Answer by Sali Christeson on Quora.
Being an entrepreneur alone is challenging. Being a female entrepreneur comes with a whole host of additional issues. We’ve been hit on, asked out, and finding investment has been much harder. For a number of my male peers, they just needed an idea to find funding. For us, we had to jump through hoops to get funding, which I’m proud to say we were able to successfully do for our angel round. The other issues I’ve experienced have to do with the way I’ve been treated by potential stakeholders (employees, vendors, investors, etc.). Believe me, we are hard to make happy and I’m the first to admit that. Communicating that to vendors, however, leads to them painting me as emotional.
As with the corporate world, you’re constantly forced to strike a balance and getting it right is next to impossible. We seek to promote a f–k it attitude with our brand, which we ourselves have also come to adopt. If you’re going to be sexist, we’re going to let it roll off our backs … of course after calling you on it. Because walking away from bias is not acceptable. The resilience is what it takes to be a successful female entrepreneur. And just know that there are other female entrepreneurs that have been through it that are there to support you. And there are a ton of men also willing to show up and help fight the good fight.
This question originally appeared on Quora: What is it like being a female entrepreneur?
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