The Boss of You

Two years ago, we had the privilege of attending (and — full disclosure — participating in the planning committee for) the 1st Annual Gathering of Women Entrepreneurs, which was held on the serenely beautiful Cortes Island here in BC. It was an amazing event, where women of all ages (from barely 21 to well over 70) met in an intimate setting to share all the details of our lives as business owners.

We’re generally pretty skeptical about the value of conferences, especially those that don’t bring us into direct contact with prospective clients (after all, it’s a bit easier to swallow the cost of travel & conference fees if there’s a possibility of recouping them in sales). But in this case, we had already learned first-hand that the organizers — the Bay Area, California-based Social Venture Network, which connects socially responsible entrepreneurs across North America — knew what they were doing. Sure enough, the Women’s Gathering was a well-run event, with a good mix of in-depth workshops investigating real-world business challenges, and free time to connect with the other attendees, take a yoga class, or just bask in the beauty of Hollyhock‘s organic garden.

We met some incredible and very inspiring women there — from Tami Simon, the founder of Sounds True, to Lisa Lorimer, owner of Vermont Bread, to Melissa Bradley, who gives venture capital a good name — each of whom is absolutely brilliant. But perhaps the highlight was the presence of Birkenstock founder Margot Fraser, who embodied wisdom and humility in equal amounts. She came as our keynote speaker, but she participated fully in the entire conference and claimed she had as much to learn as the rest of us. Meeting her really solidified our sense that when it came to business, anything was possible.

The 3rd Annual Gathering takes place August 4-6, 2006 in Pacific Grove, CA. We can’t recommend it highly enough. It would be an especially valuable experience for those who have been in business for a couple of years or longer, but even those who are considering starting a new venture will have lots to benefit from.