Lisa Maynard-Atem

The Imposter Syndrome Illusion Doubt isn’t dysfunction - it’s growth. And “imposter syndrome” isn’t a diagnosis, it’s a myth that keeps us small.

We’re told imposter syndrome explains our self-doubt. But what if the label itself is the problem? My latest essay explores why doubt is not a diagnosis, but a sign of growth - and why you are not an imposter, you are simply becoming.
open.substack.com/pub/stylisa/...

So often, the narrative around representation is rooted in scarcity. But what if the issue isn’t a lack of talent, just a lack of effort in finding it?

Read Shainoor’s #STYLISAFoundHers interview. www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/stylisa...

The Imposter Syndrome Illusion Doubt isn’t dysfunction - it’s growth. And “imposter syndrome” isn’t a diagnosis, it’s a myth that keeps us small.

We’re told imposter syndrome explains our self-doubt. But what if the label itself is the problem? My latest essay explores why doubt is not a diagnosis, but a sign of growth - and why you are not an imposter, you are simply becoming.
open.substack.com/pub/stylisa/...

FoundHer FundHers: Sedge Beswick on Scaling Smart, Raising from Strength & Saying No With Confidence From teen stock trader to exited tech founder, Sarah Dowzell’s journey is anything but conventional. In this candid interview, she shares how she raised over £1.6M, navigated imposter syndrome, and le...

Last month, I launched a new chapter in the #STYLISAFoundHers story called #FoundHerFundHers. It’s about demystifying funding, unlocking access to capital, and shifting the narrative for female founders. This month, I interviewed Sedge Beswick. www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/foundhe...

STYLISA FoundHers: Shainoor Khoja on Building Purpose-Led Platforms for the People Who Need Them Most From physiotherapy clinics to conflict zones to AI-powered care platforms, Shainoor Khoja’s journey is nothing short of extraordinary. In this latest STYLISA FoundHers feature, she shares how she’s bu...

The #STYLISAFoundHers series returns for the month of November, with an unstoppable and incredible woman.

Meet the Shainoor Khoja, and discover how she is transforming elder care through purpose-led technology, compassion and conviction. www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/stylisa...

🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

Read that again. We are not behind. We’ve been blocked. And once you recognise that, you stop waiting for permission.

This #STYLISAFoundHers interview with Nanna is inspiring. Not just because of what she’s building, but because of what she’s naming. www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/stylisa...

The #STYLISAFoundHer FundHers Series October - Sarah Dowzell

We talk a lot about money in entrepreneurship. But how you raise it, and why, is just as important as how much. www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/foundhe...

Too many funding systems exhaust the very women they claim to support. Nanna built FundHerShip to do the opposite, funding women in a way that respects their time, their stories, and their truth.

Read Nanna S Soenya’s #STYLISAFoundHers interview. www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/stylisa...

The Age of AI: Why Your Voice Matters More Than Ever AI has changed how we work, but not why we do it. In The Age of AI: Why Your Voice Matters More Than Ever, Lisa Maynard-Atem explores why personal branding, clarity, and human connection are still the...

I recently took part in a panel discussion “The Age of AI - How Female Founders Can Claim Their Voice.” It was a conversations that reminded me why I do what I do - because the world is changing at speed, and clarity has never been more important.

www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/the-age...

A Life That Doesn’t Need Escape We treat holidays as salvation - brief escapes from lives we endure. But what if the real disruption is building a life that doesn’t need escaping from?

Holidays are sold as salvation - the highlight of the year. But if joy only lives in those two weeks, what does that say about the other fifty? My latest essay explores the illusion of escape, and what it means to build a life that doesn’t need one.
open.substack.com/pub/stylisa/...

One sentence. Total reframe. FundHerShip doesn’t ask women to compete for scarcity. It redistributes what we already have, collectively. It’s not a moment. It’s a model.

Read Nanna S Soenya’s #STYLISAFoundHers interview.

www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/stylisa...

FoundHer FundHers: Sarah Dowzell on Building a Business, Raising Investment, and Backing Yourself First From teen stock trader to exited tech founder, Sarah Dowzell’s journey is anything but conventional. In this candid interview, she shares how she raised over £1.6M, navigated imposter syndrome, and le...

Today, I’m officially launching a new chapter in the #STYLISAFoundHers story.

It’s called #FoundHerFundHers, and it’s about demystifying funding, unlocking access to capital, and shifting the narrative for female founders.

www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/foundhe...

Beyond Wife and Mother: The Narrow Script of Women’s Worth Even in 2025, women’s lives are still measured against marriage and motherhood. But what if true achievement is not a role at all, but the freedom to choose?

Marriage and motherhood can be beautiful, but they are not the epitome of a woman’s worth. My latest essay explores the persistence of outdated scripts, the politics of names and sacrifice, and why true achievement lies in freedom, not roles.
open.substack.com/pub/stylisa/...

STYLISA FoundHers: Nanna S Soenya on Radical Funding, Collective Power, and Building What We’ve Been Waiting For What if we stopped waiting for permission—and funded ourselves instead? In this STYLISA FoundHers interview, Nanna S Soenya, founder of OmegaSeven and FundHerShip, shares how she’s flipping the fundin...

The #STYLISAFoundHers series returns for the month of October, with yet another brilliant woman.

Meet the Nanna S Soenya, who has created The FundHerShip Grant. This isn’t charity. It’s a challenge to the system.
www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/stylisa...

The Power of Negative Emotions We’re told to fear anger, sadness, fear, envy - to exile them as “bad.” But what if these so-called negative emotions are not failures, but functions?

We’re trained to see anger, sadness, fear, envy as flaws - feelings to fix. But what if they’re not negative at all? My latest essay explores why friction isn’t failure, and how so-called negative emotions might be our most powerful tools.
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STYLISA FoundHers is expanding...

Introducing #FoundHerFundHers - a new branch of the #STYLISAFoundHers platform, spotlighting the real conversations around funding, capital access and who gets seen (and backed).

Read all about it. www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/stylisa...

The Vanishing Grit: Have We Forgotten How to Endure? We’ve built a world of comfort, but at what cost? When even small disruptions undo us, maybe grit is the rarest resource of all.

Comfort has lifted us, but it has also softened us. Grit feels rare these days, yet it may be the one resource we need most. My latest essay explores whether we’ve forgotten how to endure, and what grit could mean in the age of fragility.
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Progress or Park™: The Founder’s Shortcut to Clarity Founders don’t fail from a lack of ideas. They fail from too many. In my latest article, I introduce Progress or Park™, a decision-making philosophy that cuts through overwhelm by putting every idea i...

I’ve sat with founders who are overwhelmed not because they don’t have enough opportunities, but because they have too many. Paralysed by indecision, pulled in a dozen different directions, with nothing truly moving forward. I’ve also lived it myself.

www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/progres...

We don’t need more jargon. We need to understand how to read a payslip.
How to budget when money’s tight. How to save, invest, and still enjoy life.

Read Abigail Foster’s #STYLISAFoundHers interview.

www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/stylisa...

The Authority Audit: How to Know if You’re Leading With the Wrong Story Every founder has a story, but are you telling the right one? My latest article introduces The Authority Audit, a simple tool to help you check if you’re leading with borrowed credibility, inconsisten...

Every founder has a story. But not every founder is telling the right one. The story you choose to lead with shapes everything.

Read my latest article…
www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/the-aut...

Understanding how institutions work.
How policy shapes access. And how trust in the system can make or break people’s confidence with money.

Read Abigail Foster’s #STYLISAFoundHers interview.

www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/stylisa...

Rest as Rebellion In a culture that glorifies exhaustion, choosing to pause is not laziness. It’s disruption.

Hustle is not ambition. It’s exploitation dressed as virtue. Against a culture that glorifies exhaustion, rest becomes one of the most radical acts we can make. My latest article explores why pausing is not weakness, but rebellion.
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Second-Hand Fashion Should Be Our First Option - Kristina Segerqvist Discover why second-hand fashion should be our first choice! Kristina Segerqvist explores the rise of sustainable, stylish thrift shopping.

Earlier this year, Kristina, who like me, is passionate about sustainable fashion, penned a guest article for my blog. As it’s #SecondhandSeptember, here’s a chance to rediscover what she has to say about why second-hand fashion should be our first choice!
www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/sustain...

If money feels overwhelming right now, you’re not alone. But overwhelm doesn’t have to be permanent.

Abigail Foster shares this reminder: you don’t need to do everything at once - just start somewhere.

Read her #STYLISAFoundHers interview.

www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/stylisa...

From Borrowed Credibility to Owned Authority: Why Founders Must Build Their Own Platforms We’ve all leaned on borrowed credibility - the big brands, the powerful names, the glittering associations. But real influence comes when you stop leading with someone else’s story and start owning yo...

Recognition is always welcome, but true authority is built on what you create, not just the names you’re associated with.

Read my latest article: From Borrowed Credibility to Owned Authority: Why Founders Must Build Their Own Platforms: www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/from-bo...

Success ≠ Wealth: The Currency of Meaning Why chasing money, titles, and possessions keeps us trapped, and how redefining success as meaning disrupts the system that profits from our striving.

We’ve been sold a lie: that success equals money, titles, possessions. But wealth is a narrow currency, and it leaves us hungry. My latest article explores how success can be redefined as meaning, and why that shift might be the most disruptive act of all.
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The 9-to-5 Was Never About Productivity It was never about efficiency. It was about control. The real question is why we’re still obeying factory rules in a post-factory world.

We’ve been told the 9-to-5 is about balance and productivity. But its origins reveal something else entirely: control. My latest article explores why the workday was never designed for creativity, and how disruption might finally set us free.
open.substack.com/pub/stylisa/...

STYLISA FoundHers: Abigail Foster on Financial Freedom, Demystifying Money, and Why It’s Never Too Late to Learn From accountant to advocate, Abigail Foster is on a mission to make money make sense. In this STYLISA FoundHers feature, she shares how personal experience led to launching Elent, why The Money Manual...

The #STYLISAFoundHers series returns for the month of September, with someone special.

Meet the Abigail Foster, chartered accountant, author of The Money Manual, and FoundHer of the financial education business, Elent.

www.lisamaynardatem.com/post/stylisa...

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