ESTEVAN - More than two dozen women from the Estevan area had the opportunity to learn from successful female entrepreneurs in the community during an April 3 lunch-and-learn.
Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan (WESK), the Estevan Chamber of Commerce and Community Futures Sunrise co-hosted the event at the Old Stone Inn, who catered the meal. The audience had the opportunity to network, learn and grow together.
"It was really positive and engaging. A lot of people came out today," said chamber executive director Merissa Scarlett.
Local business owners Brady Friess from Encompass Fitness and Trina Battersby from Prairie Pathway Services were the guest speakers. Scarlett introduced them to the crowd and then a question-and-answer session began.
"We covered all sorts of things," said Scarlett. "We were talking about starting a business, advice that they would have really wanted on their first day, things that really inspired them, things like that."
A third woman entrepreneur, Christa Morhart from JS Truckmart, was scheduled to speak but couldn't attend due to illness.
Questions from the floor delved into when and why they started their business, challenges they faced, successes they had and more. Some of the women in attendance already have a business that is well-established, Scarlett said, while some are just on the start of their journey, and a couple of women are thinking about starting their own company.
"It was a really wide, diverse range of women at different spots in their business journey," said Scarlett.
She said one of the questions was on starting a business in Estevan and what helped them be successful.
"Both of them did say the community. Being a business owner in Estevan and just talking to other business owners, they found there is a lot of support that way, and learning from others' mistakes and failures. Everybody was pretty open."
The business community wants to make sure everyone is successful.
Scarlett said the event happened after she was approached by one woman to see if the chamber had spoken to WESK, which has been trying to expand its reach beyond Regina and Saskatoon. The chamber is also looking to grow.
"I was told about them, that they're looking to do more in Estevan, so I reached out … and I was just saying let's get you down here to Estevan and connect with these women entrepreneurs. I think there is a drive for women that want to connect with other women entrepreneurs."
WESK received funding from RBC and PrairiesCan to host the event.
Scarlett said there has been a lot of positive feedback from people who attended the event and who want to see other similar events.
"The chamber will be looking at what are we doing next to serve women entrepreneurs in Estevan and area," said Scarlett.
