No one knows it all and 100 Quinte region businesswomen gathered together to hear expert speakers and share their experiences at Leader Lounge 2019 today (Friday) in Belleville.
The event was organized by Kerry Ramsay, a Loyalist College professor and founder of Hello Boss Girl, a company whose aim is to empower female entrepreneurs through community, collaboration, and education.
First up on the Scotiabank Stage in a large hall in the former Nortel building were the owners and chief bakers of Maple Key Tart Co. Jean Parker and Rachel Smith.
The sisters began baking butter tarts as teens in a Bayside mobile home to help their single mother build a business which eventually became Rachel’s Tarts which was located in Trenton.
That business was eventually sold but the sisters continued, tweaking the recipe, and working 20 hours a day at times baking, delivering tarts, and selling at markets.
Maple Key Tart Co.’s tarts are now sold at over 20 locations in the Toronto and Quinte regions.
The sisters’ natural gregariousness and charm also led to a series on the Food Network called The Baker Sisters. It can now also be seen on Global.
Both continue to bake and work hard and told the crowd that the key to their success was being themselves, and getting out and meeting customers face to face.
They advised the businesswomen to talk to their customers and open up to them about who they are and why they are doing it.
They maintain that their willingness to chat honestly with strangers and share stories, both good and not so good, about their lives and their business journey led to the development of personal relationships with people that naturally led to the sale of their tarts.
The sisters said they’re still working on being good at “the numbers” but stress it was personal connections in the marketplace that has led to their success.
From left to right: Emcee Jody Brooker, Sales Manager for MIX97, CJBQ, ROCK107 and Quinte News, Leader Lounge 2019 organizer and founder of Hello Boss Girl Kerry Ramsay, and Jean Parker and Rachel Smith of Maple Key Tart Co. (Photo: John Spitters/Quinte News)
Leader Lounge 2019 featured several guest speakers including world champion ice hockey and inline hockey player Jackie Jarrell, a native of Corbyville, who now owns and operates Gold Performance Training.
Main sponsors were Scotiabank, MIX97, CJBQ, ROCK107 and Quinte News, bdc, Lot48 Film Co., Quintevation, Polish Salon and Spa, ActiveWealthManagement, KKP, UPSTAGING LIMITED, and RAYN event catering.
100 businesswomen took time from their hectic schedules to learn and network at Leader Lounge 2019. (Photo: John Spitters/Quinte News)
