From Care Work to Company Builder: Anita Lamb on Confidence, Customers and The Feminine CEO

Anita Lamb did not arrive in entrepreneurship through business school, investment or a polished start-up plan. She came from care work, and from a demanding period of family life that made her think seriously about building something of her own. Care taught her that service is personal: reliability, dignity, attention to detail and turning up when you said you would.

She started by doing the work herself and reinvesting what she earned, learning pricing, sales, recruitment, compliance and leadership in real time. Her company, Imperial Concierge & Cleaning, achieved ISO 9001 quality-management certification in its first year, and Anita later won Most Promising Business at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce awards. Today she is focused on moving Imperial beyond founder-does-everything, with larger commercial contracts, stronger systems and a deliberate sales pipeline.

Alongside Imperial, Anita is the author and founder of The Feminine CEO, which began as a book and is growing into a platform for women around entrepreneurship, commercial confidence, identity and wellbeing. In this Q&A, she explains why confidence often comes after prospecting rather than before it, what customers really remember about a service business, and why no woman should have to choose between serious ambition and the rest of who she is.

Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? Founded by Women Awards are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 foundedbywomen.org/awards

Q: What inspired you to start Imperial Concierge & Cleaning, and how did your background in care work shape your path into entrepreneurship?

I didn't come into entrepreneurship through business school, investment or a polished start-up plan. I came from care work and started thinking seriously about building a business during a demanding period of family life. Care taught me that service is personal: reliability, dignity, details and turning up when you said you would all matter. Those principles transferred directly into cleaning and concierge services.

I started by doing the work myself and reinvesting what I earned, learning pricing, sales, recruitment, customer service, compliance, operations and leadership in real time. In the first year, Imperial achieved ISO 9001 quality-management certification, and I later won Most Promising Business at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce awards. Those milestones showed me that you do not need a conventional beginning to build something credible.

Q: A lesson about customer experience and prospecting without a hard-sell persona?

Sales is not about convincing everybody. It is about finding the right people, understanding what matters to them and being disciplined enough to follow up.

I used to think confidence had to come before prospecting. Building Imperial taught me the opposite: confidence often comes because you prospect. You send the email, make the call, attend the networking meeting, ask the question and survive the no. Then you do it again.

Getting the customer is only half of sales. In a service business, people remember whether you responded, solved problems, took responsibility and could be trusted. Commercial confidence and customer care are not opposites. Some of the strongest selling happens when a customer experiences your standards rather than hears you describe them.

Q: What's next?

With Imperial, I'm focused on moving further from founder-does-everything into a stronger operating company: larger commercial contracts, better systems, stronger teams and a deliberate sales pipeline.

The Feminine CEO is the wider vision. It began as a book, but I'm developing it into a platform around women, entrepreneurship, commercial confidence, identity and wellbeing. I want to build practical education, founder workshops, accountability and business-development support alongside the media, community and events side.

At the centre is a question I care deeply about: why should a woman have to choose between serious ambition and remaining connected to the rest of who she is? I want The Feminine CEO to be useful both to the woman with an idea who doesn't know where to begin and the founder who has started but hit a plateau and needs structure, accountability and a clear next move.

Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact.

Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org