Celebrating Our First Birthday

When Jo and I started our business ladies’ group last June, little did we know we would grow so fast! Five meets later, we have garnered some 28 ladies in our group and yesterday afternoon, we celebrated the first ‘birthday’ of WomenBizSENSE at the E&O Hotel. Our group comprises women running diverse businesses – real estate, graphics, Internet, education, music, food, arts and crafts, financial planning, advertising, art and more.

Old world charm…The 1885 Restaurant, E&O Hotel Penang.
We had planned this afternoon tea about a month ago and we’re glad that many of our members could make it. Plus we had a special guest at our tea – Muzlifah – who had agreed to give us ladies a short but inspiring talk on managing principles for business and family.

Muzlifah sharing with us some management principles.

A private room just for us ladies…looks just like someone’s dining room, right?
Through Harriet, one of our members, we secured for our celebration a private room within The 1885 Restaurant which is unbelievably elegant. The first thing many said upon entering the private room was “wow, so cosy!” Yes, it looks like someone’s really posh dining room complete with bone china tea cups and silverware.

English afternoon tea fit for a queen.
Everything looked so pretty and the service was definitely exquisite. The dainty tea cakes and desserts looked too good to be eaten. But soon we settled down to the tea as we started talking and reminiscing how everyone got to know each other.

Pretty tea cakes which tasted absolutely divine.
I’m most grateful and thankful to be part of a group of dynamic business women, each one as accomplished as the next. I’ve met many amazing women who have achieved success on their own terms. And all because Jo and I decided to take a risk and start a group just for women.
And it’s not just business referrals that we’ve passed to one another. We’ve made new friends and learnt more about each other – yes, even the ups and downs, the good and bad. We’ve helped each other in non-business areas too such as being a friend in times of need.

Here I am (on the left) with Susan and Siew Yean.
Happy birthday WomenBizSENSE! And thanks to Erina, Mety, Siew Yean, Regine, Susan, Madelyn, Muzlifah, Harriet, Kim, Lynn and Sheila for spending your Friday afternoon with us.
* If you’re a woman business owner in Penang and would like to be invited to our future WomenBizSENSE meetings, contact me. We’d love to meet more dynamic businesswomen!