Women Connect: A Women to Women Mentoring Summit

Did you know that majority of micro, small, and medium enterprises are run by women? In the Philippines, according to the Women's Business Council of the Philippines (WBCP), statistics from the Department of Trade and Industry show that there are as many as 900,000 business in the MSME industry and that 60% of these are registered by women.

As the world's population continue to rise, so does the number of women who enter the workforce or put up their own businesses. If you are a budding entrepreneur, join an upcoming summit where you can get inspiration from women from various fields. Each of the speakers will be sharing about their journey to success or, simply, their journey in business.

This coming November 8, head on over to the Philippine Trade and Training Center (PTTC) and attend the WBCP-organized event dubbed Women Connect: W2W Women to Women Mentoring Summit. This is a whole day event where you can mingle with and learn from a lot of inspiring women entrepreneurs so you can also get ideas on how to get started.

The WBCP is a non-stock, non-profit group of women business leaders who advocate for more policies and laws that will economically empower women. The summit is one way for the organization to reach out to women who'd like to make some career changes, start their own business, or simply take a break from their usual routines and just listen in on fellow women's experiences.

In an intimate press con with female members of the media, the WBCP showed attendees some of the things to expect from the upcoming summit. Cathy Turvill of Nurture Spa presented their wellness program and had us taste yummy truffles made from all-natural ingredients. Her staff moreover treated us with relaxing head and back massages.

Jeannie Javelosa of ECHOstore taught us some of the basics of Pranayama for Yoga. I learned some very calming breathing exercises that I hope I could keep on doing at home. 

Next, Le Bistro Vert's Reena Francisco showed us how to make Humus, a Levantine Arab food dip/spread and Tapenade, an olive paste/puree which is also used as a spread, that originated from Provence, France.

Before the event ended, current WBCP President Chit Juan discussed details of the Women Connect Summit while Chiqui Go introduced some of the speakers who were present during the press con. Chit expressed their hope to inspire many more women to get into business or find a career they want to shift to. "We have many women leaders in usually male-dominated fields like IT and Innovation, Automotive Industry and also services like Law and Outsourcing," she encourages.

The WBCP represents the country's women in international events like the APEC Women and Economy Summit, the UN Women-CIDA Women's Economic Empowerment Conference, and the Global Summit of Women which will happen in May 2012 in Athens, Greece.

You can register online for W2W through www.wbcp.ph or email wbcphils@gmail.com. Click here for summit program schedule, speakers line up, fees, and other details.

*Photos borrowed from Jajie Maullon's Facebook album and used with permission