Stephanie wants to try something.
"A few weeks ago, I found myself wishing I had another business owner to call.
Not because I needed advice from an expert.
I wasn't looking for a consultant, a seminar or another business book.
I just wanted to talk to someone who gets it.
Someone who understands what it's like to make decisions all day long.
To be responsible for the people who work for you.
To have a great week and immediately wonder whether you'll be able to repeat it. To solve problems nobody else even knows happened.
Someone I could ask, "Is this normal?"
And that got me thinking.
Surely I can't be the only business owner in Sudbury who occasionally feels this way. So we're trying something new at Wander."
Introducing Owners After Hours
On Tuesday, September 29th, we're inviting a small group of established local business owners and operators to Wander for a drink.
That's pretty much the entire agenda.
There won't be a speaker.
There won't be a presentation.
There won't be name tags, elevator pitches or an awkward round of "tell everyone what you do."
And nobody should arrive planning to find their next customer.
This isn't another networking event.
It's an opportunity to meet other people who understand what it means to actually run a business.
Maybe you'll compare notes with someone who's dealing with the same staffing problem you are.
Maybe someone will tell you about something they tried that worked brilliantly.
Maybe you'll meet an owner who's been doing this for 25 years and discover they still occasionally wonder what on earth they're doing.
Or maybe you'll just have a really good glass of wine and a conversation with someone interesting.
All of those outcomes are perfectly acceptable.
A Note From Stephanie
"I love owning a business. I also think it's one of the strangest jobs in the world.
There are lots of people around you, but there aren't always many people you can actually talk to about the things that come with being the owner.
You can't necessarily talk to your staff about them.
Your friends and family may listen patiently, but unless they've owned a business themselves, some things are difficult to explain.
And traditional networking events have never really solved that for me.
I'm not looking for someone to hand me a business card.
I'm looking for the person who can sit across from me with a glass of wine and say, "Oh yes. I've been there."
That's the room I want to create with Owners After Hours.
Not a room full of people trying to sell something to one another.
A room full of people who are actually doing it — running businesses, managing people, making decisions, taking risks, figuring things out and occasionally wondering whether everyone else knows something they don't.
I don't know yet whether this needs to become a monthly event.
That's why we're starting with one.
We'll put 20 business owners in a room, pour some drinks and see what happens.
If everyone leaves saying, "We should do this again," we will.
And selfishly, I'm looking forward to being in the room too."
— Stephanie
Request a spot here:
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