Meet Vicki Saunders. Over the past 25 years, Vicki has launched many models, companies, programs and initiatives all with the goal of finding a pathway to a better world. An amazing journey has lead her creating SheEO, an organization dedicated to advancing female entrepreneurs.
Her history as a serial entrepreneur and funder has allowed her to make some insightful observations. Often being the only woman on panels at tech conferences and one of the few women seeking venture funding, she noticed that women are always in the minority. When she launched a venture fund only 3 of the first 400 applications came from women, and in the industry only 4% of funding goes to women. Clearly this number needs to change, but the vast majority of women don’t need this sort of venture financing… what they do need is a different model of support and finance.
Earlier this year, Vicki and her team launched SheEO with a goal of answering this question: Where are the women?
“A popular myth about why there aren’t more women in the game is that we’re not confident enough. Not bold enough. Risk averse. But maybe it’s because we’re refusing to play this game because we know it’s broken. One of the biggest challenges for women at work is childcare. Instead of fixing childcare, the major tech companies decided that they would pay for you to freeze your eggs so that you could stay at your desk longer and be more productive.
Women are playing a different game, proving the old models don’t have to be our reality. Last year two-thirds of the businesses started in Canada were by women. Sixty-eight percent of those businesses did not need outside capital, and 73% are already profitable. We run our businesses sustainably – on our own terms.
There’s a new dawn emerging. We are sure you can feel it. The largest wealth transfer in history is happening in the next ten years, and women will have control of 75% of that wealth. We’re starting businesses at twice the pace of men, and we make 80% of purchasing decisions. We are able to make decisions about what kind of world we want, how we buy, and where we want to put our money.
And this wealth transfer is happening at a time when a whole new financing regime is emerging. Crowdfunding. Women are four times as likely to be funded in a crowdfunding campaign than through traditional means.”
• In major cities across Canada, 1,000 women will contribute $1,000 each to create a pool of $1,000,000.
• The radically generous women will select 10 female-led ventures who will then collectively decide how to divide the million dollars.
• The loan is zero percent interest for a five-year term for each venture.
• The money will be repaid by the ventures to SheEO Fund Inc. over the next five years and then be loaned out again to the next 10 female-led companies.
• The selected women-led ventures will also receive access to advice and guidance from 1,000 activators and one year of support that includes world-class coaching, retreats and workshops.
Vicky, your mission is amazing – almost daunting – it is so amazing. As you know, PowHERhouse is exists to celebrate Canadian women who are making an impact in sport, business, the arts and community leadership. We celebrate you! And we’re interested in the story of YOU. We also realize that one of the best ways that women learn is by the simple strategies and tangible tools and solutions presented by positive role models. We always seem to be looking for evidence of ‘what works’.
How you keep yourself grounded, focused and strong during crazy-busy life situations?
Staying grounded is my number one challenge with all the travel and excitement around launching a new initiative. My husband and I start our days with a conversation about what’s on tap and intentions for the day. Just speaking my day through with someone else helps me get clarity on what’s important, which reduces my stress. Before I met my husband I used to journal all the time, but now I do the thinking and questioning I would have put in a journal out loud with him.
At the end of each day we debrief on all that went on; what worked, what didn’t, and what we want to change. We consider ourselves to be master-designers of our life. I also do gratitude practice before bed most nights. Staying present to what’s going on in my life, knowing ‘what’s not working’ and ‘what is working’ is critical to my growth mindset. I am totally committed to having the most positive impact I can have in this life, so I put a lot of attention and intention towards my dreams.
I walk on the weekends with my neighbour, and we debrief our weeks, share our challenges and help each other design better solutions or just vent. Whatever we need, we focus on. I get regular body work (massage, acupuncture, energy work), and I pay attention to almost anything that resonates with respect to my spiritual growth.
I have a coach who I talk to regularly, and I pay attention to the energy around me.
Do you have a favourite app or time-management device?
Meet from Sunrise.am is saving my life for meeting scheduling. It’s incredibly efficient.
Do you have a favourite healthy, energizing snack?
Kombucha! I’m a huge fan of the brand Tonica run by Zoey Shamai, a Canadian based female entrepreneur – a SheEO!
Vicki, this fall we are launching PowHERtalks, a Ted-talks style event that provides women with a platform to clearly express who they are, the impact they are looking to make and what they need at this time to move their mission forward. Audience members will actively listen with an intention of ‘How can I help?’. What are your top 3 tips to clearly express your mission with passion?
Tip #1 Be Yourself. Be Yourself. Be Yourself.
You cannot fake passion. The power of a person who shows up in their own truth is mesmerizing. When you show up as yourself it’s easy for people to join you or move on. You want to get to that point of gathering your tribe as soon as possible and ‘being yourself’ brings your tribe to you. As Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox says, “You can be someone else and follow, but you can’t be someone else and lead”.
Tip #2 Speak from Your Heart
Speak from the heart. No need to say anything more here. If you aren’t speaking from a place of heart it doesn’t hit people’s need for meaning. And, meaning is the new money.
Tip #3 Lead on your own terms
People are obsessed today with growth and scale. If that’s what you want, fine. If not, own your own dreams. Drop the ‘shoulds’ (I should scale my idea, I should be moving faster, etc.), and find out what you really want and what works for you. Be sure to ask yourself what scale do I want to reach? What kind of company do I want? What values do I have? What vision is right for me? Don’t follow the herd. Find your own path that fits best with your life goals and rock it.
Vicki Saunders is the CEO and Founder of SheEO that recently launched the Radical Generosity Initiative. SheEO is sill accepting commitment from Activators. To commit $1,000, your network, and support click here: sheeo.world/commit.
