The road to success means so much more when you give others a helping hand

Words by Harri Helvon-Hardy

“Hey, Hey, I don’t know if anyone has told you yet, but women are actually supporting each other now.”

A satirical ‘trending sound’ on Instagram’s reels feature seeing a wide range of women and female entrepreneurs putting their own visual take on top of the sound. A small but perhaps poignant reminder that in 2021 there is still a widespread view that women’s default is not viewed as one of community.

If, as Caroline Criado Perez (Author of Sunday Times bestseller ‘Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a world designed for men) outlines that we live in a ‘world designed for men’ then it is no stretch to argue that the world of business is a magnified version of ‘what is male is universal’.

So why is it, if what is ‘female is niche’ (Perez, 2019) that the standard expectation of women in business is not one of solidarity and support. Why is it that we are using satirical social media trends to outline the point that women need to support women?

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright famously stated, “there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women,” and yet society continues to permeate stereotypes of women that encourage the pitting of women against women.

My experience of childhood, adolescence and early adulthood was one marred with stereotypes that for many years led me to avoid groups of women.

Even before progressing into the world of business, I actively chose to surround myself with male friendships feeling that I could ‘trust’ the friendship more, that when I left the table, I would not become the topic of conversation. On reflection now, perhaps in a world designed for men I was still the topic of conversation but for different reasons.

Whilst we are seeing more positive representations of groups of women in the media, the countless TV shows, films and books depicting toxic female friendships have no doubt played a significant part in stronger imagery of women pitting against each other as opposed to for each other.

It is no surprise then that in a magnified version of a world created for men, that two of the key stereotypes of women in business that dominated my development into adulthood were ‘women ‘slept their way to the top’ or being ‘ballbusters’ neither appealing to create friendship or connections with.

While, as with all stereotypes, I have encountered many situations with women that were not in the community versus competition group, my experience in the world of business has been contradictory to the stereotypes that at times pervade society.

I sit seven years into my journey into the world of business and as a woman it has definitely been harder than my male counterparts, but I can with ease say that one of the most beneficial parts of being a woman in business is the other women in my network.

From starting a business in order to create a long-term fulfilling job for myself, to running an award-winning business and sitting on award judging panels, my successes have been celebrated by women across the whole journey.

I sit proudly in networks of women whose sole mission is to empower other women, whether it’s formal networks such as @girl_boss_club, to informal groups of women who have developed friendships from the entrepreneurial ecosystem and focus groups designed to address the issues women in business face.

I know with certainty that if I face an issue in my business there is someone there actively ready to lend a hand, if I am struggling with the competing pressures of life there is someone there to listen and if I need someone to remind me of my strength there is someone there to cheerlead me.

These circles of giving and receiving of support are allowing for faster development of women in business. We rise when we lift each other up, we win when we all win.