Here are some photos of our absolutely amazing conference on Monday. The day was incredibly inspiring, moving and emotional. The day was opened up by the Sisters of Soul from Sister Snog and led by Kelly from Singing Works. Sister Snog are running a “Taste of Sister Snog” on Tuesday March 22nd, if you want to find out more about them. It was a fantastic way to open the conference and really set the energy for the day.

Lara Morgan was our first speaker and really fired everyone up with her no-nonsense approach to doing business. She inspired and educated us in equal measure and shared her insights from running and selling Pacific Direct and is now launching Company Shortcuts to help entrepreneurs get a head start in business. Next came on Jessica Huie, who is the founder of colorblind cards and JHPR. Jessica’s honesty about the challenges that she has faced in running her business was refreshing and her tips for success very useful. The third speaker of the day was Isis Turner, and she helped us all identify our inner goddesses – seems there was a lot of warriors (Athena) in audience – I’m not sure if that’s a reflection of the Women Unlimited audience or women entrepreneurs in general, but it was great to see!

We announced the launch of our Women Unlimited Mastermind & Inspiration Group on May 25th and over half of the tickets have gone for that! So if you are looking to connect with a group of women and grow your business, come along on May 25th.

After an hour of networking and connecting, Tamsin Fox-Davies came on stage and shared with us her insights on how to market our businesses without spending a lot of money. Very practical and useful (and she’s running a marketing workshop next week on the 22nd). The second presenter in the afternoon, was the hilarious and wonderful Stephanie Davies from Laughology. Now, my philosophy is that while we need to work hard in our businesses, we also need to have fun while we’re doing it, otherwise it’s very difficult to maintain the level of energy required to build a successful business. Stephanie showed us how to laugh at ourselves and our mistakes and how important it is to maintain a sense of humour in business. Absolutely brilliant. Rachel Elnaugh was on next and provided a brilliantly astute presentation on the 5 key elements of business success. Her session again, was inspiring and useful and really left the audience wanting more. If you’ve not heard Rachel speak before, she is speaking at the Oyster Club next month and definitely worth going along to.

After a networking break, the last speaker to come on was Lisa Irlam, the inventor of Poolmate, a lap counting swimming watch. Lisa has just turned over her first million after 18 months and shared her story and the story of Jane Tomlinson, the woman who inspired her. Her session ended with this incredibly moving video of Jane, which is a fantastic example of what one person can achieve in the face of adversity. After Lisa, we had asked the afternoon speakers to join us for the panel session and the women in the audience had loads of questions – we learned a lot from hearing the answers to the audience questions. We finally rounded out the day with the wonderfully brilliant Elizabeth Mee, one of Lynne Parker’s Funny Women semi-finalists. She was the perfect end to what had been an amazing day.

I’m a great believer in using stories and sharing experiences as a way of learning and the women who spoke for us on Monday were so generous with their time and advice. We’ve got a short video that I captured on Wednesday from one of the delegates of Monday’s conference, sharing how much the conference had meant to her.

Finally I hope you enjoy looking at some of the photos from the day, which were taken by the lovely Catherine Monfils of Catmon Photography. Catherine has really managed to capture some of the fantastic moments from the day. And finally I’d like to thank Bernie Mitchell who managed the live Twitter stream on the day (we were a trending topic by 11 am!) , the British Library, for allowing us to use their fantastic facility and last but not least, Leanne Dal Santo of Smartbags for sponsoring the goody bags (check out how amazing they look at the bottom of the photo gallery…). I hope you enjoyed reading this account of the conference, and if you were a delegate, we’d love to hear your thoughts below.

If I said “inventor” to you, what image would come to your mind?  Would it be the one of ‘Doc’ from Back to the Future; all wild hair and eyes, wearing the obligatory tank top, tinkering away in the shed trying to convince anyone who will listen that their invention will be the next big thing?  I thought so!  Well, inventors have just been given a much needed makeover!

New concept
She’s Ingenious is an online membership platform created to meet the needs of the rising number of innovative women starting up new businesses and developing new products.  Launched this month, it is the first organisation created specifically to offer support and advice to female innovators.

Founded by Cally Robson, who also created the Association of Women with New Products and Inventions, she set it up because she recognised the gap in the networking market for female innovators, and with the plethora of resources available for women to promote their businesses, the time was ripe for this type of networking group.

Members of She’s Ingenious are spoken of as a community, which conjures up images of close knit relationships, which is something that women in particular find very appealing. This community represents the growing numbers of women nationwide who are coming up with innovative ideas and using the web to develop and promote them.

One of the unique features about She’s Ingenious is that it while it offers face-to-face networking meetings, it understands that it is easier for busy women to network and keep in touch online and so they have created live web and tele-seminars to keep such women up to date. All who become members also have access to mentors and coaches.

Membership
At the moment there is a special 21 day trial for just £1 if you sign up today.  This will entitle you to a free and confidential one-to-one consultation to talk through your new idea and free access to the mentoring clinic.  Thereafter it is £9.95 per month.  Members have 24/7 access to everything She’s Ingenious has to offer such as:

• A discussion forum
• A catalogue of Q&A’s about product innovation
• Insider tips and interviews from other inventors, designers and entrepreneurs
• Online tutorials
• Priority invites to master classes and advanced seminars

If you are a woman with a home based business idea that has an innovative edge; a product designer, an inventor or you are focussed on new internet businesses then log on to www.ShesIngenious.org and start living your dream!

You know how it is; you arrive at work in the morning fresh as a daisy and ready to plough through your list of things you simply must do. But as it gets nearer to midday you find yourself running out of steam and in need of inspiration.

1230 The Women’s Company (1230 TWC) is a lunchtime networking organisation that supports female entrepreneurs in London and the South East. Founded in 2002 by Penny Denby and Jackie Groundsell, it provides both on and off-line trading and support opportunities across the UK. 

1230 membership

One of the great things about 1230 TWC is it’s affordability.   As part of their committment to supporting women business owners, membership starting from £55 per annum for sole traders in their first 12 months.

1230 run monthly meetings all over the country.  All of the meetings start at 12.30pm and are held the same day and week of each month, e.g. 1st Thursday, 2nd Wednesday etc, and are aimed at career women and business owners in search of inspiration, business support, contacts and business partners.  Once you join, you can attend as many 1230 monthly meetings as you wish at the reduced member prices and wherever you like and you have the opportunity to display your marketing materials and tell the other members about your services.

The 1230 website offers a strong community element as well and Penny and Jackie are always available to liaise with their members.  Members are free to attend as many meetings as they wish each month without being restricted to any particular group. There is also an online community where members can create profiles to promote their businesses 24/7.

More than 10,000 business women each month are invited to take part in these meetings up and down the country. At the meetings each woman is given one minute to present her business to the audience in the hope of making those all important contacts.

1230 TWC also offers women the opportunity to be franchisees, with the potential to earn £30k or more per year. Women who choose to run a franchise are assured of a hassle-free, simple model which comes with a complete training package and support programme.

1230 TWC organise two main conferences and events each year which consist of inspirational speakers and workshops. Members can access these meetings at a reduced rate; monthly meeting costs range between £10-£13.50.  The first is a charity event in September and the second is a womens conference in March.

To find out if there is a group meeting in your area, log onto www.1230.co.uk.

The Athena Network is a bespoke networking organisation for business women and those who are decision makers in their places of work. Jacqueline Rogers co-founded the company in 2006 with Louise Heasman when she realised that the needs of women in business were not being met. Three years later, The Athena Network has 40 franchisees and 120 groups throughout England and has now gone global by launching in Australia. “Our growth has exceeded our expectations which proves the need for our group is really there. Business is growing at the capacity that ladies are asking for it,” explains Jacqueline, excitedly.

How it started
The Athena Network was created to accommodate women who were unable to commit to traditional early morning networking meetings, by providing them with lunchtime opportunities to make strategic connections with professionals in a wide range of industry sectors. The exclusive focus is on women who are in business and fulfil a business development role.

The heart of Athena’s activities are the monthly networking groups where women gather together to make new contacts and gain business expertise, bounce new ideas of each other and have a great lunch amongst other things! These are fun yet focused meetings where women are taught how to network effectively, where they receive coaching, mentoring and training for greater business success.

Non members can go along to Cappuccino Connections, an informal drop in session for Athena members and non-members alike. This is a great ice breaker for many new to Athena and/or to networking to melt the ice so they feel comfortable about attending a full on networking meeting.

The training and development of their members is also central to Athena’s ethos. There are numerous training sessions and workshops up and down the country which focus on different needs of the entrepreneur, whether it is assisting those who are new to networking providing assisting more experienced business women.

What happens at the meetings?
All lunch meetings start at 12pm and last for two hours. Each member of Athena is encouraged to bring a minimum of 30 business cards and promotional material to maximise their networking opportunities. Each member is given the opportunity to introduce themselves and their businesses, this is followed by networking strategy training, business support training and is finished off by all ladies discussing with the group about any business referrals they have which may be of use for others and to share what is happening with their businesses.

In addition to all this Athena offers franchise opportunities to its members, for which all franchisees receive full support and training.

Taking part
Women looking to become members of The Athena Network are encouraged to visit a group in their area first of all to have the “Athena Experience” before deciding if the group is right for them and if they are right for the group. “It is really important that we get the dynamics right for each group so that everyone benefits from their time in it,” stressed Jacqueline.

So what is Athena’s vision for the future? “Our vision for the future is to create a global community where women can connect with each other both nationally and internationally. The branch that was recently established in Australia has already spawned six other groups, so the vision is coming to pass already.”

To find out if there is a group in your area, or for further information, log onto http://www.theathenanetwork.com or call 0845 004 9262.

Robyn Hatley – Athena franchisee

Two years ago Robyn Hatley left the corporate world behind her to set up her own company, Mums the Business. Early on she realised it would be useful to try networking. After hearing about The Athena Network, she went along as a visitor to the Teddington group and had such a great time that she became a member. Soon after, she was approached with the proposition of running groups in South West London. Robyn recalled: “As I was already seeing the benefits being a member of Athena was bringing to my own business, and seeing that I could fit it around my other roles as a wife and mother I agreed!” Eighteen months later as the Regional Director for the South West London/Richmond Upon Thames Borough, she runs five successful groups.

Attractive package
“What attracted me to The Athena Network,” explained Robyn, “was the fact that while there is a structure it is very informal and a lot of fun. I think we have found the magic formula of being able to get down to some serious business and enjoy ourselves in the process! You get great support and inspiration.

Avenues to connect with other women
“The women who come to Athena are very generous with their referrals, recommendations, advice, support, etc. This helps everyone to remain motivated and inspired about their enterprise. It is also a great forum for women to be able to bounce new business ideas off each other. A number of strategic alliances and partnerships have evolved out of Athena which really appeals to me, because I can see opportunities whereby I can take my business to the next level by making use of the expertise and skills that are present within the group.”

Robyn’s group offers women a monthly, two hour networking lunch crammed full of activity: they have a guest speaker who is an expert in their field to offer business support and training; a 10 minute presentation on how to improve networking skills for new business women; an opportunity for each woman present to promote their business followed by lunch.

“In addition to the groups we also have an online community which women are more than welcome to make use of,” Robyn advised.

For more information on the franchise The Athena Network offers go to http://www.athenaconnection.com/