Women’s Initiative Graduates “Popping-Up” and Sticking Around

By Nellie Stokeld, Partnership Development Associate, AmeriCorps VISTA

We here at Women’s Initiative for Self-Employment love to brag about the successes of our clients as they start and grow their businesses. That is why we are thrilled to see some of our graduates being recognized for their success and innovation in not one, but two, recent articles on Oaklandlocal.com.

The women featured in these articles are champions in the growing trend literally popping up in Downtown Oakland. Anyka Barber will be celebrating her gallery’s one year anniversary at her new location at 1427 Broadway, called Betti Ono Gallery, at this week’s First Friday Art Murmur. Anyka originally started her business as a pop-up gallery in the Marquee Lofts across from Fox Theater. She said she got the idea to follow the path to entrepreneurship after speaking to her friend and Women’s Initiative graduate, Erica Varize, who owns Evarize Cut And Sew Boutique in Berkeley. Her new gallery, now in a much bigger space, will be shared with yet another Women’s Initiative graduate,  Penelope Adibe, owner of Nneka and the former co-owner of the pop-up store OakCollective, in the same 1427 Broadway location. Rachel Konte, who had co-habited the OakCollective pop-up has now opened her own permanent location for Owl N Wood at 45 Grand Ave. Similarly, the article points out several more successful graduates, whose brick and mortars are reaching great success: Bakesale Betty’s Alison Barakat and Telegraph Avenenue’s Shoe Groupie, owned by Dion Bullock and Candice Littlefield.

The list could go on and on about the amount of Women’s Initiative graduates who are bringing energy and life to downtown Oakland; on any given lunch break I can come across four or five of our graduates’ businesses within a short walk from our offices on the corner of 17^th and Telegraph. The women featured in these articles, however, are part of a larger trend. Pop-up storefronts are becoming a popular and economically viable alternative to empty storefronts and high barriers to entrance for entrepreneurs. We’re happy to see these women seeking creative solutions to strengthen their businesses and enliven the neighborhood. Be sure to check them out in their new locations and Art Murmur celebrations this Friday!

And now you can find more of our graduates’ businesses in the Orange Pages, our online business directory newly available through our partnership with LocalOn.

Realities and Potentialities in Gender Equity

By Rachel Adler, Summer Intern

 
Alicia Robb of the Kauffman Foundation of Entrepreneurship wrote a recent post for the Forbes blog entitled "Women: It's Time to Own Your Potential."  This title represents the juxtaposition of challenge and promise that women entrepreneurs embody. 

As Robb describes, there is much work to be done towards gender equity in the business world.  "Women own less than 30 percent of all businesses and only 16 percent of businesses with paid employees," Robb states, and "Women-owned firms generate just 4 percent of total revenues, 6 percent of employment, and 4.5 percent of payroll."  Robb also links to a Kauffman Foundation video sketchbook which presents additional statistics about the success gaps between men- and women-owned businesses: women-owned businesses are growing more slowly and have less access to networks of capital than men-owned businesses, for example.

Robb's post reminded me of Anne-Marie Slaughter's controversial article published this month in the Atlantic Monthly, called "Why Women Still can't Have It All."  Slaughter's article deals more with the stories of women in positions of political authority, rather than exclusively women entrepreneurs, but there are many connections between the struggles and realities of women in these overlapping categories.  There are unique challenges for women working to succeed in business, political, and academic positions that men in similar positions do not face.  Slaughter's article calls out cultural concepts of time, family values, and the arc of a successful career, among others, as some of these unique challenges.  Robb points to a lack of female presence in investor networks and on boards of directors as others. 

These articles do a good job of presenting the realities of women's empowerment today.  They do not sugarcoat the situation: clearly, there is much work to be done to bring about greater gender equity in business, academic, political, and cultural worlds.  This is why organizations like Women's Initiative are so important.  Through the Simple Steps and SuccessLink programs, women from a variety of low-income backgrounds are empowered to enter the business world with the support of knowledgeable staff, experienced alumnae, and professional networks.  For example, through Connect Events, Women’s Initiative alumnae can network with successful business professionals as potential investors and advisors who can help them grow their businesses in a number of ways.  Through connections such as these, Women’s Initiative programs help narrow the gap between growth rates of men- and women-owned businesses.

Robb closes her article with notes of inspiration, listing several resources for women who want to launch high-growth ventures, become investors, or join boards of directors.  Slaughter, too, presents a number of ideas and innovations to counter the disparities she details earlier in the article.  There's a lot of work to be done, but with thinkers like Robb and Slaughter, and forces like Women's Initiative, there are many ways to move forward towards a more gender-equitable workforce and culture.