Hughley leads Women’s Enterprise

Monica Hughley brings experience and ideas to local women’s business center“On my wall, I have a little sign that says ‘Think outside the box.’ That will be one of my top priorities.”

Monica Hughley, the new director of the Fort Wayne Women’s Bureau’s Women’s Enterprise program, says promoting innovation, growth and sustainability will be among her chief goals for Indiana’s premier women’s business center.

“I really want to challenge people to think outside the box and do things that are atypical of things they have done in the past,” Hughley says.

Launched in 1999, Women’s Enterprise has served more than 3,000 women and men and can take credit for more than 150 business success stories (including INK Newspaper). Hughley wants to take those numbers even higher.

“One of the things that we definitely want to promote is growth and sustainability so that we have have a larger economic impact on our community,” Hughley explains. “A lot of times people think they want to start a business but you have to do your due diligence in order to be successful. What we offer is education, counseling, consulting and mentors. It’s so important because in order to start a business you have to have the correct tools in place. “

A native of Gary, Indiana and a Purdue University grad, Hughley is an experienced entrepreneur and business trainer, however she admits she didn’t know much about Fort Wayne before seeking the director’s position at Women’s Enterprise.

“I’d actually never been to Fort Wayne. I   don’t think I’d ever even driven through Fort Wayne.” Hughley laughs.

However, Hughley does have solid connections here, including the head of the region’s most renown high-tech business incubator, Northeast Indiana Innovation Center (NIIC) president and CEO Karl LaPan, who told her about the opportunity at Women’s Enterprise.
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I know there is a lot of growth potential here,” Hughley says. “By increasing economic opportunities and independence for the men and women of our community, Women’s Enterprise at the Fort Wayne Women’s Bureau helps create new jobs within Northeast Indiana and that’s sorely needed in today’s economy.”

Prior to coming to Fort Wayne, Hughley was in Syracuse, New York, where she was director of Syracuse University’s Southside Entrepreneurial Connect Project and Innovation Center. In that position, Hughley oversaw the development and management of eight entrepreneurial outreach programs including a women’s business center and a business incubator. Her responsibilities also included community outreach to government, civic and business leaders in the community. Hughley has also been the president/owner of Brown Holding Group, LLC -Chemical Distributor. Prior to that she was a senior sales representative at Indianapolis-based Mays Chemical. Fort Wayne Women’s Bureau chief external officer Jeanette Dillion says the combination of Hughley’s education, business ownership experience and work background make her the ideal person to run the Women’s Enterprise program.

“Monica was ultimately chosen because she had those qualifications plus experience in running a program similar to Women’s Enterprise plus experience with incubators,” Dillon notes. “We feel lucky to have her.”

Women-owned businesses continue to be one of the fastest growing business sectors in the nation. The country’s 10.6 million women-owned businesses employ 19.1 million people and contribute $2.5 trillion in sales to the nation’s economy. As a women’s business center, Hughley says Women’s Enterprise works to meet the particular needs of female entrepreneurs with informative programs, flexible schedules and individualized mentoring sessions.

“In our society, women have to be flexible because we hold so many roles. So, our program is flexible,’ Hughley explains. “Our focus is women but we definitely reach out to others – we don’t discriminate. We help all people.”

Of the 3,000 clients served by Women’s Enterprise since 1999, 66 percent are considered low and moderate income. Hughley says the program will continue to target those potential entrepreneurs. She says the program will also work harder to reach diverse populations including Hispanics, Burmese and Africans, in addition to the African American population.

“We want to create new entrepreneurial opportunities for all people,” Hughley says. “There has never been a more important time to help others in our community become self employed.”
By helping more individuals start and maintain small businesses, Hughley says Women’s Enterprise will have a positive impact on the larger community.

“Small business is probably the largest employer in the United States right now,” Hughley says. “What we want to do is create small business ventures that are going to be around for a long time and create jobs in the community. It’s important for us to prepare people to get their business plan in order, to look at their financials, to prepare strong marketing plans – all aspects of preparing for a successful  startup and also being able to grow and maintain their business.”

“I’m really excited about getting this position. You could call it my dream job because I really see a lot of opportunity for growth.”

For more information on Women’s Enterprise, a program of the Fort Wayne Women’s Bureau, visit www.womensbureau.com/we or call (260) 424-7977.