Let’s Throw Business Showers!

To continue our mission of creating generational impact, we have set out to shower 20 women with business essentials they need to start, grow, or maintain their businesses. Just like we shower women who are having babies, we’re throwing Business Showers for outstanding female founders in South Florida! 

Apply to be a Business Showeree here: https://form.jotform.com/212735604497158

Who We Are

Women for Success Nonprofit  launched in direct response to the global pandemic and its impact on women. It is estimated that within the first 3 months of the pandemic women were set back a decade in economic advancement. We launched in May 2020 to lift women up when we were being pushed down the most, and we are looking to create generational impact! With a mission to bring professional and entrepreneurial women together to combat the wave of unemployment caused by the pandemic, we have been able to motivate, educate and inspire thousands of women in Miami, Florida, and beyond. And now, we're asking YOU to help us create generational impact and shift society's perspective of women one BUSINESS SHOWER at a time!

What We’ve Done

Although we’ve already accomplished more than we could have imagined since our founding almost two years ago, our vision and goals are big, and there’s lots of work to be done to make Women for Success all it can be. So far, we’ve raised over $20,000 which we used to fund $14,000 in grants for self-identifying women in business, as well as providing educational programming and networking opportunities for women in our community. We have assisted over 600 professional women in leveling up their lives and businesses and donated over $6,000 to local, national, and international nonprofits. We also raised over $2,000 in donations for 250 single-moms of Lotus House and hosted 60+ programs that educate and empower women entrepreneurs (all in less than 18 months!). 

We’ve noticed that our society doesn’t celebrate women starting businesses, like we do with bridal showers and baby showers. So, we wanted to challenge this by throwing “Business Showers” for outstanding female founders in our community.

How Will Your Support Make an Impact?

With your support, we can magnify our impact to directly support female entrepreneurs who have had to pivot during the pandemic as a result of job loss or another drastic event. We will use IFundWomen’s support to launch a new initiative called Business Showers where we will honor and celebrate women who have launched a new business in the last year. We will shower female entrepreneurs with gifts in the form of subscriptions, technology, resources, and support they need to succeed in their businesses. 

About the Business Showers

In order to be honored, prospective "showerees" will submit an application that showcases and demonstrates need, business savvy, creativity, and vision. If we reach our $60,0000 goal, the top 20 applicants will be showered with a business start-up toolkit complete with a tablet, laptop, smartphone, office supplies, important subscriptions, memberships, e-courses, business training, and mentorship opportunities. As well as praise, dance, and games to help them succeed in their first year in business and really shower them with support from the community. PLUS the showerees will be part of a year-long incubator program meeting monthly throughout 2022 to provide them with education, accountability, and motivation to help them reach their goals!

How We Will Use the Funds

Each of the 20 showerees will receive a “Business Essentials Box” that includes:

• 1 laptop with full Microsoft Suite

• 1 tablet

• One-year subscriptions to accounting and customer relationship management tools

• Work-From-Home Necessities (like pens, notebooks, business planner, e-courses, and mindset/motivation tools and resources)

Each Business Essentials Box will be valued at over $3,000! And will be presented to showerees in a nicely-packaged box at a beautiful Business Showers event.  In addition, our Crown Sponsor Best Practices Title, LLC will provide one (01) Small Business Grant valued at $2,500 for one lucky showeree.

Do Women Really Need The Help?

There is no denying that female founders need help on a national and local scale.

National Need 

It’s estimated that the global pandemic has set back the representation of women in the workforce by more than a decade. Not only are a significant number of women leaving the workforce and being promoted less often than their male peers, but their businesses are being funded 27% less than in 2019, and even more of a decrease in funding is expected by the end of this year. (Crunchbase) Despite raising less money than their male counterparts, female founders are able to make more with the money they are able to raise - with women making $0.78 revenue compared to men who make $0.31 revenue, on average. (BCG) Yet, despite women making more revenue, the total money women make is less because they start their businesses with less. Let’s change that!

Local Need 

In Miami-Dade, there are fewer women in the workforce compared to men. Also, more women (18.1%) than men (15.1%) lived below the poverty line in Miami-Dade County in 2019. (FIU) Although there is no data available to show how the pandemic has affected these numbers, we can safely assume that these numbers have not shown any improvement for women in Miami.  

In 2020, SmartAsset conducted a survey to determine the best places for women entrepreneurs, and they found that Miami (and surrounding areas) rank at number 9 out of 50 major metropolitan areas. Although the ranking is comparatively high, together, we can help make South Florida a better place for female founders. 

Our aim is to make a world of difference by empowering and equipping women to define success on their own terms.

More About Women for Success

Women for Success is a nonprofit that provides self-identifying women with a supportive community where they can receive free workshops, tools, resources, e-mentorship, community, and small business grants to ensure every woman has a chance to define success on her own terms.

Women for Success was established to combat the devastating effects the pandemic has had on women-owned small businesses. Within three months of the pandemic, women lost a decade’s worth of economic advancement. A report by the US Chamber of Commerce reveals the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on women-owned businesses. Further, decades of women's workplace inequality have left women bruised, disadvantaged, and in need of resources, training, and a caring community to support them. 

This is the first-ever global female recession, and we launched our nonprofit, Women for Success, in May 2020 with a mission to bring professional and entrepreneurial women together to combat this wave of unemployment and lift each other up when we were feeling pushed down the most.

About Lauren (Founder)

Our founder Lauren Marsicano and a board of caring, connected, diverse, professional, and entrepreneurial women are uniquely positioned to lead this organization in Miami (and eventually grow it to have national impact). To begin, our founder Lauren Marsicano, Esq. owns two successful businesses dedicated to developing professionals and businesses.  Her business and family law firm, Marsicano + Leyva PLLC, and her networking business called Networking Maverick, which turns her clients' networks into net-worth. Everything she and the Board members do is meant to help others succeed and reach their full personal and professional potential. She has been recognized as a “Top 40 under 40 Lawyer in the Nation” by the American Bar Association and has been named a “Florida Super Lawyer, Rising Star.” 

Press

Click here to read more about the vision and motivation behind this initiative from our founder, Lauren Marsicano, Esq.

Thank you!

Thank you so much for your contribution today! Throwing 20 Business Showers for female founders in South Florida will help women define success on their own terms. And by funding this initiative, you are helping curb some of the negative effects the pandemic has had on female-owned businesses. Together, we are creating generational impact!