Freelancing and Self Employment

After founding and scaling a women's organization to 15,000+ members, I know one truth: 89% of women's networks fail to deliver real value. This one won't. As the founder and former CEO of the National Association of Women Sales Professionals (NAWSP), I built a community that transformed careers, not just conversations. Three critical elements I learned about building powerful women's networks: • Success depends on curation, not collection. The right 20 connections outperform 2,000 random ones every time. • Women leaders need spaces designed for their actual lives, not idealized versions. Your calendar is already full. • Networks that drive results focus on action and visibility, not just talk and theory. This is why I immediately recognized the power of the Wednesday Women Membership that just launched today. It's not another crowded Slack group with performative networking. It's built for exec-level women who lead with conviction, value authentic connection, and want every woman to rise. No Instagram-perfect corporate masks. No status symbol price tags. No time-wasting activities. Instead: ✅ Hand-curated and AI-powered network connections that actually matter ✅ Value that fits into your actual life ✅ A community rooted in action, generosity, authenticity, and visibility I've built and led organizations that changed the trajectory of women's careers for over a decade. The Wednesday Women approach aligns with everything I know works. Power doesn't come from larger networks. It comes from strategic ones. What would change if you stopped collecting connections and started cultivating the right ones? P.S. For women executives tired of networks that take more than they give: This is your community. https://lnkd.in/epHyq42c #WednesdayWomen #ExecutiveWomen

Share of self-employed #women in #India is on the rise . Women #entrepreneurs highlighted ‘training and mentoring’ as areas of improvement and ‘access to #funding’ as the main challenge over the last 3-5 years. The share of self-employed women (who run enterprises on their own, as a partnership, and/or employ others) has risen ~11pp from 2017-18 to ~31% in 2023-24. Women-led ventures hire more women, boosting overall participation.  While India benefits from favorable demographics, it will not reap the full benefits unless women become a larger part of its labor force. The female labor force participation rate in India is significantly below the male participation rate and also below these rates in other major economies. One of the key reasons for women's low participation in the labor force is that the women in India bear a disproportionate responsibility for domestic and care-giving activities. Indian women spend ~8x more time on a daily basis in domestic and care-giving services than men. However, an encouraging development over the past few years has been the rise of self-employed women in India. Women in corporate India are under-represented but gradually gaining ground. Going forward, our analysts find that building a robust ‘care economy’ (a network of child care centers and elder care ecosystem) would (a) free up women’s time for paid employment opportunities elsewhere, and (b) create greater employment opportunities for the 'care work' services sector. Source : Goldman Sachs EmpowerEdge Ventures

If you want to build a community, Then here's the hard truth. It isn’t something you can just outsource or delegate. You have to roll up your sleeves and get involved. You set the tone, energy, and values. Why? Because authenticity is the lifeblood of a strong community. And no one embodies the mission of your business better than you. Those early interactions shape everything From product development to your messaging. I've built a global community of 100k teens & parents in 162 countries. Without a Community Manager or Lead. Here's 5 things to consider if you're building a community for your business: 👉 Start with purpose ↳Nail down your "why" before you invite others in. 👉 Show up ↳Reply to comments, host events, spark conversations - your presence drives momentum. 👉 Focus on relationships, not numbers ↳Find a small group of people first who become true advocates of your brand - this is so powerful. 👉 Listen (like really listen) ↳Keep up the conversation - your community is a goldmine of feedback you'll get nowhere else. 👉 Empower others ↳Empower leaders from within - this enables your community to scale while staying authentic. Building a community takes work But done right, it becomes your greatest asset. ➕ Follow me Jas for more on community & growth across Entrepreneurship (and follow my company luna too)

Real Incomes in India Have Declined Over the Past 7 Years Between 2017-18 and 2023-24, both salaried and self-employed Indians have seen their real earnings decline when adjusted for inflation. This means people are working just as hard—if not harder—but can afford less than they could seven years ago. Key Insights: Self-employed women have been hit the hardest, with a 32% drop in real earnings. Salaried women’s real wages fell by 13%, while men in regular employment saw a 12% dip. Even self-employed men faced a 10% decline in their earnings. If incomes aren’t keeping up with inflation, who is really benefiting from economic growth? What steps can we take to reverse this trend?   #Economy #India #Wages #Inflation #PurchasingPower        

'Imagine spending the last 7 weeks of this year working for nothing. This is in effect what women across the world do when compared with men because of the endurance of gender pay gaps. In a country such as the UK, where average hourly earnings for women are 13% lower than for men, it equates to female workers spending 48 days out of a year working for free. They do it for even longer in countries with bigger pay gaps. These UK figures apply to all jobs, full or part-time, and are partly explained by the higher number of women who work either part-time or in poorly paid industries, or both. The gap is a smaller 7% if you only count full-time jobs but much larger for women in their fifties and positively gargantuan in finance and insurance. But this is not the half of it. The UK gap turns out to have been understated for 20 years, new research has shown, because official statistics give undue weight to public sector employers, which typically have smaller gender pay gaps. This suggests the actual pay gap is about 1 percentage point higher than what we have been led to believe. That does not sound like much but it matters for many reasons. If politicians and bosses had known the gap was wider than it appeared, they might have been faster to launch policies to close it, such as mandatory pay gap reporting or flexible working. Also, official earnings numbers are used to calculate things such as national minimum wage rates, so obviously they should be accurate. The UK’s official statistics agency has said it will review its work. But that won’t fix one of the more frustrating aspects of the gender pay gap: it seems to persist even when women set their own pay rates, rather than accepting those of an employer. The average male freelancer in the US charges 26 per cent more than female freelancers, research showed. The gap is even wider for legal freelance work, where men charge an average $145 an hour and women just $68. It might be even worse in the UK, where a 2020 study showed self-employed men earned an average of 43 per cent more than self-employed women.' Pilita Clark Financial Times https://lnkd.in/e34y8E9X

Community is necessary, but the hype cycle will make you feel like community building is easy and the solution for every problem. I talk to brands all the time who want community but don't look at it as the long-term initiative it is. They don't see all the moving pieces that will drain your time, your energy, and your resources. That's why I've built out this Community Readiness Guide. It's a self-check for anyone thinking about building community. 1. Why Do You Really Want to Build a Community? - Is this coming from a place of service, connection, curiosity—or pressure to “build something”? - Are you craving connection yourself, or do you see a genuine gap for others? - Could your goal be met through something simpler—like content, events, or a group chat? 2. Who Are You Gathering—and Why? - Who are the people you feel drawn to connect? Be as specific as possible. - What unites them? A shared experience, identity, aspiration, or challenge? - What will they get out of coming together with each other (not just with you)? 3. Are You Willing to Build With Them, Not Just For Them? - Will you involve others in shaping what this becomes? - Are you open to your original idea shifting as people show up with their needs? - Do you value co-creation, or are you looking to lead from the front? 4. Do You Have the Time, Energy, and Patience to Sustain This? - Community takes time to build—especially trust and engagement. Are you ready for the long game? - How will you show up consistently without burning out or resenting the work? - What boundaries will you need to protect your energy? 5. What Does Success Actually Look Like for You? - What would make this feel worth it? - Is it a certain number of people? A vibe? A deeper sense of purpose? - What are you not willing to compromise on? 6. Are You Ready for the Emotional Labor of Holding Space? - Are you comfortable with silence, slow growth, and invisible impact? - Can you hold space for different opinions, needs, and personalities? - What support do you need to stay grounded as a community builder, not just a content creator? 7. Gut Check - If you built this community and no one “important” noticed, would it still feel meaningful to you? Take the self-check and let me know if this helped you realize whether building a community is right for your needs.

One thing that nobody really tells you about quitting your job …is how lonely it can get. There are many things that we take for granted while working for a company: 💡Easy access to information to get the job done - there’s likely always someone within the company that you can ask for help. 👩🏻💻Routines - there are processes and rituals in place that help you be productive, continuously improve and acknowledge your progress. 👩🏻🤝👩🏾Connection and identity - even if you don’t like your job, there’s still this unique sense of communal identity that is created when people work together on a common goal. And we humans seem to just need that. Once you are outside of that bubble, you need to actively recreate all of that. For me an important source of support has come from various communities. I find it quite incredible how helpful and open people can be to complete strangers. We all have this unconscious striving to fit in somewhere. But actually no one really wants to FIT IN. What we really want is to BELONG. And that’s what communities are all about. Over the past years I’ve been a member of more communities than I care to count, but here are a few that I found particularly helpful: Berlin Boss Babes - community (or rather a movement) for women advancement founded by Tamara Rose Morales. Women can receive advice and contribute their own perspectives on all kinds of work related, personal development and systemic change matters. Most of the action is happening on FB - a very supportive and inspiring group of people. There are also in person events, which are always my favorite in Berlin. Tamara is a great host and knows how to set the tone for authentic, meaningful discussions where everyone feels welcome to engage.       Silicon Allee - community for founders in tech. Most of the action is happening in regular in-person meet-ups. I haven’t made it to too many unfortunately but the one I’ve been to was brilliantly facilitated by Grace Williams and Sophie Webber. They also send out one of the few newsletters I actually open. Venturing Women - community for women and allies in tech founded by Darya Kamkalova. Most of the action is happening on Whatsapp. It is by far the most active chat I’ve been a part of but also the most useful from the founder perspective - Darya is a very strategic and (positively) ruthless moderator, ensuring that the conversations only revolve around the topics of tech entrepreneurship and investment.  2hearts - community for people in Europe’s tech industry that feel a belonging to more than one culture. Most of the action is happening on Slack but there are also regular virtual and in-person events. They organize a monthly onboarding call which I find is quite cool. The application process can take quite some time, just something to keep in mind. Alright, happy networking💃🏻 If there are any communities that you love I’d be curious to learn which ones and why!

I went from hiding in the shadow to building a loyal community - here's my secret! Chasing numbers on LinkedIn can leave you with a bunch of unengaged connections and a brand that's as flat as a failed soufflé. Having 5K followers but only 2 engagements, 0 DMs, and 0 clients is a recipe for disaster- you're chasing clout, not clients! That's what happens when you focus on random followers rather than focus on building a loyal community with trust. Imagine throwing a party and inviting everyone in town, but only two people show up, and they're just there for the free food. That's what happens when you prioritize self-promotion over building a community that actually cares. But, what if you built a village where like-minded professionals gathered, every connection is valued, and every conversation sparks new opportunities? It makes your audience bond closely with you. Collaborate with other professionals and explore new topics. Work on mind-blowing projects, build a strong brand! And remember the 3Cs of Community Building: 👉Consistency: Show up regularly with valuable content and engagement. 👉Curation: Share relevant, high-quality content that resonates with your audience. 👉Connection: Foster meaningful relationships through comments, messages, and collaborations. By building your community with the 3Cs, you'll create a loyal tribe that will stand by you, advocate for your business, and help you achieve your long-term goals. So, don't be a wind-chaser. Be a village-builder. Focus on building a community that will stand the test of time and help you achieve your business goals! P.S. What's your take on community building?

🤝The secret to scaling a community? It's not what you think. 🤝 I share the key strategies that got me featured in "A Guide for Scaling Communities that Deliver Measurable Impact", a book written by Mark Birch, who served as a Global Startup Advocate at Amazon Web Services (AWS)👇 (Take notes) When I moved from Paris to NYC in 2022, I dove into community building. The results? 4,000 women in less than a year, 6,000 in 18 months. But here's the twist: Massive events aren't always the answer. I noticed a shift. People craved more intimate, curated experiences. That's when I pivoted to La Creme de la STEM™ - female founders support system, a private network for early-stage women entrepreneurs. Here's what I learned: 1️⃣ Quality over quantity Invite-only memberships foster genuine, powerful connections. 2️⃣ Shared values matter Create a space where members align on core principles. 3️⃣ Embrace vulnerability It's the key to deeper connections. 4️⃣ Adapt to changing needs Be ready to pivot when you see shifts in community preferences. 5️⃣Provide a focused platform Showcase women as business leaders, emphasizing expertise over gender. Remember: Finding your tribe is hard. Your community should be a place where members can be true to themselves and benefit from strong support. That's the real secret to scaling - not just growing numbers, but growing impact. Build a community that truly serves its members. I am thankful to be featured alongside 54 community builders from around the globe, covering every continent, for sharing ONE THING they wished they knew about community building. Read the book to know more!

Women at Work The research I've done for my book, Why NOT Me? The Female Guide for Entrepreneurship, led me to the history of women in the workplace and it's impact on women then and now. Here are some of the things I've learned. In the early 20th century, women were expected to stay home to tend to their homes and families. The ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920 not only gave women the right to vote but for the first time, women began to enter the workforce in large numbers. The majority of married women were still expected to give up working when they married but roughly 10% of them and nearly 50% of single women were employed outside the home. They worked as teachers, secretaries, librarians and nurses. In the 1970’s, 40% of married women worked outside the home. The number of single women who worked outside the home stayed relatively the same at roughly 50%. They were employed primarily in clerical jobs such as bookkeepers, administrative assistants and teachers. Until 1997, there were no women CEO's of Fortune 500 companies. There are currently 52 or roughly 10%. Prior to 1988, women were required to have a male relative co-sign on a business loan. The Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988 made it easier for women to become business owners. The pandemic upended a lot of jobs and changed the way people thought about their professional paths and careers. For many women, the pandemic was a wake-up call. Working moms were suddenly expected to add full time childcare and teaching on top of responsibilities at work and at home. Nearly 12M women left their jobs. Many of those decided to start their own businesses. In 2019, 28% of new businesses launched in the U.S. were owned by women. In 2021, nearly half of all startups were launched by women. Today, as more women launch companies, they are hiring their own administrative assistants and bookkeepers. As of March 2024, there were 13M+ women-owned businesses in the U.S. alone and they contributed $1.8T to the GDP every year. What changes did you make in your career during and post COVID? Please feel free to share with others in your network #ReadyLaunchBrand #WhyNotMe #FemaleFounders