The Exchange
Buckle your seatbelt. It’s time for your business to takeoff.
The Exchange is the catalyst for women entrepreneurs who are ready to harness their true potential and take their businesses to the next level of growth and profitability. Offered over a three-year term, the heart of the experience begins with a tailor-made “Board”, designed to nourish your courageous spirit and bring out your very best. Boards will consist of 8-12 women entrepreneurs (also known as “Board Members”), who have been carefully selected to exchange knowledge and lessons learned along their business journey. Finally, your Board will have a “Chair” appointed (or “Growth Coach” for year 3); her wealth of experience as a successful businesswoman, combined with a passion for entrepreneurship, sets the stage for 7 months of enriched learning.
Through dynamic peer learning, retreats, advice from inspiring and well-seasoned experts, and networking opportunities, each part of this program is crafted to hone your business acumen and entrepreneurial nerve. While you are investing in your own personal growth and supporting other women owned business in your Board, you will also be positively impacting the gender gap that currently exists in the Canadian entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Applications are now closed.
More Information
The program will be delivered through monthly 2-hour hybrid sessions (in-person with the option to join virtually) starting in September 2022. These monthly sessions will be focused on working to complete a strategic growth plan for your business. Your Board will engage you through an exchange of stories where you share as much of your own success and strife as you are comfortable with. An expert may be invited to a session to share their knowledge with the opportunity for Q & A. Your Growth Coach will lead roundtable and accountability discussions to help you get the most from your experience in The Exchange.
We understand that building your network is as important as the knowledge you gain throughout the program. For this reason, we have introduced a networking component called “Exchange Meets” where you do precisely that: meet. While scheduled but not structured, enjoy virtual coffee meet ups in a relaxed atmosphere with fellow business owners who share the same zest for entrepreneurship as you do. We hope and genuinely believe that some of these new business relationships with other Board Members could last a lifetime. Exchange Meets is optional but highly encouraged and takes place virtually once a month (date and time to be determined).
In consideration of all the features and benefits that defines The Exchange, we feel you will find substantial value in the program.
The cost per participant is $375 (+GST) and includes a Changemaker membership.
Infused into the program are retreats designed to inspire your journey and bring you a feeling of connection to other Exchange Board Members and the WESK community. You will hear from keynote speakers who share stories of perseverance in how they built their businesses as well as what challenges they are facing now and into the future. With riveting programming that’s sure to keep you engaged, your knowledge as an entrepreneur will be strengthen with real life case studies unmatched by any simulation.
The Exchange is aptly named because it’s a place to exchange knowledge.
It was designed for women entrepreneurs to feel comfortable in exchanging their stories.
By exchanging our stories, we learn and grow from each other’s success and strife.
We exchange solutions to problems we may not yet have encountered.
We also exchange problems with what we thought were solutions that didn’t work out.
When we exchange, we can feel exposed, nervous, and maybe vulnerable.
If you do feel that way, you are doing something right.
It is then and only then that The Exchange gets it power.
The same way you will learn from another woman’s experience, she will receive wisdom from you.
That exchange is rarely as powerful as when shared through real experience.
No textbook can replace that.
So bring your experiences. All of them.
Together, we will exchange success.
All because you said yes to exchanging your story.
Meet the year 3 Exchange Growth Coaches! Utilizing their experience and passion for entrepreneurship, these established and successful women entrepreneurs have been selected to guide and coach our Exchange Board Members (participants) through their entrepreneurship journey.
In year three, each Growth Coach will lead their assigned cohort of 6 – 12 women entrepreneurs, grouped by revenue range, as they navigate through the program. The Growth Coach will provide insight and guidance to each cohort Board Member by facilitating monthly sessions where participants will work to complete their strategic growth plan.
Tracey Kowalchuk, Leadership Outside of the Box
Aimee Schulhauser, Schoolhaus Culinary Arts, Tangerine: The Food Bar, Catering by Tangerine, Slice Cafe
Karri Howlett, Karri Howlett Consulting
Questions?
If you have questions about The Exchange, contact us.
Stephanie Smith
Special Programs Coordinator
ssmith@wesk.ca
(306) 359-9723