2019 IMPACT REPORT
It’s a new city, new people, new ideas, new businesses, but there are always constants. We are so much more the same than we are different. We are lifted up by our passion for what we do, we feel immense energy and excitement for the journey ahead.
We also sometimes feel stretched - can we keep up this pace? At times we are uncertain - does everyone else know what to do next? We feel frustrated and often impatient - why does it take so long to bring everyone else along? Why can’t I just raise the capital and get back to business? But as the event comes to life and advice is shared, stories are unveiled, laughter erupts alongside empathetic nods, old friends are hugged, new friendships are established and a kind of magic fills the evening. This is the why of Ladies Who Launch.
2019 was the year when Ladies Who Launch took it to the next level - we became an official 501(c)3 non-profit organization and made our first hire, Julie Kikla as Executive Director! (more to come from Julie in 2020, watch this space!) It’s driven tremendous empathy for what all of you go through in starting, running and growing your own businesses.
We visited Stockholm, Denver and Toronto. We experienced working with partners - thank you Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Nordea Bank, Shopify, and Royal Bank of Canada. We made new friends and revisited old ones and most importantly we saw you rise to our 2018 calls to action to build community, confidently showcase your leadership, and pay it forward - lifting each other up one business and community at a time.
At each event we look for a word or phrase of the night. Something that distills the essence of the group. In Toronto Action, in Stockholm it was Need, and Denver Discovering Your Passion. From 2018, St Louis honed in on Authenticity, while Dublin talked about Advocacy. San Francisco, Finding Purpose and Belfast, You Are Enough.
As we review the words above, it’s clear to see that each community of entrepreneurs we visit has its own distinct feeling, needs, and superpowers, yet yearn for the same things - community, inspiration, education.
In this new decade, Ladies Who Launch is aiming to harness our collective learnings for the global community we serve. It’s impossible to write down all the learnings in this wrap up, but here are a few that stood out for us.
Makisha Boothe’s Sistahbiz Global Network had just launched their membership program when she joined us in Denver. We loved her advice on driving success in business. In Makisha’s words “success is ultimately determined by the results you get, not the time you spend. Also her very on point comment, “examine your business model and choose a lucrative business model. If someone isn’t going to pay for it, then it is a hobby.” Know the specific results you are targeting, break those down into smaller actions. That way, when you wake up each morning, you know exactly which high-leverage tasks to work on.” We feel a new year’s resolution coming on!
Stina Ehrensvärd Founder of Yubico dug into the importance of getting close to your customers. In her case, moving countries and continents to be closer to the ones that mattered.
We loved that Joanna Griffiths, from Knix called out all the men she’d pitched to who just never got what “reinventing intimates for real life” meant. Since launching the company in 2013, Joanna has built Knix into a global leader in the intimates’ category while building a community of women who are passionately taking on life by breaking down the taboos and boundaries that get in their way. She inspired us to keep forging our own path. Such a courageous brand and leader!
Hanna Lindblad from Houdini Sportswear, spoke to the power of sustainability in the product as a means for differentiation in the market. She also leaned into no marketing spend rather using influencers who can tell your story directly.
Who could forget the conversation with Teresa Elder, CEO of WOW, on how her passion for building a non-profit resulted in a multi-billion dollar outcome for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Yes we did say billion. A good reminder that paralleling philanthropy alongside a busy for-profit outcome can massively increase personal impact. We still get goosebumps.
In Toronto, the closing conversation between Zahra Al-Harazi and Sarah Katyal and the official launch of Skillit.com reminded us of the power of networking. Sarah actually said it best in her tweet “When life comes full-circle! I met my co-founder @zahrasays @LWLGlobal 3 years ago, and today we get to share our story about @MySkillit with a sold-out group of 500 amazing women. Thank you for the opportunity.”
The brand panel in Toronto was powerful. Hayley Mullins Founder of Sleepbelt and Joeyband reminded us that nothing ever moves as fast as you would like. Although we all feel the impatience and urgency to get everything done yesterday.
Olivia Omega author of Beautifully Branded reminded us of the need to be singular in building your personal brand. Doing too much, standing for too much leaves you standing for nothing. So know what drives you, and where you are most passionate and lean in strongly there.
Mackenzie Yeates, co-founder of KOTN noted there are no silver bullets in brand building but in her case she has built a brand on doing good for the community and not just her company.
One of the superpowers of LWL is helping women see that they are not alone in their entrepreneurial journey. We seek to provide a safe and authentic space to share ideas, failures, future hopes, and tough lessons. Business challenges are rarely novel, and the power of adding to your network of female supporters is that they usually have walked in your shoes (and hopefully they are StinaaJ’s). So while they may not have the answer, they can at least provide perspective. The why of Ladies Who Launch is catalyzing that network, providing a rich environment for authentic learning that goes beyond what you can read in a book or article, or listen to in a podcast. It’s interactive, real life, gritty and above, all inspirational.
As we move into a new decade, let's also remember to take the time to be kind, extend a hand where you can, and build an open and collaborative community of women entrepreneurs so we can continue to raise up strong leaders for this and future generations.
We’d love you to share this with your community of women entrepreneurs and add your own learning or shareable moment out to the community.
Here’s to all you launchers, we can’t wait to hear about where your businesses take you in 2020.