WARRIOR WOMEN COLLECTIVE
Why lockdown enabled us to diversify and grow
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s an events-based business, when coronavirus hit, it hit us hard.
Stars, Storytelling, Campaigners and Difference Makers and Colour. These saw a rising number of women dialling in, with one event attracting over 150 women.
The global pandemic undoubtedly had a significant impact on people worldwide, but for us, it forced us to re-evaluate and transform our events offering overnight. Like many businesses, when lockdown first took hold we were forced to question how we would progress. Since establishing Warrior Women Events back in 2017, our events had been very much based on a shared, meaningful, and inspirational first-hand experience, among a group of like-minded women.
We even welcomed Rosie Harris, Editor of Style of the City Magazine, to share her journey around setting up the publication.
was the obvious way forward. However, this was a daunting prospect, and we were understandably concerned about whether our engaging experiences would translate online and would it benefit those who attended in the same way?
Our goal was to create a space where women across Cardiff, regardless of their professional or personal experiences, could unite to share enriching, inspiring, and thought-provoking experiences. We heard from a number of the city’s most successful women who shared their inspirational journeys with our attendees, and we also offered a vital platform to female-run businesses and entrepreneurs. Over the past three years we have hosted 29 sell out events with over 1,800 women in attendance.
Founders of Warrior Women Collective Charlotte Morgan and Amy Holland Our community of like-minded women has grown significantly, and our monthly events have promoted thought-provoking, empowering, and enriching content. We were selling out every month, and about to move to a bigger venue to accommodate demand. Then the coronavirus pandemic happened and changed everything. Overnight we were forced to re-evaluate how we could continue to host our successful events, to ensure we could provide a vital support network to our loyal supporters who needed us more than ever. The decision to take our events online
The most vital thing the transition online underlined for us, was the importance of the connections between the women who make up our tribe. Without them we are nothing. We have always known that our amazing network of women was our strength, however their enthusiasm, support, and fearlessness at this uniquely challenging time really highlighted that. Going forwards, we will continue to host online events, lockdown showed us that our diversified offering is really effective at reaching even more women across the UK. We are also aiming to start our offline events back up very soon and - whatever form they take- we cannot wait to welcome everyone back. We are also exploring how we can stream these events for people to watch online as well, so women from all over can benefit.
We had already been looking into diversifying Warrior Women to expand our network and offer our tribe more beyond our events, so earlier on in the year we set up Warrior Women Collective where we launched our website, podcast and newsletter - creating more content to educate and champion women. Then, in March when the pandemic hit, we took the leap and moved our events online. The first online event was entirely new territory for us, and concerns around technology, timing, and attendees were all considerations. However, the event was a huge success with over 100 women from across Wales and beyond logging in to hear from our fantastic speakers. While listening to these women’s inspiring stories, the event acted as a form of escapism for all our supporters during a hugely challenging time, uniting them in celebrating, supporting, and connecting with each other.
Our next online event is on September 17th and will feature an expert panel of women discussing Imposter Syndrome - a subject
and issue that impacts six out of 10 women. In September, we will be launching a Crowdfunding campaign in a bid to support our growth plans, widen our audience, and develop and grow our online offering. This pandemic had a huge impact on Warrior Women Collective, but it’s definitely changed us for the better.
This enabled us to reach a wider audience who were unable to attend previously due to location, childcare or mental health reasons.
Our amazing tribe of supportive women have been our inspiration throughout this challenging time, and we cannot thank them enough for their continuous support.
Thanks to this success, we held four events online covering topics including Rising
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