Small business owner Danielle Wiebe is working hard to help women, in a nutshell, run the world one community at a time. “I wanted to create a safe place for women to ask questions and learn about the world of business and also network without feeling like they had to put up a front of being wildly successful,” said Wiebe, founder of Business Babes Collective. “I wanted this space to be open to all women, no matter where they were at in their business.”
What started as a monthly get-together with a few business women in Wiebe’s home of Vancouver, Canada quickly became a full-fledged, global networking platform for women business owners and, soon after, made a home on the West Coast. Business Babes Collective, officially launched by Wiebe in 2015, added a chapter in San Diego in 2017 but has been on hiatus since last summer, until now. To reintroduce Business Babes to San Diego, Wiebe and new chapter leader Rachel Valenteros will hold their Summer Series Launch Party at the La Jolla Women’s Club (7791 Draper Ave.) Thursday, June 27. It will be the first event of three this summer, focusing on the topic of “Collaboration over Competition” and how business owners can work together in “mutually beneficial partnerships,” as Wiebe puts in, to grow their businesses.
“It’s going to be fun to get the energy and momentum back and see everyone come together after a year,” said Valenteros, who started her own online tropical and coastal vintage shop last year.
“I’ve followed their group on Instagram for a little over a year now, and I love the idea of bringing business babes together to build a community versus feeling like we are each other’s competition,” added Auriel O’Niell, Event Manager for La Jolla Woman’s Club. “On top of that, this is a Women’s Club so what better way to support other women?”
Business Babes Collective also has a chapter branch in Seattle, as well as two others in the Canadian cities of Toronto and Victoria. Their focus is three-fold, centering on business education, community and making an impact on the world through women-owned businesses. While Wiebe, a social media expert, says Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn have done a great job getting women in touch and connected, in-person networking should never take a back seat. “There’s something special about meeting those women in person and being able to build a real connection,” said Wiebe, who will be a guest panelist at the upcoming event. “It’s cool to be able to have events like this that get women together who are all entrepreneurial and who have similar goals and dreams for themselves and let them know they’re not in this alone.”
San Diego Business Babe’s Summer Launch Party will host two additional guest speakers, native to San Diego: Jodie Alonso, founder of The Local Bazaar, and Dianne Manansala-Ringpis, who established her own Filipino restaurant and dessert shop called SNOICE. The event, starting at 6 p.m., will also showcase local clothing and jewelry vendors, plenty of food and desserts, a cocktail hour, photo booths, Q&A sessions with panelists, raffle giveaways at the end of the night. “It’ll be like a massive business party,” said Valenteros, who hopes that Business Babes, together with The La Jolla Women’s Club, can create a strong, connected network of women entrepreneurs in San Diego. “I want people to be inspired and have that spark for business. Sometimes, as a business owner, you can fall into a rut where you don’t know what your next step is. I feel that having this community, coming together for the same goals and being comfortable around each other, is a necessity.”
Tickets for San Diego Business Babes’ Summer Series Launch Party are $65 and can be purchased on their website, businessbabescollective.com. The event is open to all women and lasts from 6 to 9 p.m. Locations and times for the July and August Business Babes events have yet to be finalized. Business Babes Collective Instagram: @businessbabesco San Diego Business Babes Instagram: @sdbusinesssbabes