Beyond a Startup: Vermont Womenpreneurs Celebrates Five Years of Connecting Local Business Owners

The 2022 Vermont Womenpreneurs Summit at Hula in Burlington. Picture by ISORA LITHGOW CREATIONS

Janina McCue had been dreaming about starting her own custom cake business since she was 14 years old. After graduating from Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., with a degree in business administration, she moved to Vermont and started working four jobs to make her dream come true.

In between caring for kids as a nanny and practicing her craft as a baker at the former New Moon Café in Burlington, she began building connections in the community. The Burlington area is home to several different business networking groups, and McCue is involved with a quite a few of them, but she says there is something truly special about Vermont Womenpreneurs.

Founded in 2018 by Mieko Ozeki and Bethany Andrews-Nichols, Vermont Womenpreneurs exists to help entrepreneurs like McCue start and run their businesses. It hosts meetups — both in-person and virtual. Classes, too. It also convenes an annual summit that celebrates entrepreneurs from a variety of industries who gather to share their stories. This year's event was on June 7 at the Ponds at Bolton Valley; tickets sold out in three days.