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From HERSTORY, page 1
The event will kick off with a brunch. “Think of it as a pep rally for #HERWeek and #HERFayetteville,” Chastain said. Attendees can arrive at Cape Fear Botanical Garden at 10 a.m. for activities, photo opportunities, and more. Each attendee will get a “swag bag” with a canvas tote, tshirt, interactive workbook.
Chastain explained that HER is more than just a pronoun in the name. For this event, it stands for Heart, Equality, and Resilience, and speakers will represent each of those facets.
North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall will be the keynote speaker for the event. “It’s a huge deal… that she’s coming. What’s awesome about her is that she’s really a trailblazer in the political world and especially in North Carolina. … Not a lot of people know this, but she actually went in her younger years to apply for her first business loan, and she went to the bank and they said, ‘Sorry, you need to talk to your husband,” Chastain explained. “That was not that long ago.”
One of the programs that CEED hosts is the Women’s Business Center of Fayetteville, an SBA program, which has created opportunity for CEED to collaborate with local vendors for the event. They will be providing coupons, promo codes, samples, stickers, and other goodies in the grab bags.
The initial brunch serves as the kickoff event, but the fun doesn’t stop there – in fact, it’ll keep going for the rest of the week.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the events will be online.
Tuesday is HERStory Day, which will be an online campaign encouraging women to share their stories on social media. “What’s that heart piece? What’s a passion you hold close to your heart?” Chastain explained. “Tell us about a time you’ve been resilient or a woman you’ve seen who has been resilient.”
Wednesday is HERHealth Day, focusing on mental and physical health. Free workout sessions will be hosted by women entrepreneurs who own fitness businesses in Fayetteville, a doula agency will speak about maternal health, and speaker Cami Kennedy will have a mental health summit at the end on positive mindset.
Thursday is HERPitch, which will be held at the AEVEX Veterans Club Lounge at Segra Stadium. Competitors who registered by March 3 will pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges for a chance to win up to $10,000 from Center for Economic Empowerment and Development Capital and the City of Fayetteville Community Development will grant up to $10,000 in prizes to those with the best pitch.
Friday will focus on HERBusiness, which will celebrate three grand openings in the region, along with the online component that will encourage people to shop with women-owned businesses. Two of the openings will be downtown, including a new yoga studio on Hay Street next to Rude Awakening.
“I think that, here at CEED, we work with so many different community organizations and community partners, and we see a lot of people who are like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m so passionate about women entrepreneurship. How do I get involved? How do I support you?’. And so, honestly, I think this is something we want to … continue. We want to see HERRaleigh, HERDurham, HERGreensboro, whatever that looks like, because it’s a great way to not only share the stories of all these wonderful, amazing women in Fayetteville, but also kind of what we do and how we can help them,” Chastain said.
“Our main goal is to help entrepreneurs of all kinds – not just women – to start and scale their businesses,” she continued. Providing a variety of services, such as marketing help, microloans, financing and more, the main goal at CEED is to see further economic development in Fayetteville through entrepreneurship. "This is a community-wide initiative to celebrate women in our community and empower them, and to brag about their successes," explained Chastain. "It is easy to uplift other women, but as a woman, we have been told don't be too egotistical or take up too much space, and this is just a great opportunity for women to break out of that and tell their own story."
The event, while celebratory of women, is being supported by businesses that are predominantly male-owned, Chastain said. “It’s not exclusive of men by any means… It’s celebrating the women in your life for the men. For the women, it’s celebrating yourself.”
MARCH 7
March 8
#HERStory, an online campaign encouraging women to share their stories with hashtags #HERFayetteville, #HERWeek, and #HERStory
March 9
#HERHealth Day, featuring free online events from owners of local fitness studios.
8 a.m. - Yoga Class with Rose Nation Studio 10 a.m. - Doula Support with Momma’s Village Noon - Fitness Class with I.F.I.T. Fayetteville 1 p.m. - Dance Class with Dancing Without Sin 6 p.m. - Optimize Your Calendar & Your Mental Health from speaker Camy Kennedy
March 10
#HERPitch finalists at Segra Stadium will pitch their business to a panel of judges for a chance to win up to $10,000 in grants from 1-5 p.m.
March 11
#HERBusiness will highlight businesses in the region with the grand opening of Rose Nation Yoga at 10:30 a.m., the grand opening of The Take Down Beauty Bar at 2 p.m., and the expansion of Meraki Creative Agency at 4 p.m.
To learn more, visit www. eventbrite.com/e/herweek-fayetteville-march-7-11-2022-tickets-261897090247?aff=erelexpmlt.
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