Single Mums and Soho House
My view from Brighton Beach House today.
This week I've been reflecting deeply on the mission behind the business.
I've written articles for the press… Entrepreneur Magazine, Platinum Magazine and Forbes and I spent a whole day at my daughter's school (a very feminist girl's school in Brighton) chatting all things entrepreneurship, brands and disruption.
It's brought everything into sharp relief.
You don't have to go far on the internet to find a nice positive affirmation about women needing to be braver, to know their worth and to aim higher. It's great, but in the messy middle of my entrepreneurial journey, I knew I needed to do all of these things, but beyond jumping on an IG Live every five minutes (which I never do) I wasn't sure what that really meant.
It very often became yet another thing for me to beat myself up about. 'You would be able to pay the mortgage this month if you would just get on camera… that 20 year old coach says so.'
It's all bullshit and here's why.
It's very hard to be visionary, big-thinking and to feel brave about the business you're building, when you're also needing to pay the mortgage, your VAT bill or your Canva subscription.
There are millions of people trying to sell you things and it works for them to tell you you're doing everything wrong right now. It's the 'if you're a hammer, everything is a nail' truism at play. They don't know your business, but you do.
Wherever you are right now, there will always be a stretch or an uplevel that will unlock a new revenue opportunity, but no 'proven roadmap' is likely to unlock it. Your business is unique, as are you.
Being a founder is one of the loneliest jobs in the world and you spend a lot of time feeling alone, questioning your life decisions and comparing yourself to your founder-peers / your high-earning friend in corporate or Elon Musk. Run your own race, this is a waste of energy.
The trouble is, women just aren't expected to be wildly ambitious and disruptive. As a single-mother and a woman, people have repeatedly said to me 'but isn't that enough… do you really need a big house… do you need that level of salary just for the two of you… maybe that's a bit risky in your situation.' All from a place of love I'm sure, but most men aren't subject to the same thing.
The reality is, I don't need the nice house, I want it. I also like my Soho House membership, the ability to afford holidays for the two of us, adventures and the new car I've just ordered. I also want time freedom, a scalable business and the ability to take a pilates class or a dog walk in the middle of the day.
The mission for the business is to create a 'stampede of female unicorns to change the status quo, through entrepreneurship' and it absolutely won't happen until we're brave enough to say what the big stretchy ambition is out loud and to go-all in on the strategy capable of matching it.
Thankfully most of the 11-18 year old feminists I met on Tuesday were already very much owning their worth and hoping to create $billion businesses by the time they're 21, so the future is good.
