Life is What You Make it
Founder: Vicki Saunders
Start-up: SheEO
How SheEO came to be
Contrary to what you may think, Vicki tried to avoid starting SheEO for 20 years and it was born out of the frustrations in how hard it was to support female entrepreneurs in society. Today, SheEO has created a new model for supporting female entrepreneurs.
When Vicki was getting started, she was surrounded by people who kept telling her she wasn’t good enough to run a company that she had started. At the time, she believed them. And then, 15 years later, she witnessed the same thing happening to another female entrepreneur and realized how broken the system was, and she knew she needed to spur change.
How Vicki entered the Start-up world
In 1989, Vicki found herself in Prague after the revolution that had been going on, and because of the political circumstances, she noted that everyone was dreaming about what they were going to do now that they were free. Vicki continued to find herself in conversations with people saying “now that I’m free, I’m going to do X.” This led her to think the same thing, and to start a business.
Something she has found powerful is the insight that culture dictates behavior and the culture within which you innovate has an influence on your success. She gives credit to Prague for opening her up to something new and to be surrounded by a culture of possibility, contrary to what the culture was like in Canada. When she did come back to Canada, everyone thought she was crazy to try untested ideas.
Lucky for us, Canada is now open to start-ups, and entrepreneurs. If you look around Toronto, there are many incubators for start-ups, competitions, and mentors here to help, and this includes SheEO!
Great advice Vicki has received from a mentor
A mentor once told Vicki “If you want money, ask for advice, and if you want advice, ask for money.” Vicki continued to note that people really do want to help you, and a great way to engage with someone else is to ask what they would do if they were in your shoes. Ultimately, you have nothing to lose! So what are you waiting for?!
Daily Challenges
Just like all entrepreneurs, Vicki faces challenges every day. At SheEO, they follow a unique model that is very different from the existing, global mindset. This difference hinges on generosity (women funding women) and follows a redesigned ecosystem from the application process to how women are supported. For Vicki, the biggest challenge is finding people willing to go on this new, distinctive journey.
What Vicki learned from her previous ventures
Over the years, Vicki has learned to trust her intuition and to not give in because everyone else is doing something. When she hasn’t followed this, it hasn’t really worked out. She’s been on a journey to find a model that she couldn’t see around her, which has led to questions like how can more than one person win, and what does a win-win-win society look like.
A book that inspired Vicki…Something Vicki loves is books: "I love to dream so I was very inspired by Astonishing the Gods by Ben Okri. He envisions another world that really spoke to me and awoke more dreaming in me.”
Something “nerdy” about Vicki…Vicki noted that the term nerd has really changed over the years. When she was in her undergrad over 30 years ago she studied computer science, which was a nerdy thing to do back then. Vicki also loves tech and is an early adopter. She’s really interested in cultivating her wisdom and that of others to learn how to be a better person.
What Vicki wishes she knew prior to starting
Vicki is so thankful for jumping in and said that ignorance is bliss in situations like this. She noted “if I could un-remember what I’ve learned that would be great because when you know how challenging it can be to take the leap of entrepreneurship it gets harder and harder each time. Or at least it does for me.”
Advice for entrepreneurs just starting-out
Vicki has great advice: follow your passion, dig deep, and figure out what drives you, what motivates you, what emboldens you, who is part of your tribe and keep following the path. Clear out the people bringing you down, trust your gut, start small, and keep moving.
Vicki has founded various start-ups and believes there is no one path to success. She has been extremely persistent and after thousands of hours dreaming, doing, and learning from her actions and iterating, she has built up her confidence. She always knew she wanted to make an impact, but didn’t always know what that would be, and she has always walked into fear rather than shied away from it. Vicki notes that everything she does could be considered a failure and a success, but ultimately, life is what you make it.
Remember, you don't need a revolution to start a company! But remember, the people you surround yourself and the environment you choose to be in may move you in one direction over another. And, you must start somewhere! Write that first e-mail, or just pick up your pencil...start dreaming!! And, get started! May be the pieces will eventually start fitting together. Please learn more about SheEO. Feel free to reach-out to me--it would be great to chat!
