Women members of Kanara Entrepreneurs (KE) met on Friday, 15th September, at The Grand Magrath, Bangalore, to focus and chart their course towards success in the year ahead. This unique meeting was designed as a Board of Directors’ initiative to facilitate the women members to interact and network with the KE Lead Members who were also present in an adjacent meeting simultaneously.
Charmaine Saldanha (Charm’s Homemade Goodness) who emceed the evening, conducted a quick energizer where members assigned themselves with a key business-related descriptive moniker – Healthy Shona (Nutrifymydiet) and Millet Uma (Millit) were some recall-worthy titles. Next, Sabitha Lasrado (CB4) led the KE prayer after which the evening proceeded as planned.
Luvena Rangel (The Curvy Yogi) taking over the reins of KE Women Entrepreneurs from the founding leadership of Leena Lobo (Angelina Consultancy Services LLC), set a crystal clear agenda to raise the bar for KE Women with focus and business oriented take-aways for the members based on their unique needs as businesswomen.
In her welcome note, she shared her vision for KE Women under the theme, ‘Concentrate, Collaborate & Celebrate’ – with crisp objectives and deliverables under each category that members can look forward as part of the KE experience. The idea for KE Women Members to go beyond social networking and receive tools to build their brand, business and visibility without compromising their personal styles of leadership was a powerful step-up for everyone present.
The highlight of the meet was a 35 minute laser-focused activity on ‘Crafting Your Elevator Pitch’ facilitated by Luvena herself. After introducing the need of a crisp and impressive elevator pitch, with the help of a few broad examples, the members were given an easy-to-apply template to work on their pitch for 10 minutes – help and guidance being readily available. The warmth of the cohort was palpable as every member read out their elevator pitch to supportive applause as well as kind, constructive feedback.
The evening showcased a sense of direction, purpose and focus from everyone involved – right from the commendable efforts of the Executive Task Force – Carol Dsouza (The Mangalorean), Charmaine Saldanha, Reena Serrao, Uma Maheshwari – to the impeccable punctuality that the women members demonstrated to arrive and finish on time.
The success of this KE Women Members’ Meeting echoed in the extremely positive feedback that the members shared about their personal take away, freshness of format, business and professional relevance, and above all, a sense of community and collaborative support for their enterprise alongside the opportunity for healthy social networking. The event was closed with a gracious Vote of Thanks delivered by Carol after which the members interacted and networked with the Lead Members over a sumptuous dinner in true Kanara style.
Many thanks to the KE Board of Directors for supporting the vision and encouragement to excel, KE Women Entrepreneurs Core Team: Leena Lobo, Rachna Rego, Reshma Saldanha & Sabitha Lasrado for their steady guidance; the Grand Magrath staff; and above all, to the trust and active participation of the KE Women Entrepreneurs for making the evening a splendid success.
Article by Luvena Rangel