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Thinx has emerged from the chaos of receiving a lot of negative press recently to that of a company with a clear global mission: making underwear products for people with periods and breaking taboos around the topic.

Are they thinking of new growth?

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December 3, 2019

Dear Friends of wegg®:

“Every time a bell rings, an angel gets her wings!”

This memorable line from the beloved holiday film It’s a Wonderful Life (with a change of pronoun) reminds us how important it is to help others.

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The U.S. has been ranked the best country for fostering women entrepreneurs. 

Ms. Andrea Sreshta is co-founder of LuminAID, a company that makes portable, long-lasting, solar-powered lighting solutions. Among other notable achievements, LuminAID was featured on Season 6 of ABC’s Shark Tank and received offers from all five Sharks.

W = wegg®
A = Andrea Sreshta

W: Welcome Andrea Sreshta of @LuminAIDLab.

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Habso Mohamud has written an empowering book for children around the world. 

“Every morning,” K-Tec Systems CEO Cathy Koch says, “I put on a bracelet that says: ‘She Believed She Could, and So She Did.’ I believe a woman must believe ‘she can’ from the day she opens her business.”

Koch’s U.S.-based K-Tec Systems manufactures and assembles custom-designed thermocouples and wire harnesses.

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Our 11/13 weggchat® is apart of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2019. 

A new analysis by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) shows that if women and men participated equally as entrepreneurs, global GDP could rise by approximately 3% to 6%, boosting the global economy by $2.5 trillion to $5 trillion.  However:

… unleashing the power of women entrepreneurs will require action from a range of groups,

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On October 11th the world, and wegg®, celebrated girls everywhere. 

What if there was a clinical trial that could save your life, but traveling to the clinic for the procedure is out of the question because leaving home could compromise your health?

This is the kind of scenario that drove Gail Adinamis to found GlobalCare Clinical Trials.

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Join us on 11/13 for a weggchat™ with Andrea Sreshta, co-founder of LuminAID. 

If you have a question about the financial risks and rewards of international expansion, ask Moji Eagan.

As senior vice president and relationship manager for the Business Banking market in Commercial Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, a sponsor of Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global™,

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Learn top tips from women entrepreneurs who launched their global businesses after they became mothers. 

Ms. Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has returned to work after giving birth to baby Archie five months ago.  What’s been on her mind and what has she been working on?  Try a charity clothing collection, which has the mantra of: “Empower another woman and be part of her success story.

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Join us for our wegg® workshop, with Loree Sandler, on Wednesday, September 18th, hosted by Associated Bank (525 West Monroe Street, 15th Floor) from 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Central time. 

A new generation of female entrepreneurs are starting businesses in South Korea due to glass ceilings in a conservative country’s biggest companies. Frustrated in their climb up the corporate ladder in a male-dominated business culture, they choose to find another way up.  

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It is no secret that running your own business can be a stressful and taxing undertaking for any entrepreneur, but it does not have to be. 

Bank of America Private Bank’s newest white paper, Women’s Entrepreneurial Journeys: Profiles of Leadership in an Era of New Opportunities, profiles eight courageous and resilient women who share their personal stories and the lessons they learned building successful businesses.

The stories highlight eight different entrepreneurial journeys that fall into four different categories:

1. Founded and sold.

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How Annette Tanner founded Broadway Dreams, a not-for-profit performing arts program, that trains young people around the world. 

Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, does not have a subway system so taxies are a very popular way to get around. It is the women of Abu Dhabi who are taking the initiative and coming up with an efficient solution to help them get around: women-only family taxies that offer transportation,

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Girlboss founder, Sophia Amoruso, on ‘failing forward’ and her unconventional road to success. 

TXF talks to Makiko Toyoda, acting head of Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP) and Jessica Schnabel, global head, Banking on Women, Financial Institutions Group (FIG), the women who are spearheading the development of International Finance Corporations’s (IFC’s) latest initiative to raise access to trade finance for women-owned businesses to help them grow globally,

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Thanks to the startup Nata Pura, the Pastel de Nata has become a lucrative international trend. 

We could not help but notice the tie-in to wegg® women concerning the recent movie “Maiden.”  How so?  The “Maiden” is based on a true story that goes like this:

An all-female crew in a virtually all-male sport challenges the open ocean,

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After building GlamST and being acquired by Ulta, Agustina Sartori shares her advice for other women in business. 

wegg® is grateful and thankful to the time, effort, and impact our esteemed sponsors have made to our nonprofit and to the hundreds, if not thousands, of women entrepreneurs and business owners who have also gained from their support to our programs.

To IBM,

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The fast fashion giants of the U.S. and Europe hurt the sustainable practices of women artisans in Guatemala. 

In the article, Unique Barriers Face Women-Owned Businesses, authors Maribel A. Dano-Luna (pictured left), Senior Researcher, and Rose Ann Camille (pictured right), Research Associate, Asian Institute of Management Rizalino S. Navarro Policy Center for Competitiveness, discuss the challenges women business owners face when exporting.

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The most inspiring thing about Anikiti Bose? Her $1 billion dollar start-up is built on helping other women entrepreneurs succeed. 

wegg® wishes you a warm and meaningful Memorial Day 2019.

If half of a country’s entrepreneurs are not afforded the same baseline of education to work from, then those entrepreneurs will not succeed as quickly as their counterparts.

Here is an excerpt from our hashtag #weggchat (follow @weggtoday) held on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. Central time.

Learn How to Expand Your Global Reach Online

Our weggchat™ guest is John Yunker, co-founder Byte Level Research and wegg® Specialist.  

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The 5 things you need to do right now to stay on top of the changing business market.

A conversation with Lisa Victoria Waller, VP, BDG International, Inc., on how to achieve a successful international shipment.

Moj Mahdara, Beautycon Media Co-Founder and CEO, gives 6 tips for women trying to succeed in business.

Female entrepreneurship is on the rise globally.  Find out why.

There are ways that all of us can amplify the voices of the women around us. 

wegg® is about to change the landscape for women business owners from being risk-averse to having the confidence to go for it on international expansion—with our support.  Learn how.

The key to furthering the entrepreneurship of Indian women? Empower them legally and economically. 

Managing director of GloBIS, Louise Kern, helps businesses make the right choice in international expansion.  We refer to her as the “truth whisperer” on global companies.

In the following interview, Kern, who presented a fabulous wegginar® for us on avoiding scams,

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Happy International Women’s Day from wegg®! 

The theme for International Women’s Day 2019 is “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change.” All of these ideas are principles that wegg® has aimed to instill in the lives of women entrepreneurs year round, since 2008. 

For International Women’s Day 2019, 

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We are so excited about our next wegg workshop® March 13th and hosted by Associated Bank (525 West Monroe Street, 15th Floor) from 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Central time.

Here’s why we cannot contain our enthusiasm.

Kiesque CEO and founder Jacqueline Smith will be sharing her experience running a global small business and expect all attendees (that is why seating is limited!) to engage in a conversation.  

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“Wegg® makes amazing educational opportunities available to women!  Where else would a person find access to so many experts?  I truly believe women business owners who avail themselves of wegginars®, weggchats® and wegg® workshops, will find a path to taking their businesses global.

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Here is an excerpt from our hashtag #weggchat (follow @weggtoday) held on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. Central time.

Starting Up and Taking a Personal Care Product Global

weggchat™ guest: Jacqueline Smith, CEO
Kiesque (www.Kiesque.com)

weggchat moderator: Laurel Delaney,

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On Wednesday February 6th at 11:00 am CST,  Jacqueline Smith will be leading our first weggchat™ of 2019 on Twitter. Smith is the CEO of Kiesque, and her chat will cover “Starting Up and Taking a Personal Care Product Global.”

Why should you participate?

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You can scratch your head and think, I’m no Facebook founder yet we all have one thing in common when we start a business.  We take a leap of faith to do what we love and shoot obsessively for a successful outcome. In the case of Mr.

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wegg® wants to help women everywhere transform their passions into global brands. Making the dreams of women entrepreneurs a reality is wegg®’s purpose. We are here for you. 

You might be wondering, “How could anyone change their hobby into an international business?”

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While Solange Nisingizwe was on vacation, she designed clothes for herself.  When she returned to Switzerland, she met so many people who admired her outfits and were asking where they could get similar designs that she began making them on a small scale until the number grew.

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In 2019, wegg® wants to help all women entrepreneurs, from the seasoned to the aspiring, achieve their business ambitions. We can help you go global, and assist with the obstacles that usually prevent women from reaching their full business potential.
What are some of the barriers women face when trying to start an entrepreneurial career,

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What a fantastic year here at Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global™!  We’ve accomplished a lot in 2018 (check it out here) and we look forward to delivering even more impactful educational programs in 2019.

Thank you for your readership and active engagement to wegg®.

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wegg® wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday! We will see you in the New Year, with wegginar® NO. 34 on Wednesday, January 9, 2019. This wegginar® will be presented by  Laurel Delaney, President, wegg® and Founder, GlobeTrade.com. Join us at 11:00 am CST, noon Eastern for Laurel Delaney’s Global Trade Trends Report 2019.

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Three trailblazing Australian entrepreneurs — Samantha Wills, Emma Isaacs and Lizzy Abegg —  have built global businesses from the ground up.  Do they have something you don’t?  Highly unlikely.  What they discovered in their global journey is this:

We just have to refuse to buy into the stories we tell ourselves about why we can’t,

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Everyone knows the classic adage, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

But wegg® knows, “Give a woman a fish, and you feed her for a day.

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Andy Molinsky is a Professor at Brandeis University’s International Business School. Andy helps people develop the insights and courage necessary to act outside their personal and cultural comfort zones when doing important, but challenging, tasks in work and life. His work has been featured in HBR,

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“I am in pursuit of global reach and purpose. I’m continually asking myself… Is my work helping our world become a better place?” 

-Laura Fairman, Design and Technology Lead for wegg®

Meet wegg®’s Design and Technology Lead,

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According to Susana Martinez-Restrepo, PhD., CoreWoman and Geri Stengel, Ventureneer, authors of “Hispanic Women Entrepreneurship: Understanding Diversity Among Hispanic Women Entrepreneurs,” the number of Hispanic women-owned businesses is growing at a higher rate than businesses owned by other groups,

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This past Wednesday, wegg® had the pleasure of hosting the Industry Segment Manager of Retail and Consumer Goods for UPS, Cristina Bandal. Bandal lead one of our free online wegginars®, which provide monthly, accessible education to women entrepreneurs everywhere. Bandal’s talk covered how to overcome the obstacles that people face when trying to sell their products to the global market.

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Panelists at the recent World Trade Organization’s Public Forum event in Geneva, chaired by UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General Isabelle Durant, asked which data were necessary for formulating gender-responsive trade policies and how to improve their availability.

Analysis of global value chains – the complex international supply and manufacturing chains along which modern goods pass – can show the important part played by women in global trade but which is missed by trade statistics alone.

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A recent Wall Street Journal article reports that, “Girlboss, a media company targeting women entrepreneurs, plans to introduce a paid, professional social-networking site called Girlboss Collective in January.” This new platform will be structured for the ever evolving career paths of millennial women,

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Bob Marovich, Director of Development, wegg®, is one mighty talented individual. He has spent three decades in nonprofit fund development for colleges and universities, secondary schools, museums, public broadcasters, animal welfare agencies, social service agencies, out-of-school programs, and healthcare.  His skills include grantwriting, annual fund,

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Registration is still open for our FREE November 7th, 2018 wegginar®, with presenter Cristina Bandal, Industry Segment Manager of Retail and Consumer Goods for UPS.

Cristina has an extensive career with UPS, working within the marketing functions.

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Bonnie Chui, contributor for Forbes, writes a thoughtful piece about how female entrepreneurs are going global and that new policy attention may close the gap. At wegg®, we are closing that gap — whether there is new policy attention or not.

We not only serve women entrepreneurs by educating them on how to go global,

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The Female Entrepreneurs Institute has reported that there is a new generation of wildly successful business owners, who are all under thirty-five years of age. The ‘millennipreneur’ model of business has proven to be advantageous worldwide. The Institute explains,

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Our next wegginar® presenter is Katie Kollhoff, CEO of water purification startup NUMiX, a business with rich marketplace potential.  In just six months, here’s what Katie and her team has achieved:

• Captured the US Department of Energy’s Cleantech University Prize (Cleantech UP) at the 2018 Rice Business Plan Competition on April 7.  

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This past Wednesday September 12th, President and CEO of Lifeway Kefir, Julie Smolyansky lead a wegg® workshop about the importance of following your gut on business and personal endeavors. Her inspiring talk covered the journey of Lifeway beginning in her parent’s basement,

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According to the report, “Changing the Narrative:  Women as Negotiators and Leaders, “There is powerful evidence that women continue to struggle in their careers relative to men, both in their pursuit of senior leadership positions and of equal pay.”  That’s why a lot of women are choosing entrepreneurship and business ownership:  to avoid an obstacle that seemingly won’t go away and to take control of their careers.

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On a global scale, women are less likely than men to start their own businesses. This is evident from the above graph, taken from the “Policy Brief on Women’s Entrepreneurship.” The data shows that in every EU country,

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In Michelle Martin’s recent Forbes article, “How Mastercard Could Close A $300 Billion Credit Gap For Women Entrepreneurs,” she reports,

“As of 2017, 70% of women-owned MSMEs [micro, small and medium-sized enterprises] in the developing world lack access to adequate financing,

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In a recent East Asia Forum article, “Unleashing the capabilities of women-led SMEs in Indonesia,” author Naimah Talib reports that 43 percent of the 26 million small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia are women led or women owned (WSMEs). Not only do these WSMEs make up for ten percent of the country’s GDP,

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In a recent Forbes article entitled, “What It Will Take For Women Entrepreneurs To Take Over The World,” author Carrie Kerpen explores what disadvantages women entrepreneurs face in our current market. Kerpen interviews Margaret Donnell, chief marketing officer of Capital One’s Small Business Bank,

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A recent article by Oxfam recounts the inspiring story of Zainab, the first woman in Jalawla, Iraq to sell plants at the town market.

In December 2015, Zainab opened her own plant nursery on the side of her house in Jalawla, Iraq. It was destroyed by ISIS one week later.

A 2014 census report conducted by the National Institute of Statistics in Rwanda,  revealed that only 26.8 percent of sole proprietorship establishments are owned by women, compared to 73.2 percent owned by men.

What are the reasons for this imbalance?

In Donah Mbabazi’s article for “The New Times,” …

According to the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, In 2016, 97% of all exporters in the U.S. were small and medium-sized companies. The other statistic from this study that can’t be ignored is that only 12% of businesses that export are owned by women. 

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We are delighted to announce that Lucy Brooks has joined our WEGG team as a Communications Intern.  She will be responsible for editing written content, managing our social media accounts, and composing blog posts.

A little bit about Lucy:

Originally from Atlanta,

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WEGG knows that women rule the world but did you know that in Nigeria, they also rule the sky?  A Nigerian airline has taken a step to fight for women empowerment. The airline celebrated her first ever all female crew to fly one of her planes.

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In Europe, women outnumber men but they account for only 22 percent of entrepreneurs.  Why is that?  According to Tiziana Pompei, Deputy Secretary-General of the Italian Chamber of Commerce:

“Women are currently focusing their (entrepreneurial) activities in sectors such as commerce,

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Dalene Wray, Managing Director of OBE Organic, an Australian company specializing in organic beef, wins the Women in Export Scholarship 

Ms. Wray has pioneered sustainability and disease management programs, aimed at boosting farmer productivity,

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Ever wonder how to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the marketing efforts from your team?  You are not alone.  Every small business owner struggles with that.  You reach a point where you say to yourself, “I absolutely must automate the process!”  

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According to the report The Middle Market Power Index:  Economic Might of Middle Market Firms, “Exporting is also increasingly important to middle market firms. While only 6.9% of middle market firms currently export, this number has grown steadily in recent years.

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by Laurel Delaney, President, Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global (WEGG)

In a manifesto I authored in 2004, “Shaking Things Up. Making Things Happen,” I wrote, “In the future, there will be two kinds of enterprises: those that go global and those that die.” Companies should be going global,

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If you are located in the United States, it is Memorial Holiday weekend where we honor those who have served our nation.  We thought it would also be a good time to catch up on easy and productive listening to a few fantastic WEGGinars™ we have hosted over the past couple of months,

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Kathrin Bussmann, Ph.D. is someone that everyone should know. She is Founder and Principal of Verbaccino and has been hosting the famous Worldly Marketer Podcast for as long as I can remember, more than 100 episodes,

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Think your business is too small for globalization?  If so, change your attitude because according to Jeremy Melis, Director of Small Business Marketing at UPS, size doesn’t matter.

“The world’s electronic commerce system has transformed retailers into e-tailers,

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Note: Don’t miss our next WEGGinar™ 5/9/18 on “Building Your Global Brand Through Podcasting” and presented by Kathrin Bussmann, Ph.D., founder and principal, Verbaccino. Register here. Event is free of charge but you must register in advance to attend.

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As we are fully aware through our work at WEGG, opportunities for women entrepreneurs have been growing globally at a fast pace.  Take India, for example, where the number of women entrepreneurs is mushrooming, but it is very small when compared to the opportunities the market has to offer.

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In 1984, Rosemary McFadden was the first woman president of any stock or futures exchange in the United States when she became president of the New York Mercantile Exchange, a.k.a. the NYMEX.  Why is this relevant to WEGG?  Because Rosemary went on to manage a staff of over 400 people,

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In the video above Julia Knight, founder of Julia Knight Collection, talks about how to make the ordinary extraordinary.  In her WEGGinar™, she discusses what led her to start her business and grow it global.

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Note: Don’t miss our next WEGGinar™ 5/9/18 on “

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Who hasn’t heard of Kathrin Bussmann?  Oh come on now — let me walk you out of that cave of yours :-).  She runs Verbaccino and hosts the world famous Worldly Marketer Podcast and we are lucky enough to have her present “Building Your Global Brand Through Podcasting”

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Are you based in India and thinking of starting a business?  StartupWind, Inc., a digital platform for ideation, design thinking, business model canvassing and business planning  — has on-boarded over 6,000 women entrepreneurs across India as a platform partner of IIM Bangalore’s Women Startup Programme that will provide training,

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There are some who dream of starting a business and others who dare to do it and that’s Julia.  In her case, she aspired to be a great hostess but instead created an artful collection — bowls, platters, trays, cake stands,

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It shouldn’t surprise you that women entrepreneurs and business owners in Ireland are leading the way in exports and Enterprise Ireland CEO Julie Sinnamon (pictured far left) is behind the push to get more Irish businesses into global markets.

In Ireland,

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In honor of International Women’s Day, S. Bronfman Chair in Management at McGill University Nancy Adler, is offering  free of charge a download of her article, “Women Leading Globally: What We Know, Thought We Knew, and Need to Know about Leadership in the 21st Century”,

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Just the facts:

• Women are driving the global economy.
• Women are responsible for $20 trillion U.S. dollars in annual consumer spending.
• 28% of registered SMEs globally are started by women.
• Investing in women entrepreneurs and business owners is a huge market opportunity.

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Note: Don’t miss our next WEGGinar™ 3/7/18 on “Becoming Your Own Global Distribution Solution” and presented by Rebecca Herwick, President/CEO, Global Products Inc. Register here. Event is free of charge but you must register in advance to attend.

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CamMi Pham, Partner, ThinkRenegade, gave an insightful presentation on “Dare to be BOLD!  Here’s How” for WEGG early in the month. In case you missed it, dare to sign up because it is free of charge thanks to our generous sponsors,

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Rebecca Herwick is the President and CEO of Global Products, Inc (GPI). She has over 35 years experience in distribution and manufacturing of promotional and licensed products and over 19 years experience in international distribution of non-refrigerated commodities.

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What do you do when your brand recognition is low despite the fact that you have thousands of customers all over the world?  That was the challenge Intuit had but in their case, they have more than 46 million customers.  Yes, that’s right —

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Through collaboration and a passion to help small businesses succeed, EXIM Bank and Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global (WEGG) were able to arm KOVAL Distillery with the resources and support needed to exceed its global business growth goals.

One of WEGG’s members,

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