Everywoman's Modern Muse project is aiming to inspire Britain's next generation of female business leaders.
To the average 16-year-old girl, the name Cheryl Cole is probably more familiar than Chrissie Rucker, the entrepreneur behind the White Company. But that’s something Karen Gill and Maxine Benson, the founders of Everywoman, are hoping to change.
The duo are behind a new project to encourage more young women to become business leaders - by offering up more positive role models. The Modern Muse project is designed to engage the next generation of female business leaders and entrepreneurs by showcasing women of today in all walks of business life. The goal is to reach out to one million young women and girls over the next three years, to inspire them to look at business careers and entrepreneurship as a way to achieve their dreams.
Launching with a book celebrating 100 successful women, the ‘Modern Muse’ features the success stories behind the 100 Founding Muses and is a project by everywoman to inspire and engage young girls and women to fulfill their career ambitions and seek success in the business world.
The 100 Muses are from different backgrounds, educational paths, industries, job roles and they encompass a vast range in age, region, and ethnicity - they have had many different journeys to success.
The stories include those of Dame Mary Perkins, on the verge of becoming Britain’s first self-made female billionaire through her chain of Specsavers opticians; and Judy Craymer, the writer and producer of the musical Mamma Mia!
Everywoman's normal remit is providing training and networking for professional women in business. But now it's trying to reach a much more difficult demographic – young girls between 16 and 18 who are in the process of deciding their futures. The ‘muses’ featured in the book will visit schools and get involved in their local communities, while some will also become mentors.
Wendy Hallett, founder and MD of department store concessions business Hallett Retail is another of the women taking part. She tells MT that it’s important to inspire young girls, but that it’s also about getting other women involved who can act as role models. 'For women it’s about inspiring them to believe in themselves that they can start their own business'.
