Thriving Together Inside Empower Hour

If you have not yet attended Thursday night's Empower Hour (a National NAWBO Zoom event), you might not know what it’s about or how it got started. Even some of us who attend on a regular basis don’t know. We wanted to share the backstory with you because we think it is touching and might give you another reason to be proud you are a part of this amazing organization. You might even want to register to visit if you’ve never been!

Empower Hour’s story began with Covid. Unfortunately, the pandemic is one of those things most of us will likely never forget. It came with many challenges and resulted in tremendous negative impacts for many businesses. It also shattered our sense of community. The lockdowns and social distancing measures left many women entrepreneurs feeling isolated, disconnected, and adrift. The vibrant networks that once fueled businesses and supported spirits fell silent, and in their place was a pervasive sense of loneliness and fear. Many of us were experiencing health and family issues, shut down businesses, and it was just an overwhelming and challenging time to navigate. 

NAWBO National recognized the struggles women business owners were having and knew members needed a way to stay connected. They jumped into action and started Community Connect Calls. The event was held weekly and open to NAWBO members (and visitors) across the nation. For one hour a week, it was a place women could talk about what was going on in their business and lives. 

Some say that those weekly meetings got them through the entire year of 2020. Just knowing that they would be in attendance with other women every week- where they could laugh, cry, and sometimes laugh until they cried, was comforting. It was a place to pick each other up and give and receive suggestions. It brought people together in ways they could have never imagined.

The group was forged in fire but resulted in remarkable relationships. Some that are still firmly intact today. Throughout several continuing phases of their lives and businesses, many of the original members of the group have grown up together in the four years since then, sometimes even visiting and re-connecting with each other if they are in attendance at national events or traveling into each other’s states. Their connections with one another developed into a lifeline system that was not abandoned when the world shed masks and restrictions.

When it seemed that the world would finally re-open its doors for business, there was a sense of relief. But it brought with it fear that the weekly gatherings would disappear. So, in August of 2020, a couple of the original members, Diana Murphy and Diane Helbig, took over for a short time. It was NAWBO National’s time-off month (August) and they knew no one would want to wait that long to re-engage. The following year, Nancy Chorpenning, from Florida, took it over during the NAWBO HQ vacation. 

Empower Hour has evolved, but the core has remained the same. Its foundation is still rooted in support and a completely non-judgmental space. No one cares what you look like, but they do care about you. At Empower Hour, just like in the past, we don’t need to do anything but show up…and we don’t need to bring anything except ourselves. It’s a place we can be vulnerable and where what we talk about stays there. No particular success level or length of membership is required. It’s a place of acceptance and support, with a balance of personal and professional focus.  Empower Hour is a place to ask and share.  It's not labeled a networking meeting, but attendees are free to do so. Sometimes the turnout is a small group of about a dozen, other times it’s a couple dozen or more. 

If you are seeking a convenient, consistent way to meet new members, talk about your business, and gain insight and education that can impact your bottom line, register today. (New for 2025:  register just once and you’ll receive the Zoom link to join each week!) Because it’s national, you will meet other women from across the nation. They may be just like you, or completely different. 

How Does the Empower Hour Work?

• Empower Hour is held weekly on Thursdays (2 p.m. PT/4 p.m. CT/5 p.m. ET). 

• Meetings are structured but casual. 
• Margaret Hernandez (from HQ) does a warm welcome to start us off. 
• New members and first-time visitors introduce themselves.
• Two specific questions are prepared in advance (emailed to your inbox the day of the meeting) and answered in two separate breakout sessions. The questions are geared to help you think about your business.
• In the breakouts, women introduce themselves, what they do, where they are from and each of them share their answers to the questions. 
• After the second breakout session, we return to the main Zoom room as a group and the meeting commences.

You might not be dealing with a pandemic right now, but there is always something going on in life and business. With this free-to-be-me group, it's an open, safe space, full of genuine encouragement and connection regarding topics that matter to you and your business. Come as you are and when you can but do come. Can’t make it right at the start time, come anyway, you will be welcomed!

“It might not be for everyone, but it’s worth a visit or few, to see if there is value in knowing what it is. I would say: Register, take your seat, engage in the conversation. Explore, and be open to the possibilities that can exist. -Diane Helbig 

We’d like to thank our current President, Diane Helbig, for contributing to this article.