Hundreds are set to attend the upcoming second annual Women in Business Expo on Friday, March 8, 2024.
The expo was started in 2023 as a way to celebrate International Women’s Day and women in the ever-growing business world.
“We hold the event on International Women’s Day because it’s a day of celebrating women all over the world in different ways with all different types of events,” said Sam Gernhart, owner of Clarity Marketing and Design and organizer of the event. “In our community we do it with the Women in Business Expo which is part tradeshow and part guest speakers’ series.”
Gernhart noted that she was inspired to create the expo after recognizing that there was a gap in the community for an event like this.
“Since I moved to Brantford four years ago, I saw that there wasn’t an event like this, and we really only had one big trade show happening,” she said. “I really saw an opportunity for this type of resource and for this type of community that I could build, specifically for women in business. The involvement and the support I got from year one, really did show that it was needed and that there was a gap in the community.”
The six-hour event will run from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and will showcase women in business from communities like Brantford, the County of Brant, Norfolk County and beyond.
“This year, we have a lot of businesses involved from Brantford, as well as Paris and other communities in the County. We also have businesses from Simcoe, Waterford, Oakville, Dundas, Caledonia, Whitby and Toronto,” said Gernhart. “We really don’t turn people away if they’re outside of the area because you just never know who you might meet or the connection you may make, so we do keep it open, but the majority will be from our area this year.”
On the day, the event will feature an ongoing tradeshow, a photobooth area, prize give-aways, swag bags for the first 100 visitors, and six speakers that will cover topics such as marketing, health and wellness, nutrition, imposter syndrome and finances.
Like last year, the event has free admission, and visitors can choose to stay the whole day or stop in for a few hours.
“We keep it completely free for people to attend and I really think that’s one of the things that sets our event apart from others,” said Gernhart. “People can come and check out the tradeshow and network, they can listen to a guest speaker or two, they can stay the whole day if they want, or they can come and go throughout the day, it’s completely up to them.”
Gernhart said that while the purpose of the event is to celebrate women in business, others are welcome, and encouraged, to attend.
“We really mean it when we say, ‘all are welcome,’” she said. “Men are absolutely welcome to check out the tradeshow and the speakers, and they can also have a table there too.”
Overall, Gernhart said that while she may be feeling a bit of the stress that comes with organizing a large event such as this, she’s excited to see how the second annual Women in Business Expo will turn out this year.
“It’s grown tremendously since last year, in 2023 we only had about 34 tables and currently we are sitting at about 55 for this year and I’m still getting inquiries and applications to join, daily,” she laughed. “So, it’s a little stressful on that front, but it’s a great problem to have.”
