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Q&A with Michelle Swanda
The Principal Offers Teleclass
Series for Women Business Owners
Editor’s note: The Principal Financial Group has been a leader in helping grow women-owned businesses. The company is sponsoring a series of teleclasses around the theme, “It’s Your Business: Managing Growth and Opportunity in 2005.” We asked Michelle Swanda, corporate marketing manager for The Principal, to tell us more about this educational opportunity for women business owners.
EW: Why is The Principal Financial Group offering this complimentary teleclass series?
MS: One of the fastest growing markets is the small-to mid-size women-led businesses, which presents a tremendous opportunity for our company. We designed the teleclasses for women business owners in an effort to further position The Principal as a leader and trusted advisor to this growing demographic.
EW: Why is The Principal’s commitment to women-owned firms so important to the company?
MS: Women-owned businesses contribute $2.46 trillion in sales to the economy and employ 19.1 million workers (Center for Women’s Business Research, 2004), and with the development of each of these companies, the need for financial services and employee benefits increases.
Our company actively partners with organizations such as the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), LatinaStyle Business Series, and the Center for Women’s Business Research. This helps us keep a meaningful pulse on the issues that women business owners face.
EW: How does the Women in Business Teleclass Series benefit women business owners?
MS: For women business owners, it couldn’t get any easier! Each class is in a convenient and compact 45-minute format. During a lunch hour, participants learn tips on topics from securing millions from venture capitalists, to landing a new business meeting and effectively marketing on a small budget.
Each class features a panel of industry experts and thought leaders, including women such as Kim T. Gordon, Entrepreneur Magazine columnist and leading expert on marketing for small businesses; Arlyn Gajilan, senior editor of Fortune Small Business, and Amy Millman, president of Springboard Enterprises.
The content and forum are proprietary and developed with women business owners in mind. We continually ask for feedback from class participants in order to create the most meaningful and educational classes. Many of our panelists are members of the women’s organizations we support and they help provide us with insight into the issues and challenges that women business owners face.
EW: Tell us more about the subjects covered in the series this year.
MS: We’ve offered three course tracks focused on different stages of growth. The first track, “Getting Ready, Set, Go!” ran from March to May and focused on how to launch a solid business that has tremendous growth potential. The second track, which started in late June, “Capturing New Growth,” focuses on “The Business of Building New Business.” This track addresses topics for companies past start-up, focused on taking their businesses to the next level. Issues examined include capturing new business and managing a team. It also provides one insider’s look at how a woman built a multi-million dollar company. The third track, “Building Beyond Your Dream,” begins in September and lends advice on next-level growth, including tips on landing large corporate accounts, providing affordable employee healthcare options, motivating a team with exceptional leadership, and establishing meaningful resolutions for 2006.
EW: How do women business owners participate in the teleclass program?
It’s easy to pre-register for the classes of your choice at www.principal.com/women. All classes are held at noon Central time (1 p.m. Eastern, 11 a.m. Mountain, and 10 a.m. Pacific) once a month on “Teleclass Tuesdays.”
For those unable to participate the day of the class, the class is recorded (audio and written transcript) and is available at www.principal.com/women on the archived class page.
EW: How have women business owners responded to this program?
MS: The response has been extremely positive. Over 7,000 women business owners have participated in the last year. In April, the series won the prestigious “Community Champion Award” at the 2005 Public Relations Society of American PRIME Awards, which recognizes public relations practitioners who have demonstrated the best in public relations programming and tactics—from internal communications programs to feature writing to integrated communications campaigns.
The success of the series is the result of the outstanding participation of impressive speakers, who also happen to be women business owners or thought leaders, as well as the feedback received by participants. These women truly evolve the series with fresh class topics, meaningful insight, and limitless referrals to other smart women. The series has stayed true to its commitment to provide progressive ideas, resources and learning.
(This article is reprinted from the Summer 2005 edition of Enterprising Women magazine. Copyright 2005 Enterprising Women Inc. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited, except by express permission of the publisher.)
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