From First Women Awards winner to championing female leaders in Milton Keynes
First Women Exclusives · December 3, 2015
Women may have made great progress towards equality with men, but social attitudes have changed more slowly. As such, we talked to PJ Care founder Jan Flawn, who hopes to instil confidence and garner support for women on a local level in Milton Keynes.
Half a century since women first forced open the boardroom doors, their career trajectories still look different compared to those of their male counterparts. Of course, some have suggested that maternal instincts contribute to a complex emotional tug between home and work, while other observers point to cultural and institutional barriers to female success. However, failure to break the glass ceiling can arguably also be attributed to a lack of confidence.
Indeed, while raw statistics tell a story of female advancement, most talented businesswomen still find themselves living down to expectations. As such, their aspirations for top leadership roles, and their confidence in attaining such roles, drop early in their careers and often times never recover.
This was voiced in an article for the Huffington Post by Jan Flawn, founder of neurological care provider PJ Care, who suggested that even the most self-assured entrepreneurs sometimes have a crisis of confidence. “So it can be a real affirmation of your talents when a jury of your peers decides you are worthy of an award,” she said.
Of course, Flawn talks from experience, having won the First Women Awards’ Business Services category in 2013.
“When I started out banks refused to give me funding for my company,” she said. “None of the bankers took me seriously as they saw me as a nurse, not an entrepreneur. But I had an immense belief in what I could achieve. I had a dogged determination. As this is what enabled me to achieve success, I always chalk down ‘persevere to overcome obstacles’ as my key lesson. So when I picked up the First Women of Business services award, it was quite a boost to my self-esteem.”
Flawn told Real Business that she’d always been a tough negotiator, mainly because most of the players in her field were men, and that, as a woman, she had to fight hard to hold her ground.
“I found that after winning the award, I was even more firmly on the front foot,” she said. This, according to Flawn, inspired her to work in partnership with Real Business in order to replicate the First Women programme on a local scale – based in her hometown of Milton Keynes.
“It is a place brimming with talent,” she said. “I wanted to bring the pride, excitement and celebration to other successful females and most importantly, encourage momentum and awareness around the female agenda.”
Named Women Leaders of Milton Keynes, Flawn aims to demonstrate that women are very much in the forefront of the business world of Milton Keynes. In fact, the calibre was so high that extra awards needed to be added to cater to all the talent – 13 awards in total.
“Women Leaders of Milton Keynes was founded to raise the profile of the outstanding women making a notable contribution to the business world and their local community. In particular, we wanted to put the spotlight on the diverse professions that women have entered, especially the more male-dominated ones of construction and engineering.
“We hope events such as these will encourage women within these professions to become more aware and proud of their skills and their unique perspective in these sectors. Linking into the national First Women Awards will continue to raise the profile of outstanding women in the UK and to create role models for women entering their career path in these professions. With any luck, the stories and success emerging from our inaugural awards will inspire women from all sectors to come forward and celebrate their achievements next year.”
She did, however, express her surprise at the lack of nominations in the engineering and construction categories.
“Milton Keynes is home to many distinguished companies across both sectors,” Flawn explained. “Not only are Network Rail and Red Bull based here, but it also boasts a rich portfolio of female professionals in the construction industry. And yet, none of the female talent from either sector has been forthcoming enough to submit for an award.
“Whilst these have of course traditionally been more male-dominated career areas, surely we have undergone a certain degree of evolution? Do these particular professional women feel that their career path is not worthy of an award or that their skills aren’t valued?”
At the forefront of the strand, Flawn hopes to extend such awards across the nation so that one day each region’s winners can compete for a national title in their respective fields. More importantly, however, Flawn hopes it will inspire more women to step up and boast about their achievements.
