It was a packed house at the Ten-Seven Cafe & Lounge Tuesday night as over 100 women from across the community came out for the 3rd Women’s Leadership Networking Event. The event, which was hosted by Chatham-Kent Economic Development, the Small Business Centre, and a group of volunteers, is focused on bringing together and empower professional women and entrepreneurs to develop their leadership skills through education, networking, and having some fun.

The evening included comments from a keynote presentation from Nicole Howson titled ‘Simplify Your Life Through Technology’, and a panel discussion on Sparking Joy & Finding Your Passion. In addition, people were encouraged to network in a facilitated environment.

“We have heard time and time again that people want networking, but not just any networking; they want a format with some structure. This is why we developed a theme for the night, provided enhanced name tags where they could list their goals for the year, and made it easier for people to have conversations,” said Andrew Tompsett with Chatham-Kent Economic Development. “It was extremely inspiring to hear the buzz in the room and to see everyone engaged. I felt bad having to ask the final group to leave at 10:30 at night, well after closing, but the great news is that they decided to carry on the conversations downtown.”

At the event, which took place during International Women’s Week, an example of local female entrepreneur success was shared. Elizabeth Suni, owner of Wooly Doodle, was that same day launching their new Spring line of clothing locally and to their international audience. While she was unable to attend the event because of her launch, she did send regrets and thanked everyone for the amazing support she has received.

“Stories such as Elizabeth’s make being a business owner more real and let people know that with a good idea, great planning, a solid team, and of course hard work, they can do it too,” said Tompsett. “Sometimes being in business can be lonely. By bringing people together, even for one night, there is an opportunity for them to discover that they don’t have to go it all by themselves, there are others out there they can talk to.”

The evening was sponsored by WEtech Alliance as part of their goal of helping entrepreneurs in Chatham-Kent, and across the region, leverage technology to grow and scale their business.

To learn more about the Chatham-Kent Economic Development and the Small Business Centre, visit www.investck.ca. You can also find out more about the Women’s Leadership Network by visiting them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ckwln.