Each week, Her.ie will be bringing you the personal thoughts and tips from Irish entrepreneur Sonya Lennon – fashion stylist and co-founder of frockadvisor.
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Week 5 – Women mean business...
In the last two years I seem to have become a somewhat, in demand speaker. I tick several boxes: technology, entrepreneurship, female, retail, e-Commerce and export. As someone high in the corridors of power once said, ‘I cynical mind would think you pre-designed this construction of attributes as a powerful suite.’ Well, I had no control over what sex I was born, and quite frankly, I wouldn’t change it if I could.
It’s a great time to be a woman in business. Policy makers and those answerable to stakeholders and shareholders alike, want to be able to say that they are doing their bit for proportional representation of the sexes. Some are driven by moral imperative, some are driven by optics and others are driven simply by money. My feeling is, from my angle, it doesn’t matter. The scientific evidence is there to support the fact that organisations that share high level, male and female leadership, are more effective and ultimately more profitable. According to a recent report by Barclays PLC, Fortune 500 firms with three or more female directors had an 84% better return on sales and a 46% better return on equity.
On the other end of the spectrum, roughly half of all small businesses in the US, are started by women, with only a paltry 7% getting VC funding. However, things are changing, the number of female led $10M + has increased by 57%, a growth rate of 50% more than those firms overall, these findings from a report entitled ‘Growing under the radar: An Exploration of the Achievement of Million-Dollar Women-Owned Firms’ Catchy! Over the radar would be nice for once. Of course I’d like you to want more women in business and STEM, but whatever is driving you, you are feeding into the normalisation of successful women. The more normal it is to see a woman at a board room table or being funding by a VC, the easier it’s going to be for everyone to wrap their Oakleys around the concept.
Sonya Lennon
Founder, frockadvisor.
