a bad thing to have a few jobs first because it takes such a commitment. If you do it later in life it may be easier. You’ll have a network behind you and experience of how to navigate the business world. I started Angel Academe as a side hustle - I was still working and earning money which enabled me to get this off the ground.
What are the key challenges you have faced as a leader?
I’ve always worked in male dominated environments and quite often being different was an advantage. But when I started angel investing, I often felt pre-judged by men. I’d talk about my interest and experience in tech and quite often they’d respond by pitching me an opportunity in fashion or child care or something typically female. One female investor I know was told to invest in a handbag business because she’d get a nice bag out of it. It was well-meant I’m sure, but patronising.
There are even more horror stories on the founder side. A female founder we’ve invested in was told to ‘leave her ovaries at home’ by one of her board members. This is someone who’s meant to be supporting her and the business! Women should walk away from investors who aren’t aligned with them. No money is better than bad money.
Women have to cater to things men just don't. This includes questions about their family status and plans. Whether a man has kids is not seen as an issue, or indicative of whether they'll be successful.
We’ve invested in visibly pregnant founders and about half our portfolio have families. It’s just not an issue. We understand you can organise yourself in such a way that you can both work and be a mum. If you have a good business, a robust plan and support both at home and work, then it shouldn't be a barrier.
Describe your leadership style / what are your core values as a leader?
I value integrity, honesty and transparency. I’m a very straightforward person I hope. I want to work with people who value this amazing network of very experienced women who are putting their money where their mouth is.
This is their own hard-earned money that could be spent on doing things with their families or holidays. They’re doing it because they want to support new businesses and help other women succeed. Of course, there’s potential for return but it’s by no means guaranteed. What I expect to see is a respect for that. It’s a large personal risk.
What advice do you have for women who are trying to establish themselves as leaders?
I think the first thing, if it isn’t too late, is to study a STEM subject if you can. We want to close the gender pay gap, and that’s a big way. Even if not, consider a career in STEM where there are great opportunities for women.
Build your networks as you go along. There’s huge value in female networks. But don’t ignore men, men are our allies. Be bold, be brave. Speak up, find your voice. Support others.
How would you advise organisations who want to foster diversity and gender equity in leadership?
It comes from the top. If there are women already at the top, they should be driving change. And hopefully there are men at the top hiring and promoting women too. We need to make the argument that diversity benefits everyone. Successful organisations are more diverse. It isn’t a zero sum game.
The startup businesses we support is that they will have women at the top from the get go. Re-engineering old companies that were built by men for men is a huge challenge.
One of those things that excites me about angel investing is that we can use our money to drive that change. Women already own half the wealth in the UK and that money is our power and we can use that to empower other women.
What would you say to the people who don’t believe they have a place in the diversity conversation because they don’t consider themselves ‘diverse’?
We need to work out what’s in it for them and communicate that better.
They have women in their lives - sisters and daughters - what kind of world do they want for them? Diversity should benefit everyone. There’s room at the table for everyone.
