There are still too many structural and mental barriers that hold women back in their entrepreneurial ambitions. Specifically, in Belgium, women feel that they need to act more like men to succeed as entrepreneurs (45% of all women agree). Accessing financing for their business also seems to be more difficult as a woman (almost half of women and only one third of men think so). And Belgian women wantrepreneurs also believe that having a role model, is crucial for entrepreneurship, yet few can name a successful female entrepreneur (only 24%*).
*Source: second edition of the Veuve Clicquot international barometer on female entrepreneurship, a study covering 17 countries with a representative sample of 34,622 respondents.

Veuve Clicquot’s Bold Awards honour women in business to change the conversation. They have honoured a circle of more than 400 audacious women and men, Role Models of today and tomorrow, who have already been awarded these prizes since 1972 in 27 different countries.

In 2021, TheMerode hosted Belgium’s inaugural Bold Awards to honour the women inspiring future generations. Muriel Bernard winner of the Bold Woman Award Belgium 2021, founded eFarmz, an e-commerce platform that facilitates access to sustainable food. Pauline Van Ostaeyen winner of the Bold Future Award Belgium 2021, co-founder of Dockflow, an application in maritime logistics.

Returning to TheMerode together for an in-depth conversation, they discuss the greatest challenges and opportunities of female entrepreneurship today, as well as inviting members of TheMerode to join them in conversation about what it means to be bold in business. Plus, the role that men have to play in supporting female leaders.

Applications for the 2022 Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Awards will be open from April 15th to June 15th on the Maison website.
https://www.veuveclicquot.com/en-be/bold-by-veuve-clicquot/nomination

Muriel Bernard, Founder of eFarmz

Muriel Bernard is a Management Engineer. After 12 years in Sales & Marketing in multinational companies (Gillette, Levi Strauss and Orange), the desire to move on took over and in 2013 she launched the eFarmz project with the conviction that it is possible to eat differently but also to be entrepreneurial. eFarmz is an e-commerce platform that facilitates access to sustainable food by offering boxed meals and a wide range of carefully selected organic products from Belgian producers.

Pauline Van Ostaeyen, Co-founder of Dockflow

Pauline van Ostaeyen is co-founder of Dockflow, an application in maritime logistics. This logistics activation platform makes the container visible and automatically informs you about the status of your cargo throughout the journey: from delays and temperature fluctuations en route to loss or damaged cargo. Dockflow helps logistics teams make their jobs easier, so they can focus on useful tasks, more enjoyable work and better service. In addition to a background in business and marketing, Pauline also has hands-on experience in digital transformation, user-centered design and logistics transmission.

18H30 welcome

19H00 Introduction

19H50 Panel talk

20H00 Q&A

20H15 Drinks at TheStables