Founder’s Letter: Why I Built CoworkHer

Dear community, I’ve had some version of CoworkHer in my head for a very long time. Long before it had a name, a website, founding mentors, a platform, or a launch date, it was a concept. Not even. It was a feeling I kept coming back to : too much of women’s career growth still depends on access or on the right background. I was the first person in my family to go to university and to enter corporate environments. I was ambitious, curious, hard-working, and very good at figuring things out. But I also spent a lot of time decoding situations and rooms that other people seemed to understand already. It affected my confidence, but I soon realised other people weren’t smarter or more deserving than me; they just had access to references, conversations, confidence, networks, and professional codes that I had to learn as I went. It takes energy to try and figure out a career when you have no idea where to start. It takes energy to be talented and still unsure whether you are allowed to speak. It takes energy to want more and not know how to ask for it. It takes energy to sit in rooms where you are trying to perform confidence while quietly wondering if everyone else got a handbook you somehow missed. Over time, I found professors, allies, managers, colleagues, and friends who helped me. Some gave me advice. Some challenged me. Some opened doors. Some simply made me feel less alone. But I never found a true mentor that could guide me without me having to figuring it all out on my own. So I kept coming back to this: why is so much of professional life still shaped by who gets access to the right people, the right advice, and the right rooms early enough? CoworkHer is my answer to that question. I built it because I believe women do not need another place telling them to be more ambitious. Most of us already are. What we need is better access to the conversations, people, and support systems that help us turn that ambition into action. Sometimes that means preparing for a salary conversation. Sometimes it means deciding whether to apply for a role before you feel fully ready. Sometimes it means navigating leadership, changing direction, returning to work, setting boundaries, dealing with doubt, or simply admitting that you feel stuck and need perspective. These moments matter. And they should not have to be handled alone. CoworkHer is not here to pretend that mentorship can fix all structural issue women face at work. It can’t. But I do believe one honest conversation can change how you see your options. I believe access to the right person at the right moment can save time, energy, and self-doubt. I believe there is power in hearing someone say, “I have been there too, and here is what I wish I had known.” That is what I wanted to build. A place for real career conversations. A place where women can ask the questions they usually keep to themselves. A place where experience is shared more generously, support is easier to find, and ambition does not have to feel so lonely. CoworkHer is just starting. It will grow, change, and probably teach me a lot along the way. But the reason behind it is very clear: I built CoworkHer because I needed something like this earlier in my career. And I know I am not the only one. Welcome to CoworkHer! Sophie