Diversity Rules Magazine

5 Diversity Rules Magazine October 2018 female would-be entrepreneurs identify as Feminists. Not all women are Feminists. In a survey published in the U.K, 47% of young women under 21 identified as Feminists, which still leaves the majority of young women NOT identifying as Feminists. What I would say about being a woman in business, is that it has served me much better to collaborate with other wom- en than to compete in any kind of ruthless way. Of course business is competitive and everyone needs to use their skills and contacts to gain leads and contracts, but I have found that working with other women in small groups to compete against established compa- nies, is much more effective than working solo. Team- up to move-up I say! JRK: What do you see as the primary challenges a woman faces when starting their own enterprise? NS: My primary challenge and I think from talking to other women they find the same, is the doubt ex- pressed by other people that I could create something successful myself outside of a corporate setting. I think women suffer from not being seen as serious business people and certainly when I've gone out looking for in- vestment in my platform, my sizeable business acumen hasn't been taken seriously by those doing the investing – predominantly men. is lack of belief in women's ability is widespread and can be very demoralizing for women entrepreneurs. JRK: You have discussed 4 ways one can benefit from being a feminist entrepreneur? Can you expand on those benefits and tell us more about them? NS: Yes – I address those below: Feminist women can design our own destiny It has only been relatively recently that women – and I'm speaking about Western women here -have been able to design our own destiny en masse. rough educa- tion and the advance of Feminism, we are now largely able to live the life that we want. is is an incredibly freeing mental concept, which allows our creativity and entrepreneurship to flourish. We can be bold and unapologetic– being a Feminist businesswoman frees us from the negative gender ste- reotypes which only serve to keep our true potential in check. Embracing our boldness of voice and ex- pressing our opinions out loud gives us the energy and agency that we need to succeed in the business world. A Feminist businesswoman is not striving to be liked, she is instead striving to be respected and respect is the cornerstone of success in the entrepreneur's world. Your modern outlook gives you an edge – we are in the age of modernity and brands with out-dated views, opinions and products will not capture the hearts or wallets of the new generation of consumers. Young women and increasingly young men will be looking for Feminist brands to spend their money with, so if you're in this space already, you're ahead of the curve. You aspire towards something bigger than yourself – One of the key words I see to describe the future of successful businesses is 'purpose'. e Feminist fire burns brightly inside many female entrepreneurs and the desire for equality of opportunity for all women keeps us striving for greatness much longer than if we were just doing it for ourselves. I know that's true at least in my case. JRK: Can you provide some case studies of women who you feel embody the spirit of a "Genderbuzz- woman?" Cindy Gallop is a former global advertising execu- tive, Cindy is the CEO and Founder of the Sex Tech platform, 'Make love, not porn' e platform champions values that are pro-sex, pro-porn and pro-knowing the difference. Cindy aims to transform the porn industry into the love and social sex industry, by moving away from the inherently ag- gressive nature of hard-core online pornography into the world of real life sex and real life couples. Cindy is also a fearless and vocal cham- pion of women and we can't get enough of her social media feeds. Cindy, we salute you! Florence Adepoju is the twenty-seven year old founder of vegan beauty brand, MD- MFLOW. London-based Flo has a BSc Hons in Cosmetic science and is snapping at the heels of some of the beauty industry's biggest brands. We met Flo in early 2018 at e London School of Fashion to hear about her foray into the Stromberg - Con't on page 6

• Cover