{"id":33241,"date":"2023-10-20T14:30:22","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/the-entrepreneurial-journey-is-a-long-and-personal-one-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:30:22","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:30:22","slug":"the-entrepreneurial-journey-is-a-long-and-personal-one-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/the-entrepreneurial-journey-is-a-long-and-personal-one-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"The entrepreneurial journey is a long and personal one – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

I saw the movie The Intern<\/a> with Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro in the cinema when it came out late in 2015. It brought tears to my eyes\u2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then my mother, returning on a Qantas flight, watched the same movie a few weeks ago and she called me to ask (tongue in cheek) if I had been \u2018writing screen plays\u2019 in my spare time because there was similarities to my own life in the film.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then a fellow female founder from the\u00a0EY Global Women\u2019s Program #EWW<\/a> wrote a message on her Facebook page tagging her other female founders including me \u2013 saying, \u2018hey women have you seen\u00a0The Intern\u00a0\u2013 Hollywood seems to know we are not alone and face different challenges as we grow our businesses.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then when\u00a0Inc.com listed\u00a0The Intern<\/em><\/a> as one of the must see movies for 2015, I thought finally I should say why I think this movie spoke to me\u2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was so not about the mature intern Robert De Niro\u2019s character (he played a guardian angel role really), though perhaps retirees might think differently\u2026 for me, it was the journey of a woman to create an amazing enterprise \u2013 completely focused on the customer.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

To me the movie brought up a number of issues faced by female founders that may or may not be experienced by our male counterparts\u2026 but I know for women these issues are amplified.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

One question I have explored for myself is: why do more women not grow larger businesses\u2026 and as I am involved in\u00a0Heads Over Heels,<\/a> Scale Investing<\/a>,\u00a0EY Winning Women<\/a>,\u00a0Telstra Business Women\u2019s Awards,<\/a> CBA Women in Focus<\/a> \u2013 I do all these things to support other female founders \u2013 but also because I am trying to answer the question of why do we not have more large female founded enterprises? I am no closer to answering that question.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps the answer might be hidden in this Hollywood movie:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It can be lonely at the top \u2013 who have you got to confide in who has experience and insight but gives it without judgment<\/li>\n
  2. Who do you have in your \u2018corner\u2019 to barrack for you, celebrate with you, and see you as the winner you need to be to drive continual growth<\/li>\n
  3. How can you learn to give up the \u2018detail\u2019 but never give up the passion and understanding of \u2018customer experience\u2019 \u2013 being able to trust and inspire others to care as much as you do about the customer journey<\/li>\n
  4. How can you keep your investors (partners) aligned and informed to ensure that just because you do it \u2018differently\u2019 does not mean that it is wrong or won\u2019t work.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n