Ladies Who Launch

Jody — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:03:00 -0800

I recently participated in an "incubator workshop" through Ladies Who Launch, an organization that promotes female entrepreneurship. I met a terrific bunch of women who I miss already! I signed up for this experience because I’m striving to find a viable business model for a not-for-profit dance company. To be successful, it's not enough to be a great choreographer, you also have to become an entrepreneur. Over the four sessions, we had plenty of homework that included writing a vision statement, conceiving our “launch map,” practicing an elevator speech and a gentle reminder to do something nice for ourselves everyday.

Lately, I’ve been thinking “big.” At one level, my artistic vision is growing to require higher production values, more dancers, bigger arenas (literally—we’ll be performing in a stadium in India in December). There are also more opportunities and resources for larger companies. Growing may help us to become sustainable. I am thoroughly committed to expanding TLD, and this “incubator” has helped me articulate goals in this direction and clarify a strategy.

These are the amazing LADIES I met:

Bea Arthur is starting a members club for moms called “Me Time,” that is a fun solution to the isolation facing many new mothers.

Carrie Bell founded Madcapz (http://madcapz.net/), a company that manufactures and distributes colorful caps and visors. (They make great gifts!)

Stella Grizont envisions launching a space, tentatively called “Slide,” where grownups could have a fun experiential immersion in art and physical play.

Erica Jacobs is a jewelry designer and founder of Obsidian Jewels (www.obsidianjewels.com) One new interest is developing a line of “wellness” pieces.

Joanna Rodger is a dream baker working on recipes for a healthy cookie company. (Yum!)

Scosha Woolridge is a multi-talented artist who is a jewelry designer (www.scoshanyc.com), sculptor, animator and co-manager a studio/event space.

Nadia Stieglitz founded Mice at Play (http://themiceplay.blogspot.com/), a members club for women that hosts adventurous--even outrageous--events aimed at nurturing personal growth.

Janera Soerel, the group’s leader, is the founder of Janera (www.janera.com) an on-line magazine and social networking site for Global Nomads (for which I wrote a piece back in February about social kissing in The Netherlands: http://www.janera.com/janera_words.php?id=115)
An example of an attached audio file:

non-profit

Ladies Who Launch