Women in Business Celebration

Women business owners

I was invited by East Lothian Business Gateway to the EntreprenHER talk at Queen Margaret University on Tuesday 19th March. The event focused on ‘being women in Business today’ and the challenges that female Entrepreneurs face. Prue Leith (the Bake Off judge) was the main speaker and shared her story of being a woman in business.

Prue Leith said “If you start with an optimistic nature, it doesn’t matter if you fail. Start with an idea that you really care about – that’s what matters.” This really resonated with me as over the past 22 years, I have also worked in a similar way.

I feel very fortunate that over the past 22 years as a female in Business in Scotland, I haven’t faced setbacks or discriminations. During the talk, it mentioned that Women in Business can be held back due to their gender, family commitments and unable to raise capital. Prue also mentioned that she never borrowed money for her business to grow. I have also done the same as that means if a recession hits or the economy slows down, you aren’t struggling to pay back bank loans. Prue said that she knew many successful women in business overextended themselves financially and their business went under.

I got to ask her a question about the difficulty in ensuringWork/Life Balance and how she implements Self-care into her life. She said that she ensured that she allocated time in her diary for holidays to re-charge her batteries. I also like having short breaks and holidays to look forward as this motivates me.

She also said that she loves being in business and although 80 years old next year, she is launching 2 new businesses this year. I hope that I can maintain her enthusiasm and her energy as I allow my business to grow and flourish.

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