BIGGER POSSIBILITIES
In this day and age, community can mean all the difference. Loud, unified voices are not only powerful – they are necessary. And just as rising tides will lift all boats, owning one’ s power can begin to magnify it. There may never have been a greater opportunity in history for women to come together and help each other do what it is we know we must. Especially while the statistics continue to work against us. You see, though many of us live in the hardworking, fastpaced states of New Jersey and New York; though many of us are out there, every day, pounding the pavement in
order to make things happen; and though we have worked to create the drive and the tools necessary to succeed, at the end of the day, conversations with women everywhere still reveal rampant feelings of inadequacy and frustration that we are not yet where we want to be. Perhaps those feelings come from within – or perhaps they are due to external barriers – but regardless, research shows that women are not yet equal with men when it comes to work. From the percentage of women who receive capital funding, to the percentage of women- owned businesses who make it to the million-dollar mark, to the number of women chief
LINDA WELLBROCK Leading Women Entrepreneurs executives at Fortune 1000 companies – women typically still fall somewhere below ten percent. Yet, women control more than 50 percent of American wealth, account for the primary breadwinners in 40 percent of U. S. households, and are starting businesses at twice the rate of men. More and more women are beginning to see themselves as architects of change, with the flexibility and fortitude to pivot accordingly. I am proud to say I count myself among them. Eight years ago, when I found myself unemployed with two year-old twins, I took a hard look at my resume. I had great marketing experience in the financial industry, having worked for high-net-worth individuals and institutions at UBS and Merrill Lynch. I had publishing, writing and event planning experience after serving as vice president of business development and associate publisher for Garden State Women Magazine. And, I had an MBA in Entrepreneurial Studies from the Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies at Fairleigh Dickenson University. So, instead of returning to corporate America, I decided to take a leap of faith and establish the foundation for what would become Leading Women Entrepreneurs & Business Owners in 2011. Working off the idea that women especially were in need of greater visibility platforms, I established a business resource for women business owners by harnessing the power of the media and hosting recognition ceremonies, global retreats, educational and networking events, and investor dinners.
Photos by Mavash Saba – Saba Photography
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