"Like many business owners, Patty Breeze doesn't have the benefit of a board of advisors to help her guide her company, but with the help of the Lexington Area Small Business Development Center, she may have found the next best thing.
Eighteen months ago, the SBDC launched the Peer-To-Peer Mentoring Group, a select circle of eight local female business owners who gather monthly to share insight, information and advice designed to help them succeed in business.
"I just felt like I needed to have fresh eyes and ears listening to my concerns regarding my financial services practice and some of the challenges I was facing," said Breeze, a mentoring group member who owns the insurance and investment planning firm Patty M. Breeze & Associates. "These women have become my board of directors, and they all come with different areas of expertise."
The eight women, who were selected to the group through an application process, are all owners of or partners in non-competing businesses, ranging from an accounting firm to an automotive operation. As part of the group's criteria, all the members have been in business for at least two years, and their companies have annual revenues ranging from at least $60,000 to $15 million.
"It's an opportunity for everyone to learn as well as to teach," said Dee Dee Harbut, director of special programs for the Kentucky Small Business Development Center and facilitator of the group. Harbut organized the group after having researched similar concepts in other states.
Although the peer-to-peer mentoring group does open networking avenues for participating local businesswomen, it offers more than a monthly opportunity to swap stories and business cards. Since the group was formed, the members have developed into a ready-made advisory board of like-minded (as well as gendered) local business leaders for each other. In addition to following regular educational agendas on topics designed to expand and share business knowledge and experience, any group member is welcome to bring her toughest business dilemmas to the table for a confidential discussion on her best course of action.
For Breeze, one of the advantages of the group is that it isn't just business - it's personal.
"This is a group I can go to and share my innermost feelings and ideas and know that these women will be very genuine in their comments back to me," Breeze said. "We have two hours of talking and sharing and listening. It's really nice to know you have a group that's not going to be judgmental, that is there to really help you in the decisions you need to make."
For Darlene Silvestri, co-owner of Avant Travel Agency, it's not difficult to get a woman's opinion on business. Silvestri works primarily with women in her office, but the mentoring group has given her some valuable outside perspective from trusted peers. The group has given solid advice, Silvestri said, on topics ranging from personnel issues to marketing techniques.
"We hit those topics head-on," Silvestri said, "And we can relate our personal situations in a highly confidential atmosphere, which is important."
"I think the best part has been establishing new contacts, not really even as clients, but just as women in business," Silvestri said. "I've gotten so much out of it."
While it might seem that such far-ranging professional fields would have little in common, as women who often juggle multiple family and work responsibilities, their business concerns share many commonalities, Harbut said.
"They share a lot of similarities, a lot of responsibilities, a lot of the same stresses and opportunities for growth," Harbut said.
"It's good for them just to be among people that have those same types of issues and situations to deal with."
The women-only group also ensures a common understanding of the female perspective on business, which can be hard to come by in some industries.
"It's hard owning and running your own business as a woman. You don't necessarily have the networks that some of your male counterparts have," Harbut said. "A lot of the time in a male-dominated industry, they don't necessarily have the mentors, or don't necessarily connect as well."
Despite the difficulties women might have in finding mentors who are in sync with their leadership styles and business needs, the number of women business owners in today's marketplace continues to grow at a rapid pace. According to the United States Small Business Administration, women own more than 9 million businesses and contribute $3.6 trillion to the national economy. In addition, the number of women-owned businesses in the United States grew 20 percent between 1997 and 2002, or twice the national average rate for all businesses, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Kentucky was not far behind that pace, with women-owned businesses within the state growing by 17 percent, from 65,965 to 77,159, during the same time period.
As more women join in the ranks of business ownership, practical and effective mentoring relationships can play a key role in ensuring their success, and thereby help boost the economic well-being of the business community as a whole, Harbut said.
With funding recently made available for second-stage businesses, Harbut hopes to see the program expanded to include more women business owners in Lexington, as well as at other Small Business Development Centers throughout the state.
"I really believe it helps to foster economic growth," Harbut said. "There's a demand for additional resources and tools to help that growth, and I just believe mentoring can be a key part of that."
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