PARO and Me

by | Feb 15, 2016 | Media | 0 comments

TBNewsWatch recently interviewed me to discuss my business and my involvement with PARO: centre for women’s enterprise.  It was a spur of the moment thing, and the interview was squished in between cleaning  up from my catered lunch that day and my children coming home from school, but I was more than happy to chat about PARO.  You see, I feel a familial connection to this social enterprise that helps women start their own businesses in Thunder Bay and region.

Back in 2010, I joined their 10 month Gateway program, which connected me to funding and tons of support in order to get my catering business off the ground.  In the process, I met a bunch of wonderful women, all starting businesses of their own and joined a peer lending circle.  We still meet on occasion and are able to help each other secure loans through PARO, but we mostly simply enjoy the feeling of not having to do this alone.  Running a business is a tough endeavour, and certainly not for the weak of heart.  And I do love it.  But on those discouraging days, I am so happy to know that PARO has my back, along with the friends that I have made along the way.  I now am a board member of PARO and am happy to assist others on their own business journeys.

Anyways, I said all these things to the lady doing the interview, and she wrote an article about PARO.  But it was limited in what it could encompass, and I do feel such a debt of gratitude that I felt I should write a bit more.  If any of you know women who have a dream and want to build a business, send to them to PARO!

Read the full article here.