Innovate Marquette hosts ‘Women in Entrepreneurship’ on International Women’s Day

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - In celebration of International Women’s Day, Innovate Marquette SmartZone hosted a Women in Entrepreneurship event Wednesday night at the Northern Center.

Five women entrepreneurs presented attendees with advice on how to run their own businesses.

These speakers were:

• Adela Piper, chief marketing officer of Siren Communications.
• Anne White, co-founder of The Honorable Distillery.
• MJ Cartwright, mentor at Innovation Partnerships.
• Nicole Gregory, co-founder and CEO of Urban You: Beauty and Wellness.
• Jenn Wallner, shareholder and partner of Tailored CPAs.

Jenn Wallner’s presentation focused heavily on how to understand the cash flow of a business. She also spoke about how to run a profitable start-up company.

Innovate Marquette SmartZone Programs Manager Kristin Tanner said Wednesday’s event was meant to support aspiring women entrepreneurs.

Tanner added that arming entrepreneurial women with knowledge is especially important since many still face barriers to starting their own businesses.

“Unfortunately the data shows that a very small percentage of venture capital goes to female-owned start-ups,” Tanner explained.

She continued, “We want to change that. We want to flip the script and show that there are start-ups out there that are owned by women and doing amazing things. They should be invested in.”

Women in Entrepreneurship is one of many events Innovate Marquette has planned for 2023.

The Northern Michigan University New Business Venture Competition is set for March 16.

Innovation Week will feature keynote speakers on various professional development topics.

That will take place May 8 - 10.

Copyright 2023 WLUC. All rights reserved.