Today is all about celebrating the amazing achievements of WOMEN and shining a light on those who inspire us the most. At Curated Makers we are super proud of the number of female-owned businesses that we can give a platform to every day across all three of our stores. Below is one of my favourite shots with just a handful of the women we work with, captured by the wonderful photographer, Soraya Evans, in our Meadowhall Store last year.
Fun Facts:
40 out of 46 of our Leeds makers are female-owned businesses
41 out of 47 of our Meadowhall makers are female-owned businesses
41 out of 48 of our Battersea makers are female-owned businesses
How incredible are these numbers?! To have shops 80% and higher full of products made by women is something to celebrate!
We also recently received feedback from all our makers and we were reminded how integral our role has become in not only being a springboard for each small business we stock but vital support for those who are female, carers and parents. Reading through the thoughts from our makers gave us time to reflect on the impact we can have on female-owned businesses in aiding them to grow, develop and most importantly, gain confidence in themselves as they face the many challenges of being female entrepreneurs.
To hit you with some not-so-fun facts:
More than one-third of women say lack of funding is the biggest barrier to setting up a business (Research by Tide)
60% of women put off starting a business due to imposter syndrome (Research by Natwest)
Only 18% of women said they would consider setting up a business – compared to 29% of men (Research by Tide)
Sad as these statistics are, there is hope! Many incredible organisations are working hard to tackle the barriers women face in starting their businesses and evolving the conversation to become more optimistic about what we can achieve.
A shining example of this is the Prince’s Trust. Megan took part in the Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme in 2018 and received amazing business support and was introduced to an incredible business mentor, who has been an invaluable asset and a friend to the business ever since.
The Prince’s Trust #ChangeAGirlsLife campaign harnesses the power of International Women’s Day to drive action and raise vital funds to change the lives of young women who are struggling.
As a part of this year’s campaign, the Prince’s Trust hosted a Marketplace within Battersea Power Station involving over 15 female-owned businesses that they have supported and empowered over the years. We were thrilled to be able to take part in the event and meet so many talented business owners selling their beautiful makes. And of course, found plenty of products that we would love to stock in the shop! It was a wild throwback to the market stall roots of Curated Makers back in 2017…
It was a brilliant day, full of so many different stories, backgrounds and journeys. Megan even got to share her story with the room and hosted a Q&A for the students who were invited in the hope to inspire them to maybe one day start their own businesses. We had the absolute pleasure of meeting Dragon’s Den legend Levi Roots, pop icon Pixie Lott and long-term Prince’s Trust Ambassador Gaby Roslin!
The day highlighted how the success of women needs to be spoken about more often and not just saved for one day of the year, especially if we want to help inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs. There is incredible work being created all year round and we are so excited to share the stories of those who are smashing it and showing how kick-ass awesome women in business are when given the chance.
For now, go forth and tell your amazing female friends and family just how incredible they are and just how much they’re killing it! I’m sure there are plenty of us who need reminding of that right now.
Heather ✌️
The Prince’s Trust is just one of many who are doing truly inspirational work, check out our list below of organisations that are making a difference:
Natwest - Women In Business
Not-so-fun fact sources: