From Type-cast to Transformation: The Changing Narrative of Women in Family Businesses

Despite a significant shift in perspectives in the conversation on women in family business, women still face significant challenges when it comes to the roles they are expected to fill. Even today, women are frequently type-cast in positions that provide emotional support to other family members — chief emotional officer, for example — while positions of greater responsibility or influence are taken by husbands, brothers, or other male family members. And for those women who do ascend to top tier positions within their family firms, an entirely new set of complex hurdles lay before them. But even with these persistently familiar impediments, women are steadily transforming the family business space. In this episode of WiFB Conversations, Fredda Brown, Founding Partner of the family consulting firm, Relative Solutions, and Ramia Marielle El Agamy discuss how women are leveraging catalysts, such as inheritance and generational wealth transference, in conjunction with self-reliance and their formidable skillsets to reshape family businesses around the world. Fredda and Ramia also talk about adaptation, preparation, and key strategies women can use to navigate through and upward in their organisations, along with the steps that lead to success once they arrive at the top.