USA: Ladies Who Launch

They are the Ladies Who Launch.

Stella Grizont and Karla Lightfoot arehelping women transition from unemployment to entrepreneurship.

As co-presidents of the Ladies Who Launch New York division, Grizont and Lightfoot put wanna-be businesswomen through a rigorous 4-week program to bring their ideas to reality.

At this session in Manhattan, a group of women share plans for products as varied as special socks for high heels to a parking garage guidebook.

Jessi Walter lost her job as a credit strategist at Bear Sterns 14 months ago.

With guidance from Ladies Who Launch, she started her company Cupcake Kids!, which gives cooking classes and parties for children.

She’s not making as much as she did in the financial services industry but the company is turning a profit.

[Jessi Walter, Cupcake Kids!]:
„Most of the revenue of Cupcake Kids I’m pouring back into it.  Because I have so ma ny ideas for expansion that I want to keep growing it.“

Almost half of the ladies meeting here decided to take the plunge after being laid off, says Stella Grizont.

[Stella Grizont, Ladies Who Launch]:
„Business is up for us because now, as people are unemployed, they’re becoming their own agents, they’re becoming their own bosses, just by sheer circumstance. And what we’re doing is helping them create a platform for themselves and giving them the tools they need to operate as their own boss.“

Karla Lightfoot says starting a business definitely takes a financial commitment. A year-long membership to Ladies Who Launch, for example, costs $425.

[Karla Lighfoot, Ladies Who Launch]:
„A lot of people come to us because they have a severance package.  And so, you know, what we’re finding is there’s a group of people who get laid off, they’re excited, it’s like they’ve gotten permission to follow their dreams, in a way. And they’re like, I didn’t really like that job anyway.“

Grizont and Lightfoot – both veterans of Corporate America – say most of their clients have lost confidence in that world and are now realizing that do-it-yourself also applies to financial security.

(NTDTV)