My name is Ksenija Nikolova, and I am the founder of Better Women Better World, an organisation dedicated to empowering women and girls. This March, we launched BW2CLUB, a support network platform and mobile app that serves as a communication tool for women and girls from different cultures and backgrounds.
– What motivated you to start the Better Women Better World Club and how did this whole idea come about?
Well, I come from Macedonia. We are a very small country. And as a small country, we have limited possibilities and opportunities, especially for women. So, being able to live in different countries, I had the opportunity to get to know many people around the world and understand that global networks are the most powerful ones.
And once we step out of our comfort zone we definitely grow and become stronger and grow our resilience. This inspired me to think out of the box and to think about how we as women use the digital perks smartly, and use them to connect to each other in a way that would contribute not only to our personal growth but also to a better society.
– Why would you say that there is a need for a woman-only platform?
It has been statistically proven that women and girls who have their support networks, as their safety nets are more likely to succeed in life and overcome challenges. Society puts a lot of stigmas and stereotypes on us. This is why we need another circle that we built ourselves within the world. To promote empathy, understanding, support, diversity, differences, and acceptance.
And it’s a woman’s only network because there are so many specific issues, topics and challenges that we go through. And we want to feel safe discussing them. We want to feel understood while discussing them. So obviously, we need to build a space where we can be completely ourselves. So this space needs to be a woman’s only space because that is the only way we are going to be comfortable enough to be who we truly are and make a step forward in our journey.
And then the benefits that will come from being part of that network will contribute to bettering their lives in general, but not only in their lives, but also influencing other people in their lives who are not only female, influencing their family, influencing their friends, influencing their co-workers.
– As a founder, what were the biggest challenges you faced while launching the platform?
Oh, so many. So, so many.
When I wanted to start Better Women Better World, I already had my NGO. But I also wanted to open a startup company, because it was important for me to grow the community globally. And our rigid system does not allow companies to grow internationally from Macedonia. So, in order to do that, we have to either open a company in some of the neighboring countries or open it in the States and operate from there. That was a big challenge for me, because I had to go through all of these procedures to be able to register my company. It was really important for me to be legit from day one. I wanted to be that to reflect the seriousness that I had.
When you talk to other organizations, or you talk to investors, or you talk to collaborators, they’re all going to ask you if you have a company or organization that’s registered somewhere. And when they see that you do, you know, it means that you’ve really, really put your efforts into this, and you’re really serious about this. So I’ve wanted to be serious since day one. It’s a commitment. It’s a life commitment.
And then on the way, of course, people are promising they are going to help you, and they don’t. This is very important to talk about because women are going to face this when they start to open their businesses and their projects, their organizations whatsoever. They’re going to face so many promises that are not going to be kept, a lot of people are going to tell them: “Oh, don’t worry, I’m going to help you, I’m going to give you the information, I’m going to talk to this person, and this person is going to talk to this person, and we’re, we’re going to help you” and they won’t.
But my biggest challenge still is collaboration with local organizations and local people. And I’m sure that I’m not the only one facing this. And you hope that it will be the easiest to collaborate with the people you know, the people who know you. But that is not the case. So what happens is that on a table, there are 12 seats, and 10 of them are filled by men, and two are left for women. So women in the field need to fight for these two chairs. And they never feel like “we two can do more”. No, they always feel like “either it’s me, or you”. “We’re a competition. We’re not together, we have to compete”. But it’s very unfortunate because many women on the way give up because of things like this. You start your journey, and you expect the people within your community to collaborate with you. And that’s the last thing that happens. Collaboration happens only after you have some recognition, especially outside your country.
What would you tell your past self starting the BW2CLUB?
Looking from this point, I would tell myself and others: “If you can have one more person with you from day one, just like a team member, a partner, someone that will have the same passion as you, consider yourself very lucky”. Because when you have at least one more person, it’s much easier. I was completely alone in it. And that puts a lot of pressure on myself and my mental health. But I found my way through it. And this is why I feel even more passionate about helping women within our community.
– Were there resources and opportunities that helped you on the way?
Oh, yeah, definitely.
This year is my recognition year. And it all started last year when we were selected as top 24 projects from Eastern Europe and Central Asia by UN Women. So UN Women invited us to go to Istanbul and present our business idea in front of investors. So that validation, which was not a local validation only, but an international one stepped up the game for us. And since then, you know, we started getting more attention, more recognition. We were also selected as one of the top 10 projects by NLB Bank, which is one of the biggest banks in the region, for contributing to a better society. I also received an award from the Regional Cooperation Council for empowering women within our region.
– Since the Better Women Better World community has grown since its inception, what would you say would be the next steps for its expansion?
Oh, well, we are very happy to share that we have been dedicated to growing our community as internationally as possible. Building partnerships with organizations is crucial for us. So International Women’s Network of Estonia is one partner of ours with whom we have shared similar values since the day we met. And I’m very happy about that.
And there’s other organizations that have come our way. Some of them even introduced themselves to us and reached out. I love it when people or women or organizations in general just keep reaching out because I’m someone who reaches out a lot.
And so that’s the next step for us, growing our community, growing our community within our app. We’re inviting all women and girls to join our free app, find it both in the Google Play Store and Apple Store by BW2CLUB. It’s a network of women and girls, an empowering place that we are building day by day, together. We already have more than 400 women and girls from more than 22 countries. We have been very diverse since day one.
– How do you define success for BW2CLUB?
Everyday real impact. Definitely that. We have to grow our community. That’s a given.
We want to have more users on the app, on the platform, that actually contribute by participating, by being part of everything that’s happening over there, and also initiating. And then continue hosting so many things that we’re already planning to host, like workshops, and events. We see a big potential in hosting women’s retreats. Many women don’t even have the opportunity to meet so many international people. So that’s a great opportunity to build your network. I think it’s an amazing opportunity. It blends so many, you know, vital stuff like empowerment, and education, but then also travelling, networking and stepping out of your comfort zone. And that’s something that we’re really passionate about.
– How has starting Better Women Better World Club changed you personally and professionally?
Well, it changed me a lot. Better Women Better World has helped me to understand my life mission. And I feel like I found it. I found what I was meant to do in life. And that’s definitely empowering women and girls. It is to create a lasting impact. And I’m really lucky to have found that.
And many times, it’s going to look like you’re not doing something right, or you’re not there, or you’re just wasting your time. To still keep pushing and moving forward anyway. It takes resilience, and it takes strength, sometimes I never knew I had in me as much as I do.
BW2CLUB definitely shifted me as a professional, but also as a woman. And it really, it made me realize that every woman in her life, if she chooses to have a partner, that partner needs to support her mission. Otherwise, it’s a very complex situation because if your partner doesn’t understand your core, your values, your mission, and what you stand for, you can’t put that on the side and be someone else for your partner. Everything you are has to be accepted by them but also embraced by them.
– What would you say is the hardest lesson you’ve learned as a woman entrepreneur that nobody talks about?
We live in a very shallow world where no matter how much we talk about equality, we’re still very far away from it. That’s the lesson that I learned. It’s very interesting how some people who live in the States, for example, talk about equality as if it’s already there. And I’m guessing in their circles, it probably is. But when we talk about equality, we have to understand that equality is not localized, right? It’s globalized. And we have to talk about equality as a global issue. And we’re not there yet. We’re far away from there.
– How do you handle critics who say women’s empowerment movements are unnecessary or overblown?
Well, I find them as being uninformed in general, because nobody who’s informed about the facts that happen out there can ever state something like that. And I know that there are a lot of people who have a misconception of the world’s empowerment, even of the word feminism, what feminism is. And it sometimes carries some negativity with it, but it’s totally the opposite of that. It’s not about saying that women and men are the same. We’re not the same. We’re naturally different. But we do deserve the same validation when it comes to the choices we make in life. And that’s feminism. That’s what feminism in short stands for.
And then we have to mention violence, we have to mention mental health, we have to mention all the things that are happening to women, domestic violence, workforce violence, you know, every day. We live in a society where, you know, women don’t get the basic rights to protect themselves from violence, they don’t get the basic rights to build another life for themselves.
There’s so much more that we could do. And I’m sure that a statement like that is completely inaccurate and uninformed. I don’t blame anyone who says that, I just wish that we would be more informed about what’s really going on in the world.
– What would you say women empowerment personally means to you?
It means helping women and girls navigate their challenges and their journeys better, stronger, and smarter. And it’s eventually about reaching another version of yourself that’s better for you than the one you had before. That’s women’s empowerment. And for that we need community, we need movement, we need support, we need awareness, we need initiatives, we need action.
– What is the biggest barrier women face in achieving empowerment?
Limiting beliefs, stigmas and stereotypes, are those three things which fall into the same category. Many, many women don’t think they can do it. Many women don’t think they deserve to do it. Many women think nothing’s going to change if they do it. Many women think that only foolish women do it. So it’s limiting beliefs. It’s being so afraid to dig in yourself a little bit deeper and understand your core and your authenticity and then embrace it.
Because it is true, and it’s a statistical fact, when we are entitled and embraced within our authenticity, we live the happiest and fullest lives in every possible field of our lives. We are better in everything that we do. And unfortunately, this is not only for women and girls, it’s for people in general: many people don’t dare to reach that point. But those who dare, do have a harder time, reaching out to that point and embracing it and understanding it.
It’s a journey. But once you’ve understood your mission and purpose in life, everything falls together beautifully and makes sense for you. We’re all here with something, something to leave, something to make, something to create. It can be the smallest stuff. It doesn’t matter.
– Empowerment doesn’t lie in grandiosity. It doesn’t lie in recognition on a global level. It doesn’t lie in applauding and being the centre of attention.
Empowerment lies in the smallest stuff, like a woman in the smallest village who has a bakery, let’s say, and does organic bread for a change and tells her fellow neighbors to try something new because it’s better for them and for their health. That’s empowerment on a very everyday level. So we have empowerment everywhere. In the way you raise your children, in the way you treat your neighbors, in the way you treat your friends, in the way you treat yourself, in the way you treat nature and the environment, in the way you talk about stuff with facts, in the way you try to embrace the truth, in the way you stop spreading lies.
That’s all empowerment. So it’s in everything we do, in everything we are, in every life, every day, everywhere.
– If you had a girl or a woman just at this moment coming in front of you and looking forward to being a leader, knowing that she can be a leader in her own field, what kind of message would you want to share with her? What would you tell her?
I would ask her “How can I help?” I would ask her and I would really listen to her. Her needs and her challenges, the things she faces. And if I can, in any way, I will help her even if it’s just by listening, because that’s sometimes everything we need for a fresh start.
It’s really about the smallest stuff. When I needed help, mostly in my life, when I felt lost, it was the smallest stuff that I needed. I needed someone to listen, someone to just share their own views on things, someone to give me a perspective and pass me their own experience on something.
One solid conversation can change everything in a person’s life. And I have proof for that because, within our community, it has happened. It has happened unintentionally, just a person randomly comes over or reaches out and wants to talk and you listen, you really listen.
It can change a lot. It can change everything. And maybe that’s exactly what she needs, you know, to move forward.
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