From left, Adela Piper listens as MJ Cartwright speaks and Anne White also looks on. The three took part in the annual Women in Entrepreneurship conference. The event allows participants to share resources in business while bringing together women in technology with empowerment. (Photo courtesy of Aubry Healy)

By DREYMA BERONJA

Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Held on International Women’s Day, Women in Entrepreneurship, hosted by Innovate Marquette SmartZone, celebrated women entrepreneurs in the area while providing business resources. This year’s event was held at the Northern Center on Northern Michigan University’s campus.

Innovate Marquette SmartZone partners with various organizations to provide support, resources and opportunities for entrepreneurs, innovators and businesses in the Marquette area. The organization was established in 2015 and exists as a service provider to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to help the community thrive in an entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Innovate Marquette SmartZone marketing manager Aubry Healy said this event also gives women an opportunity to talk about the hurdles they may have faced, overcome and resources for other women in entrepreneurship. Healy said it’s important for women to have a specific safe place that is open to them to talk about hardships specific to women.

“A lot of feminism is grouping women in with men and making them feel equal when there are specific things that women might not have access to or have a harder time with being a woman in entrepreneurship,” Healy said. “So having the safe place to talk and acknowledge that it isn’t always the same is important.”

Healy said she was looking forward to meeting other women entrepreneurs in the community and on their own business journey because she knows they don’t always have a chance to meet face to face and build relationships.

“I am a marketing manager and a photographer for 10 years with my own business,” Healy said. “Sometimes you get into a routine of what you’re always doing and don’t get a chance to stop and think about how this actually counts as being an entrepreneur.”

Speakers included shareholder and partner for Tailored CPAs Jenn Wallner; co-founder of The Honorable Distillery Anne White; Innovation Partnerships mentor MJ Cartwright; co-founder and CEO of Urban You, Beauty and Wellness Nicole Gregory; and Chief Marketing Officer for Siren Adela Piper.

The event also featured free on-site child care through a partnership with EPIC: Educational Partnership in the Community.

For more information on this year’s Women In Entrepreneurship event and last year’s resources, visit innovatemarquette.org/events/women-in-entrepreneurship/.

Dreyma Beronja can be reached at 906-228-2500 ext. 248. Their email address is dberonj@miningjournal.net.