By: Lindsay Toth
There’s a lot you learn about running a business that you can’t find in a textbook. Sometimes it comes from getting your first product onto a retail shelf, figuring out how to increase production, finding the right customers or realizing something you thought would work just isn't working.
Those experiences are valuable, especially to other entrepreneurs who may be working through similar challenges.
That’s the idea behind FEAD’s new FEAD Founder Sessions. Each month, we’ll invite an entrepreneur from our community to lead a webinar, sharing their experience, practical knowledge and lessons learned while building their business.
We’re opening applications to women and gender diverse agri-food entrepreneurs who have something they’d like to share. Whether you want to teach a specific topic, talk about your entrepreneurial journey or explore some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way, we’d love to hear from you.
Why take part?
When you’re busy running a business, it’s easy to overlook how much you’ve learned along the way. The challenges you’ve worked through, decisions you’ve made and things you might do differently today could be exactly what another entrepreneur needs to hear.
Sharing your experience is also an opportunity to introduce yourself and your business to a broader audience. FEAD will promote each webinar through our website, newsletter and social media, helping more people discover your business and the expertise behind it.
There’s also value in getting more comfortable talking about what you do. Whether you’re preparing for a retail pitch, attending industry events or hoping to take on more speaking opportunities, leading a webinar gives you a chance to practise sharing your knowledge and answering questions.
And, of course, there’s the opportunity to connect with other entrepreneurs. Your experience might lead to a new business connection, an interesting conversation or simply help someone who is facing a challenge you’ve already worked through.
What could your webinar be about?
We’re keeping the topics fairly open because we know our community has a wide range of experiences and expertise.
Your session could focus on a particular part of running a food business, lessons from your own entrepreneurial journey or a combination of both.
Some ideas include:
What you learned getting your first product onto retail shelves.
Preparing for your first trade show or farmers' market.
Testing a product and using customer feedback to improve it.
Building relationships with retailers, distributors or other business partners.
Managing production challenges or seasonal demand.
Marketing your business when you have limited time and resources.
Changing direction when something isn't working.
Lessons you wish you'd known when you started your business.
These are just suggestions. If there's another topic you think would be useful to our community, we encourage you to pitch it.
You also don't need to have everything figured out or present your experience as a perfect success story. Some of the most useful lessons come from things that didn't go according to plan. We're interested in what you've learned, how you've approached challenges and what other entrepreneurs can take away from your experience.
You Don't Need to Be an Experienced Speaker
If you've never presented a webinar before, that's okay.
We want this series to be an opportunity for entrepreneurs to share what they know, not something reserved for professional speakers.
Depending on the topic and your comfort level, sessions can be structured as a presentation with time for audience questions or as a more conversational discussion with a FEAD host.
Our team will work with selected entrepreneurs to finalize the topic, format and scheduling so you feel prepared for your session.
How to Apply
If you're interested in being featured, complete our online application form and tell us a little about yourself, your business and what you'd like to share.
We'll ask for your proposed webinar topic, a short description of what you'd like to cover, a few key takeaways for attendees and a speaker bio. You'll also be able to indicate your preferred session format and general availability.
Once you've submitted the form, we'll ask you to email us a headshot, along with your business logo and a product or business photo if you have them. These will help us create promotional materials for your session.
Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, with the goal of featuring one entrepreneur each month. We'll contact selected applicants to discuss the opportunity and next steps.
We'd Love to Hear Your Idea
You don't have to be the biggest business in your category or have years of experience to have something worth sharing. If you've built a business, worked through challenges and learned something along the way, there's a good chance another entrepreneur could benefit from hearing about it.
We’re looking forward to highlighting more of the people and businesses that make up the FEAD community, and giving our members more opportunities to learn from one another.
Interested in sharing your experience?
