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To call Anna Sweeting an overachiever is an understatement. For starters, she became a CEO in her 20s (for context, the average age a person becomes a CEO is 47*) before going on to co-found the UK’s first female-led specialist investment fund Vaultier7 with business partner Montse Suarez (as a side note, private equity is typically one of the worst financial services sectors for promoting gender diversity - something Vaultier7 is striving to change).

“Much data has proven that people invest in things that they have an innate understanding of. It is a fact that globally, across all funds, the ultimate investment decisions are dominated by males, and this for sure has an impact on what capital is allocated to. Diversity of people making investment decisions, is needed, for that diversity to be reflected in the companies that receive capital,” says Anna Sweeting. To put it simply: female-run businesses need more attention and more funding. To date, has invested in multiple female-founded companies such as , and.

“I was dedicated and driven ever since I can remember,” she reflects. It was her grandfather – a self-made entrepreneur – who proved her greatest inspiration and her childhood set her up with ambition, drive, and a passion for propelling women forward. “As women, we have unique strengths that we must leverage, and I certainly saw those come to life in the CEO role: perceptive communication, collaboration, inclusiveness, resourcefulness, and improvisation,” says Anna.

When she’s not helping to drive the female-led companies of tomorrow, she’s at home with her adorable baby girl, Isabela. Here, we talk to Anna about becoming a CEO in her 20s, and what it takes to build an exceptional company.

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You became a CEO in your 20s which is phenomenal. And I want to know, were you always the girl who was going to become a CEO?

My school friends would definitely have called me an overachiever, a bit of ‘a geek’  – I was always very curious, exploring beyond what I was required and it’s true I was dedicated and driven ever since I can remember. My grandfather was a great source of inspiration for me. He was a self-made entrepreneur and he did a lot of trading on the stock market. He and I had a very close bond and I used to sit with him in his office, asking constant questions. He used to give me photocopies of his stock certificates, and I really believed I then owned a part of that company. I think this planted the seeds in my mind of what was possible and then as I stumbled upon economics as I got older, it had a profound impact on me. Economics, at its very heart, is the study of human behaviour. Yes there is a focus on statistical analysis, models and problem solving, but at the core, it opened up for me the power to peel through layers, grasp underlying themes and harness a level of foresight into society and people. This guided me into business, leading a business as CEO and then investing in businesses, all of which in the end are investing in people and I always remained guided by this human element.

When I graduated with my economics degree, it was my grandfather who I came back to – I had no interest in joining an investment bank, which seemed to be the career of choice for many of my peers, but I wasn’t sure what I should do – funnily enough, I found myself googling ‘what do you need to become a CEO’ and I remember specifically learning that more than half of the chairmans and CEOs of FTSE 100 companies are qualified accountants. I took this fact to my grandfather, and said I needed to become an accountant. He told me I would hate it, but that I would learn to ‘read’ companies like no one else, and therefore I should do it. He was right – he knew me, it was a good lesson in perseverance, but the foundations it gave me are immeasurable. I always say as an accountant you learn a new language that means you can translate numbers in a very powerful way, and numbers always tell you the true story about what’s going on, so I would still recommend it as a career starter to anyone. What is more, doing something I really struggled to have passion for, in a huge corporate framework, taught me very early on that I must go after my dreams, find my own way and find independence in whatever I did.

You were the CEO of the British luxury design brand Linley. How would you describe the role of CEO? What were your greatest learnings?

Moving from the city to become CEO of a luxury brand, I knew from the outset that I had a natural disadvantage coming from a non-retail background, but I focused on what that gave me that was different to others – a unique ability to penetrate what was going on by letting the numbers tell me the story and a sensibility for people. The people behind the brand and the DNA that existed, the team, the suppliers, and the clients. Getting to the core of what really matters to all of these stakeholders is a great enabler for driving your business agenda.

When I arrived at , I was for sure met with some skepticism, but I leaned into my belief in myself and why I was given the role. I learnt to surround myself with people who knew way more than me about different aspects of the business – I was hungry to learn from them and this openness to be taught by others is, I believe, an important part of being a CEO. Being a CEO can be a lonely role, and I am grateful to have learnt the power of inclusive leadership – you must be bold and have courage in the direction you are taking things, but that conviction comes from always basing things in the numbers – they literally tell you what’s going on – as well as having a humble approach to others opinions.

I had already learnt, coming from a very male-dominated environment in the city, that as women we have unique strengths that we must leverage, and I certainly saw those come to life in the CEO role: perceptive communication, collaboration, inclusiveness, resourcefulness, and improvisation – you must be prepared to be flexible and respond dynamically to what you see going on in the data real-time.

"Failure is the hardest thing, but I think we should talk about it more, and normalise being comfortable with struggle. Not just effort, but struggle and confusion, as this is the most effective process by which you allow yourself to learn, reflect on your mistakes, and do better the next time. How amazing is that!"

Anna Sweeting, Co-Founder of Vaultier 7

Networking is key when you’re an entrepreneur, yet it can be quite daunting for many people – what is your advice on how to network and your thoughts on the importance of it?

You have to think about building business relationships in a much broader context than traditional ‘networking’ suggests: your business circle includes your customers, consultants, buyers, suppliers with whom you do business as well as people working in and with, businesses that have overlaps with what you do, and are even competing with you. When you think of it this way, you have a network at your fingertips to start nurturing every day.

Social media tools must be a part of your personal strategy – whether it’s LinkedIn, Instagram etc, these platforms have democratised access. This is something I believe we all must lean into, and this is a simple as just having a presence and being open to building relationships this way. I cannot tell you the number of messages I’ve received via social media that have led to an interesting conversation or vice versa, the discoveries I’ve made.

Early on in your career, who were your mentors or people who guided you, and what did they teach you?

As a young executive I was like a sponge, so I approached all of my bosses like mentors. Of course, I wanted to show them I had everything under control, but I do believe those who are not afraid to ask for help are most likely to succeed as entrepreneurs. Whether the help is for constructive criticism, feedback or brainstorming about ideas, asking for help sets the tone for a beneficial relationship with others.

My first real boss told me that ‘whatever you hold in your mind on a consistent basis is exactly what you will experience in life’. I have found that to be true on my journey: for better or worse, our expectations and the actions that stem from those, can be self-fulfilling, so allocating a few quiet minutes to consciously check in with ourselves about what exactly it is we are holding in our minds, is something we should try to do regularly.

I think one of the most important lessons I’ve learned along the way is to really tune into your intuition and know what you stand for and what you don’t. It gives you clarity, decisions come more easily, and as an entrepreneur once you can identify where you are in conflict, and therefore which things no longer serve you, you are guided towards building the future.

You’ve said of being an entrepreneur “Don’t be afraid to fail frequently”. What are your thoughts on failure and how we can approach it and recover?

Failure is the hardest thing, but I think we should talk about it more, and normalise being comfortable with struggle. Not just effort, but struggle and confusion, as this is the most effective process by which you allow yourself to learn, reflect on your mistakes, and do better the next time. How amazing is that!

By the way, I didn’t always think like this. I was the overachiever who thought failure was the end of the world and there were times when people definitely made me feel like this was the case. But this is when I was able to tune into what I knew was right, and I knew a certain outcome didn’t take away from what I was capable of, and as I harnessed this I was able to reflect positively on what led me to that certain outcome. I can truly say I built some of the most amazing things out of my lowest points, and this is why I am such an advocate of switching this perspective.

With this mindset, no failure is final or fatal, so we must reframe our focus on embracing challenges as a chance to get better, to learn and develop, all things which propel us into fulfilling our potential. And this is why we cannot be afraid to fail. What is more, if you only focus on the possibility of failing, you will miss remarkable success as well.

In a previous interview, you spoke about how you are who you surround yourself by and that it is scientifically proven that you become the average of the five people you spend most of your time with – this is fascinating. Tell me about the role of your relationships in success?

Yes, the people we surround ourselves by are the biggest influencer on our behaviour, attitudes and results. In fact the influence doesn’t stop anywhere near the five people you spend the most time with. It’s far more dispersed and with social media, can include people you haven’t even met yet. There is no question that the people we expose ourselves to shape what conversations, attitudes and behaviours, dominate our attention. What they’ve got you thinking, saying doing and becoming, impacts the course of your life, they shape who you are.

That’s huge and has important consequences. I believe in actively constructing your environment, not letting it depend on proximity or chance or on how it has always been. I think it is worth consciously planning which opinions, attitudes and life-philosophies you do and do not allow to be in your life. You can accelerate your personal growth by spending time with people whose values are already aligned with who you want to become.

In terms of customer experience, what is your advice for retaining customers and giving them the best experience possible?

Nothing makes founders and brands more successful in engaging with their communities and customers in a meaningful way, than being aligned with who they truly are – knowing their values and being authentic to those, and sharing and inspiring what they stand for.

I also believe there is a difference between merely satisfying customers and truly impacting them by showing them they matter, that you understand their journey, and making them really feel that you are there for them –  such feelings are remembered and will make people return. This also extends to your team, treat them well, and let them be a shining light for what you stand for, because they are your intermediaries many times to that customer.

As entrepreneurs, it’s inevitable that you will come up against naysayers. And it can be incredibly distracting. What’s your advice for dealing with naysayers?

As I mentioned before, being focused on what you stand for, must underpin your day to day dealings. With this foundation, if someone gives you advice or feedback, you can always come back to ‘is this in line with what I stand for? or is it not?’ This will help you filter the noise, from what can be helpful advice.

Importantly, being focused on a goal, does not mean you should block out others and their opinions, which may be critical or opposing to yours. This is actually the worst thing to do as you can fast-track learning and outcomes by leveraging the experience and insights of others. However, if you are tuned into what you know is right versus your values, and you are guided by that, you will be able to see clearly the path ahead.

I’ve read a lot of interviews where founders will say they never had a business plan. What are your thoughts on this? And can you talk a little about the role of a business plan?

Whatever your goals you need a business plan: it will act as a roadmap to where you want to go. This is not limiting as I think some people perceive: a business plan is a living breathing document, it is not rigid, nor set in stone, but it does set your intentions.

Remember what I said earlier about expectations, and the actions that stem from them being self-fulfilling, this is why business plans are at the base of all good companies. If you know where you’re heading, you will navigate accordingly. Keeping your central aim visible in the headlines of a business plan helps you minimise distractions, and provides a vital reference for every decision you make and that you inspire your team to make.

Business plans also give you the framework to determine what return on investment is needed. All organisations, no matter their aims, whether funded internally and organically, or whether supported with outside investment, need to be financially effective in what they do, otherwise they will cease to function. By treating return on investment as a vital requirement of planning we increase the likelihood that plans will be viable and therefore sustainable.

Finally, business planning is not just financial, it’s an opportunity to establish a strong ethical philosophy from the outset. A strong clear ethical code communicates your values to staff, customers, suppliers, and creates a simple consistent basis for operations which conventional financials, processes, systems and even people, do not address.