2022 was a great year.

I had just completed an informative and inspiring women board training program with Michele Ashby’s ACE and the women in my cohort led me to an “AHA” moment around which I pivoted my business. 

“You’ve done WHAT with your private investments? You exited 3 of your first 4 investments with an over 20X average return? Tell us more! Teach us!!”

I had been focusing on negotiation and professional confidence with She’s Independent but hadn’t thought to share my deep investment knowledge and experience. 5 years on wall street, 10 years in growth tech companies, 2 years in private equity, and real wins across a decade of private investing.

In Q1, She’s Independent formally launched our investment initiative. Some of the women I’d taught through our Intro to Investing series asked how to invest with me and if they could give me money to allocate. “Why not launch a fund?” they asked.

I’m still in a place of healing and working on balance and boundaries out of four losses in our family from 2019. The recency of loss is still real. The hikes, downtime, and midday rest breaks and movement are not just helpful but mandatory.

I launched She’s Independent out of the first of the string of losses. Mom was several years post divorce and never quite regained her confidence afterwards. Lacking a handle on her finances only added to the stress and anxieties in her life. 

Why do I do what I do? For her. For me. And for the women after us. 

By supporting, skilling, and encouraging more women to play in private investments we see a real change in their mindset. They learn through doing. We aren’t a group that says ‘we’re investing, you have an option to play.’ We say, ‘how involved do you want to get and what do you think about this deal? Should we invest?’

A screen capture from one of our investment group pitch events.

In 2022 we invested in PR efforts for the first time. And while we didn’t get anything written on us, we leveled up our branding and presence and got to a place of further understanding who we were and what made us unique. We were empowerment through action. Our members were learning while doing. They had the ability to dive into screening and sourcing activities, diligence, and were influential in our investment decisions. First-time investors celebrated writing checks and those not yet in a position to allocate capital developed goals to get to a position of doing so.

The story isn’t the over half a million dollars allocated to more than ten businesses in our first year of launch that we pitched.

The story is our WHY. And our HOW.

A Why that runs so deep that we share tears, celebrate real wins, and connect over authentic conversation when we see each other. Our why gets more women learning AND DOING. Our why makes an impact beyond our dollars invested.

72 members and counting. Join us.

In Independence,

Natalie

'Our WHY and the Power of a Pivot' was first written for the She's Independent blog.

Natalie Levy is the Founder of She’s Independent, a women-first investment group offering an entirely new way to support women’s financial independence and influence through investing and board placements. As a member-led investment group, She’s Independent marries empowerment and action, with the ultimate mission of closing the power gap in investing by getting more women on the cap table, in the boardroom, and into positions of influence. Over the next 12 months, She’s Independent plans to deploy over $2M of capital collectively, and has invested in 13 deals since its formation in 2022.

Natalie resides in Boulder, CO with her loving rescue pup Beans and is passionate about gender equity and mental health awareness.