Have you listened to Camilla Lundin's TED Talk yet? I think it's spot on. It's about how women are raised to be a "good girl" by being kind, get good grades, but most importantly - to make it right the first time and to not make mistakes. This is later reflected in what men and women choose to become when growing up.
When Camilla co-founded the investment bank Qalora Capital together with Vendela Liliestråle to help startups to find funding in a seamless way they asked themselves - where are all the women? Why are only men starting companies? Could this have something to do with women being taught not to take risks by being a good girl? Because we all know that entrepreneurship is not a straight path - you will for sure make mistakes, fail over and over again - until you get it right. In order to get it right, you need to take risks, which good girls are not taught to do. Men are taught to take risks, to get up if they fall down, while women are taught to be careful.
Camilla also shares in her TED Talk that in Sweden, which is considered to be one of the most gender equal countries in the world, had a decrease in women starting companies by 30% in 2018, and that only 1% of the capital went to female founded companies. In the US, it's a little bit better - 2% of the capital went to female founders.
She also said something that really shocked me. Did you know that we tend to ask women how they're not gonna lose, while we ask men how they're gonna win? She ends by advising all of us to give compliments to girls in another way. Instead of calling them a "good girl", say that they are brave, that they can become anything they want and that they are strong.
I think that this should be taken very seriously, and that we all need to take our responsibility so that anyone can become anything they want to. I can relate so much to this TED Talk, being taught myself to be a good girl - maybe I would have become an entrepreneur much earlier if I was raised differently? Most of my life so far (I'm 27 now) I've taken the "safe" path, until I decided to start By Banoo. I hope I can inspire more women to live their dreams and to take the risk, because what's the worst case scenario? Nothing.
Today, Camilla and Vendela have built a fantastic female network called Business & Dreams, encouraging women to become entrepreneurs and to follow their dreams. You can find them on Instagram here.
This was one of the best TED Talk's I've listened to - I recommend you to do push play right away.
