Welcome, all you fabulous women, to the brand new, shiny and sparkly, MAWBBlog! Every month there will be a recap of the monthly Meet Ups, both morning and evening, as well as some of the other in-person MAWB events for all the members who are unable to attend. While the facebook group is incredibly active (more about that later), sometimes life and other obligations make it hard to get out to the events. This blog is going to keep everyone involved, virtually.
Welcome To The MAWB!
The MAWB is Mississauga and Area Women in Business, a networking group for women entrepreneurs from Mississauga and the surrounding communities. Whether they’re solopreneurs, employees of a larger organization looking to expand their network, or someone with an MLM as a side hustle or their main source of income, MAWBsters, as we refer to ourselves, come together to support and encourage each other, share ideas, and foster real relationships amongst members.
February marks the one year anniversary of the MAWB in its current incarnation. When Christine Hull, our MAWB Boss, took over a dormant Facebook group there were about 80 members and no one was active. We now have over 1400 members, with an impressive 80% active participation rate in the Facebook Group page. The first Meet Up had 16 attendees, and now we regularly sell out our meeting room with 60+ people. Tonight we had 55 people registered, with 18 members attending an event for the first time. Congratulations ladies! You have joined a great group of women. MAWBsters are enquiring, engaged, encouraging, and enthusiastic.
Upcoming Can’t-Be-Missed Events
While a lot of MAWB Activity takes place online, with the daily postings from our lovely and talented Admin, Laura Plummer, and also from our many members posting selfies from coffee dates, requests for recommendations, or just sharing their lives, we have several activities each month so we can meet face to face with the names we see on-screen. Information about upcoming events can be found in the Events tab of the Facebook page, but here are some highlights:
Please be aware that space is limited for a lot of the activities and they’ve been filling up fast, so make sure you pay and register early to reserve your spot.
The biggest thing to hit the MAWB, though, is the MAWB Retreat, taking place at Clonmel Castle in Port Dover, April 26, 27, and 28. Introduced with the comedic stylings of Donna Smith-Major, Farrah Murray-Snyed, Carrie Whiteduck, and Christine Hull, we learned a bit about what is planned. OMG, ladies, this is going to be incredible! We will have the entire property to ourselves, we will be fed well and constantly, it would appear, and we have activities and breakout sessions galore! You have to go and check out the details. It’s already more than half booked, so don’t hesitate to act on this.
EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), aka, Tapping
Stephenie Farrell, a fellow MAWBster, is an expert in EFT, which is a stress-relief and self-care technique. It is also easy to learn, non-invasive, and easy to apply on your own. Using the first two fingers of your hand, there are key tapping points on the body that you tap in sequence as a self-calming exercise. Stephanie walked us through these tapping points: outside edge of hand, top of head, top of eyebrow, outside edge of eyebrow, under eye, philtrum (you know, that thing between your nose and your lips?), the mentolabial sulcus (I looked this up—it’s the dent between the lower lip and the top of the chin. Cool!), sternum, and underarm. It was really interesting and left me wanting to know more. If you want to know more, contact Stephenie, or check out her website at www.stepheniefarrell.com.
After Stephenie’s presentation Christine facilitated a breakout session on stress management. Christine had a three questions for us to discuss within our group:
- How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations? Does it ever impact your work-life balance?
- Is stress ever a good thing? If so, how?
- What do you do when you get burnt out at work?
We generated some really thoughtful discussion, with some conflicting views. It made me sit back and think about how I deal with the stress in my life, and consider other tools for dealing with it. So long, cake! We have to break up!
We wrapped up with some final words of wisdom from Christine: It’s okay to say “No”. So important, but so often ignored. You don’t have to say yes to things you don’t want to do just because it’s expected of you. It’s okay to say No, and you don’t have to explain yourself to anyone.
Now go out there and book your coffee dates! Get to know some of the wonderful women you met tonight or have chatted with online. Meet one-on-one or in groups. Or go for a non-coffee date, lol! But definitely get out there and start building your relationships.
Have a great month! Talk to you all soon.
