March is Celebrating Women’s History Month
As we celebrate the contributions of women to history and contemporary society, we also need to celebrate women entrepreneurs who have been contributing to the history of blazing trails for the next generation of women.
As I am reflecting on myself as a woman entrepreneur, women in my circles and community, a burning question runs through my head: What are the top 5 challenges that women entrepreneurs continue to face today?
I asked “Claude” my question and it responded with these insights:
- Access to funding and capital
- Gender bias and discrimination
- Work-life balance and caregiving responsibilities
- Limited professional networks and mentorship
- Confidence and imposter syndrome
Of these 5, #3 and #5 resonate with me the most, because I’ve gone through these challenges myself. I would love to share some perspectives on how I have overcome them. Freeing women from feeling overwhelmed or trapped in these two areas are important to lift them up, and give them strengths to overcome these barriers.
First, on work-life balance and caregiving responsibilities:
I used to believe that work-life balance can be achieved if I make a conscious effort in balancing my workload and life events. However, I didn’t realize that I was trying to find work-balance on my own, without a strong support system.
I’ve also failed to realize in the process of giving my energy to care for others that I also need to get energy back to take care of myself. Self-care was not in my vocabulary because I didn’t give myself the permission to have time offs.
After experiencing continuous burnouts and having heart-to-heart talk with my psychologist to ease my pains, I found my ways out by going through them.
My struggles have taught me these valuable tips:
- Setting boundaries on work and personal priorities
- Letting go of being “the driver” in all situations, and allowing someone to take over
- Allotting time for myself to unplug, calm and stabilize my nervous system, and
- Building a support system on caregiving responsibilities
When I allow myself to see work-life balance and caregiving from a different perspective, I feel free and weighs were lifted off from my shoulders. I was able to focus on spending energy to be better in my craft — that I haven’t fully expanded it; seeking out work that’s meaningful and impactful – yet fun and challenging; and aligning my work with my vision closely to stay grounded.
The result of seeing myself in this light gave me confidence to take bigger risks in exploring new ideas and being creative in my work, taking on collaboration and exploring advisory board opportunities. Now I feel more calm, confident, and intuitively aligned with my ability as a woman entrepreneur.
Second, on confidence and imposter syndrome:
I see confidence as a trust in our own abilities and potentials to succeed in what we set our minds to do. Confidence comes with a sense knowing that you aren’t being held back by fears of failures or judgement from others. Confidence means that we know deep from within, that we’ve the resilience to overcome hurdles and relationship hardships.
Some tips that I’ve learned from building my own confidence:
- Investing time to learn deeply about yourself as a person
- Taking time to do reflections and learning from them
- Tapping into your struggles and translating them into knowledge that you can teach others, and
- Recalibrating your belief system from negative energy fueled by fear and scarcity to positive energy fueled by abundance and optimism.
When you’ve eliminated self-doubts about yourself, you’ll emerge stronger and feel more confident about your voice, your presence, your intuition, and your ability to help yourself and others.
I am proud that you have read this far. Let’s go make history for women entrepreneurs today!
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