A Room Full of Independent Business Women

I’ve just walked in the door from the 5th Annual WomenBiz Celebration & Showcase Presented by The Women’s Business Center. This my third time attending the event and I always come away energized and inspired.

First and foremost props to those that made the event such a success. The WBC Board of directors and staff are a vibrant, caring group of women who are truly dedicated to the success of women business owners. Thanks to the event underwriter Citizen’s Bank Foundation and The New Hampshire Business Review for their continued support of women business owners.

The event featured an exhibit of 35 women owned businesses and there was a great variation of products and services. I collected a lot of literature and am looking forward to possibly profiling some of the women I met today.

There was also a delicious lunch and kudos to the C.R. Sparks staff for deftly handling my last minute accommodation for an alternate meal due to a food allergy.

The keynote speaker was Christine Ingemi, the creator of iHearSafe earbuds. iHearsafe earbuds are small in-ear earphones that are designed limit the volume of personal listening devices (i.e. iPods, Gameboys or CD Players) to prevent noise induced hearing loss.

Christine was very down to earth and full of encouragement for other women entrepreneurs. “It takes a village to run a business, don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

Ingemi says one of the greatest impacts of her success is her children’s inspiration. She has 4 kids and she told a story of her oldest daughter’s ambition to start a school newspaper. Instead of whining about the lack of a paper, instead her daughter came home saying ‘I want to do this, how do I do it?’. We should all be so lucky to be such role models to our kids.

The WBC is a must-know organization for any women even thinking of starting a business. They offer classes and resources for women entrepreneurs in all stages of the business development cycle, be sure to visit them at www.womenbiz.org.

Webinar for Women On Retirement

Got an email today from the U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau. They are holding a Webinar on September 28th "Catching on to Retirement". The description in the email reads

Wherever you are in your career, whatever your wage, there is something you can do to plan for retirement. What are the challenges and issues related to retirement planning that women should pay special attention to? What are the solutions to these challenges? What can employers do to help their employees have a secure retirement?

For more information visit www.wiseupwomen.org

I can't attend, but if you do, please let me know how it is.