Today we’d like to introduce you to Renata Bregstone.
Renata, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It all started when I moved from the city to the suburbs. With a 2-year-old and pregnant with my second, I had left a high-powered corporate career where a male-dominated executive team told me “no” when I asked for more flexibility and less travel during my first year of motherhood.
In addition, the move to the burbs left me helpless when it came to attending networking events. With most networking event hosted in the city, I was consistently stuck in rush hour traffic where I would arrive late, miss half the event that I paid for and let’s leave out the fact that most of these events were all about pushing business cards and totally and completely useless.
At that time, the book, The Stiletto Network came out. In this book, Pamela Ryckman author and speaker identified small women groups popping up across the U.S. where women in various industries would get together in small dinner groups, cocktails hours or other social of events enabling women to connect with one another in a personal manner thereby leading to professional connections.
With all the powerhouse women I met in the suburbs who were working full-time, part-time or wanted to get back not the workplace, I thought, “It’s time to launch a stiletto network”. Hence, Blazin’ Babes was born in 2015.
We launched with our first big event the summer of 2015 with our first big event at Guildhall in Glencoe, IL with Danni Allen, winner of Biggest Loser 14 as our featured speaker. Danni talked about setting goals and achieving these goals through resilience and having your teammates and girlfriends behind you as your supporters. It was all about women supporting women and having each other’s backs!
Thus far, the first chapter of Blazin’ Babes is based out of the Northshore of Chicago with over 120 members. We have hosted over 30 events, launched a networking website, became a mission-driven certified B Corporation and are seeking angel investors and venture capital funding to launch additional chapters nationwide! To learn more about us, go to www.blazinbabes.org.
Has it been a smooth road?
As an entrepreneur, it has been exhilarating and tough. I think if one has the passion and wholeheartedly believes in the mission and vision of your company and how you are helping others, that in itself will get you through the bumps in the road.
One major milestone for me was deciding to be a for-profit company versus a non-profit. I strongly believe in giving back to others and wanting our members to know that we care not only about helping our members with their career development but also that we want to do what we can to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves. There is always a way to make money and help others. This is why we became a corporation (www.bcorporation.net). We believe in “using business as a force for good”.
Another obstacle has been bootstrapping our business. With no current investment, we have utilized all our proceeds generated in our business and reinvested it back into a robust networking website where we can host webinars, allow members to communicate with one another via our private forums and create profiles so women can search with other members and make connections. The value that we are creating for women goes beyond events. We have plans to launch additional ways to create community and connections with powerhouse women making things happen in this world because we all know that when women stick together, great things can happen!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Blazin’ Babes story. Tell us more about the business.
Blazin’ Babes is a women’s professional networking organization where women come together in a social setting to network with one another to elicit business connections, opportunities for professional growth and offer guidance to other women in achieving their professional dreams and aspirations. We provide workshops, panel discussions, networking events and a networking website to allow women to connect on a social basis creating personal connections leading into professional relationships and opportunities. This sense of community that we have built over the past 2+ years has allowed our members to launch new business, create new jobs, return to work and generate new business opportunities and partnerships.
We are different from other women’s networking organizations for 3 reasons:
1. We give back. As a corporation (www.bcorporation.net), we believe in using business as a force for good. With members who are smart, driven and have a strong network, we are proud to help those in need.
2. We are social. Most networking events and organizations focus on pushing business cards in a stoic environment and do not foster a sense of inclusion and camaraderie. We believe that women create relationships on a personal basis, talking about their kids, their family, and their personal hobbies. Then the conversation switches to the professional realm, thereby creating genuine relationships and connections that are so powerful that they turn into long-term professional partnerships.
3. We are located in ethics’s suburbs. Most networking organizations are located in the city. We saw a need that was not being met and we went after it. We provide convenience for women. We provide social connections. We provide a platform to help women with their career. This is all done within a certain radius of one’s suburbs home where women can connect and unwind on a Thursday night with a glass of wine in hand and connect with other like-minded women and be back at home with their families on a Thursday night at 9:30pm.
We are most proud of the women in our network. These women are badass. From a PhD doctor who found a cure to leukemia to a yoga instructor that inspire women to take care of their bodies and minds on a daily basis, We have a diverse membership base that are killing is every day making a positive impact in the world and supporting one another regardless of what industry that they are in or what career goals that they have in their lives.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
We are seeking outside investors to grow Blazin’ Babes’ chapters nationally. We want to make networking easy and accessible for busy women who are either working full-time, seeking to return to work or who want to launch their own business.
Everything happens on your phone. Women are super busy and if they are ever on their computers, they are focused on work, not networking or making connections. We want to find the easiest and fastest way for women to find the closest networking event, connect with the perfect contact and enable the networking process to be easier, faster and more fun. We see this as the wave of the future if it is not already.
Pricing:
- Connect Membership ($15/month)
- Empower membership ($25/mth)
- Inspire Membership ($37.50/mth)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.blazinbabes.org
- Email: info@blazinbabes.org
- Instagram: https://twitter.com/BlazinBabesOrg
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlazinBabes/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlazinBabesOrg
- Other: www.blazinbabes.net
Image Credit:
Lynne Renee Photography
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