Women's Enterprise Centre Celebrates BC Women Entrepreneurs

BC ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESSES CELEBRATED

Women's Enterprise Centre's Celebration of Women Entrepreneurs spring events have wrapped up! Over 300 women from across the province attended five high-energy events to learn new strategies to start or grow their businesses, and peer mentoring techniques to learn how to share ideas and resources. (Peer mentoring workshops will continue in the fall. We'll keep you posted.) The highlight of the events was the inclusion of many guest contributors - successful local women entrepreneurs - who illustrated workshop topics with their own stories of challenges and successes. The sharing of lessons, short cuts, advice and tips was insightful and inspiring for everyone participating! Women's Enterprise Centre is pleased to highlight some of the guest story tellers and their tips below.

LOWER MAINLAND SYMPOSIUM - June 16, 2005

Speaker: Kathy Woolverton, - President/Founder of Synergy Computer Consulting Ltd. & SoftSearch Inc.

Kathy Woolverton left marine biology in junior college to focus on computer systems. In 1989 she founded Synergy, a corporate systems integrator that specializes in custom business software. As Synergy expanded its client base, Kathy founded SoftSearch, which has grown to become the worldīs largest software catalogue. She was nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year in 1997 and 1999. It takes a lot of energy to run a company; running two takes even more. Kathy can do it because she has a passion for what she does. "I know we can really make a difference for our clients," she says, "and we can do it with integrity." As most entrepreneurs will tell you, being passionate about what you do is what keeps you going. "Keep learning and get a good understanding of all the key aspects of your business," Kathy advises. "Get to know sales, marketing, human resources, legal, production and financials. Then hire people with expertise and skills to balance out areas that arenīt your core strengths." Kathy has done just that and continues to be a leader in the industry.

From the June 2005 issue of Women's Enterprise Centre Newletter