This week I got to work alongside some remarkable women, and it reminded me how much our communities shape us.
It started on Monday with a podcast recording for Mum Means Business, hosted by Victoria Phipps MBE. We talked about the similarities between motherhood and founder life, and three things kept coming up. Both can be lonely. Both ask you to be multi-disciplinary, switching between many skills in a single day. And both depend on being organised, because someone has to hold the whole picture together. It was a conversation I’ll be thinking about for a while, and I’m looking forward to sharing it once it’s live.
On Tuesday I joined the AI After 5 workshop, run by Mel Chan Cheape. I met ambitious women of all ages and backgrounds, and it was refreshing to learn about AI in a space created just for women.
By Wednesday I needed to slow down. After a day of house admin and deadlines, I joined a guided breath workshop with Loud Her Voice Coaching and Homebody Archive. It was exactly the chance to disconnect and reset that I needed.
Thursday was a day in the deep tech community at the Deep Tech London Summit on Brick Lane, the centrepiece of a city-wide festival running from 5 to 11 October. The programme covered robots, rockets, batteries, materials, fusion, automated labs and biotech, and it was a reminder of how much of this work is already shaping the future. Deep Tech London Summit ↗︎
Friday was double booked, in the best way. Culture Curated ran a makers market for creatives and artisans, open all day. In between, I joined a panel discussion for Mums Who Build for a few hours. Culture Curated exists to bring founders, freelancers and independent makers into the right rooms, so spending the day between a market and a panel felt like the work in action. We also officially launched Matriarchetypes ↗︎.
The thread running through it all
The thread running through all of it is community. The people around you shape who you become and, often, how much you achieve. That matters even more when the work can feel lonely.
Some people will celebrate your success and support you. Others will take what they can. Curate your people, and choose wisely.
Curate your people, and choose wisely.
Who has been in your corner this week? We’d love to hear who has supported you recently, and which communities you’d recommend to other founders.