"It's OK not to know everything, and to ask for help."
Rochelle Winter Davis Tweet
Originally from the UK, Rochelle Winter Davis landed in Australia in 2009, unsure of what she would like her career to look like. Working in recruitment at the time, she developed a curiosity for the Tech industry. Rochelle quickly found herself thriving in an exciting career and a world generally dominated by men.
In 2020 Rochelle took what she had learned in the industry and partnered with Spritley to begin building the global first, socially led goal setting app. Through her leadership and pioneering vision, The Cheer Collective delivers a user-centric experience designed to motivate, inspire and connect people across the world.
“What I didn’t know when I began developing the concepts for The Cheer Collective was that beyond my ‘pandemic’ experience, there was quantitative science backing up what we (friends and family) already felt,” she said.
Rochelle married her professional strength with her optimism and genuine affection for change to develop The Cheer Collective. Her mission is to encourage and empower women and all people to be the best version of themselves, to take charge of their direction, hopes and vision for their future with a support network behind them. She truly believes that we are stronger together.
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Table of Contents
Thank you for joining us, please introduce yourself to our readers.
Rochelle Winter Davis: Hi, thank you for having me! My name is Rochelle Winter-Davis and I’m the Founder of the Sydney based app – The Cheer Collective.
Can you tell our readers in what ways you are disrupting your industry?
Rochelle Winter Davis: The Cheer Collective is the first socially-led goal setting app that transforms the way users think about networking, personal goals and social media. The app moves beyond the
traditional individualist model of private goal setting and instead opts for a more motivating, inclusive and supportive space for all users to take part in. The app and community to look to embrace the technology that so often isolates us through unrealistic standards, false aesthetics and comparison born of the algorithms created to keep users scrolling.
Did you become a disruptor by choice or by necessity? Tell us more about the journey.
Rochelle Winter Davis: The Cheer Collective was born of the turbulent highs and lows of the past two years, during which I kept in contact with my friends in Australia and England, via phone. While we were geographically distant, we were able to stay connected to each other by talking through our varying experiences. I would set daily/weekly/monthly goals to keep us positive and stay motivated, even on the darkest of days and prolonged lockdowns.
The connection not only motivated my friends and family and I but it also led to us enjoying open, honest, and supportive group chats with one another. What I didn’t know when I began developing the concepts for The Cheer Collective was that beyond my pandemic experience, there was quantitative science backing up what we (friends and family) already felt.
I took my professional experience in technology and my optimism and genuine affection for impactful change to develop The Cheer Collective.
Now for the main focus of this interview: Many readers may wonder what are the biggest challenges women entrepreneurs must overcome to be successful?
Rochelle Winter Davis: Speaking to my industry, technology, which is formed around the professional relationships of men, can make it challenging to break into or progress in a space that doesn’t quite encompass a diverse cultural spectrum.
Funding and financial support is a huge challenge, in a report by Techboard that span from 1 July 2017 right through to 30 June 2021, startups with a female founder secured over six billion in funding over the course of the four-year period covered, representing 23.72 percent of total funds raised across the entire ecosystem. Within this 23.72 percent, only 4.01 percent reached startups that were solely female-founded.
With these cultural challenges come then the personal challenge of self-doubt and self-belief. It’s very easy when you’re the only woman in the room and you are being overlooked and not listened to, for you to feel inadequate.
How did you overcome these obstacles? Who helped you during these difficult times and how did they?
Rochelle Winter Davis: I have a small close circle of mentors and friends, who I can go to when I need. I was reminded recently by a great mentor of mine, that there is a reason that I started The Cheer Collective and I have the experience and skills to make it be as successful as I want it to be.
Whenever I feel self-doubt kicking in, I remember why I started; It’s my mission to encourage and empower women and all people to be the best version of themselves, to take charge of their direction, hopes and vision for their future with a support network behind them.
How did these lessons shaped the way you conduct business today?
Rochelle Winter Davis: It means I can show up as my authentic self, in every single meeting and conversation that I have and I have the confidence to say “I don’t know”, when I don’t know and to ask for help when I need it.
What advice you wished you had received when you started, that you’d like to share now with aspiring women entrepreneurs?
Rochelle Winter Davis: It’s OK not to know everything, and to ask for help. As an entrepreneur at the start of your journey, you will wear many hats and you are not expected to be able to know how to wear all of them. Ask for help, use your network and if you feel you don’t have a network, look to your friends and family and colleagues and who they know.
People will want to help you and want to support you, don’t be afraid to ask for it. There are also countless communities out there to help, I recently came across the Female Founder Squad, and the community there is incredible, I can’t believe I’ve only just found it!
Out of all of your proudest moments as an entrepreneur, is there a particular one that stands out the most?
Rochelle Winter Davis: I vividly remember seeing The Cheer Collective app for the very first time. I could not believe that my idea was real, it was very overwhelming and there were tears.
What do you plan on tackling during the 2022 year? Share your goals and battles you expect to face.
Rochelle Winter Davis: The Cheer Collective is just getting started, we launch next month and my main goal is to grow the community and user base. I am a firm believer (it’s also the principle the app is built on) in taking things one step at a time and treating any battles/challenges as a problem to solve so for now, the next step is our launch. Who knows what challenges or battles will come after that, but I’m ready.
I’m sure our readers will be very thankful for the insights you have shared. What is the best book you’ve gone through lately and please share some take away lessons from it.
Rochelle Winter Davis: Emma Isaacs, The New Hustle. I just love this woman and again, she produces a super easy-to-read, authentic book that you can apply the principles of right away. I actually took a highlighter to it, it’s that great. Key takeaways –
- It’s OK to say NO.
- Be specific when asking for what you want or pitching etc, the other person should never be left wondering what you’re asking for.
- Core business values are necessary, especially at the start of your journey. When creating them be “aggressively authentic”….they “show the world who you are”.
Thank you so much for your time but before we finish things off, I do have one more question for you. When was the last time you did something for the first time and what was it?
Rochelle Winter Davis: Whilst not intrinsically part of my entrepreneurial journey, personal training and bootcamps play a leading role in my life. Last week, I had to do a 50-metre’ bear crawl’ in the pouring rain. A humbling challenge to say the least.
Mike Weiss, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Rochelle Winter Davis for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Rochelle Winter Davis or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin
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