We have registries for wedding gifts and showers for new moms. How about business showers for women entrepreneurs? Registries for product launches? That’s the idea behind Founders Registry.
Ana Pompa Alarcón has always been a connector. Her first company, findSisterhood (which, she will tell you, she didn’t realize was a company at first) connected women in her area who were struggling, like she was, with post-partum depression or the overwhelm of being a new mom and losing all focus on yourself. What began as a social network evolved into a platform to share advice on a range of topics. Ultimately, the business attracted massive investment and expanded to 2,500 cities globally.
Now she is building a community of a different sort: an “ecosystem” designed to serve a global network of diverse women who are starting businesses or who are able to provide support and services to women-led businesses. At the heart of the project is the idea of celebrating women business-owners the way we are accustomed to celebrating brides and moms. “Imagine how different it would be starting your new company with the same kind of celebration, presents, and attention people get when they get married,” she says. “When you throw a business shower, you gather your community together to bring along their network of resources, ideas, and gifts in support of your dream.” In Ana’s vision, a business shower is not just for the birth of a new company. Maybe it’s a new product, a new initiative, an anniversary of your business launch. It’s all cause for celebration and the support of a community.
An important part of the ecosystem is sharing knowledge and answering questions that new business owners—in particular, women who are underrepresented in business—might be too intimidated to ask. Looking back on her own journey, Ana recognizes that she made mistakes that might have been avoided if she’d asked more questions. What held her back? “I was always labeled. I’m an immigrant, I am a single mom, I am Latina, I am Mexican. There are so many intersectional layers to my personality, to who I am as a founder, that it feels like I have to work 10 times as hard to be viewed as any random white woman in this country, just because of who I am. I felt like if I asked a question people would judge me. But if you come from neighborhoods where you never saw entrepreneurs and your family, like mine, was working class, how should you know all of these things?”
In a conversation with one of her investors about this topic, she told him she wished people would have come at her with all their unsolicited advice like they did when she was pregnant. “I wish we would celebrate women who start their own company the way we do when they give birth, the way we celebrate them when they get married,” she told him. And Founders Registry was born. Ana also interviewed her family—the people she knows love her the most but also who had supported her the least with her company. When she asked them why, they told her they didn’t know how to help. “So I asked, ‘If I had a registry, like a wedding registry, for my company and on Christmas or my birthday I asked you to just get me stuff on my registry, would you do that?’ And my mom was like, ‘Hell, yes. I’d much rather buy you new business cards or pay for a social media manager for a year, than buy you more yoga pants.’”
Find more about Ana’s services and how to create a business shower for yourself or someone else at www.founders-registry.com. Or connect with her on Instagram and LinkedIn under her name, Ana Pompa Alarcón. “I love to connect with other founders,” she says, “and other women who are out there chasing their dreams.”
There’s much more to Ana Pompa Alarcón’s story—including her social justice work and her commitment to giving a percentage of her profits to marginalized entrepreneurs who lack funds—in the inspiring new book Latinas Who Boss Up. “These boss ladies are truly inspiring, sharing their breakthroughs and triumphs for all of us to experience,” says author, educator, and podcaster Tam Luc. “Latinas Who Boss Up taught me more about a mix of cultures that I never stopped to examine. While our origin stories vary, we all experience life in full color and must navigate our circumstances. These beautiful women represent the world of Latina Supermamas and I am so happy to introduce them to you.” You can learn more about Yuri and the other featured women at https://bossupbestseller.com, where you will find a link to Latinas Who Boss Up.
About Women with Vision International
Women with Vision International aims to inspire, uplift, and empower women everywhere to never give up their dream of living their life on purpose. We gather dynamic, entrepreneurial women who are making a difference and changing people’s lives to spark conversation around the topics that impact us all such as building their businesses, fundraising, and balancing their work and their families.
About Tam Luc
Tam Luc is an international bestselling author and the founder of Women with Vision International who shares the triumphs, stress, and struggles of balancing her life to help women grow their businesses. After 20 years as an entrepreneur, she is able to help women leverage their messages and create the lifestyle they want through her unique book messaging strategies.
Hear from some of the amazing entrepreneurs who have worked with Tam at https://womenbossupsummit.com/virtualsummit
Media Contact
Company Name: Women with Vision International
Contact Person: Tam Luc
Phone: 310 710 8954
Country: United States
Website: https://womenbossupsummit.com/virtualsummit