Our first event after the Christmas Holidays will take place on Monday 16th January from 10.30 am to 2 pm. We will be taking part in Brew Monday, which is an event organised by the Samaritans.
The third Monday in January is known as ‘Blue Monday’ because it is thought to be ‘the most difficult day of the year’. The Samaritans believe there is no such thing as ‘Blue Monday’ because we all have our good days and our bad days, and those can be any day of the year.
The most common types of stress in the United Kingdom are work-related, confirmed by almost 80% of survey respondents in 2020. But for entrepreneurs who often work alone, the situation is even worse.
A 2015 report entitled Are Entrepreneurs “Touched with Fire”? found that 72% of entrepreneurs self-reported mental health concerns compared to 49% of the comparison group.
A 2020 report by resurgo examined the mental health of female entrepreneurs. It found that only 32% of self-employed women described their mental health as good or great, 39% chose “just okay” and 25% said it was either poor or bad.
And to be honest, it’s not at all surprising given the many challenges and barriers that female entrepreneurs need to overcome when starting or growing businesses.
Given these rather disheartening statistics, it’s so important that female entrepreneurs talk and reach out for support if we are finding things difficult. But it can be hard to find people to listen, especially people who understand how we feel and what we are up against.
This is why on Brew Monday, we will be opening our doors for a drop-in session and we welcome you all into our space for a cuppa and a catch-up. There is no agenda, just a casual get-together. Whether you want to join us for an hour or two or you only have 10 mins to spare, we’d love to see you.
We will also be taking this opportunity to raise money for The Samaritans so that there is always someone at the end of the line offering the services that they provide to those in need.
So whilst our Brew Monday event is FREE to attend, we will be encouraging people to make a voluntary £5 donation to this much-needed charity so that they can continue their vital work.
In the meantime, we have crowd-sourced some tips for dealing better with stress as a female entrepreneur from members of our community. Hopefully, you will find them useful.
Stacey Sheppard is the founder of The Tribe, a small community-driven coworking space in Totnes that caters to creative, growth-oriented female entrepreneurs by providing an inspiring working environment designed to foster collaboration, connection and community.
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