Table 1 Interactions among the... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1

Interactions among the identities of woman, mother and entrepreneur

Phases	Main challenges	Representative data	Interactions
Business creation and growth	Becoming and being an entrepreneur	“In the Sixties, women did not even work, especially in a little village with 3,000 people; women stayed at home.” “In the beginning, it was not easy. I was a rare breed because I did a man's job.” “Men treated me terribly at the beginning. They referred to me as ‘that one.’” “Banks were a great problem because they did not give me confidence.” “I had to travel, leave, arrive alone—a woman alone—and people and my relatives always had something to say about it.” “Working in the fashion industry was taking me far from home, and […] I realized that I couldn't […] take care of my children; I did not like it.” “Family is very important to me; it's so precious. So, I gave up the fashion industry.” “I felt like a butterfly with my wings cut off because, with my family and children, I could not do so much.” “Then I got married…had two children and realized I couldn't stay away from home for long. And I gave up fashion. And I went back to work clothes, which I always kept doing: I did work clothes and fashion. But I realized that I had to choose, either family or fashion, and I chose family of course. But fashion has always remained a part of me.” “…this was the compromise between family and work. I couldn't do fashion; I would have had to leave family. I had two children, two boys, …” “I had adopted this system: I was kind to everyone, but when they tried to cross the line […] I stopped them immediately. I went out with them for lunch, not for dinner […] because they gossiped, and I did not want anyone to talk about me. Work is too serious. I would have forfeited my morality and seriousness; I'd have forfeited something.” “ A very funny thing happened, 4–5 years after I had started selling suits and work clothes. Customers […] would call the company and say: “I'd like to speak to the boss, I need some suits" and I would respond: “I'm the boss.” They would say: “You're a woman!” And they would stop talking … and no one would call me back. One day I had a good idea. They would call me and say: “I need some suits, ma'am”—or rather they called me “miss”—“Can I speak to the boss?” And I would say: “The boss is out, but I'd be happy to help you. I'm the secretary”. And they finally told me what they wanted. I did this for 13 years. I was my own secretary for 13 years, and it went so well.”	Conflicts Difficulties Frustration Renunciation Sacrifice
Business maturity and succession	Preparing the successor and passing the business on to her son	“I used to talk to them about the business and kept them up-to-date. We even did the accounts together, so they could learn how to calculate our exact income and expenses.” “If we disagreed, I would tell him my opinion, and sometimes we argued.” “It's useless to argue when it comes to the business. Everyone has their own opinion. If something seems wrong to me, I let him know, and at times, we get annoyed with each other. But before we go home, I hug him, give him a little kiss, and say goodbye.” “A lot of patience was necessary. A woman is also a mother and understands that she cannot impose herself on her child or let them keep making mistakes beyond a certain point… actually, we are a bit overprotective.” “There is always the metaphorical umbilical cord.” “I've always tried to help him learn and understand things. […] I have never competed against him.” “I knew that I could neither impose my idea nor allow him to get it too wrong.” “Our coexistence within the business is beautiful because when we work, he is not my child. When it comes to working, if there is anything wrong or we do not agree on something, I tell him.” “I would have preferred that both of my sons worked at the company, but I know that they have very different characters.” “In the business association, I was even on the board of directors, and I was even president of my textile department.” “I did not even know what this award was! They selected me! I was the only one in Italy who had set up a company twenty years before and still had the company after twenty years, and I did it alone!”	Diminishing conflicts More positive interactions Mutual adjustment
Retirement	Definitively leaving the entrepreneurial role	“It went well! My motto was ‘Elegance even in the world of work’. […] I brought my creativity […] to the world of workwear. […] I was a supplier of innovation. I liked it; it stimulated me a lot, and I created continuously.” “People talk very, very highly of my company. This is very important to me. It's worth more than a few billion.” “I started following my ambition, but I continued on because I did not want my children to have to make the sacrifices I made when I was young: no fun, no cinema, there was nothing, nothing at all. I wanted to give my children a position, and I did.” “I am completely in love with my company, and for me, the business is like another son. It was not easy to detach myself from it. However, since I passed it on to my son, not so much.” “I took advantage of being a woman.” “I am very satisfied with the ideas I had and the change of product […]. I would do it again.” “I am truly satisfied. I feel fulfilled as a mother, an entrepreneur, and a woman.”	Synergy Fruitful relationships Harmonious coexistence Mutual enrichment

Phases	Main challenges	Representative data	Interactions
Business creation and growth	Becoming and being an entrepreneur	“In the Sixties, women did not even work, especially in a little village with 3,000 people; women stayed at home.”“In the beginning, it was not easy. I was a rare breed because I did a man's job.”“Men treated me terribly at the beginning. They referred to me as ‘that one.’”“Banks were a great problem because they did not give me confidence.”“I had to travel, leave, arrive alone—a woman alone—and people and my relatives always had something to say about it.”“Working in the fashion industry was taking me far from home, and […] I realized that I couldn't […] take care of my children; I did not like it.”“Family is very important to me; it's so precious. So, I gave up the fashion industry.”“I felt like a butterfly with my wings cut off because, with my family and children, I could not do so much.”“Then I got married…had two children and realized I couldn't stay away from home for long. And I gave up fashion. And I went back to work clothes, which I always kept doing: I did work clothes and fashion. But I realized that I had to choose, either family or fashion, and I chose family of course. But fashion has always remained a part of me.”“…this was the compromise between family and work. I couldn't do fashion; I would have had to leave family. I had two children, two boys, …”“I had adopted this system: I was kind to everyone, but when they tried to cross the line […] I stopped them immediately. I went out with them for lunch, not for dinner […] because they gossiped, and I did not want anyone to talk about me. Work is too serious. I would have forfeited my morality and seriousness; I'd have forfeited something.”“ A very funny thing happened, 4–5 years after I had started selling suits and work clothes. Customers […] would call the company and say: “I'd like to speak to the boss, I need some suits" and I would respond: “I'm the boss.” They would say: “You're a woman!” And they would stop talking … and no one would call me back. One day I had a good idea. They would call me and say: “I need some suits, ma'am”—or rather they called me “miss”—“Can I speak to the boss?” And I would say: “The boss is out, but I'd be happy to help you. I'm the secretary”. And they finally told me what they wanted. I did this for 13 years. I was my own secretary for 13 years, and it went so well.”	ConflictsDifficultiesFrustrationRenunciationSacrifice
Business maturity and succession	Preparing the successor and passing the business on to her son	“I used to talk to them about the business and kept them up-to-date. We even did the accounts together, so they could learn how to calculate our exact income and expenses.”“If we disagreed, I would tell him my opinion, and sometimes we argued.”“It's useless to argue when it comes to the business. Everyone has their own opinion. If something seems wrong to me, I let him know, and at times, we get annoyed with each other. But before we go home, I hug him, give him a little kiss, and say goodbye.”“A lot of patience was necessary. A woman is also a mother and understands that she cannot impose herself on her child or let them keep making mistakes beyond a certain point… actually, we are a bit overprotective.”“There is always the metaphorical umbilical cord.”“I've always tried to help him learn and understand things. […] I have never competed against him.”“I knew that I could neither impose my idea nor allow him to get it too wrong.”“Our coexistence within the business is beautiful because when we work, he is not my child. When it comes to working, if there is anything wrong or we do not agree on something, I tell him.”“I would have preferred that both of my sons worked at the company, but I know that they have very different characters.”“In the business association, I was even on the board of directors, and I was even president of my textile department.”“I did not even know what this award was! They selected me! I was the only one in Italy who had set up a company twenty years before and still had the company after twenty years, and I did it alone!”	Diminishing conflictsMore positive interactionsMutual adjustment
Retirement	Definitively leaving the entrepreneurial role	“It went well! My motto was ‘Elegance even in the world of work’. […] I brought my creativity […] to the world of workwear. […] I was a supplier of innovation. I liked it; it stimulated me a lot, and I created continuously.”“People talk very, very highly of my company. This is very important to me. It's worth more than a few billion.”“I started following my ambition, but I continued on because I did not want my children to have to make the sacrifices I made when I was young: no fun, no cinema, there was nothing, nothing at all. I wanted to give my children a position, and I did.”“I am completely in love with my company, and for me, the business is like another son. It was not easy to detach myself from it. However, since I passed it on to my son, not so much.”“I took advantage of being a woman.”“I am very satisfied with the ideas I had and the change of product […]. I would do it again.”“I am truly satisfied. I feel fulfilled as a mother, an entrepreneur, and a woman.”	SynergyFruitful relationshipsHarmonious coexistenceMutual enrichment