Marie McNamara is starting a local support and networking group to bring women together to share their work ideas, visions, challenges and frustrations.

The group is part of B.I.G. – Believe, Inspire, Grow – a grassroots organization that began in New Jersey. Tara Gilvar launched the idea last February when she “sent out the very first email to bring the first group together.”

“We had a huge response,” Gilvar said, who has since taken on a partner. “There was a huge need from women to form a support organization.”

The original group grew to more than 50 members.

“We currently have 14 communities and are about to go to 25. Marie’s is the first in Connecticut,” Gilvar said.

Some women are looking to reenter the job market, others are in the workforce but are not completely satisfied with what they are doing for a living.

“We asked women to fulfill their passion,” Gilver said. The group “forms a bridge of support to figure out how” to do that. Ideas, encouragement, validation, contacts, information and support flow at meetings.

“Women together can do anything,” she said, adding that it’s best if that organization is local.

The movement became organic. Women told their sisters, their old college roommates, their neighbors, she said.

McNamara’s sister-in-law, an “MBA working mom with the big job,” joined the original group after she lost her job last summer. She joined for contacts, but began to realize other benefits as well, McNamara said.

They spoke during the holidays. “I told her that I’d been home with the kids for eight years” and wanted to start getting back into the workforce.  “I was at this crossroads.”

Her sister-in-law urged her to speak with B.I.G.’s founders. McNamara did, and then traveled to New Jersey to attend a meeting. She saw a need for a similar group in West Hartford, sent an email to 85 women and 40 women came to an introductory meeting February 1. Three joined on the spot.

“I think we’re a part of this generation of educated women who had jobs” and either left to raise a family or were laid off,“ McNamara said.

An eclectic mix of women attended the initial meeting. The connections they made were inspiring, she said.

“Someone looking to write left with two leads to help her get started. An artist left inspired to get down to business, as opposed to selling herself short. An educated stay-at-home mom who is looking for work left with the name of a company that specializes in placing flex-time employees. A college professor who dreams of designing things out of architectural artifacts found herself talking to interior designers and making a contact in Milan. An interior designer left with an appointment with a new client,” she said.  

Encouraged by the turnout, McNamara scheduled her first meeting Monday, February 22 from 9–10:30 a.m. at The Elbow Room. The topic will be, “How to Build Your Business Confidence.”

B.I.G. is loosely geared to women ages 32–55, but it is open to all ages. There is no fee to attend a meeting. “Anyone can come to a meeting to check it out,” she said.

Membership options range for $25 for one month to $175 for a year. In addition to meetings, members get access to business tools on the web site, a newsletter, teleconference seminars, discounts, networking nights and more. 

Women seeking to return to the workforce will get the steps, resources, support and encouragement they need to realize their goals, McNamara said.

“Magic happens when strong, intelligent women gather to share their strengths,” she said.

Using a mix of modern social media tools and a national web-based community, and old-fashioned gathering, “it provides a non-competitive, supportive environment for women to brainstorm new ideas, consider barter opportunities, share success stories and unveil business pitfalls,” she said.

Jane Shauck, who runs a wedding and commercial photography business out of her home with her husband, attended the introductory meeting and plans to join the group.

She said she went because she was interested in networking and ended up finding other local businesses she could use as resources for her business as it grows, such as writers, graphic designers and an interior designer.

“I thought it was an interesting group of women” who were pursuing their dreams,” Shauck said. “When you’re juggling family and a business, something like this is a nice thing to have. It gives you time to think about your business and focus on growing it.”

McNamara offered four questions to ask to see if B.I.G. might be right.

     • Do you have a great business idea that you just never acted on?
     • Are you the “go to” person for all your friends because of a certain  talent?
     • Are you a seasoned professional but want to make a change or are in fear of losing your job?
     • Do you have no idea what you’d like to do next, but know you want to do something?

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