This month will see the 2017 programme of Lioness Lean In events to be held in cities across the African continent kick off in great style as the team heads to Lilongwe in Malawi for the first time. The latest in the series of inspirational monthly Lioness Lean In events is set to take place this week on Wednesday 15th March, once again powered by Standard Bank, and hosted in the wonderful surroundings of the Latitude13 Hotel in Lilongwe.
The Lioness Lean In events are proving to be a huge hit with women entrepreneurs who come together in key cities to ‘lean in’ and listen to successful women business brand builders share their stories, to inspire one another, and to network and connect for business success.
"Put women entrepreneurs in a room together, the networking starts immediately, the noise level rises as interesting conversations take place, and great things happen on the business front - its inspirational!”
- Melanie Hawken, founder & CEO of Lionesses of Africa
Today’s lunch event in Lilongwe, Malawi, promises to be a great one, co-hosted by Dr Margaret Kubwalo-Chaika, Head of Personal and Business Banking, Standard Bank, Malawi, and Lionesses of Africa founder and CEO, Melanie Hawken. The event will also hear from two highly successful Malawian women entrepreneurs who will be coming along to share their personal business building stories, to network with other women business owners, and to talk about how they have achieved success and overcome the challenges along the way. These include Michelle Mbilizi, founder of Marcus Hills and Absolute Furniture; and Jetto Myaba, founder and MD of Mwaya Enterprises.
“Every woman entrepreneur has a dream and a passion - and these are the two basic ingredients for building great businesses. But it’s not enough to simply dream - sometimes, it takes a spark to ignite an idea and to make it a reality - to build a business that has integrity and can go the distance. So today, take the first step to realizing that dream.”
- Dr Margaret Kubwalo-Chaika, Head of Personal and Business Banking, Standard Bank, Malawi
Lionesses of Africa founder and ceo, Melanie Hawken, says of the Lioness Lean In event series: “There is a real energy at all our Lioness Lean In events across the African continent, as women entrepreneurs at all stages of their business journeys get the opportunity to network and connect with one another, share stories, swop ideas, and of course, do business with one another. I am looking forward to meeting the truly inspirational women entrepreneurs of Malawi who are helping to create a new and exciting spirit of enterprise in the country.”
The Lioness Lean In events are based on a successful networking and speaker presentation format that is highly popular with women entrepreneurs in Africa, and Lionesses of Africa has been rolling these events out, city by city, for the past 12 months. However, 2017 will see a record number of events taking place, organized in partnership with Standard Bank, in different locations around the continent. The format of each Lioness Lean In is a three hour event, commencing with networking, followed by inspirational guest speakers sharing their own entrepreneurial journeys and experiences; often a guest woman artisan entrepreneur is invited to speak and share their brand building story, presenting their unique handcrafted products to the audience; a presentation from the in-country Standard Bank senior executive follows; and the event is rounded-off with more networking over coffee and cake.
To coincide with the Lioness Lean In launch event in Malawi, the month of March will feature the startup stories of successful and truly inspirational women business and brand builders from across the country.
To find out more about Lionesses of Africa, visit the website www.lionessesofafrica.com or follow on Twitter @LionessesA and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lionessesofafrica/
Read startup stories of Malawian women who've launched...
Alinafe Fridah Mapwesera is the founder of Nanas closet in Malawi, a business launched in 2014 and creating beautiful bridal dresses and other bespoke wear for those memorable wedding occasions. Customers have come to know Alinafe for creating beautiful wedding dresses that celebrate African culture and she sells her designs all over the world. She happily mixes elegance with different cultures in her designs, whilst always taking care of the environmental impact of her work which is important to Alinafe. For example, she gave away 100 dresses to kids made from old materials. Her work is about making things well, keeping traditions alive, and helping the planet.