Resetting the standard: Local women entrepreneurs visit Cedar
On Tuesday, March 28, the Cedar library held a Lunch and Learn event to promote women in business. Students with interests in entrepreneurial careers as well as those who already have small businesses were invited to attend the event for inspiration and advice.
The six women who attended the event are all local entrepreneurs with businesses ranging from finance to baking. The speakers are Jenny Delgado from the Tax shelter, Mokah Jasmine Johnson from Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement, Mimi Maumus from Home.made restaurant, Kellyn Bowden from Movement Mortgage, Savitree Arnold from Sweetie Pie by Savi, and Shantel Payne from Keller Williams Real Estate.
“March is Women’s History Month so to honor that, we decided to bring in some local business women to show off what women are doing in our local community, to kind of inspire young people who are interested in creating their own businesses and to spotlight some of the students who do have their own businesses here at Cedar,” librarian Kerry Hogan said.
As well as serving lunch, a Q&A was held between the librarians, students and speakers in regards to how to start a business and what challenges the women had overcome during the process.
“I had people that pushed me and I now have a life that I never imagined I could have,” Bowden said during the Q&A. “As a woman I’ve had to work a lot harder than most people would have to be taken seriously in a male predominant industry.”
As women in the business community, some of them have experienced setbacks and discrimination in their careers on account of their gender.
“My industry is very male dominated and it has taken me a long time to not be invisible in it. I’ve done things where if we have guests at a function, they assume whoever the man is standing next to me is the owner or the chef. They will go up and talk to him as if he’s the chef and I’m just invisible,” Maumus said.
These negative experiences have given these women the opportunity to learn and grow, finding ways to exceed in their work.
“You need to be bold enough to believe in yourself because you’re gonna need that type of self confidence to carry you through those difficult moments. I believe that women in general, whether you’re in business or you’re in corporate America, we just have to work twice as hard, maybe three times as hard depending on the industry you’re in. Be prepared to roll your sleeves up and understand that the world that we’re in is not always in our favor. You can’t give up on what it is that you want and (you should) learn as much as you can about that industry,” Johnson said.
Coming to Cedar and talking to students gave loan officer at Movement Mortgage, Kellyn Bowden an opportunity to give high schoolers the support and advice that she wished she had received in high school.
“When I was asked to do this, I didn’t even hesitate to say yes. I wish I had the opportunities you guys have right now, to have someone come in and speak about entrepreneurship and owning your own business because it wasn’t even something that I had on my radar. It’s so important to be in a business mindset at such a young age to help better prepare yourselves for your future,” Bowden said.
Sophomore Mia Calderas, a student entrepreneur who makes and sells jewelry through her Instagram business Citlallis.jewels.mia, thought the Lunch and Learn would provide a great opportunity to promote her business.
“I noticed that a bunch of freshmen were coming and since the freshmen love to fill up their wrists with bracelets or wear necklaces, I was like, ‘Maybe I can make a profit out of this,’”
Calderas said. “The speakers said that you don’t need to go to college to become something bigger. I see that as the truth, you don’t need to go, but yet people expect you to go.”
The Lunch and Learn left the speakers with a sense of pride and the students inspired.
“I came for the youth. It’s about being able to come and speak to y’all and hoping that the information that you get from us will help you in some type of way. I hope it will help you to not go through some of the things we went through and help to advance your career and empower you,” Johnson said.
