13 inspiring female entrepreneurs to follow on Instagram

These accounts are bursting with advice for female founders-in-waiting.

Women have long been outnumbered by men in the business world; just over a third of roles in the boardrooms of Britain’s FTSE-100 companies are occupied by women. The same goes for start-ups; while female entrepreneurs are on the rise, the number of UK businesses currently owned by women is just 32.37%.

You can’t underestimate the power of a female role model when it comes to empowering other women. And female entrepreneurs are undoubtedly some of the most inspiring out there. With that in mind, we’ve drawn up a list of the most influential female entrepreneurs on Instagram, so you can follow them and let their invaluable wisdom shine through onto your feed.

1. Emily Austen

Business: Emerge PR

Best work advice shared on Instagram: "'I’m f**king busy' - it’s a classic line that trips [off the] tongue to facilitate a casual fob off, an attempt to convince, compel and conflate, and a stock answer that we’ve all become accustomed to. But when did being too busy become a mark of status? Why is the goal to never have any free time?"

2. Natalie Ellis

Business: Boss Babe

Best work advice shared on Instagram: "You are absolutely capable of creating the life you can't stop thinking about. Stop living in your head. It's time to make your dream life your reality."

3. Eshita Kabra-Davies

Business: By Rotation

Best work advice shared on Instagram: "It’s often discussed, what does it take to make a good leader? My answer for that is tenacity. It’s been a journey. And that journey has reminded us constantly of how important community and technology is."

4. Sharmadean Reid

Business: WAH Nail and The Stack

Best work advice shared on Instagram: "If you’re a Founder, It’s likely that you are thinking about your business 24/7. Please ensure you make time and space to think. Get into nature watch the bees and flowers. pick up a pinecone and marvel at its wondrous construction. You are only as good as the quality of your thoughts and how your mind is working. Give your mind a chance by clearing the noise of your surroundings."

5. Victoria Prew

Business: Hurr

Best work advice shared on Instagram: "You can do what you love and still get tired. You can do what you love and still become burnt out. You can do what you love and still get excited about taking a break."

6. Angelica Malin

Business: About Time Magazine

Best work advice shared on Instagram: "There are days when you’ll question why you started. And it’s in those tough moments that you need to gather the strength to keep going. Remember that what separates those who succeed and those who fail is perseverance."

7. Grace Beverley

Business: Tala and Shreddy

Best work advice shared on Instagram: "You need resilience to evolve, to grow, to power through when shit hits the fan, but resilience doesn’t just magically appear - in order to develop it you need to start taking accountability."

8. Sophia Amoruso

Business: Business Class and formerly Nasty Gal

Best work advice shared on Instagram: "Take a minute to laugh at the shit you stressed over a year ago. Am I right? Project yourself a year from now NOW, and... well, you get it... While staying present is extremely important (and wildly challenging), it's even more important to remember that moments are fleeting."

9. Unsah Malik

Business: Slashed It e-book

Best work advice shared on Instagram: "Want to move up the career ladder? Make bigger moves in your own business? Create a name for your personal brand? I have one word: MOVE. And keep moving. Don't stay in one place too long... The second you're comfortable, take another step. No-one successful sits still."

10. Miki Agrawal

Business: Thinx and Tushy

Best work advice shared on Instagram: "Women in positions of power still have to answer to the societally acceptable version of 'her' - the notion that women have to be sweet, gentle and accommodating, not to be a BOSS that asks for excellence and moves through the world with passion and aliveness - because THAT would be too 'emotional' and 'toxic' right?... May we turn jealousy into inspiration and judgement into understanding for all fellow women out there who are changing things up."

11. Michelle Kennedy

Business: Peanut

Best work advice shared on Instagram: "Language which has no place when speaking to a woman about her business and success: 'You lucky thing', 'That was so lucky', 'Lucky you'. And for the Brits amongst us 'you jammy thing'. You think any woman is building her business on luck? We’re all working stupid hours, sleeping very little, trying to juggle life and business, and taking the knocks as they come. Lucky is a word to describe being fortunate to have my beautiful family and see those little faces everyday."

12. Sara Blakely

Business: Spanx

Best work advice shared on Instagram: "Nothing will matter more than your opinion of yourself. Do things that make you proud, be kind, crack yourself up, help others, try new things, manage negative self talk, give yourself a break, become self aware, become a student of yourself, you are fascinating (believe me we all are), spend time alone, take yourself on vacation. If you are chasing approval from others just know their approval often has nothing to do with you (same with their dislike). It’s something you can't control. It’s affected by the baggage they’re carrying, or the lens they’ve created through their own unique experiences. When you realise what others think of you has almost nothing to do with you, it will free you up to focus on the thing that really matters… do you like you? That’s where you should spend your energy."

13. Keely Cat-Wells

Business: C Talent

Best work advice shared on Instagram: "Being taken seriously in business as a disabled, young, female entrepreneur is a difficult task to say the least. Walking into boardrooms and being judged, doing large deals and being screwed, not being taken seriously 99.9% of the time until you do something that changes the game... It is so important to me that people see if I can start something then anyone can, I never finished school, I nearly died (a few times), I don’t have it all figured out but if you care about something enough you will fight to achieve it."

Feeling all inspired now? Us too...