Women Entrepreneurs

On November 17th, 2017, two UAC-CP Education students attend the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day conference in La Paz. Lydia Barca and Tatiana Mejia were invited to present about women in rural communities in Bolivia. After the conference, they reflected on their experience, the presentations given by other guests lecturers, and the topics discussed regarding working women in Latin America. Nora Harless, External Relations Coordinator at the UAC-CP, organized the women’s involvement in the program and facilitated their post-conference reflections.

Nora: How was your experience at the conference? What were your expectations prior to arriving?

Leydi: I didn’t realize it would be a conference with professionals. We had expected others our own age–other university students–to be presenting their work. It was a surprise to be surrounded by female professionals from all around the country.

Tatiana: I was surprised by the number of female professionals that were there, from a wide variety of careers and institutions. I had never met so many successful women in one place, all sharing business tips and strategies with one another. It was incredible!

N: What did you present about at the conference? Why do you think your presentation was an important part of this event?

L: Our presentation was about “Women in the Rural Area” and how they may be able to achieve success in the modern business world. For example, there are women who produce fruit and vegetables. They come up with their own prices, they establish terms of trade with other vendors and they sell them. They do this to support their families, but they don’t realize that this entrepreneurship. They are entrepreneurs!

N: Because you focused on women specifically in the rural area, rather than urban areas with, say, more resources or connections, do you feel your talk was different than the others?

T: Many of the presenters began immediately with statistics about how to successfully manage your business, but we couldn’t start out with that. First, we had to establish what it looks like for a woman to start a business in the rural area. We spoke about the challenges she may face and the disadvantages she may have in comparison with her peers in other areas. We outlined the qualities that she might possess–a high level of leadership and perseverance–in order to be successful.

N: Would you say that women living in the rural areas have fewer resources and support than others? Does that make it harder for them to succeed?

L: For women in more rural areas it really goes back to a scarcity of education. They often haven’t received the level of training or academic rigor that others have, and that severely limits them. There are many women who have attempted to start small business, or even have small businesses, but they aren’t able to grow or become more successful simply out of a lack of information. Women in the city are more familiar with how the economy works and what it takes to be financially successful. This dispersion of information to the rural areas, however, is less.

N: If you had to give one piece of advice to a woman trying to achieve entrepreneurial success while lacking the necessary resources to do so, what would you say?

T: I would tell them to take the initiative to seek out other forms of education and resources. Many people stay with the status quo of what they have, without allowing themselves the full potential of how successful they could be. It is important that they continue to surround themselves with new experiences and educational variety, that they can bring back to their communities. There are many opportunities for women around the country–even within their communities! It is important to be open to learning and education.

N: Do you have any final reflections about the conference, what you have learned your presentation, and the speakers at the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day conference?

L: I would say, above all, it allowed me to reflect on the importance of self-confidence within the work place. Women in Latin America tend to react passively to injustices or missed opportunities [In a way] that I think has not benefited many. The women who attended the conference were from all backgrounds and levels of success, but all possessed the same quality of self-awareness. I think this, above all, is something that myself and my peers can learn from. That is the main thing that holds us back.