In Support

The Women Business Owners Council, a recently launched program from the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, aims to help female entrepreneurs grow and sustain their businesses.

To achieve those goals, the council provides learning experiences and opportunities for members to address their struggles and get advice at monthly meetings.

“The idea is to bring women business owners together in a collaborative environment where we can share our experiences,” says ERIN KELLER (above, right), owner of Turn Key Lifestyle who co-chairs the council with BROOKE SKIPPER (above, left) who owns Salt Air. “Our primary focus is to raise each other up and learn and grow from each other.”

The council fills a unique role locally as it is not a startup support group, networking platform, or mentorship program, organizers say. Rather, the council is geared toward women who have run their businesses for a year or more.

These women face a different set of challenges, which the council meets, according to Skipper. For example, female business owners, and especially those working in male-dominated fields, can often feel isolated, she says.

“Owning a business can be lonely,” Skipper says. “To have a group you know that deals with your struggles can be hard to find.”

Another issue some could face is the learning curve of small business ownership, Skipper notes. Women might come to entrepreneurship from a 9-to-5 job or maybe a side hustle they have turned into a business and need help in the areas of how to analyze financials; establish relationships with an accountant, banker, or attorney; and/or write a business plan, for example.

A significant number of the council’s members also are experiencing issues around rapid growth, so the group also plans to provide sessions on how to plan and manage growth, Skipper adds.

To ensure the council hits all the topics that are most important to members, it plans meeting agendas around the topics identified in a member survey.

Though the council started two months ago, it already has forty members who come from a wide range of industries, including litigation, insurance, real estate, marketing, health and wellness, and the trades. Some have owned their business for a few years while others have owned their business for twenty-five years or more.

The mix is what makes the council so effective, according to Keller.

“The people who join the council are very diverse,” she says. “We have so many different perspectives and different levels of information about what is working in a particular field, but there is still a commonality.”

Council membership is open to all female business owners who are current members of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce. Potential members must also own a percentage of their business and be active in their company on a daily basis. Interested chamber members complete an online questionnaire.

Though still in its infancy, the council is expected to grow, Skipper and Keller say, especially given the number of women who are becoming entrepreneurs.

“The council,” Keller says, “provides a level of support you won’t find anywhere else.”

To view more of photographer Aris Harding’s work, go to arisharding.com.

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