Member Blog: What Are the Key Motivations of Female Business Founders?

Author
Michelle Symonds
SEO Consultant | Ditto Digital
15th January 2025

During a recent conversation with other female founders & CEOs our discussion came around to our motivations for starting a business. Not surprisingly a better work-life balance in order to spend time with our young families was a prime motivator. But by no means the only motivation. Some people had a passion they’d always wanted to fulfill, others wanted to be their own boss and run a business differently from the companies they’d previously worked in.

Here are just some of those reasons that women started their own businesses:

Empowering Female Entrepreneurs

Female business founders are often motivated by a blend of personal and professional ambitions. For many, the desire for a better work-life balance drives the decision to start a business, significantly when raising a family or seeking flexibility. A passion inspires others, whether creating a product they believe in, solving a problem they've encountered, or pursuing a craft they love.

In the case of Kristin Marquet, Founder & Creative Director at Marquet Media, she was motivated by both the desire to empower other female entrepreneurs and the need to balance career ambitions with family life. Launching FemFounder allowed her to turn a passion into a platform that provides resources and tools to help women succeed.

Another key driver for many women is the independence and autonomy that entrepreneurship provides. Being your boss allows you to set rules, define success on your terms, and take charge of your financial future.

Freedom and Fun

One of the key motivations for Elizabeth Kolb, CEO & Co-Founder of Axion Now, for starting a business was the desire for freedom to balance the demands of family life. That freedom is not only practical but also empowering. Of course, things don't always go as planned when running a business and achieving a perfect work-life balance is a constant work in progress, but it’s more achievable when you are your own boss.

Another key driver for starting a business was passion. Elizabeth really enjoys the business she co-founded, which focuses on creating happiness by bringing people together to have fun. But she also enjoyed the fact that, as a small business, she could conceive an idea, put it into place and make an immediate impact. One of the key messages of Axion Now is to create happiness and enable people to have fun through their national trading card game events. That happiness and fun element is very rare as a motivation for someone to start up a business but is absolutely key to everyone working at Axion Now. Pursuing this passion has made the hard work and challenges of entrepreneurship worthwhile.

“It has been a special experience to bring together a huge cross section of people from so many internationally different backgrounds and from all sorts of demographics. To have a genuine inclusivity at our major events where everybody shares the same passion.”
 

Proving Stereotypes Wrong

Nadine Heir, Founder of Write Wiser says that proving the stereotypes wrong was her primary motivation! She'd heard male founders say that women don't really want to be founders because it's too much work. Her response was to found a business very differently.

Nadine believes that when we stop assuming that the skills needed to run a business are those we consider primarily masculine, we'll realise that companies can be launched and startups can be founded without burnout or hustle culture. Nadine, for example, choose to lead with feminine traits such as patience and determination. These are more powerful for longevity, and it's the way that many women lead their teams.

Aligning Life with Values

Many female founders' motivation to start a business comes from a deep desire to align our lives with our values. It was about creating a life of freedom and adventure while empowering other women to do the same for Danielle Hu, Founder of The Wanderlover. When she started the company, she knew she wanted to combine a passion for travel, creativity, and entrepreneurship in a way that would inspire others to step outside their comfort zones.

The idea wasn't just about being her own boss but about reclaiming how she spent her time and energy. She wanted to design a career that let her explore the world, work from anywhere, and connect with like-minded people. But more importantly, help other women realise they could do the same. Something is compelling about taking control of your life and proving that the unconventional can lead to success.

For many women, motivations are deeply personal. Some start businesses to balance motherhood and work on their own terms. Others are driven by the need to bring a unique idea to life or to pursue a passion that lights them up. Ultimately, it boils down to freedom - the freedom to choose how we live, work, and impact the world.

Balancing Work and Family

For Joy Owenby, Founder of Owenby Law, her journey reflects a combination of life experiences, professional passion, and a desire to make a meaningful impact. The motivation to start a law firm in 2004 stemmed from the need to create a career that aligned with both professional goals and responsibilities as a mother of four. Balancing work and family has always been a priority, and her own business gave her the flexibility to pursue a fulfilling legal career while also being present for her children.

"Starting my own business has allowed me to be my own boss and implement a vision that reflects my values. It's a demanding role, but it's one that has brought immense satisfaction, knowing that I can make a real difference in people's lives while building a legacy for my family. My advice to other female founders is to embrace your unique motivations and trust that with determination and passion, you can create a business that aligns with your personal and professional aspirations.”

Gaining Control Over Professional Life

Business coach Amy Jam wanted a business of her own to have more control over her professional life. After working in the tech and government contracting sectors for several years, with constant demands on her time, she reached a point where she wanted to decide her own schedule and find the work-life balance she was looking for.

To Amy, entrepreneurship also meant the implementation of ideas that she had long been passionate about. Having spent years solving complex problems, she saw significant opportunities to streamline processes and introduce innovations. By starting her own business, she could take those solutions directly to the market, creating change and impact where it was most needed.

“Owning my own company meant I could drive these initiatives without being limited by traditional corporate constraints, giving me the autonomy to lead in a way that was both meaningful and fulfilling.”

Helping People Connect

Lisa Lohmann, CEO of La Fora, remembers April 2020. A gloomy day in London. Covid had just hit. She was scrolling through emails when one caught her eye: 'We're looking for tourism companies to invest in. Portugal-based.' Interesting, she thought.

She took three days off her - now remote - marketing job and worked on a pitch deck. The idea? Helping groups organise retreats to Portugal. Covid was stripping people of their most precious asset: social, in-person connections. So we needed a solution to re-connect as many people as possible as soon as we were allowed to.

And then a miracle happened. She won the investment.

But the fist years were very tough. Between covid and wars, building a travel company when people were not travelling was quite a stretch.

So, why did she stick around? Because at every retreat that did happen, she witnessed the power of togetherness. She saw the happiness, the hugs, the 'you look much shorter in person than on Zoom' jokes.

Five years and 80 retreats later, she still jumps out of bed excited every day and motivated by the direct – albeit small - impact she has in this world.

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