This weekend I had the privilege to attend Run the World 2018, the League of Extraordinary Women’s annual conference for female entrepreneurs. And I mean privilege because tickets for this event started at $105 and my complimentary VIP ticket was about $375. More on that later. First up, the speakers lineup.
- Lola Berry – Nutritionist, author, yoga teacher
- Donna Guest – CEO and Creative Director of Blue Illusion
- Kate Weiss – Founder of Table of Plenty
- Cathryn Wills – Founder of Sans Beast
- Erika Geraerts – Founder of Fluff
- Louise Bannister – Editorial Director of Lunch Lady Magazine
- Em Carey – Artist and founder of Em Carey Designs
- Yeojin Bae – Founder and Designer of Yeojin Bae
- Kayla Itsines – Personal Trainer at SWEAT
Except for Lola Berry (because my husband’s daughter is a fan), I hadn’t heard of any of these women. Let that say more about me than them as they are all fascinating, hard-working, and highly respected entrepreneurs. Here’s the best of what I learned from them.
Lessons from Run the World 2018
From Lola Berry, nutritionist, author, and yoga teacher
When you’re doing something that you don’t love, you’re taking an opportunity from someone else who does love that and wants to be where you are.
“Australians, unfortunately, are judgemental motherfuckers.”
Lola didn’t say this to bag Australians, but to highlight the culture that we have of disparaging people that achieve success. Tall poppy syndrome is an Australian phenomenon and something that ambitious people, especially women, struggle with.
“Most people want to see you fail.”
From Donna Guest, CEO and Creative Director of Blue Illusion
Sales is vanity. Profit is sanity. Cash is king.
This phrase reminded me of what I often tell clients about the number of social media followers: it’s a vanity metric. It’s meaningless. It’s a number that can be easily manipulated and has no direct correlation with the numbers that speak to business success.
From Kate Weiss, co-founder of Table of Plenty
“I left something in the world that I’m proud of.”
The reason gives you the purpose. That, plus consistent action, will bring you success.
From Cathryn Wills, founder of Sans Beast
“The best decisions are scary.”
Cathryn was full of gold nuggets:
- Live, work, create.
- Speak your truth.
- Build your resilience.
- Identify and communicate your unique selling proposition.
- Register your trademark. Because people can steal your shit.
- Love your customers.
- Find your people.
- Know your numbers.
- Be generous.
- It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
- Remain curious.
- Make a difference.
- Keep it real.
From Erika Geraerts, founder of Fluff
Sometimes there isn’t a lightbulb moment. It’s something you’re thinking about for a long time, and eventually, you choose to do it.
It’s not about what you want. It’s about what you are about, why you get out of bed in the morning: purpose.
Is doing something scarier than not doing anything at all?
From Louise Bannister, Co-founder of Lunch Lady Magazine
Listen, pause, then react.
There is always a solution (even if the answer is to walk away).
Respect where the work is.
This one is tough. Creatives always know their art could be better and, as we get better, we tend to look back on our work through an extremely, and often unfairly, critical lens.
What does success look like?
This one is significant. People often define success in superficial ways – a title, a certain amount of money, luxury items. But success is merely the accomplishment of a purpose. It doesn’t have to be flashy.
From Em Carey, artist and founder of Em Carey Designs
Live and appreciate life.
Em Carey survived a skydiving accident that left her paraplegic and with a host of other health issues. She found a new appreciation for life and her purpose. Five years on, defying all expectations, Em walks. As she told her story, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
From Yeojin Bae, Founder and Designer, Yeojin Bae
Explore what you need to express.
As creatives, we want to see our own voices in the world.
From Kayla Itsines, personal trainer at SWEAT
Play to your strengths.
Kayla admits to not knowing much about business. She knows fitness and so that’s the area she looks after.
The problems with Run the World
That’s most of the good stuff. The location, the Glasshouse in Melbourne’s Olympic Park precinct, was attractive and comfortable. The event was well organised and the food was good. There were also some issues with Run the World.
Inspiration isn’t enough
All the speakers were excellent, and they were inspiring. The problem is that motivation isn’t enough. The emcee, Chelsea Thomas, founder of I Heart Bargains, said that women had been approaching her asking about strategy, content, social media promotion, etc. Inspiration is abundant. What women need are skills, strategies, mentors, and fellowship. They also need people with power and influence to help open doors.
Lack of diversity, cultural appropriation, and unacknowledged privilege
The audience at Run the World was diverse. The speaker lineup, less so. The most WTF thing that happened was at the end of a 10-minute session of kundalini yoga, which did not resemble any kind of yoga I’ve ever seen, set to dance music, which culminated in an awkward Kumbaya moment of everyone holding hands and swaying from side to side. There’s something deeply uncomfortable about appropriating spirituality and Beyonce (whose face and music opened and closed the day) for an event that is mostly by, about, and for young, middle class, Lululemon-wearing, white women.
The speakers, while remarkable, had some pretty good starts. Em Carey bought a one-way ticket to Europe when she was 20 and planned to travel indefinitely until she had her accident. After moving on from Frank Body, the $20 million skincare company she co-founded, Erika Geraerts worked out her ‘what do I do with my life now’ crisis with friends at a castle. After working out her crisis in Bali, Cathryn Wills struck it out on her own with the skills, money, and connections she’d made as Managing Director of Mimco at Country Road. Louise Bannister, the founder of Lunch Lady, had also co-founded and sold Frankie Magazine. Donna Guest and her husband mortgaged their home to fund their business. Yeojin Bae’s parents mortgaged theirs.
Inspiration is all well and good, but we need to be honest about how people get their start, and we need to arm women with hard truths and hard skills.
The League of Extraordinary Women is a community that focuses on connecting women entrepreneurs. Learn more about them at leagueofextraordinarywomen.com.
