Founded on a mission of empowering women through employment, education and connection, sHero is a community platform that “cultivates women’s cooperative action and collective responsibility, so that every woman can find her own strengths and create a culture of creativity and respect for diverse expression.”
This week’s ‘sHero Air Forum’ brings together over 100 speakers, over 50 sHero coaches, mentors and sponsors in 22 hours of online content. Learn more and find your tickets here.
The Luxury Conversation spoke to Founder and CEO of sHero, Christine Liu, about the upcoming event and its objectives.
Tell us more about sHero and its goals!
sHero speaks to the world via a non-commercial International Women’s forum, the sHero Forum, which hosts numerous high-quality community activities and international conferences, speaking with the women that are shaping business and society today, and tomorrow.
Our forum is a week-long event with the theme of “cultivating diversity, inclusiveness and sense of belonging under the new normal”. This forum brings together outstanding executives, cultural celebrities and influential experts from China to Asia and then to the world. The sHero Air Forum week is a feast of learning with the speakers, coaches, mentors, sponsors and audience all in the conversation around women’s empowerment and expertise.
Today, there are more female leaders in business than ever and it’s continuing to grow. But some big brands are still behind, with a male-dominated boardroom. How can they change this and evolve more quickly?
I wish the brands could answer this question! Actually every country and region still has different standard. Europe and North America might have stronger awareness in recent years, while Britain has a quite a good standard that is going towards board members having women as a third of members – but this means more needs to be done.
Essentially there needs to be a talent pipeline to include more women in the succession planning process. I hope companies will seek ways to increase diversity on the board and senior leadership level. The change is happening, and through the next decade big brands and businesses will no longer have any excuse not to be led by women.
Looking at the affluent female leaders in society, how do you see their purchasing behaviours change this year?
Firstly I think people’s desire to shop and buy things is actually stronger than before and it was ready to increase hugely, until the economic affects of this year. But the desire didn’t go away and is already returning to some businesses.
Brands today are seeking ways to make their targeting audience engage not just through material goods but stronger messages. The situation this year has actually given some brands more freedom to try things that, in a normal world, they probably wouldn’t have tried. If you don’t do new things then you won’t be able to catch the new attention of consumers who are looking for the world to move on as soon as possible. I see brands like LV already doing their fashion shows specifically to engage with the local audience. This is a brave way to capture the attention of such a key market.
Your platform talks to female Chinese leaders and business in China. What are some of the messages that we can expect from the forum?
Through our platform, I hope to show that there are many emerging female leaders and entrepreneurs that work very hard to excel in their field.
I also wish to give them more of a voice so they can all share and learn from each other. They have the experience and knowledge to be in or aim for leadership positions, and it is Chinese women that can connect with the global perspective.
Smart executive women are becoming the major players in contributing to the luxury growth in China and the world. They are the ones fueling global economic growth and can lead not just as consumers but as business leaders.
