Last month, the Caribbean Export Development Agency launched its We-Speak Caribbean Podcast: Giving a Voice to Women in Business.
In its introductory podcast episode, the host, Jamaican entrepreneur Melissa Powell, shares facts about the socioeconomic limitations of female entrepreneurs in the Caribbean. Women, she says, are often limited by society’s ideas of their place in the household and business, and face setbacks due to longstanding cultural belief systems. As a consequence, women in the Caribbean have been found more likely to opt for businesses in low growth sectors. 90% of women owned businesses in the region, she says, are too small to have any employees.
The podcast is a product of the Caribbean Export Development Agency’s Women Empowered through Export (WE-Xport) programme, which supports Caribbean women in business in exporting products and services. UN Women and European Union have partnered with the agency for the initiative.
Interviewees will include exceptional women in business in the Caribbean and the diaspora, as well as a variety of female experts in their fields. Topics will include scaling your business, branding, finance and more. Upcoming podcast episodes will feature the likes of Lisandra Rickards, the CEO of Richard Branson’s Caribbean business accelerator, Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship, as well as Anya Ayoung Chee, Trinidian fashion entrepreneur who rose to international fame through her involvement on US TV show, Project Runway.
The podcast can be found online at http://www.carib-export.com/wespeak/, and via all major podcast platforms.
