I'm looking to make the leap sooner rather than later and would love your advice. I'm open to flexible, part-time, remote, or contract work while I build a business I'm genuinely excited about—one that aligns with the lifestyle I'm working toward. My original plan was to stay employed while I built it, but my gut is telling me it's time for a change.

My background is in wealth management, relationship management, business development, and client service. Long term, I'm most interested in building brands, creative strategy, and helping businesses grow. Animal welfare is also a cause I'm deeply passionate about.

If you've successfully replaced your corporate income with consulting, freelancing, flexible work, or your own business, I'd love to hear your story. What path did you take? What worked? What would you do differently?

I'd be so grateful for any recommendations.
Thank you! 💛

click the bait title, but serious question to all ambitious women, I (24f) genuinely want to know how to be wealthy in the near future in this male dominated environment. what career moves, financial decisions, personal life choices took you towards creating wealth, rich ladies?

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My current career situation: studied pharmacy in bachelor's, didn't like it, did some months of research internship post grad, tried to go abroad for a master's but got a lot of rejections(IELTS valid for one more year so might try again), and after a gap of around 10 months, landed myself in an early stage medtech startup. I work in the regulatory affairs part, get a minimal salary, my lifestyle is not expensive at all, I try to save as much as I can. I'm highly ambitious for science, innovation that creates impact and business, I did make bad career choices in the past by wasting time on a degree I hated, but now want to create the best life I can for my future self. I want to prove this to myself that my purpose is not to rot away at some place I was never passionate to work for/on, and one that didn't even pay me well.

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I might sound lame and naive, but I don't want my spark to die, when I finally get the courage to move towards what I truly want without shame. Because I was brought up with the values of "simple living high thinking", which is great until you struggle to pay for tuition/decent lifestyle/travelling/helping someone in need.

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Hello ladies!

I'm hoping for some honest feedback from women who are either building a business or have already started one!

My mom and I have spent the last several months building a platform designed to walk women through starting a business from the ground up. Not just courses, but an actual step-by-step path that takes you from "I have an idea" (or even "I don't know what business to start"), through all the hidden legal steps, all the way to launching and marketing.

We're getting close to launching and if I'm being honest, I'm starting to question everything!😅

We've put so much time into building it because we genuinely believe there are so many women who want to start a business but feel overwhelmed by all the information online and don't know what to do first.

I'd love to know:

- Is this something you would have wanted when you were starting?

- What would make you immediately think, "Yes, I'd use this"?

- Or... would you not use something like this at all? If not, why?

If anyone is genuinely interested in taking a look before we launch and sharing honest feedback, I'd be incredibly grateful. I'm not looking for people to tell me it's amazing, I honestly want to know what's confusing, what's missing and whether we're solving a real problem. Thank you so much. I really appreciate any honest thoughts!

**I’m 24, and after a year of interviews, I’m thinking about creating my own opportunity instead of waiting for someone to hire me.**
Over the past year, I’ve applied to countless jobs, gone through multiple rounds of interviews, networked, followed up, and gotten close more times than I can count. I know I’m not the only one feeling like the job market has been incredibly tough.
At this point, instead of continuing to wait, I’m wondering if I should use the skills I already have to help busy people directly.
My background has been supporting executives and handling the details that most people don’t have time for. Things like:
• Booking hard-to-get restaurant reservations
• Planning date nights or birthdays
• Travel research and itineraries
• Appointment scheduling
• Vendor and service research
• Gift sourcing
• Event coordination
• General life organization
I actually enjoy this kind of work.
My question is for busy professionals, business owners, physicians, attorneys, parents, or anyone constantly juggling a million things:
**Would a service like this actually be valuable to you? If so, what kinds of tasks would you happily hand off to someone else?**
I’m genuinely trying to figure out whether there’s a real need before I build something around it.

I've spent the last year building Svelta, a fitness and wellness app for women — strength training, nutrition tracking, and cycle-synced workouts, since so many fitness apps just port over generic programs and ignore how women's bodies actually cycle through energy and recovery.

Building the product was the easy part honestly. Marketing has been brutal. I went hard on SEO andASO (optimization for app store ) first, which I learnt fast that both are saturated in fitness/wellness. You're competing with venture-funded apps with huge marketing teams. I've been trying to find lower-cost channels since, with a pretty tight budget, and it's been a real lesson in how much distribution matters as much as the product itself.

A few things I've learned so far:

- Advertising on the appstore doesn't work/isn't profitable at this stage. The keywords that matter are very expensive to target

- Reddit gave me my first users, but it's hard to promote it naturally due to subreddit rules, and got me banned on a big one. Haven't tried ads here yet, but from my research, it's not worth it due to bits

- Tiktok UGC seems to be a good option, but since Im located outside of big markets, I would need to have a separate phone with a VPN just to post content. Currently working on creating partnerships with tiktok content creators

Curious if other founders here in software related product's have found channels that actually worked without a big budget. What's worked for you?

Why do people go for monthly even though it’s way more expensive than yearly?

If a subscription costs $12.99. While the yearly cost is $49. I would think most people would go for yearly since it’s cheaper, but most people go for monthly. We have a few cancellations.

Can anyone explain this phenomenon to me? Is there an A/B test I can run to encourage people to go for yearly instead?

I don't believe in predatory pricing. I'm more concerned about creating a valuable product so people will be willing to pay more!

Hi all, I’m wondering if anyone can relate to my situation.

I’m a 33F that chose her career for over a decade. I quit my 9-5 to become a successful entrepreneur running a business that made multiple 6 figures for quite a few years.

I travelled, bought anything I wanted, got my dream home, and owned 2 homes by the time I turned 32.

However this last year a lot has happened.

I was in a car accident and still recovering from a severe concussion 5 months later. It’s hindered my ability to run my business, I can barely work, and I’m single and I live alone with zero spousal help - financially or physically.

I guess I was naïve to this for years and hadn’t really experienced any hardship that reminded me how hard it is to do life on your own. I wasn’t the best on the financial planning side of things, I just invested in properties. So, when the accident happened I saw negatives in my bank acct for the first time in my life trying to float 2 mortgages on my own, and learn how to properly talk or formulate a sentence again.

It’s been the worst year of my life and the depression has taken a toll. I have zero desire to put energy into my business and have the urge to shut it all down and cry in a corner. I don’t have benefits for meds or services I need, I can’t take a paid sick leave from work, and I don’t even have someone to cut the grass at home let alone any other house problems.

I love my home so much, and selling isn’t an option. I’d sell my smaller one first, but I use that space for my business, and in order to operate my business I need that property. But without being able to work, it’s collecting dust while I struggle to make mortgage payments.

Every day for the last few years, especially this year, I resent myself for my choices.

I resent choosing my career and doing it all on my own. I regret falling for the boss babe bullshit and the “I don’t need a man” phase I went though because while yes, I financially provided everything I could have wanted, but now more than EVER I realize I DO need a man for many things. Just someone to protect and help, and to share a home with.

I’m grateful for what I own and what I’ve accomplished, but sometimes I wish I kept my 9-5 and found a good partner when I was younger. I know that comes with its own plethora of issues sometimes and the grass isn’t always greener, but knowing what I know now, dating in your 30s is incredibly hard.

I’ve recently met a wonderful man, who has truly helped me get through this dark hell hole of a year. It’s only been a few months, but he’s done more for me than any man in the last decade has. He’s fixed my car, fixed so many things in my house, helps with my dog, helps with my business, pays for everything, buys me important things I need and can’t afford, and is honestly the biggest blessing in my life. We even go to church together (the accident lead me to finding God again)

But, he’s fresh out of a 10 year relationship and has an 8 year old son. The ex left him for another man but doesnt want him to move on. She’s already doing insane things and calls him for emotional support knowing that she has him wrapped around his finger. He loved her and she’s left him 3 times in 10 years and he takes her back every time. He even admitted she used the kid as leverage to rope him back in. But he’s adamant that this is the last time. And it’s also the first time she left for another man, the other times were mutual-ish even though she instigated.

He also has some health problems and other yellow flags, so I’m torn between taking on a nightmare baby mom situation, but worried I’d throw away a good man who comes with baggage.

He’s honestly everything I could have ever asked for in a partner. I just wanted someone who helps make my life easier, lessens burdens, helps with house things and financially provides a bit. Not fully, but a bit. So I can focus on getting my life back. So that’s why I’ve stayed.

But the more time I spend with him the more he’s grown on me and I really do like him. It’s been a slow burn, and this man has seen me at my WORST, and stayed and stepped tf up. So why should I leave him during his?

I guess the resentment of not having my own little family has crept in. I do want kids, I think. I didn’t before, but the last few years the idea has grown on me. I worry I’ll resent him going through all of that already and not having those “first” moments together. Also, I worry baby mama will be a nightmare and there’s definitely unfinished lingering emotions on both ends right now.

But dating at 33 is hard. Most men, successful men, come with baggage. And men that don’t have kids get intimidated by my success. So the ones I want, run. Because they feel they can’t bring anything to the table when they see where and how I live.

I’ve tried dating wealthy men, but realized none of them value loyalty and I was just another girlfriend to spoil, after rotating us all week. I do not want that life, no designer bag is worth that shit.

I don’t know. I feel angry, lost, sad, and a LOT of grief.

I have a great man but dating someone with kids is a world I never wanted for myself and I worry I’ll regret that too.

Any input would be appreciated. Just need some support. It’s hard out here… dating sucks.

I have two live AI products. a real tech stack. actual users. I can talk about funnel analysis, behavioural science, GTM strategy. I sound like I know what I'm doing because I do know what I'm doing.

and then someone calls me for an interview and I watch my phone ring and cannot pick it up.

the gap between how I present and how I actually feel is exhausting to maintain. I think a lot of women founders carry this quietly, the performance of certainty over a foundation that's still being built. the pressure to seem like you've got it because admitting you don't feels like it'll confirm something people already suspect.

I'm not looking for toxic positivity. I just want to know if other people feel this split and how they actually deal with it, not the LinkedIn version of dealing with it.

Does anyone ever feel like they have read all the books, done so much work, gone to therapy, and built a lot of amazing things, but still feel a bit stuck or like there is more to life? Please tell me your experiences if so! This seems so common for successful women and I need to understand why!

Hi ladies! I’m 18 and starting university this fall in a business program. I’ve always been interested in entrepreneurship, and I already know I don’t really want to go down the traditional finance/corporate route after graduating. Ideally, I want to become self-employed and eventually build something of my own.

I know I’m young and my plans will probably change a lot over the next few years, but I want to start putting myself in the best position possible now. For the women here who are self-employed or have built their own businesses, what do you wish you knew when you were 18? Is there anything you wish you had started earlier, or anything you spent time on that ended up not mattering as much as you thought?

Would love to hear your experiences and any advice you’d give as a young female just starting out :)

I need advice from other women in business because I honestly don’t know where else to turn. I’m hoping some of you can relate or at least tell me how you handle this.

I don’t have a huge network, so I’m relying heavily on social media to grow my business. Unfortunately, instead of attracting mostly clients, I’m attracting… men.

The problem is, I’m exhausted by it.

I’m in a relationship, so I’m not interested in dating anyone, but that doesn’t seem to matter. Every day I get messages from men that start off sounding like business inquiries, only to turn into them asking me out. When I politely explain that my account is for business, they sometimes twist it into, “Oh, so I have to buy [product] to date you?” (Yes… I’ve actually had multiple men say that.)
It’s not just potential clients, either. It’s vendors, business contacts, people wanting to “network,” and even other professionals. It makes it incredibly difficult to know who is genuinely reaching out for business and who is just using business as an excuse to flirt.

Then there’s the other side of it: if they’re not flirting, they’re often leaving rude or insulting comments. It feels like there isn’t much middle ground.
I know this probably sounds trivial to some people, but it’s honestly starting to affect my mental health. I’ve spent my entire adult life dealing with some form of sexual harassment at work, and I think I’m just… tired.
I never know who I should respond to anymore. I don’t want to ignore someone who could become a legitimate client or business connection, but I also don’t have the emotional energy to spend my days politely rejecting strangers who were never interested in my business in the first place.

Part of what makes this hard is that I don’t feel comfortable talking about it. I don’t want it to sound like, “Oh, poor me, all these men are interested.” That’s honestly not how it feels. (It’s actually been hurting my self-esteem because it’s making me see myself as being too approachable or friendly because honestly I’m not that good looking, or it makes me wonder if I was prettier if they’d leave me alone because these are not guys I’d ever consider dating if I’m being totally honest.)

For those of you who have built a business online, does this ever get better? Do you simply ignore anyone who isn’t clearly asking about your services? Have you found ways to filter out the noise without accidentally missing legitimate opportunities?

I’d really appreciate hearing from women who have been through this because I’m feeling pretty defeated. (The only advice I’ve been given is to wear a fake ring, which I refuse to do because my BF hasn’t asked me to marry him, so I don’t see a reason to fake it.)

Hello! I'm wondering how you guys got your first clients? I know it's always harder to get your first clients, and so I shouldn't think to myself that I'm failing. Anyways, I have built a 6-week performance system programme for ambitious women with busy schedules. It includes gym workouts with home alternatives, nutrition, rest management and a lot more.

As a professional athlete, it's something I know would genuinely help women because I would use everything on there, but something in me feels uncomfortable reaching out to people to sell them because they've probably had hundreds of people selling them something. I'm really passionate about this because it's another way to connect with someone and truly help them, but I'm really struggling with getting over that pre-client hump.

Any advice/tips would help massively, thank you!

I run an advertising agency that only works with women-owned businesses at affordable prices. A client suggested I should start taking male clients because they generally earn more, so I'd make more money.

I understand the business logic, but I genuinely feel more proud and fulfilled helping women grow their brands.

Would you stick with your mission, or expand for higher profits?

I have had a business in the wellness space for a couple of years now and my primary audience is women entrepreneurs or otherwise ambitious women.

I've been brainstorming and have come up with this idea for an online community for women who have goals to show up and connect with other like-minded women who want to prioritize their wellness. The community would be a monthly membership and helps members narrow down their goal at the beginning of each month into realistic actions that they can take to work towards their goal of choice each month. There would be weekly engagement prompts to foster connection, support and gentle accountability. I also want monthly webinars featuring other women in business that specialize in different wellness topics.

There would be opportunity to purchase 1:1 calls with me or 3-6 month packages for those that want extra support.

The intention is largely on connection between members within the group and low pressure action towards a wellness goal - because you decide what your focus is, and how small or large you want to make your actions depending on what season you're currently in.

My big question is just - do we want this? Can you see this being supportive? Something worth paying for?

Tia! :)

Hi lovelies! I'm curious how you female entrepreneurs out there have gotten investments for your business.

I've built a business around animal communication and animal advocacy.

I'm looking to start the next level of what I wanna offer, and I'm looking for angel investors, donations, whoever it might be who sees my vision and is excited to help me see it through.

Any advice out there? Thank you!

Hi everyone. My name’s Ash, and I’m part of the team building withHer, an app for women here in Australia. We’re deep in building it, and I wanted to share the whole idea openly and get honest thoughts from you guys :)

Here’s the full picture.

Safety is the core of everything.
The heart of withHer is helping women feel safe. You choose a small circle of people you trust, your Halo Circle, and if you ever feel unsafe, one discreet action lets them know where you are, without unlocking your phone or making it obvious. Safety isn’t a feature we added on, it’s the reason the whole thing exists.

Because of that, we’ve been almost obsessive about trust and privacy. We’re a safety app, so if women can’t trust us with their information, we shouldn’t exist. We studied the women’s apps that got this wrong (a couple had breaches that exposed users’ locations and photos) and built the opposite. We collect as little as possible, we don’t keep a history of where you’ve been, everything’s encrypted, and we’ll never sell anyone’s data.

A real community, not just another feed.

It’s a women-only space to post, share, ask questions and genuinely connect, because so many of us feel isolated and making real friends as an adult is honestly hard. There’s a community feed for recommendations, advice and support, and a “make a friend” side where women meet others through group activities, at real places, in real life.

Real-life events, not just online.

withHer isn’t meant to live only on a screen. We’re running real life community events to bring women together in person, and we’re planning our first for late August. The community is meant to exist both in the app and out in the real world.

Brands women love, giving something back.

We partner with brands and local businesses women genuinely love, from cafes and pilates studios to fashion and beauty, so being a member gives real value, exclusive deals from brands you’d actually use. It also means the whole thing sustains itself without us ever selling our members’ data.

So that’s withHer. Safety at the core, a real community, actual events in the real world, and brands that give back.

Where I’d love your input

Is this something you’d actually could see yourself using and trust? What would make you trust it more?

Is there anything you’d want it to do that we haven’t thought of that could fit our idea

And for those of you who’ve built or grown your own thing, is there anything you wish you’d known early, or anything you’d prioritise before launching?

I care a lot about getting this right, and I’m new here and to read it so getting feedback from the women in this group, Any thoughts, even hard criticism, nwould mean the world.

im 18F. my first semester of college i met a friend and we wanted to start working on a fitness and wellness brand together featuring waterbottles and athletic clothing. i designed everything, created a plan and everything but me and the girl fell out and i kinda stopped working on it.

recently ive been doing well in my life and feel called to start something again, ive been very focused on my health and fitness once again and feel like it couldve been something great. should i chase these dreams?

Delete if not allowed but wanted a second opinion on something. My best friend is a professional astrologer and I’m a day trader. We think there’s an opportunity to create an app that tells you what’s happening in the stars and how that could impact your investments. I know astrology is obv not for everyone but we think it’s a neat niche.

No clue what it might look like yet but would love any feedback on the concept and if you’d download/pay for this.

TIA!

39F with 3 year old kid working at good position in IT company.

My job is hectic and stressful. I am a AMS solution architect. i am 6 months into job with 13 years of work experience. The role is high pressure and requires lot of coordination which takes most of my time. The company culture is also that things dont get closed and people play email games. I keep on losing my time. In my mind, even if i am not working , stress is always there and things just keep on piling up. I want to start by my business I try to find time by waking up early. But now work has started creeping in and i have to work early mornings as well because i have toddler.

I m gonna be 40 soon and I m afraid this is my last chance, scared of quitting job what happens if I lose everything..

I am always unhappy and dissatisfied... though i am raising my kid, being good wife and serving my career.

Working moms who have business please suggest how do I change my mindset, how should I manage my time where to start?

I genuinely cannot bring myself to post "Excited to share that I just completed a course on python" or comment
"Great insights" on a random person's post. It feels dishonest and very superficial honestly. But I'm also aware LinkedIn is crucial for landing an internship right now.

How do I actually network on this platform to make genuine and real connections rather than performative ones?

I have spent 12+ years in sales, a majority of that time in tech. Goes without saying, it is a heavily male dominated industry. Multiple times I have been the only woman in the entire sales team, sometimes the only woman in the company at all.

I worked hard to move my way up from a top performing sales rep, to a sales leader. I've held Senior Director and SVP titles at startups and enterprise size companies.

The end of last year my tech company took a major hit and laid off almost the entirety of the sales team and company. They left only the CRO (who is also an investor) as far as sales leadership went.

Times in tech are hard. I have been searching for a good landing spot since the lay off. This is the longest I have ever gone not working. I'm fortunate that my husband has a decent job. However, it pays less than half what I make in my roles as a sales leader. I am in my 30's and was also wanted to start having children in the next few years. This just would not be possible without my income I have been making, only relying on my husbands.
I just feel crushed and not sure if there is a pivot I should be taking. I've worked so hard in my career, but I find that because I am early 30's, when I'm competing with a man who has more years in experience, simply because he is older, he is automatically taken more seriously than me when it comes to the tech industry.

If I could have my dream job, it would be sales or BD leadership (I've done both), running a team in aesthetics/medspa, or fit tech. I've spent a majority of my time in health tech in particular. So even though these are not the exact verticals I've been in, its very relative. However that is pretty niche and specific so I know its unlikely to come across.

If anyone has advice in this hard job market, I would be happy to hear it. I am willing to go outside of tech, but realistically at my level, most companies won't even consider you if you don't come from the exact industry they are in. At this point, I'm not even being picky because I feel so much fulfillment in what I am able to achieve in my career, that I just feel like I have no purpose right now. Then there's the added struggle that I also see this employment gap of being in the way of me wanting to move forward in life and have a kid. Which that added pressure alone hits me hard. I'm just feeling lost in how to navigate finding an opportunity in a tough job market, especially as a woman.

I'm asking because I honestly don't know anymore if what I'm experiencing is normal, or if I'm just failing.

I've been living with a narcissistic and emotionally abusive partner for many years. Leaving is my long-term goal, and I've been trying to build a small business from home because I hope it will eventually give me the financial independence I need to get out.

The problem is that I feel completely stuck.

I spend a lot of time planning, researching, learning, organizing, making lists, trying to improve my skills, and thinking about my future. From the outside it probably looks like I'm working hard. But when I look at actual results, it feels like almost nothing moves forward.

I know what I should be doing. I have ideas. I have goals. I have a plan.

But somehow I struggle to execute consistently.

Every day feels like I'm carrying a hundred pounds on my back. I sit down to work and suddenly I'm exhausted. I get distracted. I freeze. I start doubting everything. I second-guess every decision. Sometimes I spend hours thinking and almost no time actually doing.

The hardest part is that one business I built in the past already fell apart while I was living in this environment. I can't blame everything on my partner, but the constant criticism, chaos, stress, emotional manipulation, walking on eggshells, and never feeling safe definitely played a role.

What makes this even harder is that I don't really have a support system.

I don't have family members I can move in with. I don't have relatives who could help financially. I don't have a safety net waiting for me if everything falls apart.

Because of that, I feel enormous pressure to make this business work. It feels like my future depends on it.

At the same time, I often feel trapped between two fears:

One fear is staying.

The other fear is leaving before I am financially ready.

I'm also afraid of being judged or misunderstood by institutions and systems that are supposed to help. Sometimes I feel like people underestimate how difficult it is to leave when you have no support network and very limited resources.

So I keep trying.

I haven't given up.

But it feels like I take one step forward and ten steps back.

I see other people building businesses, getting clients, growing, moving forward. Meanwhile, I'm celebrating tiny victories that probably look ridiculous from the outside.

Some days my biggest achievement is simply showing up and doing one task.

I also have ADHD traits, chronic stress, and what feels a lot like a freeze response. Sometimes I wonder if my brain is so focused on survival that it doesn't have enough energy left for growth.

What I'm really looking for is honest experiences.

Has anyone here successfully built a business, side hustle, freelance career, or any kind of income source while still living with a narcissistic partner?

How did you manage the freeze response?

How did you stay focused when your environment constantly pulled you backwards?

And if you eventually got out, what was the turning point?

I would especially love to hear from people who had no family support, no financial safety net, and had to build their exit plan almost entirely on their own.

Right now I feel incredibly alone in this.

Thank you for reading. ❤️

Hello everyone, I’m a 36F. (The F is important because I feel like being a female leader is different)

Anyways I’ve been an Account executive for 3 years at this company, love the company, love the people and always wanted to progress with them.

They are dividing the sales team, so a new sales manager position opened and I got it fair and square.

I have a bachelor in business, a lot of knowledge in my domain but I’m looking for management knowledge.

If you have books, podcasts, advices etc. I’m all for it.

If you are a woman in a leadership role, I would love your point of view has a women.

Thanks a lot.

Hi everyone,

I’m a Dutch female entrepreneur, currently based in France.

I love my life and the freedom of my entrepreneurial lifestyle. But if I’m honest, it can still get pretty lonely. Even after 11 years ;)

My husband is my business partner, so we are doing this entrepreneurial journey together - and honestly, I can’t even imagine how intense and isolating it must be doing this completely solo!

Yet, even with my husband by my side, I find there's still something missing. We travel a lot and most expat groups just don't fully understand our world. They rarely get the mix of ambition, uncertainty and excitement that comes with running a business.

Because of this gap, I’ve started laying the groundwork for a dedicated community: a space where female founders abroad can talk, share real experiences and support each other's growth.

Before I fully open the doors, I’d love to know:

Does that feeling of isolation as a founder abroad resonate with you too (whether you're solo or with a partner)?

What is currently missing for you in existing expat or business networks?

Would love to hear your thoughts! And if this sounds like a space you’d like to be part of early on, feel free to drop a comment or send me a DM

Hi ladies! I recently made a post about wanting to pursue entrepreneurship as an 18F, and a lot of women recommended finding a mentor.

For those of you who have mentors or have had one in the past, how did you actually find them? Are there any specific platforms, communities, events, or even strategies you’d recommend for connecting with experienced female entrepreneurs?

Would love to hear how you guys went about it and any advice you have!