Community Behaviour & Use of the Space
There are a million communities out there with different intentions, setups, and desired outcomes. These guidelines reflect Elsie specifically, so please take a moment to read them. They’re here to make sure everyone feels respected while protecting the integrity of the space.
1. Staying professional
Elsie is a professional community for people working in female and sexual healthcare. It exists to support conversations around building portfolios, practising pitching, navigating careers, and finding a support system in an underfunded field where many of us work remotely without traditional teams.
We don’t discuss sex or sexual acts in Elsie. Any explicitly sexual or non-work-related content will be removed and membership may be cancelled. This isn’t because that content is shameful. It’s just not what this space is for.
2. No selling
Elsie isn’t a place to sell your services to other members. Everyone here is looking for work in some way, which means your fellow members aren’t your target audience. Pitching services, promoting offers, or treating the community as a client pool isn’t permitted.
Collaborations and paid work do happen here, but through relationships, not selling.
Example: If you’d like feedback on how you’re positioning your SEO services, use the Seeking Advice channel. Elsie is the place to refine your positioning before posting it to LinkedIn. It’s not the place to pitch your SEO services.
Note: If work happens organically, that’s amazing. But that should happen on the back of a coffee chat or attending an event, rather than being the focus of your intro. I’d rather hear what you’re watching on Netflix and what you LOVE about female healthcare.
3. Protecting our network
A core part of Elsie’s value is its curation. From the moment you join, you’re instantly connected to a global network of people working across this sector, something that would otherwise take years to build (trust me, I spent 6 years doing it!).
You’re encouraged to use Elsie to build relationships that lead to paid work. What you can’t do is use the community itself as a tool to generate revenue, treating it as a sourcing pool.
This includes:
- Building a freelance client or talent roster from members for external use
- Building or scaling an agency using talent sourced primarily from Elsie
- Recruiting for agencies or external talent pools
- Selling courses, programmes, or services directly to members
- Using conversations, posts, or direct messages primarily to generate leads
- Repeatedly positioning your services with the aim of converting members into clients
- Sending unsolicited messages with clear commercial intent
What is allowed (and encouraged!)
- Collaborating with other members on projects
- Subcontracting work to someone you’ve met in Elsie
- Teaming up to co-offer services or pitch for work together
- Working with the same people more than once
You’re welcome to share what you do, your experience, your work, your wins, your struggles, your ideas. We want to hear it ❤️ The line is when interactions become sales-led rather than relationship-led.
If you’re unsure about a post, drop me a message at hello@veryelsie.com
4. Prioritising inclusivity
Elsie is inclusive of people of all gender identities. We are unequivocally trans inclusive.
We often use terms like “female healthcare” or “femtech” because these are the established labels used across the sectors we operate in. However, we recognise that not everyone impacted by these areas identifies as female.
Elsie is for anyone working across these sectors, and we regularly share opportunities, research, and work from organisations focused on LGBTQ+ health and rights.
We expect members to engage in a way that is respectful, inclusive, and mindful of the diverse experiences and identities represented in this space. Anything counter to this will be removed and membership will be immediately revoked.