“It’s about opening up the world and examining the opportunities”

Meet the mentors: Vanessa Chapman, Female Founders mentor 

 It’s hard to think of anyone more uniquely qualified to be the Female Founders mentor than Vanessa Chapman. The head of VJC Media, a creative and business agency that works internationally with IP owners, media companies, brands and investors, she’s working at the cutting edge of IP around the world with decades of experience across the media at large. From a start in journalism to stellar roles as Controller of Children’s & Family Programmes at ITV and running the LEGO Company’s global television and movie output, she’s seen it all. 

Vanessa has developed, produced, commissioned and acquired intellectual property across multiple platforms and served as a juror on BAFTA panels and the Rose D’Or, as well as being a frequent speaker/panellist at major industry events around the world. She brings her extraordinary success, energy and experience to her role as a mentor, aiming to help female founders move up and shape their path ahead.  

What motivated you to become a mentor with Creative Enterprise, and what keeps you coming back?  

I wanted to offer what I didn’t have when I was coming up. As someone who had to fend for herself in most of the early part of my career in some quite scary environments, I know how important it is to just have someone to talk to. It’s a lonely old world out there being an entrepreneur – I’ve been there too, and I know the value of having someone who you can just pick the phone up to and not be judged. A friend recommended the role to me and I was intrigued. I started as a mentor last year and I was thrilled to be asked back again.  
 

In your experience, what are the biggest challenges screen-based founders face when trying to create and grow sustainable businesses – and how does mentoring help navigate these? 

With small and medium-sized enterprises, it generally all comes down to a lack of investment funds. I have this thing where people say content is king, but I say cash flow is God. At the end of the day, if you’re starved of cash flow it affects every part of your business, including your mental capacity, because you’re worrying about it all the time. I found some statistics that show that female-led companies deliver 35% more return than their male counterparts, despite receiving only 2.5% of VC investment. However good you are as a mentor, you can’t change culture. 

What specific issues do female founders face, in your experience? 

I was talking to two founders yesterday that I’ve helped to get to the next stage through mentoring. They said that they had really developed confidence through the Female Founders programme. That’s a big one for women. I think women can be their own worst enemies in that respect. It’s sort of: can I really do this? How do I do this? It’s almost as if we need to be given an education to be able to be entrepreneurial because you have to take a leap of faith. Mentoring can help with that.  

How would you describe your approach to mentoring and what do you think makes it effective for screen/creative businesses?  

I am not a person who is going to give you all the answers. I see mentoring as a process where we explore options and you have to find the answer through that process. I think that’s really important because some people come into mentoring thinking that a mentor is going to solve all their problems. But if you haven’t gone on the journey and recognised what your problems are, it won’t work. It should be opening up the world and examining the opportunities and the issues, and then taking guidance.  

It’s also really important that something pragmatic and concrete comes out of the process. We should come out with a road map, some key milestones ahead, a process and some actions with measurable deliverables. Just to have that map and that knowledge helps you to get to where to want to go.  

What’s one thing you’ve learned from the mentees you’ve mentored that’s influenced your own work or perspective? 

Every single person has something to teach you and you can learn from them. Something I learned from this over the last few years is to think differently. I always thought I was incredibly open minded and entrepreneurial, but I’ve noticed among the last two cohorts that people are thinking really broadly. They’re looking at different things like podcasts and audiobooks. It’s quite liberating to see them go through the programme, doing the workshops and then saying – oh maybe I could do a podcast. For me, it’s a constant learning process. It helps me to be alive and awake to what’s happening out there.  

If you could give one piece of advice to any female founder starting out today, what would it be?  

Stick with it. Also, know what you do and why you’re unique in the market. If you’re a female founder, rock that resilience as much as you can. You’ll get there.