Entrepeneur EMMA SINCLAIR hassles hard for her business...and still has the time to give back. With apparent confidence, high cadence of words and often witty replies in nanoseconds, entrepreneur Emma Sinclair spoke in front of a full auditorium of the CASS business school this October. You wouldn't guess for a second that as a child she was “mortally shy” and “pretty much never said a word out loud until 29”... well, “unless she had to.”
One time at the hairdresser, she read an interview of Beyoncé in Vanity Fair, where the singer revealed she had to invent a stage alter-ego: Sasha Fierce, to fight the horrendous nervousness she was feeling. A week later, when Sinclair was supposed to receive an award, she decided to take on Beyonce's advice and put her own Sasha Fierce on. The award was part of the recognition for being the youngest person who IPOed a company at the London Stock Exchange -at the age of 29.
Reading the FT since early age Before starting her first business, Sinclair had a career as an investment banker. From a surprisingly early age Sinclair was financially-saavy. Her father made her read the Financial Times to keep her entertained. Trading shares came naturally to her at University, since "she talked and fiddled around with stock market from the age of four." After floating her car parking company, while setting a historic and reigning record, she went into businesses in wellness and finally, the current one: EnterpriseJungle -a platform for companies to manage their existing talent and link them with a new one in tech.
Investors 'marry' persons, rather than ideas Sinclair is -among others- in charge of funding. Despite her vast experience, she admits that knocking on people‘s door and asking them for money never gets easy. As an occasional angel investor herself, Sinclair says that funders back-up a person rather an idea. Apart from convincing investors, she also wants to know what they have to offer to her: “It is not a one way thing." Although, she assures that this confidence is something she gained with age.
She makes a thorough research on potential partners and likens entrepreneur-investor relationship to marriage. “They are going to be in it for a long time and there is going to be plenty of highs and high-fives that go with that. And lot of lows and very tricky days, when you need people to stick with you,“ she said. Massive names don't always mean the right partner for one's business. She he learn that the hard way. Mixing family in the business She praises “pretty unbreakable tie and trust”, as an advantage of pairing up with a brother. Even though it might sometimes mean that: “We are in the conference call and I finish with 'Have you called grandma? It‘s her birthday'….and everyone's like: that‘s a bit weird,“ she jokes. Packed daily doesn't prevent its owner from spending family quality-time. Multiple business-award winner takes care of her 93 grandma two days a week so she doesn't need to have a carer. “Sometimes that means that when I have to sign an important legal document, I have to take her with me,” she explained. Even though Sinclair doesn't self-evaluate her performance in life-work balance department, she practices exemplary healthy lifestyle: as a vegan who exercises early in the morning and meditates, which has been life changing. “My mind never used to stop,” she enthused. Real-life changes without having to ask permission Sinclair is focused on building successful business and “can‘t wait to provide the investors who backed us up in the beginnings with amazing returns.” Other wishes are for her family to be happy, financial stability, but also world peace. Money isn't an end goal for this aware businesswoman, who reads ferociously on what is going in the world and cites the state of healthcare, lobbying, climate change as some of the things that worry her in this world. Sinclair, who got a MBE for Services to Entrepreneurship from the Queen, is also the first UK's UNICEF business mentor.
“I want to make changes at scale, just as I want to build a business at scale. And I believe that financial independence is one great tool to be able to do that. It's not just about money, it's about what money can help you do,” Sinclair concludes.
“Entrepreneurship is an universal language” Before her first trip to Zambia, she had second thoughts about whether her experience will be translatable to locals. She then met a man who was selling trees for virtually no money to get micro-loans and eventually buy a garden and then a bigger garden…
When asked, why he worked so hard, he answered: “To give my children options I never had.”
His answer reminded Sinclair of reasons behind her own father‘s hardships.
"I then realised, entrepreneurship is an universal language,” she said.
Disclaimer/Credit: This article is based on the event: Editor-at-Large, Thomson Reuters. Axel Threlfall interviewed Emma Sinclair at EntrepreneursTalk @CassBusiness School
Watch the full interview here: