To honour International Women’s Day 2021, we wanted to share this interview with our CEO and founder, Clemence de Crecy on what it means to be a female entrepreneur in the luxury PR world.
If you didn’t know, Clem founded our luxury and lifestyle PR agency over 15 years ago, building our portfolio of brands and clients over the years.
As an agency, we love to celebrate women’s empowerment in business. Clementine Com couldn’t have been possible without the hard work from our amazing team.
1. You started the company 15 years ago, how have you grown as a female entrepreneur?
I think I have grown in many ways, but specifically in my confidence of navigating the business and entrepreneur landscape as a woman. Unfortunately, there is still a difference between being a male or female in the business world, but I have seen some improvement in the inclusivity of female entrepreneurs. I especially like the movement of panel speakers only doing panels that are diverse in terms of gender and race, I have also tried to adopt this in my own speaking engagements.
2. You are also part of many groups and networks of women entrepreneurs, especially in the UK and France: how did having that support help you develop your company?
Having other female founders and entrepreneurs around me does help because it is a great network to ask questions, and voice frustrations about what we are still facing and it’s comforting to hear if someone else has experienced similar issues and what advice they have for me.
3. Being a female CEO now, do you think that it is easier than before? How did the “support” system change over the last few years?
I definitely think the media is pushing the discussion forward and making it more easy and inclusive for female entrepreneurs and CEOs, especially in the investment landscape. Not sure the support system has changed much over the last few years, we are still experiencing a lot of the same issues, but people are definitely more open to talk about it and share their own experiences and advice.
4. What is the weirdest/uncomfortable thing someone asked you?
How I could run a business with three kids under 5 years old…? (looking back was it really a weird question 😉?)
5. What advice would you give to other female entrepreneurs?
Keep going! Grow a thick skin and a network of male and female entrepreneurs around you where you can ask for advice and hear their experiences as well, helps to know you are not alone in this journey.
6. What is your biggest achievement so far?
This is a hard one.. I am so proud of the team I have built over the last 15 years and to see how supportive everyone is of each other while still remaining passionate for our industry. I think building this network and team of amazing female and male entrepreneurs all passionate about PR is my greatest achievement!
