They call themselves the ‘fastest growing female entrepreneurial movement you’ve never heard of’, but for some young women entrepreneurs, the League of Extraordinary Women has become their go-to source of networking activities.
And now the League is expanding internationally. Currently established in eight Australian cities, it recently opened its first international branch in the UK. Plans are in motion to also launch in New York and South Africa, with an ambition to reach 10,000 members globally within five years.
The group was founded by four young female entrepreneurs who found themselves huddling together at a 2011 entrepreneurial conference that was dominated by men. Those four founders, Liz Atkinson, Marie Cruz-deVera, Sheryl Thai and Sarah Riegelhuth, have since gone on to expand their own diverse businesses while building up the League.
The League’s mission is to remove barriers to entrepreneurship, share stories of success and failure, and to give more women the confidence to understand the opportunities and hurdles that entrepreneurs experience. The group offers regular workshops and networking opportunities for members, with a focus on everything from branding to marketing, finances and PR.
The international expansion follows research by the Gender-Global Entrepreneur and Development Index ranking Australia as the second best place to be a female entrepreneur.
According to Riegelhuth, being the only woman in a room that’s mostly dominated by male entrepreneurs can be intimidating and make you feel like you have to justify your presence in order to be taken seriously.
She says her experience is that too many business networking groups are more focused on helping members inflate their egos and count their successes, than reflecting on mistakes and failures. “This really helped us create a point of difference for the League. We wanted to create a supportive community where women could share their entrepreneurship stories warts and all – exposing the grisly side of start-ups while offering tangible stories of inspiration and encouragement,” she said in a statement announcing the expansion.
“The female-led events allow women to feel at ease and confident to share their stories and grow from the other members’ entrepreneurial journeys, which is part of the reason why the League has been so successful in its three short years.”
The League currently runs monthly events in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Launceston, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra and the Gold Coast.