At the noisy table in a New York restaurant are a half dozen or so of the city's top female entrepreneurs and executives. The group is peppered with the presence of male colleagues, boyfriends and friends. Kathryn Finney of The Budget Fashionista is next to New Power Girls co-creator and media CEO Meghan Cleary, who as America's Shoe Expert is of course in sky-high designer heels. A handful of others are seated around us and everybody's eating and drinking.
I'm visiting from out of town, in blue over the knee boots and jeans. It's just a short time after launching my second start-up, just a year after selling my first one. As we sit there, the conversation is littered with which email marketing service is best and whether or not somebody should raise as much as it's been about dating and fall trends.
This is where the inspiration came for creating The New Power Girls, like the Old Boys Club except the boys this time are women. We work together, play together and have an alliance in our work that crisscrosses the country through dozens of cities. If you notice, every article on our Huffington Post series here weaves in the commentary from women founders from around the country. That's because we had hoped we could create the same sense of community and camaraderie here. Every week, we send out an email inviting women entrepreneurs and executives we've met and know to share anecdotes and insight. This week, we wanted to share some of the awesome email that has been sent in from readers (and give a little exposure to their great companies!):
"Women supporting women is what the world of business needs." Andrea Buchanan, writer, producer, director and Note to Self author
"Like your site. Very interesting." - Marion Freijsen, co-founder, eFactor
"Women entrepreneur's rock!" - Karen Klein, CEO, Silverplanet.com
"I support the Power Girls." - Jillian Montes, founder Sobo LLC
"Looks like a fabulous series!" - Sophia Chiang, founder Qlubb
"I think what you are doing with the New Power Girls is awesome. Thank you for giving your sisters in arms a platform." - Elan Barish, founder, Stash Consignment
"I absolutely love what you are doing." - Shannon Byrne, blogger
"Love the New Power Girls," - Lois Alter Mark, co-founder Stylesubstancesoul.com
To create a New Power Girls group in your city, visit here!