Stephanie MacConnell’s Post

Over the past 9 weeks, I've been fortunate enough to participate in the incredible I2N at The University of Newcastle Female Founders Program.   While my initial idea wasn’t validated, the journey has been about much more. I've embraced the concepts of #designthinking to learn about the challenges and needs of specific populations—especially #pregnantwomen navigating work during pregnancy and returning to work and those recovering from illness or injury while re-entering the workforce. My research has uncovered the persistence of #workplacestigmas. These stigmas involve negative stereotyping or labeling individuals with conditions that carries social disapproval because of the undesirable perception, making their journey back to work more challenging. Limiting their ability to #thrive, both professionally and personally.   Workplace stigmas are not just obstacles but psychosocial hazards. They can impact workplace culture, wellbeing, safety, psychological safety, organisational performance and individuals’ positive mental health. We need to break these barriers and create a more inclusive and supportive work environments and this can be done by using #coachingpsychology. Coaching and #positivepsychology can support the application of learning around such topics (including unconscious bias and psychosocial hazards and risks) that affect workers’ psychological, emotional and social wellbeing. I will be pitching on Wednesday, 13th December, which involves sharing my journey and learnings, along with a number of other amazing women. If anyone is interested in attending the event and learning more; please don’t hesitate to contact me. I'm looking forward to sharing more on these topics and how we can use coaching psychology and positive psychology to support organisations and individuals - creating cultures of wellbeing and safety. Richard Berry Jeffrey Gock Kate Brettell ACC Melissa Histon Melissa Schrader Melissa Kent Lee Edmonds-Ward Johanna Fink Nicola Johnstone Shamaram Eichmann Natalie Coulson Madeleine McVie Sarah Williams Nadia Giblin

Just over 2 weeks to go until our Geelong Accelerator for Enterprising Women Incubator workshop with Shivali Harman from the Young Change Agents team & Junie Baptiste Poitevien, Founder and CEO of Propel Innovations! If you're a female founder in Geelong with a business or entrepreneurial idea you’ve always wanted to bring to life then sign up to attend this event! We'll take you through a series of masterclasses and provide virtual mentoring support following the event with female founders involved in this initiative from across the country. When you leave, you will be able to: 💡 Develop your business model 💡 Create a validation strategy 💡 Determine your MVP (minimum viable product) 💡 Have a marketing plan ready to go! We will also give you the tricks and tips you need to enter the Kickstarter Challenge which has game-changing prizes like: - A share in $60,000 worth of seed funding - The chance to pitch your business to the decision-makers in Canberra, Shark Tank-style - Be connected with a mentor in your field to help you continue your business journey View the event details and sign up to attend here: https://hubs.ly/Q01-0qqH0

Are you a female founder over the age of 18, based in the Gold Coast, and have a business or entrepreneurial idea you’ve always wanted to bring to life? We invite you to attend our Accelerator for Enterprising Women Incubator workshop held on Monday the 21st August at Cohort Innovation Space, Southport. We will take you through a series of masterclasses and provide virtual mentoring support following the event with female founders involved in this initiative from across the country. When you leave the workshop, you will be able to: 💡 Develop your business model 💡 Create a validation strategy 💡 Determine your MVP (minimum viable product) 💡 Have a marketing plan ready to go! We will also give you the tricks and tips you need to enter the Kickstarter Challenge which has game-changing prizes like: - A share in $60,000 worth of seed funding - The chance to pitch your business to the decision-makers in Canberra, Shark Tank-style - Be connected with a mentor in your field to help you continue your business journey Read more about the event and sign up to attend here: https://hubs.ly/Q01-0tDD0

Still feeling incredibly inspired and motivated after attending Lobby Capital's Elevate - Female Founders Summit! Here are a few key takeaways and reflections from the conference: ⭐ Female CEOs are truly remarkable. Our approach may differ from our male counterparts, but it's every bit as effective, often even more so! The key is to trust ourselves and not allow doubt (or others' opinions) to hinder our progress. 🤝 Experiencing the give-and-take of support at the summit was profoundly fulfilling. Sharing experiences with fellow female founders, whether they were a step behind or ahead, created a strong sense of community that both nurtured and empowered us. We need to foster more of these connections! 📈 Investors dedicating time to build relationships with female founders and CEOs is the path to cultivating a thriving and equitable startup ecosystem. This ecosystem, in turn, will give rise to life-changing companies and exceptional returns, led by women in VC, founders, and CEOs. In summary, let's strive to connect more, support one another, and advocate for our collective success! This is how we level up the playing field. Let's do this! 💪🚀 Thank you for hosting Leah Solivan, Selina Tobaccowala, Alison Rosenthal (She / Her), Martina Lauchengco, and David Hornik!

Wrapped 💫 We closed the four-week Create Growth: Female Founders Coaching Programme yesterday for GM Business Growth Hub. Our brief? Help these amazing business women build more confidence and resilience. What a four weeks it’s been: 💫 An in-person workshop to start to uncover the concrete walls present in our businesses and personal lives 💫 An online deep dive into self limiting beliefs, followed by observed coaching sessions 💫 Online again, this time looking at evidence stacking for confidence and more observed coaching 💫 Wrapped with a final in-person workshop and a vision boarding session to let the community strengthen their bonds (which are as strong as they are!) and some incredible reflections. We’ll share some of the incredible feedback soon. But for now, thank you GM Business Growth Hub for trusting us with your first female founders programme. We can’t wait to see where they go next 🙏

I'm honored to get this recommendation from Leslie Feinzaig, someone that I greatly respect and admire. Working with female Founders from all over the world gives me continual inspiration and energy! #femalefounders #womeninstem #womeninAI #businessdevelopment #businesscoaching

Great takeaways on what investors look for in a project: 🏆 Passion of the Team & Chemistry (do they get along?) 🏆 Simplicity of the product 🏆 What have you already built? 🏆 Pain Point that product solves 🏆 Who are the partners 🏆 Talk to the customers 🏆 Measure Impact Let me know what else you took from the session.

Today is shaping up to be a very good day! First off, Thursdays are special to me because they mark class days in my entrepreneurial mentorship program Wocstar | B Corp Certified . It's a day filled with connection, inspiration, and a healthy dose of intimidation if that makes sense! Week after week, I'm blown away by the incredible women in my class and the wealth of knowledge and experience they bring to the table. Learning more about them and their businesses fuels my purpose and sparks my entrepreneurial spirit. But here's the kicker: we're hitting Week 5 out of 8 today, and I'll be the first to admit I've fallen a bit behind in my classwork. However, that's not going to dampen my spirits! I'm more determined than ever to buckle down, catch up, and elevate my game before we hit Week 6 next week. It's a challenge, no doubt, but one I'm ready to take on. On another note, I've got some news on the business front! My screen printer should give me the green light for my Courageous Tee shirts to be picked up today! I'm beyond excited to get my hands on them and start shipping out my newly launched "Definition Collection". These tees are not just pieces of fabric; they're a symbol of courage, empowerment, and the strength we all carry within us but often need a reminder. Here's to embracing challenges, celebrating victories, and always moving our stories forward.

I only just found out: my grandma was one of the first few members of the 'Association of Female CEO's'. In 1958 🤯 65 years ago. In the Netherlands. When women in business were rare. Let alone female business leaders. She had taken over the leadership of my granddad's leather business. Sourcing cowhides. The tannery. Dyeing. Packaging. Sales. The whole deal. A smart, strong woman leading a business in the fifties. Against all odds. Too bad that even today, that is still seen as special. As Nellie Wartoft always says: it's not about female founders. But about strong founders. Period. And I agree. And so I am super grateful for the opportunity to work closely with amazing founders like Bianca Ho founder of Wati, Carolyn Lam, founder of Us2.ai, Donna Lee, founder of Calyx Global, Grace Sai founder of Unravel Carbon (YC W22), Hande Cilingir, founder of Insider., Nellie Wartoft founder of Tigerhall, Nicki Ramsay founder of CardUp, Carla Penn-Kahn founder of Profit Peak, Prukalpa ⚡founder of Atlan and more. And hopefully many more in the future. PS. For aspiring female founders, do check-out The Spark Fellowship, Peak XV Partners's 4-month long program that includes a USD 100K equity-free grant. It is open to all female founders who are in the early stages of starting up. (Link in first comment)