Leading Women Entrepreneurs Magazine 2017-Entre_magazine-online | Page 19

time off to have children. They didn’t believe in the attainability of time where there is measured accountability will work better of work-life balance, so, there were hardly any women in our for women, no matter what sector they are in. – KD profession. And, for the women who did join our field, it was very cutthroat and a constant fight to try to make it to the top. Women, myself included, were very competitive with each other at that time in the firm. Instead of helping each other, we hurt each other. So my goal, the goal of the firm and our CEO was to reach a 50/50 gender ratio at the managerial level, and ultimately, at the partner level. I am happy to say that after ten years, we have achieved those goals due to the fact that both men and women can now have modified schedules. – Sharon I don’t think that I’ve ever heard of a business development program that specifically brought the two target audiences of entrepreneurial and corporate women together. I believe that creates a lot of opportunity for networking and business deals in addition to spotlighting and celebrating awesome talent. In this way, Leading Women Entrepreneurs is helping to create a pipeline of qualified women that would be fit for leadership positions in corporations. – DM Leading Women Academy provides not only the business Gordon, partner, CohnReznick development tools that entrepreneurs may need, but also, In what ways might Leading Women Entrepreneurs and its newly launched Leading Women Academy help further women entrepreneurs and business leaders? the emotional support. The fact that likeminded women are going to learn from the experiences of others means that they may not have to face the failures that others already have learned from. – SG Connecting with other women entrepreneurs is so energizing Participating in a series of events can make a deeper impact. and valuable. Owning your own company can feel like you are By continuously meeting with a group of people, you may in your own silo, and speaking with like-minded women who meet one or two people in the first day, and two entirely new are faced with similar issues is a great way to expand your point people on the second. You move on from having superficial of view and learn. Also, networking with business owners is conversations to instead building deeper relationships. That going to be a great avenue for getting my business exposure in makes it a lot easier to follow up at a later point in time to talk my local market. – LGN business partnerships and deals. – ECK Exposure to all of the media, marketing teams and financial connections that Linda has access to makes it easier when they are put right in front of you versus weeding through everyone out there, not knowing who you can trust. When she provides resources like that it cuts through so much time, money and aggravation. – TM Linda is quite close to the politics of it all, especially working with Senator Booker. I really would like to see more of a voice in the political arena for women business owners and entrepreneurs, especially encouraging more women to run for office. – DW OUR CONTRIBUTORS Teresa Marinelli, CEO, president and executive coach, On Good Terms Coaching Desiree Watson, founder and CEO, Wellness Interactive Karolina Dehnhard, family law attorney, Budd Larner, P.C. Rachana Kulkarni, chairman of the department of medicine and chief of cardiology at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Somerset, N.J. Dee Marshall, certified coach, leadership trainer and diversity resource, Raise the Bar LLC Sharon Gordon, partner, CohnReznick What makes the Leading Women Academy stand out is that Ken Krysinski, managing partner, Socialfix Media it is a series of retreats with follow-up sessions and actual Erin Connolly-Kriarakis, senior marketing manager, CohnReznick tasks. That is often lacking in other mastermind groups and business development programs. You go and you talk and you get excited but you don’t necessarily follow through with the goals and objectives before going back to work and your daily Jeanne Cretella, co-founder and president, Landmark Hospitality Lara Gottlieb Nikola, founder and owner, Smart Sips Coffee responsibilities. A series of workshops over an extended period @leadingwomenentrepreneurs @LWEUS #LWE2017 Linda Wellbrock | 1-877-593-2090 | [email protected] | LWEWORLD.COM LWE MAGAZINE 19