Inspiration Women – Gwen Rhys – Founder and Director of Women in the City

Gwen Rhys is the Founder & Director of the Women in the City, an organization that aims to raise the profile of senior level professional business women working in London’s business hubs, and the impact they have in leading teams, developing talent, supporting the progress of women in the wider business world, and contributing to the economy.

Nominations for the highly-coveted Women in the City Awards will open on 1 June and in this interview Gwen reveals her twisting career path, her views on life-balance and calls for sisterhood solidarity in a bid to overcome what she describes as the outrageous sexism in the City.

Why did you take this career path and how did you get to where you are today?

What a question! I’m now in my fourth or is it fifth career phase.

After university, I worked in print and publishing and then in my mid-20s started my own business. In this pre-Thatcher era, only 15% of all new businesses were started by women, but I didn’t think I was doing anything ground-breaking.  Running my own business had been my desire from a small child.    I used to play running a business– sad, but true.

I sold the business it in the late 1980s and spent the next 10 years working throughout the UK on a range of government-funded programmes that encouraged business and education to work in partnership. I really loved this work.  In fact, I bumped into the Chief Executive of an organisation I worked for in Liverpool on the Underground the other day.  Like me, she’s now in a very different job but we recognised each other straight away and spent some time reminiscing about the good ol’ days.

I became Chief Executive of Westminster Enterprise Agency and in 1996 launched EW-network, the first of a new breed of women’s networks. I ran this on-and-off-line membership network until early 2003.

I set up Networking Culture Limited in 1997 and I now advise both organisations on how to set up and maintain effect internal and external networks and support individuals to develop the connections and relationships they need to progress their careers.  This is my “real” business – my income-generating business – and I love the work I do.  I am a frequent conference speaker and chair, I facilitate teams to build connections and I support individuals to achieve their career goals through building, nurturing and leveraging their personal networks. I work for a wide range of organizations and my clients include household names, multi-national corporates and a good smattering of City-based organisations. No two days are the same.

And, just in case I didn’t have quite enough to occupy me 24-hours a day, I started Women in the City which is now an organisation in itself with a sizeable virtual team.  I run what is, in effect, two reasonably well-established businesses and launched space (my new business venture– www.space-brackley.co.uk) this February.  I also mentor young people, am a local town councilor and an Assistant to the Court (the equivalent of being a board member) of my City Livery Company.

What is the best thing about running Women in the City ? I get to meet so many great women and I learn something new every day.

What has been the biggest challenge to date?

Not getting distracted by all the new ideas that pop into my head on a daily basis.

When you set up Women in the City what did you set out to achieve and have your expectations been surpassed?My initial goal was simply to host a Lunch that brought together like-minded women.  Had no intention of growing a network again.  And, I still have no intention of doing that.  Women in the City isn’t a network, it’s an organization that aims to raise the profile of senior level professional business women working in London’s business hubs, and the impact they have in leading teams, developing talent, supporting the progress of women in the wider business world, and contributing to the economy.  At the same time it facilitates effective strategic networking and actively creates opportunities to bring together its community of like-minded women

From its inaugural Lunch in 2003 Women in the City has developed organically.  The joy of having your own business is that you can change it whenever you like.  Keep it fresh, keep it meeting the needs of the market place. My business partner in this venture, Roger Hacker, is similarly minded and we have a great working relationship although I do wish his computer skills were just a bit more sophisticated.

I guess my expectations have been surpassed – but then that’s really what anyone in business sets out to do.  That’s the thrill! Simply meeting targets, achieving goals isn’t quite enough.

What has been your biggest achievement since setting up Women in the City?

That’s a tough question.  In year 1, and from a standing start, getting  women to attend the lunch,  let alone 199 women, was a huge achievement.  Getting more women attending year on year is another achievement.  Over 350 attended in 2008 – the event was sold out a month before it took place.

The next achievement was setting up our Awards scheme and I’m delighted at how quickly these Awards have gained recognition and have real, tangible value.

Getting some of the world’s biggest brands to believe in what Women in the City wants to  achieve, securing and, in these difficult times, retaining their financial backing in the form of sponsorship is certainly a significant achievement.

What do you do to relax and obtain a life balance?

I don’t quite get this idea of life balance.  I don’t make any distinction between work and home, rest and play.  It’s one life and I hope I live it to the full.  Sometimes relaxation is spending time with a group of women at a social event, other times it’s lying on a beach doing absolutely nothing (I do that really well!) or it could be going for a run, cooking a meal for friends or jotting down the outline of a new business idea on a scrap of paper whilst between meetings.

If you could change one thing about the City what would it be?

I really do think that the sexism in the City is truly outrageous.

I was discussing this with a young man at a dinner recently.  He was in Financial PR and spoke of his shock when hearing men – his friends, contemporaries – in the City talk to and talk about women in a way that they would never contemplate doing in respect of their own girlfriend or wife.  He was also shocked that women didn’t seem to be able to stop it.

When I worked alongside female colleagues in the public sector in the 1980s-90s they were already challenging male dominated language and perceptions.  There was a “sisterhood” that stood its ground – a critical mass of women were, in effect,  saying “don’t treat me like that” and you know what:  they made a difference they forced change.  City women need to learn from this – have some solidarity, be brave, stand up, be counted and it does help when senior level men to back them.