Jen Atkinson says one of the biggest reasons why so few female founders scale big businesses is they lack self-belief 鈥� and she鈥檚 on a mission to change it.
She鈥檚 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鈥檚 turnover to nearly 拢60m.
Atkinson is backed by Arete Capital Partners and she that female founders need to be more forward when it comes to asking for investment.
鈥淥ne 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 拢10m and get 拢15m as opposed to asking for 拢5m and getting 拢1m,鈥� she said. 鈥淲omen tend to struggle with asking in a way that men don鈥檛.鈥�
鈥淲hatever you want to raise, raise more. If you think you need to ask for 拢5m, go and ask for 拢10m.
鈥淓verything that you invest in takes longer and costs more than you think it will. It鈥檚 better to have wool on your back than have your back against the wall and trying to raise again.鈥�
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.
鈥淚 felt like I had a lot to prove because I did not found my old business (ITC),鈥� she told The Naked Founder podcast. 鈥淚 led it but I didn鈥檛 come up with the idea whereas the idea for Travel Seen, the funding and how we did it is entirely down to me.鈥�
Atkinson鈥檚 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鈥檚 brothers is Juergen Maier, former CEO of Siemens.
鈥淢y dad wanted me to be a teacher or work in the public sector while my mum was spontaneous,鈥� she said.
Atkinson takes after her mum but has her dad鈥檚 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 拢40m turnover to 拢90m and a 拢5m profit.
NorthEdge invested in ITC and she rolled 50 per cent of her money back into the business 鈥� but lost the lot during Covid
2020 was Atkinson鈥檚 professional and personal 鈥榓nnus horribilis鈥�, 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 鈥榯ransformational鈥� deal for Oxford Ski Company
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be all things,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be a brilliant entrepreneur, perfect wife, perfect mother etc.
鈥淚 got accused recently of being a 鈥榖ig character鈥�. I thought 鈥榳hy should I diminish my light for somebody else鈥檚 insecurity?鈥� What I have learnt is big female characters are difficult to live with.鈥�
Atkinson was 48 when she launched Travel Seen but insisted age is no barrier. 鈥淚 feel better at 50 than I did at 40,鈥� she said.
鈥淯ltimately, 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.鈥�
Atkinson isn鈥檛 afraid to talk about difficult subjects, including imposter syndrome, ADHD and the menopause.
And she had this advice for other female founders. 鈥淢y advice would be trust yourself more than you listen to other people鈥檚 advice,鈥� she told The Naked Founder podcast.
鈥淚 think ultimately as a founder you have got to back your own story and your own narrative.
鈥淥ften we get lost when we鈥檙e seeking approval or looking externally for validation鈥ack yourself.鈥�
You can listen to the episode, which was sponsored by Financielle,