#34 : Women In Business : Making An Impact (24.03.2018)

^{From L-R (Claire Sancelot, Anabelle Co-Martinent, Julia Koh, Freda Liu, Adelina Mahiyudin and Franki Turner Shaik Photo grab from @yasminep}

Last Saturday I was out and about attending several events hosted by Steemians. I woke up early in the morning and headed to one of the latest co working space in town known as Common Ground in Taman Tun, Kuala Lumpur to attend the first ever event hosted by fellow Steemian, @yasminep.

The event known as Women In Business : Making An Impact saw a record attendance of 100 women from all walks of life. Some were aspiring entrepreneurs, some were working professionals while others were seasoned business owners. They all walked in with dazzling smiles in their Saturday best despite the event being held on a Saturday morning.

In no time, the hall was almost filled with women who were busy chatting and exchanging their business cards while waiting for their caffeine fix. There was also a temporary juice corner set up by La Juiceria for women who prefer juices to kickstart their day. Most women took the opportunity to pose for the camera and mingle with the 5 speakers namely:

• Claire Sancelot - The Hive Bulk Foods

• Franki Turner Shaik - Frankitas

• Anabelle Co-Martinent- La Juiceria

• Adelina Mahiyudin - Hot Yo

• Freda Liu - BFM Radio Station

• Julia Koh - Brand 360 and WomenWill

After much networking, @yasminep finally got all the women seated for the session to begin. She started off the session by declaring her intention for organising the event, which was to build a community of women in business in Kuala Lumpur.

^{@yasminep warming up the crowd. Photo grab from @yasminep}

In her own words, "To build a community of women that is strong and who supports, connect and empower each other"

@yasminep also make a powerful statement that women should in fact learn to collaborate with one another instead of looking at each other as competition.

She then went on to introduce each of the speakers before they take turns to speak and answer questions from the crowd.

These are some of my key observation of the event:

#1: The Speakers

I loved the sharing from each speaker as they are all unique in terms of their background and their approach to business. The fact that most of these women are foreigners with the exception of Julia and Freda showed that women irregardless where they come from can and will succeed in business if they put their heart and soul into what they do.

I particularly loved Annabelle Co-Martinent's sharing as her frank and direct approach to business resonated very well with me. Her story of how she started La Juiceria from her home kitchen to where it is today is certainly very inspiring. She advised women to have the end goal in mind, to think big and to never be afraid to start. She also advised women to not look at other successful women as a competition, but instead to look at them as a source of motivation to do better.

^{Annabelle Co-Martinent in action. Photo grab from @yasminep}

Each of these speakers I observed shared personally from their heart with much conviction. One even teared when she recounted her initial response upon hearing the plight of some of the refugees in Malaysia. Her immediate response was to make space for a room in her office to allow these refugees to come and occupy the space to learn and earn a living to support themselves and their family. She is none other than Franki Turner Shaik of the Frankitas brand.

Julia Koh also shared her desire to see more Malaysian brands make it to the international arena, as well as more women entrepreneurs emerged to the forefront to lead in the tech space which have traditionally been a male dominated industry.

On the other hand, Freeda Liu, popularly known as the emcee and producer of BFM's radio show spoke about the inspiration behind her new book and how she came about writing it. Her inspiring story and personal encounters with women entrepreneurs led many others (including myself), to question our "fixed mindsets" as well as "belief systems". The book was later snapped up by women who were eager to find out more.

#2: The Attendees

As each of the attendees were carefully curated beforehand, I was glad to see that most of them are of good standing with many of them already operating established businesses. I also met a few would be Steemians, thanks to @littlenewthings who is personally on a mission to preach Steemit wherever she goes. She had even rounded up 3 Steemians to attend the upcoming 100 Degrees Introductory session by @maverickfoo in Sunway.

#3: The Venue

The venue is beautifully furnished with pieces of furtniture that exudes charm and comfort. One can get too distracted by the sound and aroma of coffee at the coffee bar or the natural sunlight that are streaming into the hall. The venue was perfect for a Saturday morning get together with ample parking space at the building

#4: The Programme

The overall flow of the program was good with sufficient time for the ladies to get to know one another and understand each other's businesses. I even managed to sit down for a chat with Freda over her new book and had a wefie with her and two other ladies prior to the event.

^{Me and Freda Liu together with two other ladies}

The speakers were also given time to speak on their businesses as well as some time to field questions from the ladies in the audience.

#5: Steemians from #TeamMalaysia

Once again, Stemians from #teammalaysia came together to flex their muscles to show their support to @yasminep. Women power indeed! Among the Steemians who came are @littlenewthings, @karpaediem, @natalielo and @khimgoh.

And as usual, when Steemians come together what do we do?

We flashed our million dollar smiles in front of the camera for our wefies!

^{Ladies, smile~ Photo grab from @yasminep}

The event ended at about 1pm with some ladies taking photos with the speakers while others bade each other farewell with hugs and promises to keep in touch. I strode out of the event with a nice fabric tote bag courtesy of WomenWill as my door gift with lots of cool swag to boot.

What a wonderful event and I am soo looking forward to the next one already.

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KarinzDailyGrind is currently right smack in the sowing season. While she is busy rolling up her sleeve and getting her hands dirty with all sorts of projects, she remains grateful to those who have help her along the way and intends to pay it forward when the right time comes.

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