Business: Sisters, Doing it For Themselves....and each Other

There's a longstanding convention against "too many women in the same room. the notion is that such an arrangement will tend toward gossip, sniping and general discord.

Apparently no one sent that particular memo to  A. Cecle Watson, of Gr8Way Consulting, who hosted the 2017 renewal of the "Women in Entrepreneurship Day (WED) Summit at the Terra Nova in Kingston.

International branding expert Flavilla Fongang, of London-based  consultancy 3 Colours Rule, set the tone with a stirring presentation that combined personal bio (she went to London from Paris, escaping a hardscrabble upbringing by a single mother, and with 3 siblings) and professional experience, and doing both with flair.

Thereafter,a sort of " Six for Six" ensued. Six women entrepreneurs, part of the WINK, Women's Entrepreneur network made introductions to six special speakers, each one a leading businesswoman. The contributors ranged from the host hotel's  Christelle Harris, who offered a revelatory peak into the tensions that drove her and buffeted the family in the immediate aftermath of her beloved grandfather and family patriarch, Laurie Hussey, the multi-faceted demands of working in the family businesses (including Hampden Distillery and Rum Tour); Santanna Morris, founder of the Intensive Reading Clinic, who has lived a life of overcoming - from not speaking till the age of 4 (and bearing much mockery in the process), to hurdling varied financial and physical challenges to now benefitting from sojourns in Thailand (at the invitation of the Ministry of Education) and  getting request from across the island and the world;  "Chocolate Dreamer"Michelle Smith, who resurrected a once discarded set of chocolate molds to create the food business known internationally for punching above its weight; Price WaterhouseCoopers PR manager  Natalie Fearon, who spoke despite the potentially imminent arrival of her next child; the eminently adaptable Sheree Martin, who transitioned from a public affairs/ communications career at NCB to presently overseeing islandwide transmission and distribution for light and power company JPSCo; and the  ultra-competitive Christine Day, who spoke of crying after losing one event out of four at her school sports day, before being humbled while training with the MVP stars and eventually going on to wear the Jamaican colours with distinction at the London 2012 Olympics and the 2015 Beijing World Champs.

Thereafter, CEO of main sponsor Sagicor (and, by his own observation one of a few brave men in the room), spoke to the need for greater economic empowerment of women in the corporate circle. Four such, "elder stateswomen"including  writer-blogger Emma Lewis, corporate attorneys Janice grant Taffe and Camille Facey (the latter having recently transitioned into the entrepreneurial ranks);business counsellor Sandra Glasgow and Watson took their places around a table and more sharing ensued.

Whether at table or podium, the contributions were uniformly insightful and moving - and this includes the "six" who played the role of introducer. Women, it is now clear, have better learned how to apply their natural attributes to problem-solving in business, but have still not engaged in the kind of intensive networking (including referrals) that their male counterparts, as Facey noted, regard as par for the course.

The participants were not shy about voicing their pleasure and satisfaction with both the content and style of the summit presentations, and the Q& As benefitted from lively discussion.

At day's end, a clearly pleased and relieved Watson could certainly breathe easier, knowing that not only had she successfully shattered the "convention", but that the day's proceedings had laid  a firm foundation for exciting networking opportunities ahead.