The Founders of everywoman – Living a Small Business Success Story

Karen Gill and Maxine Benson had been friends for nearly 20 years when they got together to establish everywoman in 1999. They met in Australia while travelling the world and remained close, even as their lives and careers took them to different corners of the globe. Each gained a wealth of business expertise from working in a range of industries across Europe, the USA, Middle East and Asia Pacific.

While in Sydney in the 80's, both embarked on careers in the travel and hospitality industry – Maxine with the American airline World Airways, and Karen with Inter.Continental Hotels.

After seven years in Australia, Max moved to New York, where she was to remain for the next 10 years, first studying film and then forging an exciting career in film casting. She worked alongside leading US casting director Avy Kaufman on award-winning films such as The Sixth Sense.

In the meantime, Karen was working in both sales and marketing roles across a number of international markets in her career with Inter.Continental Hotels, accruing extensive knowledge of global business. In 1990 she was seconded back to London to take up the role as Vice President of Sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa. She held this position for eight years before leaving corporate life to start a family, and is now mother to a seven-year-old boy. The daily challenges faced by working mums are an issue that’s close to her heart.

On Max’s return from the US, the two friends decided to combine their talents and passions, and start a business of their own. In the process, they discovered how much more difficult it was for women than for men in the UK to get funding when starting a small business, and how little support women in business had in this country compared to Australia and the US. It became glaringly clear that there was a gaping hole in the market for an organisation that could provide women with the resources they needed – and thus, everywoman was born.

Their venture was the first website for women in business to launch in the UK, and began as an online resource offering women information to help them make more informed decisions about their business, family, finances or health – and, most importantly, how to manage a balance between them.

“We wanted everywoman to be a place where women could come to research, ask questions, source information or just let off steam,” say Karen and Max. “So we laid the foundations of a library that offered impartial information, we invited experts on board who could advise members, and we provided the means by which our members could start to build their own community – through a series of bulletin boards where they could offer each other support, advice and opinions.”

everywoman has since become a small-business success story in its own right. It is the leading provider of resources and services to increase the number and enhance the status of businesswomen in the UK, and has grown from an online resource to incorporate training and conference events for women in business, where they can network, share experiences, gain insight, and generally feel part of a supportive community. everywoman takes pride in providing tailored business solutions for women’s unique situations, working closely with leading industry partners including IBM and NatWest.

In an interview with Red magazine (You’re the business supplement, June 2006), Karen and Max were asked for the most valuable advice they could give a woman looking to start a business: “Remember that you are your company’s best asset. Make sure you invest in yourself by going on training programmes, attending seminars where you can learn new skills, and keep abreast of the latest thinking.”

The fact that Karen and Max live their own advice, and have made rather a large success of it, makes these two sassy, savvy businesswomen a true inspiration.