On 11 March, Marktlink brought together over 100 people from across Europe around International Women’s Day’s theme ‘Give to Gain’, with one clear message: building a more equal business world isn’t a “nice to have” – it’s a growth strategy.

At our ‘Own your power’ event, organised by Marktlink London’s Managing Partner, Victoria Ansell, keynote speaker Phoebe Waters, Co‑Founder & Partner at Optimising Potential, delivered a highly interactive and thought‑provoking session on re‑learning leadership: how to be high‑impact while breaking down barriers to equality. The recognition, openness and quality of discussion in the room said it all.

Equality is about opportunity, not sameness

Equality doesn’t mean women and men need to be the same. It means having the same opportunities – and the same responsibilities. It also means recognising that leadership comes in many forms. Alongside traditionally ‘masculine’ traits like power, charisma and vision, qualities such as empathy, humility and vulnerability are not soft skills – they are strengths that build trust, unity and exceptionally strong teams.

Equality is a shared responsibility

Another important reflection from the session: women should not feel the need to apologise for their ambition. Wanting more – responsibility, impact, growth – is not something to soften or explain away. Ambition is not a flaw; it is fuel.

A confronting reminder from the session: at the current pace, it will take 300 years to achieve gender equality worldwide without investment.

So perhaps most importantly: creating a more equal world is a shared responsibility. When we create room for more women in business, good things happen – for teams, for culture, and for results. This is not about anyone becoming “less”, but about everyone gaining more.

The panel discussion

What followed was a truly impactful panel discussion around turning barriers into breakthroughs. Victoria charted a brilliant course through the conversation, bringing the experiences and expertise of the panellists to light.

Liza Levy (Co‑Founder, Unravel) talked about how some investors’ perceptions of being an impact-led business diminished their belief in the commercial opportunity – a challenge that Liza has turned around through powerful storytelling of the opportunity.
Kristina Neme spoke of the barrier of similarity bias – investors can sometimes see similarities and draw wrong conclusions, quite often through not listening enough! Also, by sticking to the principle of having a strong foundation for the business, built on commercial relationships, rather than chasing short-term success metrics by spending on marketing to build e-commerce traction. Longer term, this has proven exactly right for dodiHEALTH.
Katharina Dalka made the valid point that for many female founders, success will come from understanding their own relationship with money – a conversation that is still too often avoided for younger women.
And Judit Petho summed it up perfectly: “We don’t all have to be ‘nice’, but we can all be kind.”

A special mention as well to Ekaterina, who truly embodied the Give to Gain mindset throughout the day – always leading conversations with curiosity and generosity, focused first on what she could give, before ever thinking about what she might gain. A powerful reminder of the impact that approach can have.

Thank you to everyone in the room for contributing, challenging perspectives and activating action. Let’s keep giving, so we can all gain.