4 Learning Lessons from Top UK Female Leaders

During my London trip in partnership with London & Partners, I had the chance to sit down with a few of the most inspiring female entrepreneurs who are working to scale up their social impact business ventures.

With very diverse backgrounds, career experiences, and business bottom lines, it was inspiring to see common themes and advice emerging in all of our conversations. One thing all of the women agreed on was how much hard work goes into growing a new business venture and the necessity of cultivating community in order to achieve success.

1) PIP JAMIESON, THE DOTS

Pip Jamieson is the founder of The Dots, a community of “no collar entrepreneurs” -- creatives, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. She notes how having her cohort of London & Partners female scale-up founders to bounce ideas off of and commiserate with has been crucial to her success: “We’re each others’ cheerleaders. It’s wonderful how we can chat about share option plans or managing teams, and then if someone’s having a bad day, just kind of boosting each other, as well. It’s so important to have that really supportive environment, especially when you’re scaling. You need someone to lean on. It can be a bit lonely being a founder, it can be a bit lonely being a CEO. So it’s really important to have that ecosystem. And I think some of the challenges female founders have are quite distinct from other founders, so we can talk about those challenges very openly and help each other.”

2) TAMARA RAJAH, LIVE BETTER WITH

Tamara Rajah is the founder of Live Better With, a social enterprise on a mission to make day-to-day life better for people living with long-term conditions. She notes how both business and personal networks have helped to increase the social impact she’s been able to have. “The biggest thing that’s helped me has been networks. Who are all the people you can reach out to who suddenly raise you up from being this very small thing that nobody knows about to actually having impact. I’m part of a great female founder network, I’m part of a massive founders network, and it’s getting plugged into the right thing. Being in London, it’s not actually that hard to do because there are so many people who are so willing to help and to pay it forward and share the pitfalls they’ve run into. If I were starting again, I would do that even sooner, find those networks that are really going to make a difference because you can save so much time and so much pain just by learning from others.”

3) ANNA JONES, ALLBRIGHT

Anna Jones is a co-founder of Allbright, a networking club for businesswomen. Like Rajah, she advises building a network of women as early on in a career as possible. “The advice I’d give to entrepreneurs is importance of the sisterhood. We have this mantra that runs throughout the business of “sisterhood works.” Because what we see is if you start to build up your female network early on, or anytime, but the earlier you do it, the better, the more likely you are to fulfill your career ambitions. Because you’ve got people who’ve got your back, you’ve got people you can be inspired by, you’ve got people who you can share challenges and opportunities with, and that’s what we see every day in our spaces, that people are coming together and meeting people they wouldn’t normally meet, which is super amazing and something quite frankly that men have been doing for centuries.”

4) AMALI DE ALWIS, CODE FIRST: GIRLS

Amali de Alwis is the founder of Code First: Girls, with the mission of getting women into tech. She notes that careers will always have obstacles, but that they’re something that can be overcome with persistence and the right network to help. “I see a career more like a series a hurdles you jump over, but it’s not a brick wall. There are ways around, there are ways over. So just keep moving forward. I am a strong believer that the harder I work, the luckier I get. Find good people who can help and support you, and you’ll get there.”

All of these incredible founders have used the women around them for support and found ways to lift other women up in the process, and encourage others to do the same. In the challenge of any career and the added grind of being a woman smashing glass ceilings, building a community of inspiring and like-minded women can be the difference between burnout and success.