Program helps Black women entrepreneurs think bigger
Private membership network Modern Hustle Collective builds community and skills for business owners across Canada
2021 FoundHers Report from Pitch Better found that 90 per cent of Canadian Black women rarely participate in professional development programs due to lack of information.| Posted: 7 hours ago | Updated: 7 hours ago | 1 Min Read Mike Gibson, left, and Jessica Livingston discuss plans for the upcoming community lab course.Vika Izyhk hasn’t seen her father for nearly a year.February 13, 2023 Kirby said the military shot down the three objects since the first because they wanted “to air on the side of safety” since they couldn’t rule out the possibility of them spying on the country: KIRBY: “… any of these three objects were surveilling, we couldn’t rule that out.
Ms.Henry says Modern Hustle Collective started as a touring event, visiting cities like Vancouver and Halifax.E.Once the pandemic hit, the program moved online, like many of the businesses the network would come to serve.“It’s hard.“Our business model changed significantly as we began to show women how critical it was to have a presence in the digital space,” Ms.— Holland College is offering a new program for anyone interested in increasing their knowledge of bioscience.Henry says.
“That’s kind of how we started, grew, [and now] Modern Hustle Collective [is] one of our flagship capacity-building programs.m.In the meantime, she’s also adjusting to life in a new country, a new school, a new language, new friends.” ‘Power hours’ The current eight-week online program covers essential information and strategies for business owners, says Peta-Ann Leon, director of memberships and partnerships at Pitch Better.There are weekly meetings that Ms.The program is suitable for senior high school students aspiring to enroll in the bioscience technology program, educators interested in improving their scientific skills and hands-on lab experience and members of the public.Leon refers to as “power hours,” each led by a subject matter expert who can give participants real-life examples and advice that apply to their business.It’s a mindfulness exercise she learned during a pilot program for Ukrainian teens at her school, and she says it helps.Participants learn about adding value and return on investment, branding, building a business model, buyer personas, network mapping, go-to-market planning and garnering investment."We'll do a hands-on laboratory activity every week and teach them different bioscience techniques, as well as data analysis, data acquisition, and other scientific activities," said Livingstone.
Around week five, participants are paired with mentors in their industry and begin meeting with them for 30-minute sessions, often virtually.There is also ‘homework’ each week, so participants have something to work on between each session.The college said the seating for the program is limited.Ukrainian teens in Burnaby Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago, the Burnaby school district has registered 130 children and youth whose families have come to Canada to escape the war, according to Natalya Khan, coordinator of Burnaby’s Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) program.The program ends with a pitch event.Ms.For more information about the program or to register email [email protected].Leon says she was an entrepreneur herself when she joined the team, and understood that there was a need for a program like Modern Hustle Collective.“Youth, they were affected more than any other age groups that arrived,” Khan says.
“We’ve definitely created a safe space for women in business to share their triumphs and get access to practical and tactical strategies, especially when it comes to what to do next; for instance, creating a business model or starting to think more as an enterprise,” she says.Our SaltWire team is always watching out for the place we call home.A key part of the program is helping women build a business that does more than just support their lifestyle, she notes.They begin to look at their businesses as global entities that could cross borders and reach new markets by discovering their ideal customers.Please consider joining us in this mission by becoming a member of the SaltWire Network and helping to make our communities better.‘I need somebody to talk to how I want’ Tsang says she tried to provide the students with “a smorgasbord of different techniques” to help shift their minds and bodies out of dysregulated states – those times when stress or anxiety send them into fight-or-flight-or-freeze mode.“They can pay themselves, but also they can grow their business and hire more people in our community and start to think globally,” she says.Peta-Ann Leon of Pitch Better says Modern Hustle Collective is a 'safe space for women in business to share their triumphs and get access to practical and tactical strategies.
' Tijana Martin Ms.“When we’re anxious, we shut down.Leon says one of the highlights is seeing women evolve during the program.“I like to see their thinking change from the start when they’re introducing themselves to their peers and talking about their business, [to] really starting to see that vision widen,” she says.Creating community Halifax Charcuterie and a participant in the Modern Hustle Collective program.7 after six months in the Netherlands, landing in a new country and a new school was “confusing” at first, especially because of the language barrier.“I am the first in my family and friend group to have a business and go into entrepreneurship,” says Ms.
Symonds, who launched her business in 2021.Ms.‘They will be struggling like I did’ Since Tsang doesn’t speak a word of Ukrainian, the pilot program relied on two translators for help.Symonds thought it would take years to see her business take off, but it was more like months.“This is happening now, already,” she says.She has built up a strong network of corporate clients who order her gourmet platters of meat, cheese, crackers, fruit and other nibbles, handling large orders and deliveries on her own.Victoria Shabatina, a Moscrop Secondary School grad, came to Burnaby from Ukraine in 2018 when she was 14 years old and still has family and friends there.
Since joining the Modern Hustle Collective program, Ms.Symonds says one of her biggest learnings was that “zooming out” is important to efficiently run her business.“Don’t overcomplicate what you need to do and you can market [your business] better,” she says.“I know there’s kids coming in, and they will be struggling like I did, and I’m sure they will need some help,” she says.“I also apply that to the rest of my life.” Gaining a group of Black women entrepreneurs to turn to has also been invaluable, she adds.
“Creating that community and having a good network of women who you can reach out to, even if they’re not next door in your city, is helpful,” she says.“It’s like a chain of kindness,” Khan says of Shabatina’s decision to give back to the SWIS program, which had supported her as a teen.Fiyin Obayan, who runs Saskatoon-based video services and coaching company Okiki Consulting, was also a participant in the program.She turned to Modern Hustle Collective during the pandemic when she was narrowing her business niche.“I had the time to actually step back and say, ‘Okay, if I want to be known for something, what should it be?’"she says.Ms.
Obayan was matched with a mentor during the program, and through some of their one-on-one discussions, she got a better idea of strategies she could employ to make her business thrive.“We talked about the amount of outreach [my mentor] had to do to really get things going,” she says.“Learning how to do that, and what it looks like tangibly, was really helpful as well.” A program in evolution While Ms.Henry and Ms.
Leon say the program is still in its infancy, it has already made a positive impact on Black women entrepreneurs.It will continue to evolve, says Ms.Henry.“My hope is that it continues to grow and that we could potentially be part of a program at a community college or university,” she says.As women entrepreneurs continue to drive business ownership in Canada, the need for such programs will doubtless grow as well.
As Ms.Leon says: “Give a woman one dollar and she’ll multiply it.” Interested in more perspectives about women in the workplace? Find all stories on the hub.
Original source can be found here
