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Women follow entrepreneurial dreams, despite economic
crisis
. . .
Esprit Seminars helps women to combine creativity with
good business sense
Nice, France, 10 June 2009
Women entrepreneurs who follow their creative
instincts are improving their chances for long-term
professional success, even amid the economic downturn.
This principle drives the founder of Esprit Seminars,
an intensive workshop program held on the French
Riviera designed to help women by anchoring their
business efforts in their natural abilities and
interests.
Native New Yorker Deborah D'Alessandro was handling
public relations for a small non-profit organization
in Rome, Italy, when she was surprised to see that
most of the organization's volunteers were not
university students, as she'd imagined, but mid-career
women who, despite some degree of professional and
financial success, were not happy with their work.
"In chatting with these women, I could see that many
of them were burned out,” says D’Alessandro, a former
marketing professional. “They were yearning for
careers that held greater creative and personal appeal
and they risked losing professional and financial
prosperity because of their dissatisfaction." That
experience led D’Alessandro to found Esprit Seminars.
"Women are now the dominant force in small business
ownership, and it makes sense for the economy to give
them all the tools they need for long-term success,"
says D'Alessandro. "That includes keeping them
motivated to stick with their entrepreneurial efforts
through the ups and downs that they are likely to
face."
Women-owned firms in the US (50% or more) account for
40% of all privately held companies, according to the
Center for Women's Business Research.
"Growing" their projects
An industrial engineer with a passion for teas, a
psychiatric nurse looking for a new work environment
and a writer with an unusual book idea are among the
women who have sought to develop new professional
ventures with the support of Esprit Seminars.
Unlike conventional career workshops, Esprit Seminars
invites women to propose specific projects for
development during the sessions. Guided by a
facilitator, the participants help one another to
"grow their projects" through a series of interactive
assignments, says D'Alessandro.
About the workshops
Esprit Seminars workshops are held in Nice, France.
Each 5-day-long, half-day workshop has a maximum of
ten women, and focuses on developing financially
viable business projects by means of collective group
effort. The half-day sessions leave room for exploring
the legendary beauty of the French Riviera.
CONTACT:
Deborah D'Alessandro
Esprit Seminars
Telephone +33 699 721 927
www.EspritSeminars.com
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