It’s been just over a year since Kerry Ramsay got the Fresh Idea Collective (FIC) off the ground, but that year has been productive, helpful and, perhaps most importantly, supportive.
For those who don’t know, FIC is a Stratford-based support network for women-identifying entrepreneurs across the Perth County region who are launching, growing and scaling their businesses. The goal, according to Ramsay, is to shine a spotlight on woman-led enterprises, while equipping and engaging them for business success.
And for those who do know, it’s more.
“Led by myself, the Fresh Idea Collective hosts face-to-face gatherings for female entrepreneurs in a different venue – most of them woman-owned – each month, and the purpose of gathering is to create new connections and spark meaningful conversations about everything from marketing and finance to our mental health and wellness as business owners,” Ramsay said. “With only 18 per cent of registered businesses in Canada owned by women, there is a need to address the specific challenges faced by women when it comes to business growth and success. We are able to do so each month in a safe and respectful environment.”
Some of those challenges include access to funding, mentorship gaps, work-life integration, health and safety, gender bias and social stereotypes. Ramsay and the FIC have been able to forge partnerships that include Scotiabank Women Initiative, Perth County, investStratford, Stratford Perth Centre for Business and more. In addition to the monthly meet-ups, FIC hosts masterminds every three months as well as organizing one-on-one business mentorship. The aim is to give women a space that promotes their comfort to cultivate relationships and skills that are necessary for their businesses to thrive.
“Many of our attendees had never attended a networking event before they became involved with FIC,” Ramsay said. “Like myself, many are introverts who found regular networking events didn’t always meet their needs. I like to say we intentionally design networking events for women who love to hate networking.”
Ramsay and her family moved to Stratford from Kingston in 2022, and she was already supporting women entrepreneurs on a full-time basis through her role as project manager of the Women’s Entrepreneur Strategy at Queen’s University. It didn’t take long to see the need in her new hometown.
“After living here for a year, people kept introducing me to local women who were running businesses and who were looking to connect with other women entrepreneurs,” she said. “So I decided to hold a one-time meet-up downtown to bring people together. The event sold out quickly, and since then we’ve gone on to host 12 other sold-out events with more than 260 individuals taking part. Word of mouth is a powerful thing.”
The collaborations have been a big part of the FIC success, getting involved with nearly 50 of them with various woman-owned businesses and organizations. Ramsay held up their work with Home & Company earlier this year as one of their many success stories.
“It was our ‘Ask the ExpHERt’ event which we held at Home & Company – we had four women on site as business experts in fields such as law, finance, marketing and real estate,” she said. “Our attendees benefitted from getting to know these women personally, and the business professionals themselves benefitted from the exposure and connections made throughout the evening.”
According to statistics from the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, only 18.4 per cent of businesses in Canada are majority owned by women, and women entrepreneurs lag behind men in earnings – 37.1 per cent earn less than $50,000 annually compared to 31.7 percent of male entrepreneurs; 10.9 per cent of women entrepreneurs earn more than $150,000, compared to 14.8 per cent of men. Access to financing remains a top concern for women entrepreneurs, especially those with an intersectional identity, who face even greater hurdles in accessing financing, and women founders receive only four per cent of venture capital funding in Canada.
“By building a community of focused networking, training and development for women entrepreneurs, I hope to inspire women across our region to grow and scale their businesses in a way that enriches the entire local business ecosystem,” Ramsay said. “Diversity and inclusion are core values for FIC, and we aim to prioritize representation wherever possible. This includes diverse and inclusive representation when it comes to our panels, speakers, trainers, experts and attendees. Even something as simple as ensuring diversity and inclusion on our social media channels goes a long way to building respectful relationships among our attendees.”
Those wanting more information about the Fresh Idea Collective – their events, services and other activities – can find their website here.
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