IWD: In Conversation With our Female Founder
To celebrate International Women's day, we sat down with Pip Wass, CEO and Founder of Flourish MGMT to share with you how she defied expectations and rose to success as a female founder.
So Pip, happy International Women’s Day! How about we start with what International Women's Day mean to you?
For me, International Women’s Day is all about celebrating women and women’s achievements. It’s a chance for all women to focus on empowering themselves and others in all aspects of their lives.
Which women in business inspire you?
Sophia Amoruso continues to be one of my biggest inspirations for women in business. She is the ultimate girl boss. Her book ‘Girlboss’ was actually one of the first books I picked up when reading about women in business, she is a truly incredible businesswoman.
What are you most proud of?
I’m definitely most proud of Flourish Management turning five. This means that we are no longer really thought of as a start-up business which is amazing. Most new businesses fail within the first two years, so to have my business celebrate its fifth birthday this year is an incredible achievement for me.
What did you dream of doing when you were younger?
When I was younger I was convinced I was destined for stardom and would beg my parents to let me audition for the X Factor. I was obsessed with ‘How to Solve a Problem like Maria’ and all things musical theatre and was truly convinced I was born to be a singer.
My parents however didn’t exactly share in my vision so I shifted my focus to another passion I loved which was photography which is what led me into influencer marketing!
How do you influence your team?
By bossing them around all day aha. Only joking! I influence my team by continually mentoring them to help them reach their career goals and visions. I really encourage my team to create vision boards and goals to help inspire them on their way to success. I also make sure I take the time to understand their career ambitions and dreams so I can assist their development in the best way I can.
What advice would you give to a woman looking to start a career in marketing?
I would say focusing on self-development should be a top priority for women looking to start a career in marketing. Throughout my career, especially with influencer marketing being so new, I invested in the development of my skill set. I looked into what skills I could learn, what I was interested in, and what I was passionate about and would spend time watching tutorials, and experimenting with skills on the weekend, I would even go and assist well-known photographers. Anything I could do to improve my skill set and really allow me to progress quicker in my career, that’s exactly what I did.
What were the main challenges for you in setting up a business as a woman?
A lot of people underestimated us! People would ask why on earth are you leaving a job to start a business in influencer marketing which barely even existed back then, so much so that our accountant wouldn’t even register us for VAT as she didn’t think we would make more than 80k in our first year. However, looking back, I do see being underestimated as a superpower now. The more people underestimate you, the more motivation you have to prove them wrong and we did!
What would you like to change for the younger generation of female business owners?
I would really like to see more support in funding. There is a real lack of funding for female-owned businesses but these businesses are actually twice as likely to succeed as male-owned businesses, yet they are still severely underfunded. Also, I would love to help the next generation understand how to raise funding and all the complications that go along with it. No one really educates you on that when you’re starting out a business.
