Tide sponsors Wonder Women TV

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve teamed up with Wonder Women TV to sponsor their Mentoring Programme for up-and-coming female leaders in  television and the creative industries

We’re proud to support this programme, as part of our commitment to supporting women in business, because our members tell us that the creative industries can be tricky to get into and rise up. And many are put off pursuing a career in these industries as a freelancer, with the stress of short contracts, managing their finances and marketing themselves.

The Wonder Women TV network was established by Tide member, broadcaster Ria Hebden to champion women who work in television and the creative industries, creating visible role models who will inspire the next generations. The group celebrates and shares the wisdom of a diverse range of trailblazing women who are leading the way in their industries.

Founder Ria tells us about her own path to success in her Member Spotlight. Here, she tells us more about Wonder Women TV and the Mentoring Programme.

Hello Ria 👋 We’re delighted to be sponsoring Wonder Women TV! Tell us more about why you set up the network.

When I started working television, there were few women working in senior positions. Back then, I didn’t have a mentor but I was surrounded by inspiring women and took in as much as I could, like a sponge!

When I took the leap and set up as a freelance presenter and set up my production company, Carpe Diem in 2016, I started Wonder Women TV. I wanted to champion some of the women I’d met in the industry and showcase the roles you can do in the industry. There are many jobs behind the scenes too and we want to see women in all sorts of roles and at all levels! To do that, to inspire the next generations, we need visible female role models.

I want to show women that there’s no set career path – you can come in from different backgrounds or from jobs in all sorts of industries. 

How does the mentoring programme work?

Mentoring runs from January to January. Every month, mentees get a one hour one-to-one session with their mentor. And every month, there’s also a 90-minute online masterclass online with a different coach. The sessions will target issues that the mentees tell us have held them back. 

For example, we have masterclass sessions about promoting yourself on LinkedIn, negotiating at senior level at work, and negotiating your value. These topics affect women in all businesses. 

Tide is doing a masterclass with us – we’re keen to show mentees that managing your money is straightforward when you have the right tools, whether that’s keeping track of your expenses, saving enough for tax, or keeping your eye on cashflow.

Exactly! We’re looking forward to meeting the group in the masterclass. Who are your current mentees and mentors?

We’ve listed this year’s mentors and the 17 mentees on our website. 

The mentors are all very successful in their areas. They’ve agreed to do a year with us which is an amazing commitment. We’re not-so-secretly hoping they’ll stay with us for longer to bring even more benefit to their mentees.

The mentees are all mid to senior level. We want to get all of them to senior level! That’s where there is a lack of diversity in the industry and so our programme directly helps to address this.

How can other people get involved with Women Women TV?

Anyone can view our TV episodes and podcasts at our website. We publish new episodes monthly.

In fact, one of our next podcasts will feature one of Tide’s senior executives, Liza Haskell! She’ll be sharing the story of how she achieved her position, learned new skills and adapted along the way.

What’s your biggest hope for the mentoring programme?

I’d love the outcome to be that the mentees become the next leaders in their industries. 

We asked the mentees to set short-terms goals, mid-term goals and a really big, scary goal. Something that scares them, no holds barred, total blue sky thinking. When you write it down, something magic happens. It becomes a commitment to yourself and you start to work on making it happen.

When you’re working towards your big scary goal, it’s the most incredible feeling. It will take lots of tiny steps but every single step gets you closer to your goal.

As well as the mentors, do you have support from the industry or other experts?

Yes – Wonder Women TV has an advisory board of five great women, all experts in different areas. For example, we have a lawyer, a marketing specialist, a business and life coach. Our advisory board is a diverse panel of great minds and expertise so we steer plans collectively.

And we’re delighted to be sponsored by Tide! Many people in our industries are freelance or running their own small companies so to partner with Tide – who make life easier for small businesses by cutting down the faff of finance admin – makes total sense.

We think so too! If Tide could support you more, what could we do?

I’d like Tide to be a long-term partner! To make a great impact on people and their ambitions requires a longer commitment. Even five years would be amazing! Lots more people want to be involved, in the mentoring programme, we have so much more we want to do.

We’ll see what we can do 😊
Thank you Ria! We’ll catch up with you this time next year!

Read more

⏩ Read more about Ria Hebden:
      Tide blog | Member Spotlight | Meet Ria Hebden

⏩ Read more about Tide’s commitment to female entrepreneurs:
      Tide | Supporting women in business

Connect with Wonder Women TV

• Visit the Wonder Women TV website:  www.wonderwomentv.com
• Listen to Wonder Women TV podcasts
• Follow Wonder Women TV on LinkedIn 
• Subscribe to Ria’s YouTube channel

All photos courtesy of Ria Hebden and Wonder Women TV