Entrepreneurial and gender equality champion Iris Serbanescu knows what it means to start a business all on your own. After spending years in the industry consulting with and developing partnerships for luxury, experiential tour operators and properties looking to grow their businesses, she's seen it all when it comes to the world of tourism startups - including just how much its woman and non-binary entrepreneurs are excluded and underserved.
Enter wmnsWORK, a self-described "accelerator" designed by Serbanescu to bring women and non-binary entrepreneurs together during the most critical part of their small business journey, using a model commonly seen in the tech industries to help grow new businesses. In this case, wmnsWORK provides a supportive, expert-led space to embrace idea-sharing, community and self-compassion - through an anti-oppression lens.
On International Women’s Day, Open Jaw reported on the launch of wmnsWORK. We sat down with Serbanescu to learn more about her new venture - and figure out what exactly an accelerator is.
First off, what on earth is an "accelerator?"
Well, they're very popular in the tech world but not so much in other industries. They were created to help investors get a quicker return on their investments in tech startups and scaleups.
I use the term because I love the concept and wanted to bring it to non-tech, non-scalable businesses. Essentially, an accelerator is a cohort-based program that propels a business forward with quicker growth than they could have achieved on their own, using access to mentorship, educational workshops, expert guidance, and other types of support (like office space, pre-pandemic) that are essential to businesses in the early stages of their journey.
Accelerators focus on speeding up small business growth, but also create an ecosystem for startups so that they can share in - and learn from - each other's learned and lived experiences.
In many cases, cohort members stay in touch well after the program has ended, and continue to share in their collective journeys, for the benefit of ongoing learning and support. They also provide a way for program mentors, experts, and sponsors to connect with each other and learn and network. For that reason, I think of accelerators as community-builders that extend far past the educational curriculum.
What inspired you to start wmnsWORK?
It came about in the thick of the pandemic. I was spending a lot of time thinking about my future in tourism, and the industry's favourite line, this idea of "building tourism back better." I started wondering if there was a way I could take my lived experience and the network I've built over 10 years in the business, and use it to build something that's never been done before.
Most of my career has been spent working with small tourism businesses, and there were a lot of times where I'd notice that despite the fact that many of those operations were made up of and powered by women, so few of them were actually owned or led by women. I would attend conferences and could count on one hand how many businesses present were helmed by someone who wasn't white, cis or male. I also realized that with the travel associations and organizations that exist to support tourism enterprises, almost no spaces exist specifically for early-stage entrepreneurship for historically excluded and overlooked folks.
After a while, I started seeing very clearly how disproportionate the money and power in tourism really is. To be honest, the idea that this industry - where I've basically grown up, built my career, and made lifelong friendships - wasn't built for people like me really started to weigh on me.
So, I decided to pull together my contacts, expertise, and passion for working with small businesses and create the kind of program I wished already existed.
I wanted a small-group setting (max. 12 folks) where women and non-binary entrepreneurs, including those who are racialized, disabled, LGBTQ2S+ and neurodivergent could find belonging, network and learn in a way that would accelerate the growth of their businesses.
The pandemic has brought to light so many of the existing cracks in our social and economic systems - the only way we're going to "build back better" is if we acknowledge those cracks, own our role in making them, and create spaces that empower folks to do better. I'm hoping that wmnsWORK can be a part of that.
How does the program work?
Throughout the 12-week virtual program (which launches May 16, 2022), participants attend up to 12 expert-led workshops and masterclasses. The curriculum is customized based on what the cohort members say their needs are, and is then led by experts who have various forms of expertise in the desired subjects.
Members are connected with one-on-one mentors who act as their guides throughout the program, attend coaching circles with guest facilitators, and have access to fireside chats with inspiring women and non-binary tourism leaders and investors from around the world.
The focus is acutely educational, but through a lens of community, self-compassion, and acceptance. Entrepreneurship can be super lonely, especially before you build your network, so this operates as a place for honest feedback, for tough questions, and for feeling as though people genuinely care about and are invested in your success.
A big part of wmnsWORK is also about challenging existing structures that impose barriers on creative business-building. Our facilitators and speakers are largely folks who forged their own way forward, so that cohort members can see that you don't have to always follow the prescribed rules of an industry to make it within that space.
By the end of the program, cohort members can expect to have a business plan, budget, and pitch deck - these are key deliverables of any standard accelerator program.
What makes wmnsWORK unique is that it works to foster lasting connections between members and their mentors, investors, and each other. These are relationships that members might not have otherwise had access to, and can lead them to incremental sales and funding for their businesses faster than if they'd gone it alone.
Who is wmnsWORK for?
The program is designed largely for experiential tour operators and hoteliers, but any tourism business model is welcome if they feel they could benefit from the program curriculum and networking.
That said, we also want to make sure the program is accessible, which is why we collaborate with like-minded groups such as sherpa°, and Exodus Travels, to develop scholarship options for racialized, disabled and LGBTQIA2S+ entrepreneurs. We've also teamed up with the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) to provide members with a free, one-year ATTA Business Memberships (valued at $600 USD).
We cannot challenge the status quo if the program is made up of all the same folks from all the same backgrounds, with all the same financial safety nets. Acknowledging existing systemic barriers while prioritizing equity is the only approach that's going to move the needle.
You've talked a lot about challenging systems and "building back better." How does the program encourage professionals to do business differently?
I talk about challenging existing systems because in essence, those systems were not built for anyone who was not, let's be honest, cis, male or white. So by addressing and normalizing that fact right off the bat, we are making room for better ideas that can lead to a more equitable industry for all.
wmnsWORK does this in two ways:
- By valuing the lived experience of our experts and mentors just as much as their resumes, and,
- By normalizing failure and resiliency over success through openness and sharing.
Traditionally, the professional world has measured experts' credibility by their CVs and achievements, but that also often results in folks being loath to share their personal experiences, or details of how they really got there.
The trouble with that is, failure and barriers are where the lessons are, so how can anyone learn from an expert speaker if their talk isn't going to acknowledge their struggles with resilience? I want to hear from those folks.
The same concept applies to featuring expert speakers who work in varying sectors of tourism, rather than the same C-Suite standbys. The management approach of someone who runs adventure tours in the same place where they grew up, for example, is going to be so different from that of the business development manager for a global tour operator. Yet, we tend to hear from the big players more often.
I think when it comes to "building back better," wmnsWORK pushes the belief that there's no one "right way" to run a successful business - there's only the way that works best for you, and it's our job to help you figure out what that means and set goals that are exciting to you.
The 12-week spring wmnsWORK cohort is now open for registrations, and will begin 16MAY. Participants can apply here now.
