This past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions. I was named a Top Finalist for The 2018 Mompreneur Awards and will be flying off to Toronto for the National Mompreneurs® Conference at the beginning of March. This is such an incredible honour and I'm thrilled to be moving into this next and final stage of the selection process.
This year, over 1200 women were nominated or registered for the award, and 205 entrants advanced. After accumulating points based on a public voting stage from over 90,000 public voters and 30,000 supporters and impression ratings from a selection committee, 23 Top Finalists were chosen from all across Canada.
The task of determining who will win one of the four Awards being presented at this year’s conference will now be left up to an expert panel of judges. The winners will be chosen based on a select set of criteria for each award including: track record of success; product innovation of business idea; growth potential and scalability; revenue; inspiration to others; and impact on the community. The 4 award categories are: Mompreneur Award of Excellence (for exemplary product/service), Mompreneur Startup Award (for a business under 3 years), Mompreneur Award of Merit (for a consultant or franchisee), and the Mompreneurs “Momentum” Award (for a female-led non-profit, charity, or service-based business). Wallis Evera is in the running for the StartUp Award.
Regardless of the final outcome of the judges in March, I consider getting this far to be such a significant and meaningful achievement. Building Wallis Evera has very much been a journey from the heart for me. For the most part, I've felt my way along this path -- eyes wide open, arms outstretched -- balancing what feels like a million hats, and listening (or not) to what has sometimes felt like a thousand voices. As rewarding as it is, being an entrepreneur isn't easy. It takes a stomach of steel, a belief system that is unwavering, and a community of support.
Thank you so much, Mompreneurs® for this opportunity and for being such an integral part of my community of support. Much, much love to this organization! Congratulations, too, to all the other women who were nominated and to those who have been selected as Finalists. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone in TO.
xo Monique
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