Women supporting other women might still be an issue, but men supporting women is no longer just a dream. I recently met a young guy who created the whole movement around supporting female entrepreneurs. His name is Stephane Atanga and he is 27 years-old. Stephane started LORI Connexion, a new media platform dedicated to female entrepreneurs. Here is his journey and his reasons for starting LORI.
Ekaterina: Stephane, what are LORI Connexion and LORI Magazine?
Stephane: LORI magazine was a pilot for our project LORI Connexion. It celebrated women entrepreneurs who achieve their success by inspiring those around them, provided useful resources, and relevant content for modern business. Our webzine focused on empowering the projects, businesses, interests and dreams of its readers. After a year of working on LORI magazine, we've decided to expand and offer more services to female entrepreneurs, hence, the launch of LORI Connexion.
LORI Connexion is a new media platform dedicated to female entrepreneurs. Our goal is to fulfill female entrepreneurs' needs on one single platform. At LORI Connexion, we commit to facilitating women entrepreneurs' daily lives by providing useful resources, relevant content, innovative promotional tools and a new networking platform. LORI Connexion also supplies high-quality promotional services for female entrepreneurs and individuals who share their interests.
LORI Connexion's main function is to showcase and promote new projects, start-ups and new female entrepreneurs that deserve to be supported.
Ekaterina: Tell us about your journey. What prompted you to start LORI?
Stephane: As a young entrepreneur I style myself as a citizen of the world, and have a particular passion for following the current industry trends of media and real estate. After studying economics at Sherbrooke University followed by a short-lived career in finance, I decided to follow my ambitious intuition and launch a platform addressing the interests of women entrepreneurs. As the son of a woman entrepreneur and the eldest sibling of three young ladies, I hold a vested interest in delivering fresh stories about the subjects affecting modern women in business.
I moved to Canada 10 years ago from Cameroon with a head full of ambitious dreams. Even then I knew one day I would dabble in the media industry despite having moved here to study economics. After finishing my Bachelor's degree, I started my career in finance, but I knew from the get go I've always had "entrepreneurial fever." I also knew realizing my ambition wouldn't be easy as a young immigrant, but I took it on as a part of my very own self-molding journey.
What caught my attention in the job market was the huge, yet under-appreciated female presence in my industry. I researched the subject and noticed the female entrepreneurship movement was rising with undeniable tenacity -- but no one was noticing. I, on the other hand, am a man that's always been surrounded by successful women, so I yearned for a media platform designed to aid or empower them -- to celebrate them.
Besides, female entrepreneurs are more fun to cover. They generally have more interesting journeys, and stories. They face way more obstacles than men do and I believed it was time for ladies of real influence, or LORIs, to be recognized for their accomplishments regularly -- daily, and not just with events or single-day holidays here and there. That is why I created LORI Connexion.
Ekaterina: Where do you want to take the platform?
Stephane: Our platform celebrates female entrepreneurs who achieve their success all the while inspiring those around them. It provides useful resources and relevant content. Our Mission is to ease female entrepreneurs' daily life by furnishing all the tools that ladies of real influence need to be successful.Thus LORI Connexion positions itself as a virtual source of information for women entrepreneurs and individuals who share their interests. LORI Connexion has been created to promote, educate and connect women entrepreneurs. At LORI Connexion we believe that women's entrepreneurship should be boosted and empowered.
Ekaterina: How did you come up with the name LORI?
Stephane: I wanted my brand to represent a new concept, a new lifestyle, and a new style of women. Originally, the name was LOI (Ladies Of Influence), but I did not find it very catchy. Then I decided to come up with LORI (Ladies Of Real Influence) when I heard my sister humming one of LORIE's songs (French singer). What I mean by real influence is that you can own a small bakery in a tiny town or you can be a female business mogul, you will always have a real strong impact on others.
Ekaterina: How can women participate in your amazing venture?
Stephane: LORI Connexion is a media platform dedicated exclusively to women entrepreneurs. So we encourage entrepreneurial women to pay us a visit and join the connection.
LORI Connexion offers ways to effectively advertise on the Internet or using both print and online mediums. The platform boasts exceptional content, information sections, self-help tools and promotional tools allowing you to partner with an extensive network of successful women entrepreneurs from all around the globe. We simply ask that women don't hesitate to:
- Invite other female entrepreneur to join the LORI Connexion
- Share their ideas
- Promote their goods & services
- Share news about their industry
- Help each other.