It appears to be entirely true that the high-profile image that drives the marketing of Women in Business is largely a function of the central role played in the emergence of the organisation by the popular local fashion personality Sonia Noel. That, however, as the Stabroek Business found out for itself, is not the whole story. The engine that drives the movement is what appears to be a collective sense of self-esteem that the group has derived from her leadership. What is noteworthy about the group is that it appears to function smoothly without the benefit of any burdensome bureaucracy, the engine room seemingly driven largely by the fashion designer’s leadership style.
Prior to sitting down with Sonia to talk about Women in Business, we undertook at least four prior interviews with members of Women in Business. We spread the net wide, selecting interviewees ranging from a highly successful businesswomen who is about to undertake a further multi-million dollar investment in the education sector and an astute trained nursery school teacher with a passion for plants to a businesslike woman running a beauty products store in South Georgetown and a hard-working West Bank woman seeking to establish herself as a service provider in the domestic services sector. These and the others, ‘sold’ Sonia to us as the source that has ‘topped up’ their initial impetus. They are, each of them, commendable examples for the concept of women in business.
