Skills sharing Malawi
What can we learn from each other…being true to your self in business.
When the world shutdown we moved online and in September 2020 we launched our online skill sharing series. Be True to Yourself. Bi-Monthly Zoom meetings bringing together female entrepreneurs from Malawi and International women in business in a seres that aimed to share skills but actually made us all realise how much we value collaboration, get inspired by communication and can all learn from each other, whatever level of business you are in.
What business skills would you share?
Orbis Expeditions has been working with Malawian female entrepreneurs since 2017 and our network of women has grown year on year with ladies keen to get involved. Keen to learn new skills, meet fellow entrepreneurs and hungry for opportunity. In September we formed a team of International ladies who all wanted to use their base business skills and take part in a series that aimed to eek out what it really means to be true to yourself in business. Our team came from mixed backgrounds including finance experts, marketing gurus, self made entrepreneurs, consultants and inspiring women sitting on boards of large companies. They knew how to walk the walk and talk the talk but this new opportunity brought that tingle of nerves, that ever questioning ‘have I got any skills to share, am I good enough’, and the excitement of a new audience and network to get involved in.
Many of these ladies had planned to come out to Malawi and take on The Womens Partnership Challenge in May 2020. It is just not the same as travelling to incredible Malawi but at least they were able to meet the ladies they will be collaborating with and vice versa. The best we could do in the current situation!
The Malawi ladies came from all over Malawi and some international too. These ladies had either established businesses or were just starting out and looking for inspiration and support in taking the leap to launching their companies. It is a leap, a huge leap and especially in the current pandemic being brave and starting your own company can seem very daunting. The mix of ladies from both teams instantly brought a calming presence to the group, we didn’t feel compelled to compete, speak over one another, share our ideas first but instead we were all able to sit back, listen and communicate in a hugely supportive and empowering way.
The power of women working together creates a unique buzz, a safe space…
Our sessions usually followed a similar format with a business lesson theme driving the session- for example financial planning. We would then source an ‘expert’ in this field from UK and Malawi and they would take 5-10 mins each to chat through key topics/lessons for the theme. Between these workshops we had open mic spots for women from both teams to speak on the topic ‘be true to yourself’. The sessions felt a little like snippets of Ted talks but without the glitz and glamour. The stories, challenges, honesty and hope shared was inspiring, I personally loved hearing from the Malawian ladies. Their tenacity, determination and guts were exactly what I needed to get me through the Lockdown 1/2/3. The International team shared a mix of personal and business stories, all bringing together this wish to be able to do something they loved, find a better balance between work and home and the key lessons they have learnt about being an empowered women in business.
What happens next…the follow up and the power of tech.
Wifi connection and cost of internet credit really prohibited the programme. So frustrating that many of the Malawi ladies got cut off mid sentence, couldn’t access the resources or struggled with enough network to join the sessions each time. We recorded each session and shared resources as best we could but perhaps the biggest success is the network created on Whats App. I have to admit I have muted my group settings on my phone due to the traffic on this group- grant opportunities, business lessons shared, events tagged in- the network of ladies we have on Whats App is incredible. Access to tech and also finance are two of the biggest hurdles for women in Malawi when starting their own business- I know this as tried to access both for the seven years we lived there. It is beyond frustrating and the power of SME’s really only comes when you bring people together, you share opportunities and you fight hard to be seen and heard…this group has this in buckets. There is a shared determination to lift each other up, to help each other succeed in business and to celebrate each others wins. The international team often message me about how inspired they are about the camaraderie shown on the group- it is a place to shout out about how wonderful you are with no worry about judgement or bragging- everyone wants to hear about it. Phew, relief!
Travel is better…who wants to join us in 2022?
The Zoom series has been incredible but it is not as good as travelling out to Africa. The smells, sights, sounds and tingle just aren’t there. We are going to pack our bags and take our vaccine certificates and race you to the airport for our return to Malawi, and beyond. So if you want to find out more about our teams then please follow the button link and let’s get planning.