Andriana BoyrikovaThe International Women’s Day is all about celebrating women. But an aspiring female entrepreneur in Groningen has created a meet-up where women entrepreneurs can connect, support, inspire, and empower one another throughout the whole year. The Female Entrepreneurs’ meet-up aims to build a strong community of proactive women entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses, meet other ambitious women, find inspiration, but most importantly, rock together!
Groningen hosts a female entrepreneurs’ network
Groningen is known as a home to a bustling enterprising ecosystem but the newly born female entrepreneurs’ initiative, organized by Stéphaniede Geus, is going to put it on a par with some of the biggest cities in the Randstad which have been boosting female ventures for years.
From now on the “City of Talent” will be the proud host to a network of entrepreneurial women with various educational backgrounds, work experiences, and ideas who step up to inspire and motivate one another.
Why a monthly Female Entrepreneurs’ meet-up in Groningen?
It comes as no surprise that there is a visionary boss lady behind an initiative aiming to bring proactive women entrepreneurs together. Stéphanie de Geus is a freelance tech writer blazing her trail to success with a lot of daily grind and tea. She decided to create the meet-up because she wanted to connect with other female entrepreneurs in Groningen.
“Working from home and running your own business is great but it can also get very lonely. Not all my friends understand what it is like to run a business, so it is amazing to connect with other entrepreneurs over drinks and share stories.”
She sees the meet-up as a way to connect women entrepreneurs so that they can help and support one another. “There is enough room in the market for every one of us and by building a community we make room for every woman to have a sustainable business.” Let’s face it: it is connection and support and not competition that makes women stronger.
De Geus believes there have to be more female entrepreneurs because women can be “badass and real boss ladies while they have big hearts that want to help others.” Besides, there are many female entrepreneurs in the North and a meet-up where they can share experiences, ideas, and a good laugh in an informal, friendly environment can only catalyze women’s prowess and Groningen’s entrepreneurial bustle.
Let’s connect, boss ladies!
For now the meet-up will take place once a month but de Geus does not exclude possibilities to expand it: “There have been ideas to add workshops to the monthly meetings. I would also love to set up a co-working space for female entrepreneurs. It would be amazing if we can find enough women to create such a space where female entrepreneurs can work on a daily basis to help and support one other.”
The next meet-up is on 13 March and de Geus invites everyone because, as she says, “female entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes”: “It does not matter if you are running a full-grown business or just thinking of starting your own business; whether you are a blogger or author, or you run a company with employees. We would love to connect with you and share knowledge together.”
On a final note, here is some spark of inspiration for all of you, boss ladies:
“The thing that sets successful female entrepreneurs apart from women who simply dream is the fact that they grind and hustle with abandon. They stop at nothing to make their dreams a reality. They don’t wait for someone to present them with an opportunity; they go out and create opportunities for themselves.
They send that email. They make that phone call. They follow up a thousand times. They don’t take rejection to heart; it just makes them work harder.” (from “Girl Code” by Cara Alwill Leyba)
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So are you going to invite yourself to the party? The next meet-up is on 13 March at 20:00 at the Big Building. If you have any questions, connect with Stéphanie here.
Featured image: Barbara Helgason, Adobe Stock.
