At our recent Smart Works Reading Breakfast, we were delighted to welcome Anne Boden — founder of Starling Bank, best selling author, and a true trailblazer in business — for an inspiring conversation about leadership, resilience and self-belief.

Anne shared how, after a long and successful corporate career, she took the bold step of founding Starling Bank in her mid 50s. Motivated, as she put it “by people telling me I couldn’t do things,” she went on to raise an incredible £750 million to turn her vision into reality. Her story is a powerful reminder that it’s never too late to reinvent yourself or to take a leap of faith.

Anne also highlighted the ongoing challenges facing women in business, noting that “only 2% of venture capital funding goes to female-only businesses.” Despite this, she encouraged women to keep pushing boundaries and backing themselves: “We have to ask for more, and focus on the positives rather than the negatives” in order to support female colleagues.

She also spoke about the importance of personal growth, reminding us that she is “always learning” — taking courses and trying new things to keep challenging herself.

Anne’s words resonated deeply with our mission at Smart Works Reading: to help local women find the clothes, coaching and confidence they need to secure the jobs they deserve.

67% of the women who use our service secure work within a month.

Help us continue making a difference by becoming a Friend of Smart Works Reading.‍

Thank you to Anne, our generous hosts at Apex Reading, and our brilliant compère Samantha Harman for an unforgettable and empowering morning.

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