Member Article

Yorkshire Entrepreneur Celebrates Incredible First Year in Business

The booming female networking organization based in Ilkley, that has featured on BBC Business, CNN and Forbes over the last few months is celebrating turning one this month and has plans right across the country to mark the occasion, as working mum of 4, Catherine Asta Labbett continues to give back to other working women across the region, on her mission to support and inspire them, when moving from the 9-5 to life as a female entrepreneur.

Girl Tribe Gang is a members only collective for women who work for themselves or aspire to do, founded ex NHS Strategist, turned award winning female only psychotherapist and Catherine Asta Labbett, which launched in Ilkley, in May 2017. Experiencing phenomenal growth right across the UK over the last 12 months, Catherine has now established tribes in Yorkshire, North West, Scotland, Staffordshire, Midlands, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, London, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Kent, Devon and the South West, with the first tribes launching outside of the UK about to be announced

As part of 1st birthday celebrations Girl Tribe Gang is partnering up with venues such as Hotel du Vin and the Ivy, along with a special 1st Birthday party meet up planned at the founding Ilkley TRIBE on 21st May at Banyan Bar in Ilkley, where Catherine will be sharing the brand’s expansion.

Catherine said: “We’re delighted to have seen so much success with our founding Ilkley members and we are excited to celebrate this. Ilkley tribe leader, and personal stylist Anna Mewes now has a regular slot on Radio Leeds with honorary Girl Tribe Gang member Stephanie Hirst, alongside myself. Our other Ilkley tribe leader, Kate Ibbotson has this year featured in Fearne Cotton’s, CALM and has attracted national press interest. One of our Ilkley members, Lucy Thompson has created a charity to support women who have suffered from breast cancer, offering a unique service of nipple tattooing after a mastectomy and has been featured on the BBC with a short film -I could go on all day. The stories coming out of these ladies are incredible. It’s fabulous we have such talent in our region and discovering and connecting these women is a joy!”

Catherine added: “I know how isolating working alone can be so we find like-minded women in your local community, women who are working from their kitchen table or home office doing work that works for them and their family, and we bring everyone together. It’s all about creating a community of like-minded women, a level playing field and an eco-system of support and encouragement amongst women who totally get what it feels like to be on your own in business. We are women supporting women, building and growing tribes at a local level, where we partner up with stylish local venues for our monthly meet ups, but we are also building an incredible movement right across social media, and we have a thriving online members group too.”

Girl Tribe Gang advertises providing an alternative to traditional corporate networking with ‘no suits, no stuffy hotels, no corporate nonsense, no breakfast meetings, no sticky name labels, no eating in front of strangers, no board tables, no awkward introductions, no men and no death by power point presentations’.

Each meet up features a ‘Power Hour’ where an expert is invited to come and lead a workshop, do a talk, or host a Q&A session, telling their story of starting up in business and imparting valuable words of wisdom to the budding entrepreneurs, always followed by time to connect, over a cocktail.

Catherine added:“Our tribes have brought together many women who were at the height of their corporate careers, but who craved more freedom and flexibility and wanted to quit the 9-5. I’ve found so many women out there who have achieved so much and have so much experience to share, but who felt they needed support when going along.”

In its first 12 months, Girl Tribe Gang has grown to a team of 30 women working across the country, and has welcomed hundreds of women along to their meet ups and has seen 300 women already join as a member. On the team of tribe bosses there is an ex Retail Head Buyer, a Corporate Accountant, Director of Communications, Probation Officer, HR Director, and Foreign Office Executive, to name just a few.

Catherine added: “There is a whole generation of women who are taking risks and following their dreams and we are a hidden workforce. We are a workforce that connects predominantly on social media, but we need more ‘real life’ connection and to be connecting with the right people who are going through similar things.”

Catherine is now looking for women nationwide to help her grow the organisation even further by becoming tribe bosses in their local regions.

Tickets are available for the Ilkley 1st Birthday Celebration via the Girl Tribe Gang Facebook page.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chocolate PR .