Women supporting women in business can start with one conversation, one introduction or one person saying yes to an idea you care deeply about.
For me, it started with a phone call to Farren Williams.
I had a vision for Day With The Queen. I wanted to build on the last event and make this year’s experience even bigger and better. There was plenty I wanted to explain.
I didn’t get through my second sentence before she said yes.
That kind of backing stays with you.
The person who believes in your idea early
Farren is a Partner and Senior Adviser at Koda Capital. She chairs the Royal Botanic Gardens Foundation Victoria and is on investment committees for The Myer Foundation and the Aesop Foundation.
She has every reason to be thoughtful about where she puts her name, her time and her money.
And she chose to back us. Immediately.
Farren believes in women backing women. She puts that belief into practice through the decisions she makes and the people she supports.
We talk a lot about putting money in the hands of women. About building heart-led businesses. About how, when women do well, the benefits reach their families, their communities and the people they employ.
Those ideas become tangible when someone picks up the phone, hears your vision and says, “Yes.”
That’s what Farren did for me.
Backing each other is something we do
Support becomes useful when we turn it into action.
Sometimes that means sponsoring an event. Sometimes it means sending a referral, sharing an opportunity or making an introduction you know could help someone.
It can also be as simple as giving another woman your full attention while she works through a decision.
There are plenty of ways to put this into practice:
- Make a thoughtful introduction. Connect two people who would genuinely benefit from knowing each other, and explain why.
- Recommend someone’s work. When you’ve had a good experience, tell people about it.
- Follow up on an ambition. Ask how that proposal, launch or difficult conversation went.
- Offer specific help. “I can introduce you to someone who knows about that” gives a person something to work with.
You can choose one of those things and do it today.
Your business needs people in its corner
Running a business means making decisions, taking chances and following through, often while you’re still figuring things out.
Having people in your corner gives you somewhere to take those questions. Someone to listen. Someone to challenge your thinking. Someone who remembers what you said you wanted and asks how it’s going.
That’s why I built Thriving Women.
I wanted coaching, connection and community with like-minded women, and I knew how much I would have valued that support when I started my own business.
Today, the community brings together women who share ideas, offer honest feedback, make introductions and celebrate each other’s progress. The women who get the most out of it show up, do the work and back each other.
That last part matters to me. Being supported and offering support belong together.
Tell the woman who said yes
Think about the person who backed you early.
The one who made an introduction. Encouraged you to put your name forward. Believed in your idea while you were still finding the words to explain it.
Have you told her what that meant?
Send the message. Make the call. Be specific about what her support helped you do.
Farren, thank you. Day With The Queen is as much yours as it is mine.
And if you’re looking for that kind of backing in your own business, I’d love you to explore Thriving Women 2027.
It’s my 12-month coaching and community programme for established women in business, with options to join online from anywhere in Australia or connect in person in Melbourne.
Early bird pricing is open until 11:59 pm on Thursday 19 November 2026. Use BIRDY5 at checkout for 5% off.