Closing the Gender Ambition Gap

Real Business Conversations is a monthly podcast from Kinore, hosted by CEO and founder Larissa Feeney. Each episode is an honest, unscripted conversation with a business owner or expert about the real story behind building and growing a business in Ireland. For decades, ambition itself has not been evenly distributed. Women were once nine times less likely than men to say they wanted to grow a business beyond themselves, and there was little support built to change that. This conversation traces how one piece of research turned into a nationwide movement: the peer-to-peer roundtable model behind Going for Growth, its rural counterpart ACORNS, and Back for Business for returning emigrants, along with what today's data says about ambition, role models and scaling a business. Joining Larissa is Paula Fitzsimons, founder of Fitzsimons Consulting. Paula was Ireland's national coordinator for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for twenty years and has designed and led some of the country's best-known peer support initiatives for entrepreneurs, including Going for Growth, ACORNS and Back for Business. THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT The gender gap in start-up rates and growth ambition How one GEM statistic sparked Going for Growth Why peer-to-peer roundtables break psychological isolation Bringing the model to rural Ireland through ACORNS Supporting returning emigrants through Back for Business GUEST DETAILS Paula Fitzsimons is the founder of Fitzsimons Consulting, specialising in entrepreneurship and growth. She was the national coordinator for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research project in Ireland for twenty years and served on the global board as President of the national teams for several years. Paula has designed and implemented tailored peer support programmes for entrepreneurs, including Going for Growth, now in its 18th cycle with more than 1,100 ambitious female entrepreneurs having taken part, supported by Enterprise Ireland and KPMG. She also designed ACORNS, now in its 11th year with over 600 rural women involved, supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and Back for Business for returning emigrants, supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Paula was appointed to the SME and Entrepreneurship Taskforce by the then Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in 2020. Website: www.fitzsimons-consulting.com | www.goingforgrowth.com | www.ACORNS.ie Social Media: Paula Fitzsimons (LinkedIn) ABOUT KINORE Kinore is an award winning and innovative online Chartered Accountancy service that takes away the worry and headache of running your own finance and related business services functions. https://kinore.com/ ABOUT YOUR HOST The host of this podcast is Larissa Feeney, CEO and Founder of Kinore, an award-winning online accountancy and business services firm based in Ireland. Larissa's journey is notable, starting in hospitality before transitioning to accounting, where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Driven by a vision to challenge traditional accountancy and leverage technology, Larissa founded Kinore in 2015, establishing Ireland's first online, remote-first Finance and Business Services company. Under her leadership, Kinore has received numerous accolades, and Larissa herself has been recognised with awards like 'Accountant of the Year'. QUOTES What's your vision for this business? Not just what's your vision for you, so that it's bigger than you. - Paula Fitzsimons If you could see a woman who was a successful businesswoman, then you'd believe that you could do it. - Paula Fitzsimons It broke down that psychological isolation and that feeling that you were the only one with imposter syndrome. - Paula Fitzsimons No matter who he put a mic under, they were able to talk, and that's the way it should be. There's no favourites. - Paula Fitzsimons The role models are there. They have to have the aspiration, the belief, the dedication, and then the support, as well as natural talent and hard work. - Paula Fitzsimons KEYWORDS #GoingForGrowth #FemaleEntrepreneurs #ACORNS #BackForBusiness #Kinore