3 minute read
She Is Unleashed
BRIDGING THE GAP
She Is Unleashed is a business support group with a difference. You must be a woman and you must be open to achieving your wildest dreams with the help of a supportive, like-minded network.
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WORDS HAYLEY BARNETT / PHOTOS SUPPLIED
Kim Brown, She Is Unleashed creator.
Kim Brown knows what it’s like to feel isolated within her community. Three years ago, after splitting from her partner in Australia, she headed back home to the Bay of Plenty where she took a job as a real estate agent. Originally from Whakatāne, Kim was drawn to the Pāpāmoa lifestyle, but found it hard to connect.
“I really had to work on my mindset,” she explains. “My job was commission based and, even though I was under a corporate umbrella, I was still my own contractor and had to rely on finding my own clients.”
Knowing she couldn’t be the only person new to the area, she immediately sought support in the form of other like-minded women in business.
“I’ve always believed that you become the five people you hang around the most,” she smiles. “I wanted to find a way to meet people who were also interested in developing their mindset, mental health and overall success, which is something I’m passionate about. We live in a country where there are potential and active entrepreneurs everywhere but there are so many who are isolated or are held back in some way. I just felt like there must be so many women feeling like that, who are looking for a safe place to meet and discuss strategies and connect.”
Kim decided to take the first step by organising an event for business women, naming it She Is Unleashed. Eighty people attended the first night. “I only advertised it for a month, but there were so many supporters – it was a really full-on first event. It made me realise how much we all need this connection.”
But, of course, not long after Kim got started, Covid hit. “Events became so hard because you’d plan something and book it all in, and then you couldn’t see it through.”
Recently, she started a networking group. “It just made sense to start something smaller that could happen more regularly. And I wanted it to be all inclusive as well.”
With 17 members and a weekly fee, there are just a few rules around the group. There’s only one person per industry, to limit competition; it runs on a network referral system, in which members are rewarded for their referrals towards other members in the group; and all members are expected to join weekly meetings in Pāpāmoa. “What’s incredible about this group, and it’s even taken me by surprise, is that within such a short span of time I’ve seen a lot of women grow and develop their confidence and self belief,” says Kim. “One member has developed the confidence to follow her passion and recently launched her second business after leaving the corporate world. She’s thriving and loving it and that happened after two weeks! That’s just one example of how supportive this environment is.”
Kim still plans events from time to time, which members are invited to first, before the public. There are also two business speakers that come to talk to the group twice a year, and two dinner functions annually, which aim to get members mingling outside of the more formal environment.
Says Kim, “The group is really diverse with a wide range of ages. All women are welcome!”
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