Lipstick, cupcakes and entrepreneurs don?t normally come as a package but at Sheffield?s Working Woman Expo 2012, the trio fell hand in hand.? The event was held to highlight the achievements of the ?Working Woman? and to inspire the women of Sheffield to network and interact with one another as well as finding their ?perfect lipstick colour.?
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Working Woman founder Christina Lima Trindade, herself a successful entrepreneur, mother and former management consultant explains, ?We know our target market well- the Working Woman juggles her home life, partner and family equally. She is simply a woman with everyday issues who wants guidance to keep her life structured, active and fulfilling.?
Lord mayor Sylvia Dunkley highlighted the power of women in her opening speech:
?There is still this feeling that we have to be superwomen. We manage to juggle lots of aspects of life ? we are all working women no matter what we do. There is something special about women in Sheffield, just look at the women of steel.?
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We caught up with some of Sheffield?s ?Superwomen? to find out how they do it?
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Mother-and-daughter duo Kym and Lorraine Hall held a stall together at the event and shared how entrepreneurialism runs in their family.
Lorraine who runs Chiave training says:
?Being an entrepreneur can be difficult and the main challenge is trying to be everything. I?m a mother, cook, housewife, marketing manager, typist and the rest!?
?Her daughter Kym of I Heart Business, added:
?Being an entrepreneur is in our family and when I couldn?t get a job I decided to start up the business.
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Louise Wilcockson, PR guru for Creative Octopus Media Services, attended the event to network and celebrate women in the city, said:
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?PR is an essential marketing tool to help you meet your business targets and outcomes and to be able to share that key message with so many entrepreneurs was a privilege.?
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Lorraine Howie runs PREP who deals with preparing people for retirement in the private and public sector, she says:
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?It?s always good to network with other small businesses and to promote the services you offer. It?s a difficult climate for most businesses at the moment and a constant balancing act for many women but I?m learning all the time.?
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Faye Smith set up marketing consultancy Keep Your Fork follows the American ethos ?better things are coming? which Faye claims to live by after a difficult few years of losing her husband and becoming a single mum whilst managing a business and keeping active, she says:
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?It is amazing what women can achieve through the sheer volume of things we do. Never underestimate the power of women, we stick together, I think most women look at the ?glass ceiling? and they aren?t prepared to pay that price. We just need to make sure that we ask for help rather than doing too much.?
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Former Barclays bank manager, Tina English, left her job to manage City Hearts charity, which is Working Woman?s nominated charity.
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?The charity helps vulnerable women with life controlling issues as well as women who have been trafficked. We always need donations and new volunteers to help in our safe houses and in other areas of the work we do.?
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Rachel Agnew, the keynote speaker of the event, spoke of how ITV?s Loose Women changed her life.
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?I never imagined that at the age of 42 years old, I?d be unemployed, divorced and a single mother but I never gave up. I was watching daytime television when I saw a competition to become a Loose Women presenter.?
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Rachel won a place on the Loose Women panel and since then she has become a successful broadcaster, commentator and personality. She adds:
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?It can be hard to manage everything but for me the most important person is my daughter and everything else comes second to her. I really believe that everything that happens in your life can benefit your future. ?
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The inspiring speakers also included language specialist Michelle Berhanu of Berdale Centres, financial specialist Julie Robinson of Footprints Accountancy, Fashion and Beauty PR Faye Yarnall and top life coach Jayne Briggs.
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As celebratory as such events are figures show that the world of business is still very much a man?s world. Men are twice as likely to start a business than a woman and boardrooms are still dominated by more men than women.
To find out more Log on to: Verita Women
Download this article as a pdf.
Source: http://www.veritamag.com/2012/02/01/2112/
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