I just came home after a really interesting event organized by Global Entrepreneurship Week Belgium on the occasion of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day which launched for the first time ever today!

Freddy Nurski who’s the host of GEW Belgium helped put this event together along with Kathleen Lein and Larry Moffett.

The keynote by Michèle Sioen was strong and straight to the points with plenty of hard facts.

It was a hands on event and we dug right into the groups and the different topics. The team with Isabella Lenarduzzi, from the Women’s Entrepreneurship organisation JUMP, was discussing how on earth one goes about combining family life with having your own business. For men.. this is most likely not a topic. But for women – most certainly yes. What came out of it was the realisation that if you want to combine both running a successful business and having children – you better be damn sure you are with the right guy who will support you.

We discussed the issue if both parents are entrepreneurs. Everyone agreed it would be challenging but it could be managed by one of the parents taking it slower for a period of time. And having a nanny or someone to help you out would of course be optimal.

On the topic of how to manage life with your children, the most important thing was to spend quality time with them. It’s never the quantity that matters, it’s the quality.

When we got back to speaking about being “just” a couple without children. Again, a supportive partner was the most important aspect of making life successful and happy – or no partner at all.

I believe women are very capable of managing their own business and still have a family. Sometimes it doesn’t always end up as you had planned. In our day and age divorces and separations are more common than unusual. It doesn’t matter. You can build the life you want with or without a partner. And if it is with a partner – it will be “easier” if the partner is supportive of what you do.

I met a lot of interesting people tonight. Many women with strong ambitions. Ambitions to help other women grow.

Inspiring