Innovation and enterprise blog

The British Library Business & IP Centre can help you start, run and grow your business

12 November 2018

Celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week at the Business & IP Centre

This year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week is a great opportunity to highlight women, youth and inclusion in entrepreneurship. We are proud that 56% of users to the Business & IP Centres in London and around the country are women and 38% of users are BAME, providing an accessible and inclusive environment for people at all stages of their business life.

Despite living in an information-rich world, sometimes it’s difficult to find what you are looking for, know the quality of the resources or where to go. Awareness weeks such as Global Entrepreneurship Week, allows us to join in these conversations and highlight the importance of our National Network of Business & IP Centres and all that we offer.

Throughout the 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Week, in addition to our regular line up of workshops and webinars, we decided to offer sessions bringing together hundreds of attendees and many experienced and knowledgeable partners. Workshops such as (which have now since be concluded), Books mean Business, Diverse Wisdom, Fashion business planning & strategy, Networking for success and more, as well as a special day-long free event, Work Like A Women Day, before the ultimate celebration of unstoppable feminine force; Inspiring Entrepreneurs: Work Like a Woman with Mary Portas (rewatch the event on our YouTube channel), who will be launching her new book, exploring new ways of working.

We asked the presenters of Work Like A Woman Day, what it means to them to ‘work like a woman’ and here’s what they said…

Amy Tez, a professional actress who helps entrepreneurs and business leaders communicate with power, conviction and clarity
The Listening Leader

“I’m a woman but I see myself as more than that. I’m a human being like any other, doing the best I can. Coming from a challenging background, I bring my fighting spirit to my business and to helping others grow. My only focus is to help us all listen more, trust ourselves more and reconnect to our shared humanity.”

Kim Davies, marketing expert and journalist
The Heroines of Hollywood

“As a New Yorker living in London, I was told I had to completely change the way I did business. ‘Be less aggressive. Speak in a quieter tone. Talk about the weather before you get to business.’ It was exhausting. Over the years, I’ve given myself permission to be both. I took the best traits from both worlds and balanced it with my true self, so that I could grow as a person, but still remain genuine. That’s what Working Like A Woman has meant to me.”

Emine Rushton, Wellbeing Director at Psychologies, founder of The Balance Plan and conscious consultancy Leaf Create
The Purposeful Career

“For me it is about working in a way that is wholly aligned with my values, that puts my own needs and those of my family first, that supports social equality and positive change, and champions messages of kindness, ethics and truth. Utmost of all, never ever feeling pressurised to be anything other than who I am – and never trying to squeeze myself, or my business models, into a pre-defined box.”

We’d love to hear what you think it means to ‘work like a woman’, tweet us with the #BLMaryPortas and we’ll share our favourites!

Our events don’t just end when Global Entrepreneurship Week does… For more information about our current workshops and events and the Business & IP Centre, visit our website.

Global Entrepreneurship Week Logo

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