Celebrating women within business is something we love to do at The Handbag Clinic and in honour of International Women's Day, we sat down with our CEO and Co-Founder, Charlotte Staerck for a catchup on all things women in business.
So, enjoy a conversation with Charlotte...
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Which woman has inspired you the most in your life?
Probably my mam is the most inspirational. She raised two children by herself whilst also working full time as a social worker and achieving two degrees; all with a smile on her face. Also, she loves a good party on the side and is an all round inspiration and managed to do it all.
She is known as Queen Aileen in the office so we're all a big fan.
Yes, she is definitely an honorary queen of The Handbag Clinic.
Within the workplace, how do you like to influence and encourage the women around you?
I like to have a culture where everyone works together. I think with women sometimes we're made to feel like there has to be a competition between us and I want to eradicate that. We all work together and no one's too good to do a job. Helping other team members and department is critical. If there's boxes that need bringing upstairs or an order needs sending, then work collaboratively where needed to make sure there's no competition between the women in my workplace.
What is your proudest achievement to date as a woman in business?
It's definitely the size of the business. In the last 12 months we've achieved triple figure growth and there's no signs of it slowing down, yay!
This business was originally a small offshoot, a couple of artisans doing a few repairs and it's now featured in amazing publications such as Vogue and Grazia. In my household growing up, Queen Aileen and I referred to Grazia as the bible and now that my name has been mentioned in it, it doesn't really get better than that.
What constitutes a powerful woman for you?
Someone that doesn't give up. Showing strength, even if it's in weakness.
Having the ability to be vulnerable and show that things get hard, times are tough but keep powering through regardless.
As a woman what are the biggest challenges you've felt you've had to overcome?
With the business originally being an offshoot of my husband's business, I've spent a lot of time being treated as 'the wife'. Where I've been ignored or men have physically walked away from a conversation with me as they didn't see me as the leadership position that I was in. It's strange having to own your position within the world of business.
It's been a real challenge to stand my own but my husband has always been incredibly supportive, it's just for other people to recognise it. What advice would give to women in the workplace to get them to where they want to be?
Never let yourself be underestimated. If someone underestimates you then use it to motivate you to prove them wrong.
If you could partner with any business woman in the world, who would it be and why?
It would be Anya Hindmarch. She is very inspirational. Raising a family whilst creating a business and I highly recommend her book, it's a great read. She also has great bags which we love at THC. Amazing bags, that I love.
Are there any local businesses that you admire that are also ran by women?
Yes, absolutely. There's Pretty Picture Company, which is ran by my best friend, who does an amazing job of decorating the whole of the North East in beautiful flowers and kept pushing new ideas throughout lockdown to keep the business going. She commits to 12-hour days in the cold to ensure her creations are the best they can be and she's a stronger woman than me staying in the cold for that long.
Have you noticed a positive shift in recent years towards women in leading professional positions?
I've definitely noticed a shift. I've seen that it's gone from just ticking the equality box of giving women positions on boards to women actually taking the majority of positions. If you look at Marks and Spencer]s for example, they are demonstrating how it should be done with a majority female board.
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To find out more about Charlotte, her passion and perseverance, read our story here.
