We were fortunate to be joined by Cathy Owens, Director and Co-Founder of Deryn, for the PRCA’s first Equality & Inclusion Advisory Council Leadership Lessons event.
Cathy shared her experiences of starting her own business, the steps she took to de-risk it and how others can thrive in a female-led businesses environment.
Our five key takeaways were:
- To go it alone, you may need to change your mindset. The risks are significant - from financial to personal - but you can, if you take the time, reduce their scale one by one. Don’t rush it, put thought, time and effort into it
- You don’t have to make one big leap. You can start small with one day a week on other projects. Once these start to take off, you can get your business’ name out there.
- Actively work on your confidence. Seek out like-minded women - you can find people you can work with, check things with them, rely on them to help you. Having a sounding board is critical - it doesn’t have to be someone in your industry, but it does have to be someone you can trust.
- You can tackle sexism by doing things differently, not just by campaigning. By choosing the clients you work with, the way you run your business and how you treat your staff, you can do your bit to change how the industry works and to create something new.
- Back yourself and back others. You may well be the most experienced person in the room, even if others don’t treat you that way. Trust your own experience. Sexism is likely to be playing a part. Help others to break to find their path, giving them the support they need.
The next session will be with Ellie Dobson, Director of the Science, Engineering & Innovation division at April Six, on 23rd February 2022.