Last June, the Innovation Forum partnered with J&J Innovation to organise the “She started it“ event in Oxford. The evening started with a screening of a film, co-directed by journalists Nora Poggi and Insiyah Saeed, that features five women founders in the tech sector. It showed the true and raw reality of being an entrepreneur and the obstacles that women face, putting a strong emphasis on the struggles with raising funding. However, it also emphasized the strength, resilience and drive of these women with an aim to highlight successful role models for every woman out there that is dreaming of embarking on this journey. To see the trailer visit.

The film was followed by a panel discussion on women in entrepreneurship. I had the real pleasure of being on the panel side by side with Eva-Lotta Allan, CBO of Immunocore, who brought a depth of expertise and experience from the business sector, and Joanna Goulda, a PhD student from Southampton University who founded the award winning start-up ViscoNano. The discussion was chaired by Letizia Goretti, Director, Portfolio Management and Business Operations at Jonhson & Johnson, who led an engaging discussion with strong key messages:

• Don’t pretend to be something you are not! Be yourself in everything you do!
• Don’t wait to make everything perfect, just go for it!
• Don’t be scared of failure and don’t beat yourself up if you fail. Failure is a lesson that will allow you to grow.
• Mentors and support groups are important! So go and network!

Is about time we highlight women that are out there and changing the status-quo of the women entrepreneur. The ‘She started it’ video is a kick start that we should continue!