Pinelands Creative Workshop recently concluded its 12-week training programme Personal and Economic Empowerment for Women (PEEW) which was held at its Marcus Garvey Institute, located at Wildey, St Michael.

Chief Executive Officer of Pinelands Creative Workshop Sophia Greaves-Broome said the workshop would have given the twelve participants rigorous training in myriad disciplines ranging from Business Development to Digital Transformation.

“These ladies were a part of an intense programme which began with the Think Tank where they discussed their various business ideas to ensure that they had realistic and attainable initiatives that they can be further developed and ones that really speak to their sustainable livelihoods especially coming out of a post COVID environment.

“The twelve participants were taken through not only the business components but also they were treated to a personal development session guided by guest lecture on mental health Renee Harding, who explained some of the challenges that they would face as women and explained strategies that they could put in place in order to prevent some of those challenges from hampering their business. They were treated to real and practical conversations that resonated with the participants.

“Dr. Lynette Holder from the Small Business Association not only shared about the organisation and its services but took the time to explain to them the role their small businesses play in the economy. Ondene Thomas, Attorney-at-Law, also gave significant insight into the legal obligations required by business as well the importance of the right mindset to really make their businesses work,” she said.

Greaves-Broome added that each week the participants grew from strength to strength as they went through the myriad classes aimed to equip them with the tools to become successful female entrepreneurs.

“Our goal here at Pinelands Creative Workshop is to ensure that the ladies in this programme can become sustainable, therefore we had our Financial Officer Shelly Durant-Forde come in and teach them QuickBooks and Roberta Trotman from Virtual Solutions who taught them digital marketing and how to effectively use social media to market their business online. At the end of this programme our aim was that the women who came would be able to have sustainable livelihoods especially after they would have persevered through the challenges that arose with the onset of COVID-19,” she said.

Natalia Morgan was a participant in the Personal and Economic Empowerment for Women and is the owner of Kiros Variety 246. She said that she enjoyed the QuickBooks sessions with Shelly Durant-Forde.

“One of the courses that I enjoyed was QuickBooks. I was always interested in QuickBooks, but I never had the opportunity to go and join a class with QuickBooks. It was a bit liberating to know that I could do QuickBooks and now I am able to use that in my business.

“One of the other things was the Think Tank session with Rodney Grant as a lot of the times we go into business and we think that we are just coming to sell and retail but the session also explored many different areas of the business such as marketing, social demographics, who am I targeting, who am I trying to reach, all of these are things I have learned and will be applying to my business,” she said.

Ruth Marshall who was a participant in PEEW and is the owner of Accents – Home Accessories and More said that for many years she wanted to start her own business but had some hesitations but after she attended the Think Tank session with Rodney Grant her entire perspective changed.

“For a while, there were things I wanted to do, like start my own business, but I always looked at it as a side business. But when I attended the Think Tank session with Rodney Grant and he took us through the myriad of possibilities that we can have with our business, it gave me courage and a clear perspective of how to make it happen,” she said.

Marilyn Garnes who was also a participant in PEEW and owner of Tasha’s Precious Memories said that she did not essentially see her business as a business but after attending the programme she has seen an improvement in her business acumen.

“Like Ruth, I started doing stuff and I did not see it as a business. After the session with Mr. Grant I learned that I was doing some stuff wrong in my business and received strategies that I could implement to improve my business.

“I also enjoyed the session we had with Attorney-at-Law Mrs. Ondene Kirton who taught us the legal aspects of being a small business as well as the session with Dr. Lynette Holder from the Small Business Association who taught us all of the benefits we could receive by becoming members of the Small Business Association,” she said.

Greaves-Broome said that they are hopeful that they would have another cohort of the programme, but they are asking sponsors to come on board to be a part of this initiative which gives women the tools to be enterprising in their respective communities.

“We would like to do this programme again because of the demand. These women who are here with us this morning
are the ambassadors for the programme and they have other friends who would like to have the same experience as them. They had gone through the programme and had their headshots taken and social medias established.

“This programme at this time was funded by Caribbean Policy Development Centre through the initiative Strengthening Civil Society’s Capacity to Alleviate the Impact of COVID-19 on Vulnerable Communities in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean but we are hoping that by the sharing of this programme on our official pages @peewbarbados on Instagram and Personal and Economic Enfranchisement for Women on Facebook as well as what we are doing here on Mornin Barbados that it can be duplicated in other areas across the island as women are in need of a programme such as this.

This program is beyond business. These are the small but critical steps in the creation of sustainable livelihoods, resilient families and by extension, speaks to building self-reliance and the creation of vibrant communities,” she said. (Write Right PR Services)

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