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The Power of Empower-Ment

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Written by Pare and Flourish Co-Founders, Katie Butler and Skylar Wooden

When asked what our “-ment” word was, it was obvious. Empowerment.

From the start of Pare and Flourish, we had one mission in mind: to empower others. Through articles. Through close-knit conversations. Through panel discussions.  

And though it’s taken different forms, our mission has always been the same.

Carrying that vision forward, we’ve chosen Ment Cowork as the location for our second Flourishing Females event on June 1st. [This event includes a panel discussion about finding your niche, a workshop on grabbing your audience’s attention, and lots of food, drinks, and networking.]

Ment is leading the charge for coworking in Bowling Green, bringing with them a culture of uplifting collaboration—perfect for a day of learning, growing, and connecting with local female entrepreneurs. Perfect for empowerment.

>> Interested in checking it out? Information and tickets for the event are available here.

In honor of this event being at Ment, we’ve reflected on the ways we’ve set out to empower women in our community, and what empowerment means to us.

Empowering Our Readers

Whether it gives you the power to network without fear or to ask for that raise, a blog article speaks to a part in us that needs development. Parts of us that we know are there, but need a push to be put into motion.

That’s how we started—writing blog articles on topics we struggled through and learned from, in hopes of empowering someone else to jump the hurdle. We shared our advice in the most genuine, authentic way we could.

Here’s a snippet from our very first post, setting the tone for Pare and Flourish:

“It is a personal mission of ours not to romanticize our lives, as is so often done in the age of social media.

So here we have a safe space. A space for the real, the authentic, and the genuine.

In this blog, you can expect first-hand accounts of our daily life struggles, how we’ve learned (so far) to become happy with the choices that we’ve made, and pieces of advice that we would like to have learned earlier on. You’ll find that we’ve made mistakes. You will also find what we’ve made of those mistakes. We hope that you apply our retrospection to your life, and come out ahead.”

Read the rest of this article here.

Empowering Our Peers

When blog articles didn’t feel like enough—like we weren’t reaching enough people, like we weren’t making a big enough impact—we transitioned to events.

Our first foray into events was the Flourish Roundtable. Roundtables are small group discussions, promoting authenticity and empowerment.

We wanted more than screen engagement. We wanted real, deep connection based on topics that are relevant to all of our lives. To provide a place where women could look around and see that there are other women feeling similar emotions, having similar thoughts.

Roundtables are a place for thoughtful engagement, advice, support, and all the good feels.

Recounting a Roundtable experience, this is what we wrote:

“If you’ve ever wanted to be a part of something bigger than yourself, something that makes you feel connected to someone based on more than your common interests, but on your common beliefs and feelings, this is the place for you. A Flourish Roundtable event creates that connection. And we are honored to facilitate that connection.”

Read the rest of this article here.

Empowering Our Flourishing Females

When Roundtables weren’t enough, we widened our audience. Flourishing Females Panel + Workshops became a way to do more than gather.  

We widened our net to any woman who owns her own business, or aspires to. No matter the situation, there’s something to gain from this event.

Networking with like-minded women.

Learning from established entrepreneurs and leaders about their own challenges and advice.

Engaging in workshops to collaborate and motivate.

 

After our first Flourishing Females event, as always, we wrote about it.

“We created this Panel + Workshop as a way to expand our reach, and include a wider point of view from our panelists in their respective industries. Without knowing what shape it would take, we started putting together a panel, planning a workshop, and connecting everything in between.

We were overwhelmed with the number of people who were willing to jump in and make this happen. It confirmed something we already knew about Bowling Green: everyone wants to see each other succeed.”

Read the rest of this article here.

Join us at our second Flourishing Females Panel + Workshop to feel the empowerment first hand. Maybe you’re starting a business and need a network. Maybe you have a business and feel alone in it. Maybe you have a great idea and you need the courage to put it out there.

No matter what, and no matter what you do, this event is for you.  

Don’t forget to register!

 

Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy – The Impact of Giving Back

Last week, we focused on how to give back as an entrepreneur and what better way to reflect on doing so than to welcome one of our members who is a successful entrepreneur to give her input on the topic. Ashley Bauer started her own company in 2012 with husband Eric called FlightBridgeED, a medical education company that specializes in providing pre-hospital, critical care, and emergency medicine education for healthcare professionals of all types. Ashley, Eric and their team joined Ment a little over a month ago and we are happy to introduce you to them, their company and their outlook on philanthropy to you!

Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy – The Impact of Giving Back

Written by member Ashley Bauer on behalf of the FlightBridgeEd Team

Philanthropy is considered kindness and generosity to fellow mankind.  As a business owner and entrepreneur, often times you can feel there is absolutely not enough time in the day; and the thought of attempting to add something else to your plate is just unthinkable. However, it is imperative to understand the importance of giving back especially within the community that we are all a part of.  It not only benefits the community in which you live and work but also rewards you both personally and professionally.

The act of giving is not limited to monetary contributions. In fact, I can reflect back on our early business venture and many philanthropic contributions from others were simply time and experience and had nothing to do with monetary giving. I do believe those contributions and opportunities helped us exponentially and allowed us to continue to pursue our vision and goals. This also allowed us to see the importance of giving back as well.  Research has shown that when an individual donates, whether time or money, it stimulates an area within the brain that makes us feel good (Brown, 2016).  What better reason to give than this?

If monetary contributions are the easiest way for you to give back, then think locally. Sponsoring a local charity or contributing to a new community project are excellent ways to contribute and can make a huge difference and overall impact. Taking the time to help other entrepreneurs can be invaluable as well. Giving suggestions and coaching other entrepreneurs can really be the key turning point in their venture, with this often being a contribution they will never forget and are likely to pay it forward just as someone did for us in the beginning. Volunteering time can also be invaluable and can make a life-changing difference not only for you but the lives in which you are volunteering to help.

As an entrepreneurial or business owner philanthropist, you not only get the satisfaction of giving back and helping but are likely to further your networking opportunities as well.  These situations usually open up new opportunities for you and your business and garner exposure that you never really intended in the beginning.  It is likely to unintentionally build respect for you and your company within the community as well. In the end, as with everything else in life, the more you give, the more you are likely to get in return.  Like many business owners and entrepreneurs, we are blessed in so many ways, but we also understand the importance of giving back to others and our community. We understand the impact it has on us and those around us and hope it inspires others to do the same and focus more on philanthropy and humankind.

Arora, K. (2017). Five powerful ways to give back as an entrepreneur. 

Brown, C. (2016).  The importance of philanthropy in business.