Jan Davies McDermott: Founding and Growing a Chapter

By Bud on November 6, 2007 TrackBacks (0) Comments (2)

Jan Davies McDermott talks about the Women Presidents Organization and how she founded and grew the Southeast Michigan chapter.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Defining New Markets | Facilitation | Jan Davies McDermott | Women Presidents Organization

In this nine minute segment (download iPod compatible, 47MB), Jan Davies McDermott describes how she was chosen to lead the Southeast Michigan Chapter of the Women Presidents Organization. The WPO was founded 10 years ago to provide women-to-women support for female business owners. Some highlights from this segment:

  • The WPO is now in 70 US cities with two new non-US branches.
  • Initially WPO chapters were located based on market research that indicated concentrations of women business owners.
  • Currently, a minimum of 10 paid members are required to start a new chapter.
  • Jan started the Ann Arbor chapter in July, 2005 after winning the Athena Award earlier that year.

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2 Comments

April Milner on November 15, 2007 11:46 PM
I found this segment to be mainly about business enhancements. The Women President’s Organization sounds like a great resource for businesses to use. The roundtable technique has proven helpful in this situation as well as many other situations in and out of the business world. Jan Davis McDermott noted that the membership is confidential. That being the case, how does one find out about such an organization? Their focus is on 2nd stage business. I wonder if new members are done by referral or if there are researchers keeping an eye on business to extend an invitation as a company becomes a 2nd stage business. Jan Davis McDermott has a degree in HR Management with emphasis in training and development. This coincides with the work she is performing as facilitator of the SE Michigan Women President’s Organization. Although the members attend the meetings to obtain advise and share their experiences they are also training one another and helping each other’s businesses to develop. Training often needs to be looked at with an open mind or it will fail. Jan Davis McDermott knows how to assist people in training and that seems to be a great attribute to bring to the table… the roundtable in this instance. I believe the Women President’s Organization also represents a networking tool for the business community. The members get to know each other well enough to confide about their business problems and that requires a lot of trust. Referrals occur when a level of trust is present. These women know how each other’s companies operate and can be a great source for obtaining new clients whether by personal referral or recommendations for new markets to enter into. It would be interesting to see how the advise would vary if the women were to meet on a national level. Given the differences in markets around the country I think they could really get some new and innovative answers to their concerns. It is definitely great to have an organization like this one to act as a help reference when so many businesses who do not have this kind of support are currently failing in Michigan. -April Milner
Allie Gerlach on November 20, 2007 12:08 AM
Dear Mrs. Jan Davies McDermott, Being a college student at Eastern Michigan University and wanting to start my own business has always been a goal of mine. I have heard of the WPO before but just believed that it was more just a social group and not a business type atmosphere. I think it is a wonderful thing and is need very much in this day and age. Like you have said men have stepped into the role of more family involvement, but women still have to hold everything together. Knowing this isn’t always the issue is all households I do believe it still happens to all the business levels women are involved in. I find all of this very interesting that before I feel like this was such a shunned topic where women could only go so far and no one talked about it. Knowing that many businesses still feel that the glass ceiling is still there is very scary to not only me but also my fellow female classmates. Hearing you say that your meetings are only for a select few is understandable for the intimacy that needs to be obtained. One thing I do wish or would like to find more information on is since your WPO chapter is surrounded my two major universities if you ever reach out or invite future women business owners into your meetings. I think that any young college women would jump at this opportunity to just sit in on one of these meetings. The knowledge the members of your chapter hold could have a major impact on future women presidents. Also it could lure these women to stay in Michigan and try to be a successful business owner in this harsh economic environment. Sincerely, Allie Keely Gerlach

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