Allaboutbusiness.ie talks to Veronica Canning, creator of Shoeisms - a revolutionary method of empowering the next generation of women business leaders focusing on entrepeneurs and small to medium businesses - about how women can differentiate themselves and become leaders in their field.

Entrepreneurship has historically been a male-dominated persuit, but many of today’s most memorable and inspirational entrepreneurs are women. From Darina Allen to Coco Chanel they all started out small and grew their businesses into globally recognised brands.

However, Irish women are underrepresented in business, with Irish men being three times more likely to be involved in entrepreneurial activity than their female counterparts (GEM report 2008).

Through her experience of working at the top level of many organisations Veronica saw that, in general, women were making great progress at lower and middle management levels but very few breaking through to senior leadership roles. “It was clear to me that women were getting only so far in business, the top of the business triangle was still male dominated” says Veronica.

If the shoe fits
In February Veronica published her latest book ‘SHOEISMS’ - The working woman’s guide to taking control and be the sassy, successful woman you know you can be. The book contains 56 succinct messages which offer straight forward advice.

Her favourite ‘Shoeism’ is ‘Beware the psychic vampires’:  “Listen carefully to people’s comments.  Don’t accept them at face value, go behind to the intention.  Evaluate it.  If it comes from a place of black negativity, you may be linked into a psychic vampire.  Psychic vampires seek to destroy enthusiasm and energy in others.  They are those people who are always putting you down or telling you that you are not good enough. Learn to recognise them.  Disengage and don’t let those comments into your head.”

Girl Power
Personal characteristics such as self belief, fear of failure and risk aversion play a critical role in entrepreneurial activity. Veronica noticed that when talking to women about where they saw their own limitations it always came back to self belief and self confidence.

It was for this reason that she developed the highly acclaimed Shoes programme for women. “Shoes have a magical place in women’s lives! They are a metaphor for taking the next step up.” This is exactly what the program does – it gives women the confidence and self belief to take that next step in business.

Working the room
Women can often find business a lonely place. Networking events can take the isolation out of entrepreneurship and there has been a huge increase in these events in Ireland over the last few years. They allow you to share resources and information with people who are in the same position as yourself.

However, most people don’t know how to maximise the opportunities that these events create. “You have to understand the networking process” says Veronica “Networking events are not a sales opportunity. Don’t just nab a stranger and try to sell to them. Research who will be attending the event in advance so that you know who you should be talking to. Remember to ask them questions about their business too, it’s not a one way street!”

Best foot forward
Veronica says that the best piece of advice she could give to aspiring female entrepreneurs is to not be afraid of failure “even when you fall, you fall forward. Pick yourself back up, put your stilettos back on and learn from your mistakes.” She adds “everything you could ever want is on the other side of fear. This could be fear of failure, success or that you won’t be good enough. Once you get over this fear you can move forward.”

Relevant Links
www.veronicacanning.com
www.shoeisms.com