{"id":19225,"date":"2023-03-06T12:26:30","date_gmt":"2023-03-06T12:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/?p=19225"},"modified":"2023-03-08T08:12:49","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T08:12:49","slug":"iwd-if-we-dont-have-everyone-succeed-equally-then-we-all-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/2023\/03\/iwd-if-we-dont-have-everyone-succeed-equally-then-we-all-fail\/","title":{"rendered":"IWD: \u2018If we don\u2019t have everyone succeed equally, then we all fail\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rebecca Smith is External Engagement Manager for Kent Business School, starting her working life as Project Officer for ASPIRE<\/a> \u2013 which has helped launch dozens of student start-up businesses.\u00a0 <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

To celebrate International Women\u2019s Day we caught up with Rebecca to find out more about her career with with ASPIRE and what \u2018embracing equity\u2019 means to her.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018I am proud to have supported women from a huge range of backgrounds in launching their businesses,\u2019 beams Rebecca. <\/span><\/p>\n

‘Sometimes, though not always, women need more support in building their confidence, in believing in themselves and their ideas.\u00a0 That said, we have worked with some women who have absolutely no problem with owning a room, or taking to the stage in front of hundreds of people. I\u2019ve always been about understanding the individual, not the stereotype!\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Rebecca hosting this academic year’s Business Start Up Journey Launch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ASPIRE, which stands for the \u2018<\/span>Accelerator Space for Innovation and Responsible Enterprise <\/span>began its life in\u00a02017.\u00a0 Its aim was to provide an \u2018innovation ecosystem\u2019 to all students and to help breed business ideas that offer solutions to pressing societal issues.\u00a0 The role of Project Officer for ASPIRE was Rebecca\u2019s first experience in higher education.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She explains: \u2018My first proper job was as an actress, working for a touring theatre company, taking improvisation-based plays to schools and youth clubs and running workshops with young people. It was an absolutely fantastic job. I loved the people I worked with. I think this is where I learned the art of working with young people.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The long gaps between tours meant Rebecca had time to travel \u2013 working abroad in Zante, Greece in bars. It was there she fell in love with hearing people\u2019s stories. Her second career unfolded.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rebecca says: \u2018I sort of fell into work on my local paper in Kent after meeting another journalist at a party. I completed my NCTJ training and then spent the next 15 years working in local news as a reporter, news editor and editor. It was an amazing time, although very hard work with long, often unsociable, hours. I loved meeting different people and finding out about their lives. I guess both my careers, although they were very different, were about working with people, which is what I think I enjoy most.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She started life at KBS after heading up events as her children\u2019s school and seeing an advertisement for the ASPIRE role in 2018.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She says: \u2018I never thought that I would love this job as much as did journalism \u2013 but I absolutely do. Working with students and graduates is so inspiring. Their energy and enthusiasm is a joy to be around.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To date ASPIRE have helped launched a large number of small businesses, many that have gone on to international success and a great deal led by females\u2013 such as Nadia Simpson (also k<\/span>nown as Ewura-esi\u202f<\/span>)with haircare brand Nu-Efla who has been featured in Forbes magazine and <\/span>Artificial Intelligence student Simona Paraskevopoulou who, alongside Computer Science student Lorenzo Chinole won last year\u2019s Start Up journey finals with their plant-self watering device and app.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I always wanted it to be a fun, exciting place for any stude<\/span>nt to come and get help and support in starting a business. A place that can inspire students to unlock their own potential and realise their dreams. It\u2019s about a mix of giving people knowledge of \u2018how to\u2019 do something such as finance, or registering a business and encouraging them to develop their ideas and skills.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>
Nadia Simpson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When it comes to championing women – and other marginalised groups \u2013 Rebecca sees ASPIRE as a preconception-free zone where diversity is woven into the fabric. Gender Equality is one of the 17 Global Development Goals, the backdrop of all business ideas developed within ASPIRE.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She says: \u2018Sadly, I do think it\u2019s harder for women to succeed in business. It is better than it was, but when you look at the statistics around start-up, and particularly access to finance, we still have a long way to go. But we\u2019ll get there. There are too many amazing women in business for it not to change.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span>his International Women\u2019s Day, Rebecca feels confident she is part of the movement \u2018embracing equity\u2019 regardless of race, gender and other differences. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018If we don\u2019t have everyone succeed equally, then we all fail. We need to have everyone at the table, to have their views and outlooks respected and to enable them to reach their potential.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rebecca now works on the Growing Kent and Medway project within the university as well as overseeing ASPIRE with colleague <\/span>Artur Slowinski.<\/p>\n

Find out more about ASPIRE, the University-wide space for entrepreneurship and start-ups<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that\u2019s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women\u2019s equality. Collectively we can all\u00a0#EmbraceEquity<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rebecca Smith is External Engagement Manager for Kent Business School, starting her working life as Project Officer for ASPIRE \u2013 which has helped launch dozens … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74553,"featured_media":19434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[124],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74553"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19225"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19409,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19225\/revisions\/19409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}