Women-Owned Businesses Team Up
About 50 women business owners gathered together at one of Salem’s co-working spaces (Co.Working), where they put competition aside. They took some time to be open, honest, and real about the challenges that their businesses are facing.
It all started when Kara Campuzano had a dozen or so friends over one night. What started as a social event between friends, turned into something much bigger. They began asking each other questions like,
“What are you working on? What are you struggling with? How can we help each other?”
For some, it was a great time to share what their business does, and for others, it was a time to get advice and feedback on areas their business was struggling with. After how well that night went, with the purpose of providing a space for women in business to work together, they formed a group called Fuel the Flame.
“I started this group as a means to get together with like-minded female business owners as a way to support and empower one another. As we all know, the last couple of years were the hardest years that small-business owners have faced. I personally needed a way to connect deeper with women who were going through the same obstacles that I was in their personal and professional lives. I want women to live authentically and to support them as they consistently show up as their true authentic self.” – Kara Campuzano (Owner of a social media management agency and Co.Working, a local coworking space)
In March and April, in a collaborative partnership with Launch Mid Valley and the City of Salem they formed an event series called, Boss Ladies. An event with only women where they get to meet, network, and learn from each other.
The inaugural Boss Ladies event series that began in March, kicked off the event with a panel of marketing professionals; three social media agency owners, the owner of a marketing education and consulting company, and a website designer. Each of the panelists spoke a little about their business, hot marketing industry trends and topics, and then set aside some time to answer questions from the audience.
“The Boss Ladies Panel embodied the spirit of community over competition, and I am grateful to have helped kick off the event series in Salem as a panel speaker. I appreciated the insights of my fellow panelists and the thoughtful questions from the audience. The future of entrepreneurship in Salem looks bright. I’m grateful the city prioritizes supporting and investing in resources like this for women-owned businesses.” – Ellen Yin (Owner of Cubicle to CEO, a marketing education company.)
The room was full of note-taking, and the audience asked many questions of the panelists. There was a great balance between broad business advice on time management, confidence, and marketing strategy… but uniquely from most business speaking events these Boss Ladies of their success secrets such as how to make a virtual assistant take tasks off your hands, how to set up a proper and effective marketing funnel using online ads, real-life experience on email marketing automation, how to increase conversion on your website, and so much more. The room was filled with productive networking before and after the event, education, and a great experience for all who attended.
We recommend that any woman in the greater Salem-Keizer metro area who wants to take their business to the next level or is interested in starting a business, first constructively socialize with Salem-Keizer’s successful women-owned business entrepreneurs and join one of these groups of amazing entrepreneurs.