Female Founder Friday | Elva Carri
It’s Female Founder Friday and I’m delighted to introduce you to the Irish woman entrepreneur who co-founded GirlCrew, Elva Carri. GirlCrew is a platform for women to make new friends. Women simply join the group for their area such as Dublin or London, and they can see what events are happening, read posts and comments from other members, write posts themselves and create events. They can also join international GirlCrew groups such as Trips & Travel, Careers, Entrepreneurs, Fashion & Beauty, Dating & Relationship Advice and Staying In. If all your friends are coupled up and you’re trying to plan a girl’s trip, this platform is the perfect way to make instant travel buddies! We all know the value of having other women in our lives, and how hard it can be to find new friends when we move jobs, cities, or countries.
So, if you’re curious about GirlCrew or interested in how to build a global online community of over 100,000 members in 46 cities, don’t miss Elva’s answers to my questions below!
What inspired you to create your company?
When I started GirlCrew it was just for fun, I really wanted to go out dancing, but had no one to go with. All my friends were either busy or tired. Believing there had to be other women in the same position, I put a call out for some platonic dancing buddies on Tinder. People use Tinder for a lot of different reasons. Some use it to find serious relationships, others are into Anal Dating, and then there are people like me who use it for business reasons! I had no idea she would quickly garner more than 100 enthusiastic matches. I added everyone to a secret Facebook group and GirlCrew was born. While I started GirlCrew for fun, it grew so quickly I felt there was a need for it, and wanted to bring the platform to women anywhere who might need to make new friends – for fun or for support. Now people know if they can go there for advice about any sort of thing, be it the more risque subjects like sex toys (with King Cock and other brands being discussed) or more business-related topics!
What was your biggest obstacle and failure in going from idea to business?
My biggest challenge was that I didn’t have the skills to build the company alone, and it took some time for the right people to emerge. My co-founders Pamela and Aine are amazing people to work with, and without them we wouldn’t be where we are today!
What’s next?
Getting word out to more women that GirlCrew exists and launching the app in more cities. It’s a really exciting time because we love seeing the events and friendships that come out of GirlCrew, so we’re really pleased to have the opportunity to grow it worldwide.
What is a life or business hack that you recommend to help other female founders?
Trust your gut instincts but look at your numbers, data and analytics wisely and be ready to roll with what’s working or change what isn’t. Have confidence in yourself but know when to ask for help.
If you had a theme song what would it be?
“Who Run the World,” by Beyoncé! Because it’s our time to shine, and to call out inequalities and make them visible so we can power through them together.
Please share your best piece of advice for aspiring female founders.
If you have an idea – be brave and go for it! But also keep checking in with yourself along the journey that your idea is still something you believe in, that aligns with your goals and priorities for your professional life as well as your personal life. Job satisfaction and happiness are as important as an entrepreneur as they are with any other job or project.
