Co-Women is proud to be Sussex’s networking group for women in business who would like to prioritise joy and wellbeing in addition to connecting with others in their community. We thought it was time to refresh our features, and highlight what the perks are of being part of our group. Founder, Jo Child, reviews the details…
As summer (hopefully!) hots up, so does the action with Co-Women. We’re unapologetically social, and so we do ask that you commit to attending at least three paid events per calendar year. In order to support this, event prices do vary, as we also want our members to find our occasions affordable as well as fun.
Events used to happen only on Thursdays, but we’re now switching it up, and you’ll find that you’ll be able to book for events on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays in order to honour the flexibility that we all require in our hectic lives!
Our popular monthly Chai and Chatter event will now be held in Hove on the second Friday of each month, and hosted here by our long-standing members, Camille and Harriet. We’ll also host one in Brighton on the third Friday of the month, hosted by myself. Look out for an announcement soon about Chai and Chatter making a move north to Horsham – Becky is working on setting this up as I type, and she’s looking forward to spreading the Co-Women joy to a new community of fabulous women.
We had offered a co-working option weekly, and this wasn’t getting the love it needed, so we will now be offering paid co-working on an ad hoc basis. Announcements will be made via our social media, emails and events booking page, so look out for that later in the year.
Other previous Co-Women member benefits are here to stay! We have a thriving WhatsApp group which members use to seek business advice, dog sitters, restaurant recommendations, clothes swap opportunities and much more besides. All members are invited to contribute their biography to the website, including links to your own website and social media pages, which is an incredibly valuable resource. We offer everyone the opportunity to contribute a guest blog, and we actively share members’ social media posts to our own page, in order to help spread the word about what you’re up to! On top of this, we have a newsletter email which you’re welcome to contribute offers and updates to.
We have two other new benefits that we’re adding to our roster! Membership now comes with a points system – points, as always, mean prizes, and they can be achieved by completing activities such as contributing a guest blog, referring a new member, leaving a Google review, making the most of our buddy system (more on which in a moment), and submitting a piece to our newsletter. At the end of the calendar year, points will be totted up and the winner will receive an annual membership for free! Points re-set on 1st December, so that everyone has a chance to win in the future.
The buddy system is something that one of our members suggested. With it being challenging to get out to events sometimes, or some people just preferring to meet in smaller numbers, we’re now inviting members to connect one-to-one or in small groups in order to make the most of the network. You could message another member and invite them for coffee, lunch, or even a walk, in order to get to know each other better, whether it’s curious about their business or just who they are as a person! Online or phone-based meet ups are valid too, as not everyone is able to travel regularly, so please do connect in whatever way works best for you.
Now, with all of that being said, how can you not want to be part of our group, sharing in all sorts of events and experiences? We’re so excited about the weeks and months ahead, are you coming with us?