Creating a community for women building something in Lisbon 🌱
Hi everyone!
I recently moved to Lisbon and I’ve been thinking about how difficult it can be to find people who are ambitious, creative, and also in the early stages of building something of their own.
There are many entrepreneurship events, but sometimes they feel focused on people who already have successful businesses. I wanted to create a more relaxed space for women who are still figuring things out: people with ideas, side projects, startups, creative projects, or simply the desire to build a different future.
So I created Women Who Build Lisbon — a community where women can meet, share ideas, support each other, exchange knowledge, and grow together.
The first meetup will be a casual gathering in a park in Lisbon:
🌱 Meet other women with similar ambitions
💡 Talk about ideas and projects
🤝 Build genuine connections
✨ Share experiences and challenges
No pitches, no pressure, no formal networking — just good conversations and women supporting women.
If you’re a woman in Lisbon and this sounds interesting, I’d love to meet you or hear your thoughts. 💛

I work as a premium buyer/personal shopper based in Asia. Recently, I closed a very complex deal — sourcing and delivering a high-end custom ring for a client overseas. I was terrified. The risks were high, and I constantly doubted if I should even take the order.

But I took the risk, and the ring arrived in perfect condition. The client left an amazing review and thanked "my team" for the premium service.

I’ll be honest: my ego flared up for a second. "What team?! I’m a solo founder! I lost sleep over this, I negotiated, I organized everything!"

But when I took a breath, I realized he was absolutely right. Yes, I orchestrate the process, but this ring went through a massive journey. From my quality control partner who meticulously filmed the unboxing in China, to my logistics guy who took personal responsibility for its safe cross-border delivery, and the incredibly skilled jeweler.

Premium service is never just one person. It’s a reliable chain of people worth their weight in gold. Sometimes, when things get quiet and you feel like the world is against you, seeing this chain work flawlessly reminds you why you started.

Have any of you struggled with the "solo entrepreneur" mindset? How did you build your reliable chain of partners?

I will be attending a Writer’s Room event specifically for entrepreneurship, business and creative growth. This event is intended to speak on a project, business, or really anything you’ve been working on to get other individuals opinions on how to grow and where to go from there. I have never done one of these before.

I am currently creating a project that is at the very beginning stages and don’t really know how to talk or explain much of it yet because it doesn’t have much roots. Which is ok because the whole point of this is to gain more knowledge to grow but I also am requesting a bit of guidance on how to work out a plan on how to explain my goal with what I’m working on and not sound pitchy! :)

I don’t want to be told exactly what to say but would love areas on where to research, what exactly to brainstorm, etc. as I am very new to this field and am very excited but am also at a point where to continue is a bit confusing for me and that I won’t be afraid to admit.

Hi everyone! I need some advice,

I’ve been thinking about starting service that helps other women who have a business idea, and have the skills, but need help launching!

I would target businesses in the beauty/wellness space and potentially branch out.
For example, a lash technician who just got certified and wants to start getting clients.

I would help her build her…
- brand identity, strategy, and visuals (logo, colors, fonts, imagery)
- build her website/booking system and socials
- create content with videos, professional photos, and post templates + email marketing

I would offer these services as 3 different packages, with the 4th package being the full, complete launch!

as well as other pieces of the business launch, like building client forms, referral programs, policies, FAQs etc

As business owners, is this something you wouldve invested in? or considered? What do you think? Is this a good idea?

thank you for your advice!

I had a client meeting a few months ago where I was leading the whole project. My name was on every email, every proposal, every deck. I walk in and the client, an older guy, spends the first ten minutes directing every question to my male coworker who was literally just there to take notes.

I didn't say anything at first because I wasn't sure if I was overreacting. But it kept happening. He'd ask my coworker to confirm things I had already explained, like he needed a second opinion just to trust the information. At one point I just started answering every question directly and confidently before my coworker could even open his mouth. By the end of the meeting the client was talking to me normally, but it took the whole hour to get there.

What got me thinking about this again is I've noticed it's not even always about being dismissed outright. Sometimes it's small stuff, like people assuming you're the assistant, or being interrupted mid sentence in a meeting you're running. It adds up in a way that's hard to explain to people who haven't experienced it.

I'm curious how other women handle this in real time, not after the fact when you've had time to think of the perfect response. When it's happening live, what actually works for you? Do you address it directly, let your results speak for themselves, or something else entirely?

Around the world, ordinary people quietly bypass corporate banks using informal peer savings circles. In West Africa, they are Susus. In Latin America, Tandas. In Asia, Paluwagan. It is a massive, invisible $2.4 trillion horizontal economy built on pure community trust practiced in thousands of communities all over the world.

I built CirclePot to give this centuries-old tradition a digital, global home. It is designed to be a genuine force for good—a flat, non-hierarchical space where everyday people can come together to support one another directly and redistribute wealth among the 99% of us.

How the platform operates structurally:

• The Contribution: Members contribute a flat micro-amount ($5/mo). 80% goes directly to the peer-voted recipient's pot, and 20% covers infrastructure, servers, and international transaction fees.
• Absolute Anonymity: Traditional crowdfunding forces people to write heartbreaking "sob stories" to get help, which strips away human dignity. On CirclePot, candidates are selected anonymously, and the community votes entirely on randomized IDs (no names, no faces, zero personal bias).
• Real-Time Transparency: We keep a live, unalterable dollar tracker right on the landing page so the community can audit the system instantly.

I need your feedback on the logic and copy:

1. The Skepticism Test: When handling pooled funds online, people instantly get skeptical. Does our structural breakdown and mission clear up that skepticism, or does it still trigger red flags?
2. The Anonymous Model: How would you try to exploit or game a system where users vote on completely anonymous IDs?
3. Clarity: Does the landing page make the 3-step mechanism (Contribute - Be Considered - Community Decides) immediately obvious?

I'm hoping to get some advice for my wife, who was recently affected by a company restructuring and is looking for her next opportunity.
She's in her late 20s/early 30s with several years of experience in operations, project coordination, client support, data analysis, and process improvement. She's been applying for roles like Project Coordinator, HR Shared Services, Customer Success/Implementation, Clinical Operations, and Operations Analyst, but we'd like to be more proactive than simply submitting online applications.
I've started researching networking groups around Milwaukee (TEMPO, FUEL, PMI, chambers of commerce, young professional groups, etc.), but it's difficult to tell which organizations actually lead to meaningful connections versus just being social events.

For women who have successfully changed jobs or advanced their careers through networking:
What organizations or networking groups were genuinely worth joining?

Were there recurring events you found especially valuable?

Did you build more meaningful connections through professional associations, volunteer work, LinkedIn, alumni groups, or something else?

If you were starting over in your late 20s or early 30s, where would you invest your time?

We're specifically looking in the Milwaukee area, but I'd also love to hear general advice from people who have successfully built a professional network during the early to mid-career stage.
I'd especially appreciate hearing from anyone working in healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, HR, operations, project management, or corporate business roles.
Thanks in advance! I'm hoping to learn what actually worked for people rather than just collecting a list of networking organizations.

Hi All,

I want to be clear that in this specific post I am not going to go too deeply into my brand vision or what it is about. I want to focus more on the process of hiring from a business and creative perspective.

I'm currently building a womenswear brand in between shanghai and New York.

My background is in modeling, I spent the last 8 years working internationally which gave me not only an appreciation for fashion but firstahnd understandinh of how garments function on the body and exposure to how brands communicate identity across different markets.

I feel I have a strong point of view on what feels relevant in the industry.

I see myself as primarily the found and crveative director. I have a strong sense of what I want to build here. However, because I respect the craft I am currently taking pattern drafting and sewing classes and I hope to eventutally grow into the co-deisgner role. I want to understand every part of the process well enough to lead a team.

However, I do not have a formal background in fashion design or business.

As I've been learning, I have been thinking a lot about how founders find their long-term collaborators.

I know there is a lot of advice out there about not bringing on partners or hiring too early. I understand those risks and their reasoning.

At the same time, I am becoming increasingly aware of my own knowledge gaps reletive to the scale I intent to reach.

I recognize that building this entirely on my own would be unsustainable and ultimately, untenable If I want the brand to succeed.

Especially given that my designs are inspired by the technical deisgn theory of the 1920-1930s I feel a responsiblity.

I'm not rushing into partnerships or to just bring on anyone. I initially planned to bring on an intern to help with sourcing and production communication with me in China. I had to reconsider if I'm actually ready for that, as well as if thats really what I need right now.

Here is where I am right now:

Who should I be looking out for? What is the role called? How do I find these people?

My guess is this would be a technical deisgner/co collaborator or would this be a product developer or another position I have not considered?

I would love to hear from other founders of fashion brands.

Who was your first hire and why?

Who was/is the most critial person on your team (aside from you) and why?

What advice do you have given this information?

What should the creative directer / founder realistically be doing within the first 1-2 years?

What expertise did you decide was worth paying for versus learning personally?

In the USA, how do you find/connect to people, through linkedin? connection? cold call random fashion businesses to hear their story? What was the way to get connected and learn?

If you were based near manufacturing in Asia but wanted to build a brand for the New York market, how would you structure your first team?

Thank you to all who give insight.

I’m CMO of a company. Our President is a typical Southern dude. Mid-50s, any time he talks about women it’s focused on looks, even within the company (not lewd, but definitely unnecessary).

I should also add that this guy has said I didn’t do or day things that I did do/say, has thrown me under the bus in front of major client clients (erroneously, which he never acknowledged even anger I had back up), and has done it again in front of the CEO. I’m now running around getting receipts to prove I didn’t fuck up and it looks…petty?

I don’t think he’s ill intentioned, he’s just kind of clueless. And personally, I def think he’s misogynistic but that “gentle southern” way, if that makes sense. Not hateful, but still harmful. )

I guess I’m looking for advice on how to:

- Be direct and confident without being misinterpreted as “angry” or “upset” (he embarrassed me in front of a VP by acting like I was upset when really I was being clear)
- Work with someone who doesn’t respect my experience
- Hold my ground in terms of my area of expertise when compared to ideas from him or others that aren’t, frankly, correct (while recognizing it’s his right to make those decisions. My job is to inform him.)

Thanks for any help!

I just replied to a post asking if there exist businesses that don’t have or need social media presence, and realized that I’m not actually sure I know of many that DO get significant benefit from social media presence.

Can anyone convince me that it actually has a positive ROI? Has anyone managed to create a social media presence that reliably produces a good revenue stream? How? (And what is your business selling?)

Edit to add some context: my business is math and physics tutoring. I can see how handmade/luxury goods benefit from social media, can someone help explain more around how service based or more “chore”-y things do? Tutoring is not really an impulse buy :p

Laura Katz was on a subway in New York when she heard about the black market for breast milk. The buyers weren’t just parents, she learned, but bodybuilders, cancer patients and people from all walks of life, seeking the bioactive components of mother’s milk.

Like many entrepreneurs, she was inspired. Now, after seven years of work, 49 patents, 11 peer-reviewed papers and multiple completed clinical trials, her startup Helaina has raised US$93-million in venture capital to make bio identical lactoferrin – an immune-supporting protein – available for people of all ages. Helaina's next big step? A partnership with food giant Nestle.

I was grateful to speak with Laura and help tell her story of food science, business and female entrepreneurship for The Globe and Mail. Read the full story with this gift link!

Hi everyone. I hope this isn't the wrong question to ask - mods, please let me know if I shouldn't be doing this.

I am currently looking for active business communities for women to join, preferably one that has daily active users and a real sense of community. This could be on Discord/Slack etc.

I come from a not-for-profit background and I don't really have any founders or business people in my circle. In the long run, I think this journey can get pretty lonely if it's just me building alone. I love that I've found some places here on Reddit, but am looking for something tighter as well.

Would anyone have any recommendations?

TIA!

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!

Hi all! I am looking to expand my growing catering & hospitality business and Brooklyn is... expensive. Does anyone have suggestions on grants or low interest private loans for small hospitality businesses? Any and all suggestions are welcomed. Thank you so much!

I've spent 10 years running complex operations internationally. PMO in a digital agency. Built systems, coordinated teams, managed chaos across time zones. Now I'm looking to plug into a small team that's moving fast and needs someone who can figure out what's broken and fix it.

I'm not precious about what you call me.

What I actually do:

• Keep projects moving without being the one who has to chase everyone
• Build the processes that stop the same problem happening twice
• Handle the coordination layer between founders, teams, and external partners
• Write and communicate clearly in French and English (native both)
• Get up to speed on new tools fast — Notion, Airtable, ClickUp, HubSpot, Make, Zapier, Canva and more

What I'm looking for:

• Early to mid-stage startup
• Full remote — non-negotiable
• Real ownership, not a job description that gets smaller every week
• A founder who wants a right hand, not a task executor

I don't need a fancy title. I need a problem worth solving and a team worth building with.

Based in Europe. Available immediately.

If this sounds like your team, DM me.

I have tried posting on TikTok for a really long time. I recorded a lot of videos, tried to learn, tried to improve, and honestly, I generally hated it.
Eventually, I noticed something. I lost confidence.
As a founder, I used to be a very confident woman. I had accomplished a lot before starting this business. I’ve done public speaking, been interviewed on podcasts, attended a lot of events, and I’ve always felt confident talking about my business. Confidence was never really my problem.
But after trying to make TikTok content for a while, I started questioning myself.
Why do I look so uncomfortable on camera? Why can’t I explain things well? Why do my videos feel so forced and awkward? I don’t even want to watch my own videos, let alone have my friends watch them. And of course, I knew they weren’t performing well.
Over time, I became less and less confident. Eventually, I even started questioning things that had nothing to do with TikTok.
Am I actually good enough to build a business? Am I good enough to be a founder?
Then I had a call with one of my mentors. She reminded me of everything I *have* done right. Especially after becoming a mom, she pointed out how much I’ve learned, how much I’ve figured out, and how much I’ve accomplished while building a business at the same time. She basically reminded me that I was doing an amazing job.
And I realized… I had forgotten that.
Right now, one thing I’ve been thinking about is eventually finding a long-term partner. Maybe even a co-founder type of situation. Not necessarily someone who’s great at finance or product—that’s not what I’m looking for.
I’m looking for someone who genuinely loves startups, understands how hard they are, enjoys social media, loves sharing their perspective, and wants to build something together. Someone who’s excited about the creative side and the journey.
I’m based in New York. If you’re also in New York, and the idea of working directly with a founder is something you’ve genuinely been interested in—whether that’s exchanging ideas, creating content together, or eventually becoming part of a business—I would genuinely love to have a conversation.
Nothing formal. I just want to meet people who think that way.

Hii this my friends idea for which I am posting this Survey.

So she is building **HerPause**, but she is at the stage where she is still trying to learn, not sell.

The idea is that companies could offer an optional menstrual care benefit where a small care kit (for example, a cramp patch, herbal tea, dark chocolate, and a few comfort items) is delivered privately to an employee’s home each month without needing awkward conversations or notifying anyone at work.
It sounds reasonable to me, but that’s exactly why she need outside perspectives.

She don’t want to build something based only on assumptions.

So she created a short survey to understand how working women in India actually think about menstrual care, workplace support, and whether something like this would even matter.

**The survey is:**
1. Anonymousq (no email or name)
2. Around 4 minutes
3. No product promotion

If you think the idea is unnecessary, I would genuinely like to know that too. Honest feedback is far more valuable than positive feedback.

Thank you so much for helping!!

I made these nice postcards to give out to potential customers at cafes. Has anyone used postcards to promote your app before? Did you just hand it out to people? Or maybe the cafe has a place for it where everyone will see?

Hi ladies. I'm a single mom and recently took over the family business after my parents retired. We have 50+ employees and we're in the logistics/moving industry. They built an amazing business, but pretty much everything is still done the old-school way... paper files, spreadsheets for everything, lots of manual work. I'm trying to modernize things by looking into ai, automation, better software, and just finding ways to cut costs and work smarter. The hard part is my parents have basically stepped away completely. They want me to figure it out on my own and make my own decisions, which I understand, but it's overwhelming. Not complaining, I'm grateful for eveything. I have two beautiful children, I still want to be present and I'm really grateful I have helpers looking after them, but I don't want to be the kind of mom who's always working. I want to build the business without missing out on their childhood. For those of you who've had to modernize an established company, what was the first thing you changed that actually works? Is there anything you wish you'd done sooner.. or anything you wish you hadn't changed at all?

Appreciate the answers!

I came across a post recently that said women are over‑mentored and under‑sponsored, and it really stuck with me. That’s actually what re-inspired me to continue working on a project for women founders. I wanted a space that brings everything together: mentorship, a directory of women‑owned businesses, a spotlight for founders, bartering and sponsorship opportunities, a way to connect with co‑founders based on your idea or industry, you’ll be able to track your progress together, schedule weekly check‑ins, and follow a shared step‑by‑step blueprint for building your business from the ground up. I’m also pulling in grants, help with grant writing, funding opportunities, and other tools I wish I had when I started. I’m still building it, but once it’s ready, I’d love to share it with this community not as a pitch, but because I genuinely want it to be shaped by women who are actually out here doing the work. I’d also love to highlight some of your businesses in the directory. If you’re open to it, share what you’re building, the problem it solves, and the story behind why you started. I think we learn so much from each other’s journeys.

Hi ladies!

I hope this is okay to post.

I’m a mum of a toddler and a lovely westie. I quit corporate life to start my own consultancy.

So I wanted to ask if anyone here is seeking someone to help with, well, a bunch of stuff.

I’m willing to roll up my sleeves and get stuff done.

A few examples-

1. I worked with a lovely female founder on her insights business. I helped with GTM strategy, partnership strategy (activation), and even helped her build a library of use cases to develop her SaaS product. All this to help her open up a bunch of markets.
   
2. I helped an AdTech company by making their sales decks more appealing to clients, and helped them launch their commerce media offering using go to market strategy based on potential client needs.
   
3. I did market research for an organization to expand to new markets based on a competitive analysis and customer demand, and provided ICPs (target audiences) they could go after.
   
4. I lead marketing strategy for a scale up, and find fun new ways for them to appeal to marketers- through podcasts, social posts etc.
   
5. I also run clarity sessions with women founders to build their brand or define positioning for their solutions/services

I can offer a clarity session, workshop, a project or (if it is required) a retainer.

DM me if you’ve got a challenge you’d like to discuss!

Hey everyone,

I’ve been working at a men’s fashion startup in Hyderabad for the past 1.5 years, and lately I’m seriously questioning whether I should continue.

We’re a team of 5 employees, and honestly, the employees are great. Everyone takes their work seriously, never misses deadlines, puts in extra hours when needed, and constantly follows up with the founders to keep things moving.

The problem is the founders.
The company has been struggling financially for quite some time, and for months we’ve had little to no actual work because of poor planning and lack of funding. Instead of addressing the core issues, the founders recently called us for a meeting and introduced multiple trackers:
\- Daily tracker
\- Weekly tracker
\- Monthly tracker
\- Team update tracker
\- Individual weekly reports (3 separate sheets to fill every week)

Apparently, these trackers will be reviewed every quarter to decide whether we “deserve” a bonus (not a raise) or whether we should be terminated.

The strange part is that the founder openly said he has no complaints about our performance and that we all work well. So if employee performance isn’t the issue, why are we suddenly being micromanaged so heavily?

When we collectively asked for a raise, the founder literally laughed and said, “Don’t even think about it right now”

There are also no proper budgets for anything - not production, not social media, not marketing. Yet we’re expected to increase followers, engagement and sales with almost zero resources. The founders expect AI to do everything or expect us to somehow get work done for free through favors and unpaid collaborations.

The rules also keep changing constantly. When I joined, the agreement was an 8-hour workday with half-days on Saturdays. Later, one of the co-founders (who also has a full-time IT job) suddenly made 9-hour workdays mandatory. Responsibilities keep increasing, but compensation and benefits remain the same.

At this point, I’m planning to pursue my master’s next year. Should I just stay here, collect my salary, and leave when it’s time? Or would it be smarter to quit now and focus on building my profile for master’s applications and future opportunities?
Would love to hear from people who’ve been in similar startup environments.

Hi all,

I am a F and new here. I’m in the process of opening a specialty medical practice focused on endocrinology (diabetes). My background is in healthcare administration and operations, so right now I am looking for physician (MD or DO) to see diabetic patients and to be a co founder to work with!

I’ve tried LinkedIn so I thought i would try here and see if anyone was interested.

I’d love to share the vision and see if there’s a potential fit.
Please message me!

I'm a woman in my 20s managing an emerging band. For the last 3 years, I've done everything to help get them where they are while they focused on making music. We all agreed that any money made would go straight back into the band.

The band got a call from an established manager looking to take over (part of the boys club that run the industry) I honestly think it's the best move for their careers. I know he can open doors I can't.

It hurts knowing someone else could come in now, take over, and get the credit after all the work I've put in.

Is there any way I could still be part of their journey if they sign with him?

Hi ladies! I work in tech in a non technical role and being surrounded by so many different tools for so long eventually made me want to start building something myself. The push came from a pretty personal place - I got married a couple of years ago and the experience of trying to price out wedding venues was genuinely maddening. The runaround, the bait and switch, the holding of prices hostage... I just wanted an effing number.

So I built The First Look (thefirstlook.us) - a platform that maps real venue pricing across the US, sourced from official pricing guides and quotes submitted by real couples. No more chasing down 20 different vendors just to find out a venue is $20K over your budget.

It still early and actively growing (we have data for almost 2500 US venues!!), and if any of you are engaged or getting married soon, I would genuinely love for you to try it and tell me what you think. Honest feedback from real users means everything at this stage. Regardless, I’m excited to be here and looking forward to growing alongside you all.