Growing up, Two Chicks founders Alla Ouvarova and Anna Richey had an all too common educational experience. A lack of female role models and business advice meant that when they founded Two Chicks back in 2007, they had a steeper learning curve than many of their male entrepreneurial counterparts.
Despite the challenges they have faced, including launching the company just one year before the 2008 recession, these successful businesswomen have triumphantly grown Two Chicks into the UK’s leading liquid egg white brand. Their range of products can now be found across leading retailers including Tesco’s and Sainsbury's.
So why did the former Startups 100 alumni set up the FFE programme?
Encouraged by their own personal achievements, and a passionate drive for societal change, Ouvarova and Richey decided to take matters into their own hands back in the spring of 2021.
They set up the Two Chicks Empowerment Fund, a registered charitable trust designed to help young women achieve their full potential. For every sale made by Two Chicks, 10% of their profits are donated to the cause.
The purpose of the charity is clear – to support girls with their personal, social, and emotional wellbeing.
But the Two Chicks founders haven’t stopped there. Inspired by the Fund's success so far, this week they are launching an innovative new programme, The Future Female Entrepreneur.
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What is the FFE programme and how does it work?
The Future Female Entrepreneur is a chance for young women (age 18-24) to learn vital leadership skills, gain business insight, and receive guidance for their own business goals by spending time shadowing an established female entrepreneur.
The participating founders are all successful businesswomen that have achieved huge triumphs in their distinctive industries.
They are participating in the FFE programme because they share the same values as the Two Chicks – a determination to help support young females with their entrepreneurial ambitions and to ensure that more businesses in the future are founded and led by women.
It’s high time the issue was addressed. The damning Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship report conducted by the treasury back in 2019 confirmed that just 1 in 3 entrepreneurs are female. This is a gender gap equivalent to 1.1 million missing businesses.
More recently, Startups’ own data showed that male-owned businesses get 7 times more funding than those owned by women.
Among those involved in the FFE course are The NFT Gallery founders Lynn Elenie Rosenberger and Lilien Hornung-Mary. Both attended the special FFE pre-launch event held at Yulia Rorstrom’s business Duck and Dry on 15 June.
Speaking to Startups, Rosenberger explains her motivation for participating.
“Often as a young female founder it is hard to be taken seriously, particularly in investor meetings with future clients. We want to give these women participating in the FFE course the confidence to start their own business, and ensure they are not afraid to succeed in an industry like tech that is dominated by males. Just like me and Lilien have done.”
And as for what these two incredibly successful female tech entrepreneurs want the FFE participants to gain from shadowing them for a few days? Hornung-Mary believes it is the small, but significant, lessons that will help them flourish as they move forward with their entrepreneurial endeavours.
“We want to show them how we operate, so they can feel confident when they approach a client, present an important meeting, and even write an email.”
Another important aspect of the FFE course for The NFT Gallery founders is to show young women what it is really like to be an entrepreneur. Rosenberger believes it is easy to get caught up in the glamorous side of entrepreneurship, but sometimes you have to get your hands dirty.
“It’s not all glamour, events, and profit. A big part of being an entrepreneur is doing the dirty work and we want the young women shadowing us to understand this. From the dull but necessary admin duties like invoices and payroll to, in my case, wiping the floor of our gallery to make it spotless before our grand opening. It is hands on, no matter what industry you start your business in”
As for the FFE attendees themselves, the Two Chicks worked in partnership with universities across the UK, in which women aged 18-24 with a passion for business were invited to complete an online application form for the course by 27 May.
The selection process was rigorous, with applicants being required to demonstrate a clear drive and determination to start their own business before they were considered.
Danique Anderson is one of the young women selected to take part in the FFE programme She tells Startups:
“I’m incredibly excited to be a part of this programme. It’s funny, the week I started planning the launch of my own business, I received an email about the FFE course, and I felt like it was definitely a sign from the universe telling me to apply.”
Anderson hopes to gain valuable entrepreneurial experience from her time as an FFE, as well as gain some useful business contacts through networking, which will help her when she launches her own company in the near future.
How can I apply to be an FFE?
Unfortunately, applications are closed for this year, as the mentoring sessions will be taking place on the 20-24 June for the current cohort of budding female entrepreneurs.
However, depending on the success of the programme, the Two Chicks are hoping to launch the course again later this year, making the event more frequent so more young women have the opportunity to learn, develop, and flourish through female founder mentorship and guidance.
After the pre-launch, we spoke with the masterminds behind the FFE, Two Chicks founders Anna Richey and Alla Ouvarova. Talking about what they want to achieve through the FFE programme, Ouvarovsa said:
“We are hoping to inspire more young women to start businesses through their time with the female founders taking part, as we are still way behind men on this, which is a real shame.”
We are hoping to inspire more young women to start businesses through their time with the female founders taking part, as we are still way behind men on this, which is a real shame.
“Once FFE week is over, we will then have a big debrief to understand what went well, what could be improved, and how we will make FFE 2.0 even better and more rewarding for future female founders!“
Looking to start your own business but stuck for funding options? Check out our article on the top five business grants for women to help get you started.
via https://www.AiUpNow.com
June 17, 2022 at 11:32AM by Ross Darragh, Khareem Sudlow
