Building a Network Sasha Pines and Sloane Chara, Vanderbilt Co-founders of Vanderbilt’s Women in Business When Sasha Pines was a sophomore at Vanderbilt University, she quickly noticed a need for an organization that would provide women with the opportunity to pursue their own businesses and entrepreneurial dreams.
“We wanted to do a different take on women in business,” explains Kristina. “We focused on the positive aspects of why it’s so great to be a woman in business today. It’s not about going to a networking event and putting on a nametag; it’s about making a deeper connection with people, bringing your whole self and being authentic in everything you do.” Today, Boston Business Women has more than 10,000 active members and is growing by about 50 new members a week. The group focuses on both personal and professional development for women and offers a host of networking and educational events, in addition to its annual conference. As for others who are interested in delving into entrepreneurship, Kristina advises them to “find that supportive group of women — whether it’s your friends or colleagues.” She also recommends entrepreneurs putting themselves out there and meeting other likeminded people in their communities…and if there is no networking group or events, Kristina encourages other women to do what she did and start their own! Kristina says, “There is no way as an entrepreneur I could have the courage to do what I do without having a strong community of women to fall back on.”
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The Trident Winter/Spring 2018 www.tridelta.org
However, out of the 200 students that attended the kickoff event, only five were women. As Sasha compared the women to men ratio, she racked her brain. “Why isn’t VINE attracting more women?” she recalls asking herself. “I even began questioning if it was a Vanderbilt issue.” Additional research showed that Vanderbilt was the only top 15 university that did not have a Women in Business organization. Sasha saw a problem and knew she could be part of the solution. She reached out to her Tri Delta family who supports her passions and holds similar interests. Specifically, Sasha knew her little, Sloane Chmara, would be the perfect partner in creating a brand for the soon-to-be organization. Sloane had just released her “Kale and Kravings” health and beauty blog on Instagram and jumped at the opportunity to join Sasha. Together, in the spring of 2015, they co-founded Vanderbilt’s first Women in Business (WIB). They wanted to empower women, especially future female leaders, by engaging a network of advocates for businesswomen’s ambitions and by creating multiple networking opportunities for members. The first event WIB hosted was a panel of four businesswomen that attracted a sizeable audience of 50 students.
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and began planning monthly events as a way to empower other women. Once the group hit 5,000 members, she decided to do something big. She formed a committee to plan a conference for around 1,100 women and invited none other than Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post, who delivered an impactful keynote.
Sasha attended an event through the Vanderbilt Innovation and Entrepreneurship Society (VINE), an organization that serves as an educational resource for students with an interest in entrepreneurship or innovation — something Sasha has a passion for.