In honour of International Women’s Day which was celebrated on Thursday, 8th March, we wanted to do a round up of five of our favourite female entrepreneurs.
Before we commence, we wanted to raise more of a serious point. Pay inequality is an issue that we feel incredibly passionate about, here at Add Then Multiply. Unfortunately, women do not get enough credit in the world of business. We are surrounded by inspirational, intelligent and hard-working women but the gender pay gap continues to be an issue. Women earn on average 14.1% less than their male counterparts, a stagnant figure which has not improved over the last three years. In an era of rapid advances in technology and communication, how is it possible that we are still stuck in the dark ages when it comes to pay?
A recent law, requiring companies who employ over 250 people to publish a gender pay gap audit has highlighted the magnitude of the problem. There are some astonishing figures on the site; the median hourly rate for women working at Barclays bank is 43.5% less than men! From retailers to colleges, it is shocking how prevalent this issue is.
As entrepreneurs, we have the power to do something about this and work towards a change. Equal pay is the right thing to do. In order to attract and retain key members of staff, propagate a culture of trust and above all conduct business with integrity, companies must pay men and women who do the same job, the same income. If this hasn’t happened in your company, there is still time to change.
For now, we want to celebrate five incredible females who are smashing through glass ceilings every day.
1. Rupi Kaur, Poet @rupikaur_
Canadian/Indian poet Rupi Kaur self-published her first work of poetry Milk and Honey in 2014. The book experienced enormous success and was picked up by a publisher for a second volume in 2015. Her second volume, The Sun and Her Flowers debuted as a New York Times bestseller and has remained high on the charts ever since. From trauma and love, to women and immigration, Kaur’s poetry is fresh, original and invigorating.
2. Esther Kinnear-Derungs and Tara Davies, Co-founders of Model Agency Linden Staub
Esther and Tara started ethical modelling agency Linden Staub back in 2015 following several disappointing experiences working at agencies that didn’t seem to put the welfare of their talent first. Both Esther and Tara saw that girls were being treated as commodities rather than humans and experienced a great deal of mistreatment and exploitation. Linden Staub is unique in that it is the mother agent to all its talent. Esther and Tara work closely with the models they represent, setting objectives and goals, and above all offering a supportive and nurturing environment. Their mantra is ‘empowering women’ and their mission is to ‘bring back honesty and integrity to the world of modelling.’ [1]
3. Jessi Baker, CEO of Provenance
CEO and tech designer Jessi noticed an increasing trend in consumer behaviour: the desire to know the origin of goods and produce. A recent survey indicated that 8 out of 10 UK consumers want this information to be readily available [2]. Having secured £1 million in funding, Jessi launched Provenance, a service that allows businesses and suppliers to be transparent about where their goods come from. In a world where environmental concerns are finally approaching the forefront, Provenance allows businesses and consumers to do their part. Their aim is to make secretive supply chains that devastate environments and livelihoods a thing of the past. With a commendable ‘big why’ and a fantastically designed website, be sure to check out Provenance.
4. Pip Black and Joan Murphy, Founders of Frame Fitness
Before they founded Frame, fitness experts Pip and Joan felt that exercise was not accessible enough to women. Their 16 combined years of experience showed them that many women felt exercise was a chore and there were few gyms offering inclusive, engaging and fun classes. They wanted to help women incorporate exercise into their lifestyle and founded Frame, which now has 6 studios across London. They’ve even created Mumhood, an exercise and support programme to help women from pregnancy through to motherhood. A dynamic duo, and mothers themselves, Pip and Joan are an inspiration.
5. Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of The Southbank Centre and Founder of Women of The World Festival
Jude Kelly has an incredible work history. Founding director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse, previous art director of Battersea Arts Centre and currently heading up the creative team at The Southbank Centre, Jude is a creative powerhouse. As the longest-serving creative director of The Southbank Centre, she helped create its now renowned collective identity. However, she leaves the centre this year to focus on WOW: Women of the World Festival, which she set up 8 years ago. It is a festival that celebrates women and seeks to uncover and explore existing inequalities and look at how they can be overcome. Artists, writers, politicians, comedians and activists partake in the festival which hosts a number of talks and workshops, all with the aim of empowering women and getting one step closer to gender equality. It is held every year around International Women’s Day.
We hope you celebrated International Women’s Day in true style, just as we are sure these women did! Let them inspire you as they do us, and let that energy drive you to do everything you can to close the gender gap. It’s about time.
Until next week!
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