CEOs, carpenters, and more—capture accurate images of today’s modern female entrepreneurs and business owners in an all-new light.
We’ll be the first to admit that traditional stock photography has a reputation for reinforcing stereotypical roles in society. This is especially true when it comes to images of female entrepreneurs and small business owners. More often than not, when you search for an image of a female entrepreneur on a stock marketplace, you’ll find traditionally feminine roles—florists, baristas or coffee shop owners, artists, and painters. However, we know that doesn’t accurately represent the modern female entrepreneur of today, and that needs to change.
In today’s article, we’re exploring what female-led business really looks like, why it’s important to accurately share these types of images, and tips for creatives on capturing female entrepreneur photographs that truly represent today’s woman.
The diversity of female-led businesses across the world is astounding, and it’s time the world took notice. How female entrepreneurs and business leaders are represented in advertising is an important conversation that deserves more dialogue. Currently, images that represent female founders are often inundated with stereotypes. The images feature a white, mid-30s female owning some sort of small business in retail, hospitality, or service. This is not representative of the remarkable power of female entrepreneurs in business.
The top sectors for women-owned employer firms are not what you’d expect. In this annual report from the National Women’s Business Council, as of 2020, the top three industries that are women-owned are as followed:
- Health Care and Social Assistance: 16.9%
- Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services: 16.4%
- Retail Trade: 11.7%
Several of our favorite women-led businesses are outside of the fields of retail and service, and it’s unfortunate that women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) rarely see themselves represented in the media. What message does that send to the young female dreamers of tomorrow? Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is a biotech CEO, and India’s richest woman, with a net worth of $480 million. Melinda Gates, former general manager at Microsoft, has been ranked as one of the most powerful women in the world, and is a remarkable advocate for women and girls in business.
Women are making jaw-dropping strides in the STEM workforce, yet they’re remarkably underrepresented in media visuals in this area. How often do you see visuals of a female scientist at work in the lab? Or a female Silicon Valley professional doing cyber security analysis? Not very often in a vastly male-dominated industry.
Women in Business Is a Trillion Dollar Industry
According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, American women own more than 11.6 million businesses. As of 2017, these businesses generated over $1.7 trillion in sales. There’s a remarkable momentum that’s only continuing to grow in women empowered and owned businesses, and it’s time marketers take notice.
We’re seeing more women-owned businesses, and more brands celebrating their women-owned and operated businesses across the world. Businesses no longer hide the fact when women own and operate them. In fact, it’s something people are actively searching for and supporting. As consumers continue to be more conscious of their purchasing decisions, brands need to be cognizant of their public-facing values and social position. The Women Owned logo exemplifies this growing awareness. This movement helps consumers identify products and businesses that are at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by a woman.
Important Statistics to Encourage More Representative Female Entrepreneur Images
Women-led businesses are a growing industry, and need stronger representation of actual job titles and career paths in marketing and advertising. Below is a selection of important statistics, if you need any more convincing that this is a market that brands need to take notice of.
3 Tips on Accurately Depicting Female Entrepreneurs in Images
For creatives who are looking to capture fresh images of female entrepreneurs in business, we’ve gathered three of our top tips to help you. Brands should also expand their definition of what a successful entrepreneur looks like when considering what types of images to use in their advertising.
Tip #1: Represent Diversity of Age and Ethnicity
From 2014 to 2019, the number of businesses owned by women of color increased by 43%, and is showing no signs of slowing down. It’s important that women of color have representation in today’s media. The same goes for age. Because the vast majority of female business owners have been in business for over a decade—as the above stat describes—they need representation in female entrepreneur images. Ensure that the images you use aren’t only representative of young women entrepreneurs at the blooming period of their career, but also show successful female-led businesses that have tenure in their industry.
Tip #2: Represent the “Side-Hustle” in Female-Led Business Images
Whether a female business owner is also a full-time mom, or works a more typical office job with a side-hustle involving their passion, representing side businesses is important in today’s media. Over the past five years, the side-hustle was double that of regular full-time, female-led entrepreneurship. Here are a few ideas on how to represent side-hustles in images.
- Working from home balancing family responsibilities
- Working in the evening from computers or other technology devices
- Fulfilling orders and shipping locally made products
- Working in creative spaces at home, such as garage offices and office backyards
Tip #3: Think Outside the “Box” for Business Types
Representing female business owners in industries is more than just representing retail and service roles. Think outside traditional female-focused jobs, and expand your horizon. For example, over the past several years the number of women-owned businesses in the utilities industry grew exponentially, and experts project it will continue to rise. Ensure that the female entrepreneur images you create represent a variety of industries, especially traditionally male-dominated ones that are changing drastically.
Shop these collections of marketing-ready images:
Looking for more inspiration on female-led businesses? Check out these articles:
Top Image by Monkey Business Images.
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