300 attend National Women’s Enterprise Day in Portlaoise
Published: Monday, November 05, 2012
National Women's Enterprise Day 2012 has been described as a huge success, with hundreds of participants representing every county in Ireland. Successful businesswomen shared their experiences with start-up companies and fledgling businesses, at a two day event organised by Ireland's 35 County and City Enterprise Boards, which support around 12 thousand women in business in this country.The aim of National Women's Enterprise Day is to encourage even more women to set up their own businesses and to increase national recognition of the essential role played by Ireland's female entrepreneurs. This year's event was co-financed by the European Social Fund with support from the Department of Justice and Equality, through the Equality for Women initiative.
Dr. Maureen Gaffney, the author of 'Flourish' spoke to the female entrepreneurs about managing change and overcoming tough challenges and set-backs. The Clinical Psychologist, Author and Broadcaster said: 'Women who start businesses on their own have a tremendous appetite to learn and be inspired, are incredibly open to talking to other women and learning from other women. I see an exponential rise in self confidence, as a result of such conferences. If you could bottle the kind of learning that women talk about at conferences like this and you make it available to people generally, I think this country would be up off its knees an awful lot faster'.
Mary McKenna, founder of Tour America, said: 'I'm amazed to see the amount of women that are here, and the energy that's coming from the room. It's great to see women helping and supporting women. Ireland is a great country and there are many opportunities in times like these. The clear message is – it's OK to try things'.
Fiona Leahy of the County and City Enterprise Boards said: 'Through profiling the success stories of female entrepreneurs in Ireland we hope to encourage more women to seek out new business opportunities by setting up or growing their own business. The full programme of workshops, talks and one-to-one mentoring clinics was designed specifically to help boost confidence levels among women. Fantastic feedback from the event serves to prove that the inspiring stories and words of wisdom shared at National Women's Enterprise Day are already having a very positive and motivating effect on women in business today'.
A panel of experienced business mentors conducted over 200 one to one mentoring sessions during the event, which was held in Portlaoise. The importance of media, marketing and social media was highlighted during workshops for delegates, while advice, mentoring and networking were key elements of National Women's Enterprise Day.
More information on http://www.nwed.ie/