Barcelona, Spain in the lovely Fall season of October was an unequivocally, culturally, and beautifully diverse place to participate in a conference that focused on women leading globally and leading in their self-created business spaces. The 21st Century Women’s Entrepreneurship & Leadership, Positive Psychology, Mental Health Conference #WEL2023 was held at the Reial Cercle Artistic de Barcelona. Women and men from all over the world attended and presented on the conference’s special topics in relation to women’s entrepreneurial leadership spirit. A wide variety of presentations from women and men who were from
Spain, France, UK, Africa, Canada, Ireland, Denmark, the U.S. and several other countries gave uplifting and call-to-action messages through their vibrant and sometimes meditative discussions. I had the honor to present on the abilities of women of color to use their sisterhood circles, family, faith, and ancestry as a way to overcome barriers and celebrate successes in their self-created business spaces.
Here is a video provided by the conference (you may see someone you recognize…) :
With a grand variety of information sharing, there were many shared experiences and time to learn for validation as well as new resources. Here are five tidbits that resonated with me the most:
- Globally, women are still frequently solopreneurs from the inception of their business to a couple plus years after start-up. Why? Lack of financial support and accessibility to funding, and being the major family caretaker.
- Women tend to use every skill in their toolkits and add more quickly (education, professional development, etc…) at a faster rate than men. Why? Because women want to incorporate the new skill as quickly as possible to affirm their return on investment. They want to know that it is a good decision for their businesses right away.
- Women are creating their small businesses at a faster rate than men all over the world. Why? Disrespected and ideas dismissed in their corporate jobs, unequal pay and advancement within the corporate structure, and lack of sponsorship from those in C-Suite positions.
- For entrepreneurial women leaders, the term work-life balance is a bit of a misnomer. First, it depends on the individual woman to determine what balance really means, and what it looks like for her. Second, participative support at home and work is what is needed for a balance to be achieved by each woman entrepreneur.
- Women in tech, the military, physicians, healthcare, and politics are stepping out of their corporate traditional roles to provide a higher level of service as an entrepreneur. It gives them the freedom to set their own standards of excellence in the provision of service that is not restricted by norms that are placed on larger organizations.
While there was much information to integrate into my learning trunk of treasures, I also got the opportunity to network with women and men from other countries, learn of cultural opportunities and challenges for women entrepreneurs outside of the U.S., and also to witness the joy in entrepreneurship as each woman spoke eloquently and passionately about their businesses.
A shout-out to some of the international networking colleagues:
Myriam Ben Farhat, Rana Chemali, Dr Michele Mahr, Dr Kalpana Sundar, Jeffery P Miller, Holly Espenhover, Jill Harman, Evita Salles, Jessica Klingspor, Carol A Walker , OlebileDaphneyMuzila, Ngozi Oyewole, Christina Rojas, Milkia Waller
A final item that resonated with me was the continued need for exceptional allyship and sponsorship for women leaders and entrepreneurs. It is obvious that when men and other women leaders are truly good practitioners of allyship and sponsorship many people can thrive and thrive very well. If you are interested in becoming an exceptional ally and/or sponsor, keep following us on social media and sign up for our newsletter for more information on SVCF-led mentoring and training on +Ships – allyship and sponsorship.
#WEL2023 #Womenentrepreneurs #Womenofcolorinbusiness #Internationalwomenentrepreneurs #Womeninbusiness #AweStruckLeadership