Women in Business lunch with Rebecca Newenham
A relaxed lunchtime for women in business across Surrey, with an honest career story, good conversation and no hard sell.
Why we’re launching Women in Business
Earlier this year we asked women across our local business community what they’d want from a women in business event. The response was brilliant, and the message was clear. People want a friendly, relaxed place to meet others, share experiences and leave with something useful, without the hard sell.
So that’s what we’re creating. Women in Business is a new event series from Mole Valley Chamber for women in business across Dorking, Leatherhead and the wider Surrey area, shaped by the women who attend it. This lunchtime get-together at the White Horse in Dorking is the first.
Who should come along
This event is open to Chamber members and non-members alike, and is for women in business in the broadest sense:
- business owners, founders and freelancers
- employees and managers at any level
- anyone building a career, changing direction or thinking about starting something of her own
- anyone looking for inspiration, new connections or simply good company
If you’re coming on your own, you won’t be on your own for long. We’ll make sure everyone gets introduced.
What you’ll get from it
- real conversations with women in business from across Mole Valley and Surrey
- an inspiring talk from a local businesswoman, with time for your questions
- practical ideas you can take back to your work
- a relaxed lunch, included in your ticket, with no pressure to pitch
- a chance to help shape future events in the series
Our speaker: Rebecca Newenham
I’m delighted that Rebecca Newenham will be our first speaker.
Rebecca is the founder of Get Ahead, a UK-wide virtual outsourcing agency she has scaled through franchising. She is an award-winning entrepreneur, franchise consultant, mentor and author of Virtually Yours. She began her career in corporate buying with Superdrug and Sainsbury’s.
Rebecca has been bringing women in business in Surrey together for many years. She launched a women’s networking group in Guildford around 15 years ago, and still runs women’s roundtables that offer a safe space to share. Having seen first-hand the vital role networking plays in building a business, she also runs Link Up Guildford (formerly LinkedIn Local Guildford), bringing local professionals together. She is also a mum to three daughters.
About the talk
This won’t be a slide-heavy presentation. Rebecca will simply talk to us, sharing her own business journey in her own words: the decisions, the ups and downs, and the lessons she wishes she’d known sooner. Along the way she’ll touch on:
- messy careers and why that’s fine: why no career runs in a straight line anymore, and why nothing is wasted if you learn from it
- wearing many hats, unapologetically: why the different roles we juggle, in and out of work, are something to own rather than explain away
- resilience: picking yourself up when things don’t go to plan
- balancing business and family life, from a woman’s perspective
- getting the right support: why coaching and mentoring have made such a difference to her business and her life outside it
- women in business today: the value of women supporting one another, and where she’d like to see things go next
There’ll be around 20 minutes from Rebecca, followed by time for your questions.
On the day
- 12:30 Arrive and connect. Grab a drink, say hello and meet a few new faces.
- Rebecca’s talk and Q&A.
- Lunch and conversation. Relaxed time to carry on chatting over lunch.
- 2:30 Close.
Are you a local business in the Mole Valley District and interested in joining the chamber? Find out more here.
Frequently asked questions
A regular programme of events for women in business across Mole Valley and Surrey, planned to run every two months, shaped by feedback from the women who attend.
Any woman in business, in any role or at any stage, from founders and directors to freelancers, employees and those just starting out. We encourage anyone who is just thinking about it to come along, you’ll be made very welcome.
No. Members and non-members are both welcome.
Our first event is in Dorking, and we’ll aim to use welcoming, accessible venues across Mole Valley.
A friendly welcome, a short talk from a guest speaker sharing her story with time for questions, and relaxed time to connect over lunch.
Absolutely. Events are designed to be relaxed and conversational, with hosted introductions so nobody is left standing alone.
No. The focus is connection, learning and support rather than pitching.
Events are ticketed via Eventbrite, with details on each event page.
We’d love to hear from you. With up to six events a year, speaker slots are limited, so we plan the programme carefully to give it a good mix of stories and topics. If you’d like to be considered, please get in touch with a few details about yourself and what you’d like to talk about, and we’ll keep you in mind as the programme develops.
These events are created specifically for women in business, and the aim is to give women a relaxed, supportive space to connect and share experiences. We won’t turn anyone away, but we’d gently ask men to bear that purpose in mind. If you’re looking for wider networking, our monthly networking breakfasts and other Chamber events are open to everyone, and we’d love to see you there.
We’re planning to run them every two months, with themes and formats guided by attendee feedback.
