Jan. 7—At a breakfast workshop the Willoughby Western Lake County Chamber of Commerce is hosting next week, Patrice Blakemore is going to have attendees identify one goal for 2022 and list the actions needed to accomplish it.
The workshop will take place Jan. 11 from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Four Points by Sheraton Cleveland-Eastlake, located at 35000 Curtis Blvd. in Eastlake. Those interested in attending can visit here to register or call 440-942-1632.
Blakemore is currently the executive director for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program in partnership with Cuyahoga Community College. As a business advisor, Blakemore has consulted with more than 500 business owners since 2013.
"Her background is interesting because she has her undergraduate degree of course and then her law degree from the University of Dayton," said Karen Tercek, the chamber's president and CEO. "She was working for a prosecutor's office in Montgomery County before moving to Cleveland."
Blakemore decided to shift using her experiences as an attorney to create a consulting practice that provides executive coaching for women in a male-dominated profession, Tercek said. Those in attendance at the workshop can expect to leave with practical actions and resources that will support their plan for the future.
"We're looking forward to it," Tercek said. "Sometimes people have more than one goal and then it becomes too much for them as they're trying to run a business for example. (Blakemore) is going to discuss how your mindset can hold you back on your goals, why different perspectives to achieving those goals are necessary and how to develop an accountability system, which would be critical."
The chamber has a program committee that's comprised of four chamber members. The committee goes through the chamber survey that's sent out every year in July or August to determine what types of programs should be put together for members, Tercek said.
"Of course, because it's goal setting and it's the beginning of the year, it's quite relevant for a lot of people because a lot of folks go into the new year and they say, 'I'm going to change this' or 'I'm going to do that,' " she said. "Then, life happens and they forget or they try and they're discouraged."
In terms of finding a guest speaker for a program, it's mostly relationship driven, Tercek said.
"We try to bring in folks we know are going to be engaging and also are going to be able to address topics our members are interested in hearing about," she said. "That by itself is a selling point."