Meet the Team
Anna Sabine
Business owner, founder and director
I’ve been an entrepreneur for over fifteen years but I’ve only just felt able to say it. Entrepreneurship - being like Alan Sugar, in a suit, behind a big desk - always felt like something for the boys, and like many women I have tended to talk down my achievements.
But in recent years, setting up my second, third and now fourth businesses, I’ve decided I’m an entrepreneur. A fellow female entrepreneur asked me the other day what my passion was: my passion is to reach out to other women to say “you’re also an entrepreneur, let’s cut through the nonsense and talk about what it’s going to take to get your business to the next level”. Which is how The Female Edge was born.
At The Female Edge there are no pink, no “live, laugh, love” quotes and no unrealistic expectations about what you can achieve. There’s just brilliant women coming together in a variety of ways to support, encourage and collaborate with each other. I passionately believe that women in business consistently underrate themselves, and that Covid and the many workplace changes it has brought about present both a unique threat and a unique opportunity for women. The Female Edge can help you avoid the former, and make the most of the latter.
My bio
I’m the owner of Cassia, a collection of co-working cafes in Bath, Bradford on Avon and (soon!) beyond. I also founded, ran and am now Chair and owner of MPC, an agency which uses the built environment as a catalyst for positive change, addressing inequalities in society.
Last year I won the Founder/Entrepreneur award at the Creative Bath Awards, with the citation
“Anna has worked tirelessly to build Cassia into a distinctive social workplace powerhouse for the city of Bath, establishing a hot hubspot in Bath Riverside. Great entrepreneurialism.”
Pepper Barney
Architect + Urban Designer + Director
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BiBO
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No, but I might call myself entrepreneurial. At this point I'm not necessarily interested in starting businesses because I can, but equally
I'm interested in the mechanics of business and how they interact to bring something new to the world.
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I had a terrible (but common) experience of returning from maternity leave, faced with what I knew would become a dead-end job fighting very dull battles with the senior male management.
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We self funded, it cost about £10k for each of the directors to get set up with specialist hardware and software - some of which we were able to agree a monthly payment plan.
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Business planning and looking into the future, knowing that if it's something I want, it's on me to make it happen.
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I thought everyone secretly hoped one day they'd run their own business, it was a surprise to learn that many people don't think this way.
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No, we were bold with our message, mission and purpose. The rage has subsided a little bit, and is mellowing and maturing into something that I find more rich and stimulating with each passing month.
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Find your tribe. Surround yourself with people who are on the same page as you.
This applies to whether you're growing a team of employees - where it's important not to get dragged down - or if you simply meet a group of others who will understand the complexity of your current challenges, even if they are not necessarily involved in your business directly.
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Check in regularly with your own goals. It's extremely easy to slip into a lifestyle that doesn't satisfy the reasons you started in the first place. I'm looking at YOU time-management!
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Time. I think men have a different relationship with it altogether, they don't have deadlines like menopause to think about.
Regardless of whether you choose to have children it seems to me that most men are far more inclined to become "workaholics" than women because they are less attuned to the possibility of presenteeism, looking like you're working when really it would be more efficient to stop, rest, and come back to the task.
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As the owner of a social enterprise, I've found huge communication barriers when talking about money. It's a work in progress, but there are very few communities that appreciate that profit and wealth strategy are not synonymous with greed and obsession with money.
Its a lonely road being neither a charity nor a profit-driven commercial powerhouse.
Dr. Leanne Olivier
Business owner, founder and director
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I am a nutritional biochemist by background so I run a nutrition consultancy called Crudités.
I work with large FMCG companies on nutrition & wellness topics. Last year, along with some ex colleagues we recently also set up The Good Crowd.
TGC is a marketing agency with the focus on helping Food & Drink Businesses to do more good in the world, which usually involves working on sustainability and health strategies, helping start up businesses with nutritional composition of products or helping businesses achieve B Corp certification.
Finally I have a business born from my passion of wine - a wine shop and tasting room in Bradford on Avon called Cru Wines.
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Yes. I believe I have had an entrepreneur mindset since I was a young child and used to charge neighbours to groom and walk their dogs.
This is a trait I always want to encourage and nurture when I see it in others.
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After years working and moving up the corporate ladder, I couldn’t satisfy the itch that needed to be scratched.
I wanted to see whether I had what it took to run my own business, and I knew I was only going to be satisfied once I had the opportunity to try.
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I engineered a redundancy from a well paid job, set up Crudites and eased myself into the entrepreuniral world by consulting. This was a save start as there were no overheads or heavy start up costs.
Soon after, I established Cru wines. I believe having a portfolio of businesses brings greater security and also a more varied network.
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Ownership. Whatever I do, good or bad - the repercussions are my own.
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Stress. And although I am genuinely happier. The highs are higher but the lows can be hard to wade through.
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Life is too short for regrets.
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Do it and then learn how to actually do it later. It will never be what you think it will be or what it will turn out to be so be open minded, listen to those around you but most importantly listen to the inner voice within you.
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Have someone you can trust to offload to.
To most people be bright and brief about the details but make sure you surround yourself with at least one person you can be truly authentic with. Sometimes the shit hits the fan and you’ll need someone that will listen to you; tell you it’s all ok, that you are strong and you have this!
Of course sometimes you won’t “have it” but it’s still nice to hear that someone is in your corner!
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I personally think how business are run can be more about different personality types and how they engage and face business.
However, one thing I believe that differs, and is a major set back is how many women actually take the plunge to set up and run their own business compared to men. I know plenty of women with ideas but little self believe and a personal avoidance of failure.
It seems it is to often that fear will get in-between the idea and the action if many women.
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If you want to be an entrepreneur - get a dog. They are proud of you on the good days; they will cuddle you like you are their hero on a bad day. It makes a difference in a sometimes scary and daunting day.
Maria Hayden
Director of Partnerships
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Formerly Co-Founder and COO for BandWagon and Headliner.io, my passion for music and technology culminated in the two music platforms securing over 16,000 gigs for musicians, bands and DJs.
I have recently been appointed Director of Partnerships for Lankdmrk. Over the past five years, the Landmrk platform has powered a series of renowned mixed reality and location-based experiences for artists including Ariana Grande, Jonas Brothers, Bring Me The Horizon, Aphex Twin and Shakira.
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I was described recently as an "experienced tech entrepreneur", so yes, I guess I am.
Over the last 12 years, I have founded two music tech businesses with one sale and one fails under my belt.
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The intersection between music and technology has always been my passion.
Both of my businesses were born out of a need for transparency in the live booking side of the Music Industry. Our mission was to help musicians make money.
We achieved that mission by the sheer number of bookings we made and revenue generated through intuitive technology solutions.
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BandWagon was initially bootstrapped until we secured Angel investment to build and scale to a size that attracted a sale in 2014.
Headliner was created to scale quickly, and thus we embarked on multiple rounds of investment, including a place in the prestigious TechStars incubator.
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I most enjoy building a company culture that attracts top talent and an environment that fosters psychological safety, creativity and confidence.
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It's an emotional roller coaster! Your worst day can become your best in the blink of an eye.
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No regrets. Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow.
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Don't be afraid to share a half baked idea. Take feedback from people seriously but seek out those with real-world experience of starting and growing businesses, ideally, in a similar sector or space to you.
Think about how you can test the assumption you have. Can it be done in a lightweight way? Minimal Viable Product is overused and not always applicable, but in most business cases, it often validates how viable your idea is without a huge amount of risk.
Lastly, be prepared to iterate on what you initially think a business might be. Often through the initial feedback and tests, it becomes apparent where the value lies. Be prepared to run through the cycle described above before fully jumping in.
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Believe in yourself! Surround yourself with people who believe in you and your business. Find one or two mentors who can help you.
Put yourself and your wellbeing ahead of your business. It will pay off!
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I co-founded both of my businesses with my husband.
I think our differences in approach made us a good team, not necessarily our gender difference. However, on the whole, women have very strong intuition and empathy—both great leadership traits.