Latest Entrepreneurs Monthly Meet-Up sees record attendance

Published on

Over 100 participants came along to November’s Entrepreneurs Monthly Meet-up which saw the entrepreneurial community continue to grow.  The meet-up was organised by Richard Leighton from the Brett Centre for Entrepreneurship and held at LEAF Bold Street on Thursday 16 November which coincided with Global Entrepreneurship Week #gew2023 and LEAF’s 15th birthday celebrations.

November’s event was focused on female entrepreneurship and run in collaboration with Molly Kelly of Bridge the Gap, an organisation that empowers women by providing the knowledge and skills to kickstart new ventures.  

Molly invited four successful female entrepreneurs to share the ways they tackled challenges they faced when starting-up their businesses.  The panel also shared practical insights on the different ways to get started, how they obtained investment, and tips for building resilience.

Richard Leighton, Entrepreneur in Residence for the Brett Centre said it was “lovely to run a female focused meet-up and for that to be held during Global Entrepreneurship Week

It’s the most ambitious meet-up that’s been run in the 18-months - we're really pleased with the outcome and numbers of individuals that are interested in and supportive of seeing more women becoming entrepreneurs.

Molly did brilliant job organising and facilitating all the conversations with the super impressive female founders.  We’ve received loads of positive feedback - so the future looks very bright for Bridge the Gap, female entrepreneurship and the meet-ups”.

A huge thanks goes to Molly Kelly for all her hard work with co-ordinating the event, on behalf of the Brett Centre for Entrepreneurship and for overseeing the panel discussions.

Molly commented on the event’s success "our panellists were honest and authentic in their conversation about not just the successes, but the hurdles too. It's important for upcoming entrepreneurs to understand that the path to success isn't linear.  Events like these are crucial in bridging the gap between aspirations and realities for women in business.  

The diverse experiences shared by our panellists highlighted the multifaceted challenges in the world of entrepreneurship, whilst celebrating the successes.  The event itself was a testament to what women can achieve when given the right tools and a supportive community."

Other guest speakers on the panel included Amy Yarker, co-founder/director of The Fermentation Station, and Katherine Jones, director of ThinK Wine Group, which provides reduced-calorie, low-sugar and vegan wines. They discussed their entrepreneurial journeys from starting up their businesses, their successes, failures and what they learnt along the way as well as their plans for the future. 

Isabel Pollen - Performance Under Pressure, actress and provider of professional coaching and leadership services and Lisa Jones - Calm Charm/The Lisa Jones Approach, founder and passionate advocate for building resilience and supporting mental health, rounded off the night by talking about the importance of resilience, mental health and mindset when setting up and running a new business.

Speaker Isabel Pollen commented - "this meet-up with Bridge the Gap was special for many reasons - from the moment I walked in, I knew it was going to be something special.  There was a real passion in the room to explore this incredibly important focus on female entrepreneurship.  It was a privilege to meet the other speakers to share our stories in such an intimate venue - the result was that the audience engaged in a very intentional way. I very much look forward to witnessing the ongoing success of this platform and I feel incredibly privileged to be a part of it."

The event gave ample opportunity for those that attended to network against a great backdrop at LEAF whilst listening to the North-West based female artist Fionnuala McBride who played an acoustic set during a break from the panel discussions.

Having attended the event, Vaishali Panwar, from MSc Marketing at the University of Liverpool commented "the Entrepreneurs' Monthly Meet-up is the best way to get acquainted with what it takes to be an entrepreneur.  It was inspiring to hear from four successful women entrepreneurs who talked about their entrepreneurial journey and how they established their businesses."

The Entrepreneurs Monthly Meet-up

The Entrepreneurs Monthly Meet-up is a University HEIF-funded initiative run by the Brett Centre for Entrepreneurship in collaboration with six colleges and universities in the Liverpool city region:

The event seeks to connect and expose both entrepreneurial students and graduates to the very best entrepreneurs and independent businesses in the Liverpool City Region and beyond.

Join our next event!

Join our festive Entrepreneurs Monthly Meet-up special which takes place 5-7pm on Thursday 14 December at Yamama, Parliament Street in the Baltic Triangle.