How this co-working space is helping four female founders flourish

Sometimes to flourish, you need to foster connection.

But if you run your own business, how do you get away from your dining table/couch/local coffee shop and find it?

At the Canberra Innovation Network coworking space, it’s not just flowers blooming this spring – the team there has front-row seats to the flourishing peer-to-peer collaborations between female founders.

In a small city where just over a third of businesses are owned by women, it is essential for Canberra entrepreneurs to support one another and nurture connections wherever possible. And the female founders within the Canberra startup world know that the secret sauce to success is collaboration, coffee catchups, and lending a hand wherever they can!

Here four female founders from the co-working space share how they help to create a supportive environment in their own individual way.

So, who are these inspiring women?

Andrea Butler is the founder of Bakesale, a platform that creates an easier way to find local bakers. She has helped mentor many founders transitioning into the coworking space and is an expert on business models and services.

Beth Baldwin is a one-woman copywriting business. Specialising in articles, website copy, and EDMs for small business, Beth is known as someone who is easy to talk to because of her honesty and values and has helped forge connections within the community.

Belinda Newham is the founder of Decision Revolution, a social enterprise that provides leaders with tools and techniques to increase performance creating better outcomes for communities. Belinda is always happy to have a chat, share thoughts, and offer advice where she can.

Claire Harris, is founder of Innovate Communicate, a communication, engagement, and marketing consultancy with a purpose to unlock potential from impact-focused STEM. Claire is great at keeping the coworkers around her accountable and on track to achieve their goals.

Learning from their own experiences, they know all too well that starting a business comes with challenges, and all agree that joining the coworking space was a positive step in their business growth and journey.

“Sitting at home being in business by yourself can feel lonely, even intimidating sometimes. Coming into the CBRIN co-working space gives me a sense of community and makes me feel like I belong to a team of sorts,” says Beth.

“That sense of connection is so important to me and I love the inspiring conversations and innovative client referrals that come through the space. Being here reinvigorates my passion for what I do every day.”

Andrea agrees and says “You can make a connection, you can talk to someone about a problem, everything’s okay to talk about… you can have that connection with other women.”

Whether it be catching up by the coffee machine each morning, or chatting in the lunchroom, these spaces generate unmatched collaboration.By connecting with other female founders, that you can confide in, relate to, and be inspired by, it will only help you build confidence in yourself – and in your business.

“Everyone is really generous with their knowledge and wants to help, which in return makes you want to help them,” explains Beth.

“An essential part of growth and scaling is listening to feedback from an outside perspective, and it might not be always what you want to hear, but that is just as important – if not more.”

Claire strongly believes “You need to find a space, find a place, find people around you because you will not thrive if you’re not with other businesses,”

”These interactions can create a trusted network that will help you gain new perspectives on your business.”

When asked what advice they would pass on to new entrepreneurs, all agreed that embracing as many opportunities that come your way as possible is key. Diving headfirst into speaking engagements, attending networking events to make yourself known, and mixing with likeminded people will not only help grow your business, and your confidence but it will keep you inspired to do more.

Because the coworking space at the Canberra Innovation Network isn’t just a desk. It’s a lifestyle. From  access to networking events, workshops, information, mentors, and social events that are all designed to support your business there’s so much on offer to support everyone, at all stages of the journey.

Andrea, Beth, Belinda, and Claire are all part of the incredible Canberra innovation ecosystem – a community of diverse people, doing amazing things that can help make the world a better place.

Ask yourself these questions …

Are you interested in being a part of this community?

Do you want to work alongside these inspiring founders and other entrepreneurs at the Canberra Innovation Network?

Do you want to be around others as you grow your business in a space that is energetic, collaborative, inspiring, and fun?

If you’re interested in coworking or finding out more about the events and workshops supporting entrepreneurs, book a tour of the coworking space.