NJBIZ Conversations: Jennifer Chavez

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Jennifer Chavez founded Babes in Business, a networking group for women entrepreneurs, after starting a web design and branding firm called Helpful Rabbit out of her home in Bradley Beach. That experience – starting her first business – demonstrated a need to improve networking opportunities for women like her.

Chavez went to all the usual events, with not much to show for it. “Nothing out there was hitting the mark for me,” she said. The events offered too little variety and she wasn’t making any connections or getting any business.

“So, I accidentally decided that since I was good at all these things,” Chavez recalled. “I was going to start Babes in Business. Within a week, I created a logo, a Facebook page, a one-page website and I hosted an event. I put out 30 chairs. I thought maybe a few people would show up. It was pouring rain. I was not expecting what happened, which was 70 women showed up. I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t even speak. My glasses fogged up. Right there, from that moment, I knew I had something.”

Chavez recently spoke with NJBIZ about the creation of Babes and Business and how she has expanded beyond New Jersey.

To watch the interview, click on the image below.

To listen instead, click on the podcast below.