As a speaker I was tired of waiting for invites and I knew other women speakers in the same boat who were also good at what they did and had a great message to share. I decided to make it happen and stop waiting. I designed my own event that I was waiting to be asked to speak at and put myself on the guest list as well as those other women speakers I’d mentioned and admired – Women Supporting Women was born.
In the spirit of collaboration and my firm belief that we are stronger together than we are apart, I enjoy bringing women together to share their wisdom to help inspire, motivate and empower each other.
It was initially just going to be a one off but after 200 tickets and such great feedback it became an annual thing and I expanded into other cities. There’s a magic that happens when women get together in a room and I soon started to notice more opportunities with what I’d created here.
With so many women in a room we had a platform to support other women in business who could come along and showcase their products and services and give their business a bit of exposure – businesses who were also keen on empowering women to be their best.
The speakers inspired the audience as well as getting their name out these and hopefully picking up some business along the way and what’s more with such large audiences we were able to make a portion of tickets free and support local community groups to attend.
This has become an important part of the social impact mission at the heart at these events. I don’t run them for profit but sell enough tickets and stands to cover venue and catering cots and ensure sponsored places are always available.
I also chose a local charity at each event, an organisation who empowers women, the help raise awareness of their great work and for people to support on the day with donations. So far The Aunties, Dress for Success and Wellington Homeless Women’s Trust have been chosen charities of choice at these events.
The mission behind this not for profit event is to gather women together to be inspired and empowered, with amazing speakers to help motivate us but also a platform to empower them in the work they do. At some of these events we also provide a platform to empower women in business and have expo type stands available for those women to showcase their business/products.
Collaboration is such an important part of our success and so often we’re taught to compete with each other as women and that our success must be at the expense of someone elses. Whilst many of these speakers are in the same line of work as me I see that as a reason to collaborate rather than compete and I believe in the saying lift as you climb, support each other. We’re all sharing a similar message and trying to help the same people with the same issues so it makes sense we band together. We’ll also do this differently with our own styles and personalities so I don’t think we’d be direct competition in that sense anyway – we all resonate with different audience members in different ways and that makes it all the more enjoyable when we collaborate and connect at events like these.
We make a large number of tickets free or minimal cost to ensure everyone has the opportunity to attend. At our first three events all women were invited to bring their daughters along for free. Local businesses donate prizes and in some cases goody bags are available for attendees on the day.
My mission is to empower women to be their best. Whilst I love my work and sharing my passion to help others I also want to make it as accessible as possible, to ensure a more diverse representation and increase opportunities across the board for others.
Find out more about our events and the mission behind this work on the website
Our next event is 10 August in Auckland, with a Christchurch launch to come! Join the Facebook Group to stay up to date and be the first to find out about tickets and specials.
