Jen Atkinson says one of the biggest reasons why so few female founders scale big businesses is they lack self-belief – and she’s on a mission to change it.
She’s the founder and executive chair of social-first business Travel Seen, which has just acquired a majority stake in luxury ski specialist Oxford Ski Company in a deal that has grown the group’s turnover to nearly £60m.
Atkinson is backed by Arete Capital Partners and she told the latest episode of The Naked Founder podcast that female founders need to be more forward when it comes to asking for investment.
“One of the reasons that women particularly struggle in the world of scaling a business is investment and that self-belief that they can ask for £10m and get £15m as opposed to asking for £5m and getting £1m,” she said. “Women tend to struggle with asking in a way that men don’t.”
“Whatever you want to raise, raise more. If you think you need to ask for £5m, go and ask for £10m.
“Everything that you invest in takes longer and costs more than you think it will. It’s better to have wool on your back than have your back against the wall and trying to raise again.”
Atkinson made her name at ITC Travel Group but at the age of 48 she decided to be a first-time founder when she launched Travel Seen.
“I felt like I had a lot to prove because I did not found my old business (ITC),” she told The Naked Founder podcast. “I led it but I didn’t come up with the idea whereas the idea for Travel Seen, the funding and how we did it is entirely down to me.”
Atkinson’s own story started in Leeds, where she grew up in a semi-detached house.
Her mother Ziggy was from Austria and her dad was an academic. They met on holiday and one of Atkinson’s brothers is Juergen Maier, former CEO of Siemens.
“My dad wanted me to be a teacher or work in the public sector while my mum was spontaneous,” she said.
Atkinson takes after her mum but has her dad’s business head.
Her big break came when she went to work at ITC Travel Group and met her mentor Drew Foster, who was pioneer of luxury travel.
She started at ITC Travel as marketing manager, before being promoted to COO and CEO.
One of the first things she had to do was make 40 people redundant as part of a turnaround strategy that saw her grow the business from £40m turnover to £90m and a £5m profit.
NorthEdge invested in ITC and she rolled 50 per cent of her money back into the business – but lost the lot during Covid
2020 was Atkinson’s professional and personal ‘annus horribilis’, which saw her separate from her husband, Covid and the subsequent financial hit that involved.
The mother-of-two is also one of a number of successful female entrepreneurs to get divorced.
Travel Seen hails ‘transformational’ deal for Oxford Ski Company
“You can’t be all things,” she said. “You can’t be a brilliant entrepreneur, perfect wife, perfect mother etc.
“I got accused recently of being a ‘big character’. I thought ‘why should I diminish my light for somebody else’s insecurity?’ What I have learnt is big female characters are difficult to live with.”
Atkinson was 48 when she launched Travel Seen but insisted age is no barrier. “I feel better at 50 than I did at 40,” she said.
“Ultimately, why have I set up a business? A. To prove I can and B. In the future to give me a platform to get more women to feel like they can found a business, to have the courage to step out from their comfortable plc jobs, not have the regrets and take a chance.”
Atkinson isn’t afraid to talk about difficult subjects, including imposter syndrome, ADHD and the menopause.
And she had this advice for other female founders. “My advice would be trust yourself more than you listen to other people’s advice,” she told The Naked Founder podcast.
“I think ultimately as a founder you have got to back your own story and your own narrative.
“Often we get lost when we’re seeking approval or looking externally for validation…back yourself.”
You can listen to the episode, which was sponsored by Financielle, here