Women of Success

Women have been acknowledged as an important reservoir of entrepreneurs in countries on their path towards democracy. CIPE’s Regional Office in Bucharest, Romania has been an active promoter of women’s involvement in entrepreneurship, and also one of the first organizations in Romania to initiate specialized programs in this direction.

One such project was “Women of Success,” which was developed starting with 2002 with funding from USAID, and featured three annual multimedia editions. In 2005, the first regional edition of the CD was also published, featuring 71 businesswomen from 20 associations in eight countries (Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania and Turkey). The latter initiative was part of a project concerning the CIPE-supported creation of a Coalition of Balkan Women Business Associations. The CD was distributed internationally, reaching women’s associations, government representatives, local authorities, as well as the media.

The goal of the project was to promote positive values and to create awareness about successful Romanian business women. The core idea was to show people that success can be achieved, that regular persons who had the courage to start their own business are now the ones to speak about building enterprises and creating jobs.

The project was designed to feature stories of Romanian women who have become successful entrepreneurs in spite of all barriers. The business women, who are nominated by their respective associations, tell the story of their business careers and describe in their own words the secrets of their successes. The project is not about the company, the business, or about their product. It is all about leadership and the way to get through.

By being featured on the CD with the story of their successes as entrepreneurs and managers, women get public recognition of their merits. The business associations have a critical role in the project as they are the ones to identify the business women members that have exceptional career stories that are worth sharing with the business community.

The project highlights their stories written in their own words, featuring their entrepreneurial achievements, the general context in which they started the business, challenges, hardships, lessons learned as well as recommendations and advice to other business women or younger women at the beginning of their careers.

One such story is that of Cristina Grigorescu, a graduate of the Bucharest Construction Institute at the Faculty of Installations, who founded a water network engineering company in 1990, in her own home.

After a few years of hard work, the company expanded its range of services so as to include repairing and servicing electric pumps. The next step came in 1995 when Cristina and her husband took the risk of investing in what seemed, in Cristina’s own words, “a bit of an avant-garde” for Romania at the time: electric pumps and accessories for pools. Fortunately, the initiative was met with enthusiasm, which prompted the creation of yet another department of the company, focusing on relaxation items.

However, Cristina’s ambition was not limited to furthering her company’s interests. She has received training in SME management and has also obtained an Executive MBA from ASEBUSS, a renowned Romanian-American Business School.

In addition, she is one of the founding members of the Association of Romanian Women Entrepreneurs and has been elected as President of the Association for a third mandate. In this capacity, she has participated in numerous forums devoted to women entrepreneurs, organized by prestigious institutions such as the World Bank Institute, the Black Sea Economic Commission and the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Europe.

Cristina credits her husband with her accomplishments in business and draws her drive to succeed from the desire to ensure a carefree life for her two children, as well as her desire to verify her own skills.

This is only one among the 36 stories of members of 20 Romanian women business associations that were presented in the first edition, in 2002. The 2003 CD portrayed 37 ladies, members of 18 Romanian women business associations. In 2004, this time under a program funded by National Endowment for Democracy, CIPE Romania decided to also include on the CD project managers in international organizations whose projects had an impact on the development of the Romanian economic environment. This edition presented 54 stories of members of 23 Romanian women business associations and project managers in seven international NGOs.

In each of the three years the CD was launched during the annual edition of the Women in Business Conference organized by CIPE. As such, various groups that were represented at the event were able to become familiar with the project: business associations, business leaders, international organizations, local and central government representatives, Members of Parliament, media representatives. Moreover, the women’s business associations network has also helped promote the project even further, by distributing the CDs.

This project highlights women’s success in business as well as the ambition, commitment and creativity with which they manage to contribute to their own communities. The promotion and dissemination of the CD among the associations, business community and media has created additional opportunities for cooperation among women and even ideas for new businesses. At the same time, this can be a source of inspiration for any women entrepreneurs’ association wishing to raise awareness about their activities and to promote the values of entrepreneurship in their respective societies.