5 Top Takeaways From JBF’s Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (WEL) Program

Imagine having dedicated time each week to optimize your business operations, create long-term growth strategies, expand your leadership skills, and build a powerful network. JBF’s Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (WEL) program provides just that for a cohort of 20 women, whose food or beverage businesses range from cocktail bars to breweries, farm-to-fork eateries to critically acclaimed taquerias. During the 11-week virtual program, sessions cover topics such as leadership, business and financial models, marketing solutions, and internal communications, all taught by faculty from JBF’s education partner, Cornell, along with JBF staff, industry professionals, and other subject experts.

Here, six WEL alumnae share their most valuable takeaways, how the program positively impacted their business, and why other women entrepreneurs should consider applying. Applications are now open through June 6 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Building Your Network Is a Gift That Keeps Giving

WEL helps women business owners create a community by providing a safe space in which to celebrate successes, navigate challenges, share competitive advantages, and sound aloud. “[Meeting] with 20 other women on a monthly basis to talk specifically about our businesses, and, in turn, also sharing our anxieties, fears, and triumphs was on par with the most luxurious form of self-care that I didn’t know I needed until I was in the program’s midst,” says Corrie Wang, fall 2024 alum and co-owner of Jackrabbit Filly and King BBQ, eateries in North Charleston, South Carolina that serve New Chinese American cuisine and Chinatown-style barbecue, respectively.

WEL creates a powerful network that not only impacts how participants run their day-to-day operations but strengthens their resolve well into the future. “With the friendships that I’ve made at WEL—it's a reliable, strong network, which everybody needs,” says Alba Huerta, winter 2024 WEL alum and owner of Julep Bar, a James Beard Award–winning cocktail bar in Houston, Texas. “Especially because a lot of restaurant and bar owners feel isolated, as if not everyone understands what you’re going through. Well, this is a group that does understand what you’re going through.”

Mastering Building Blocks Promotes Sustainable Growth

The advanced education and training WEL participants receive on fundamentals such as business models, organizational structure, and financial literacy help them to create a stronger foundation for their business and in turn, their staff. On the financial side, several WEL participants expressed the value of learning how to budget, forecast, manage debt schedules, analyze menu performance, and source funding. Kayla Abe, fall 2023 alum and owner of Shuggie’s Trash Pie + Natural Wine, a sustainability-focused restaurant in San Francisco, California, says that sessions covering cost analysis frameworks and capital budgeting for the future were particularly helpful. 

From an organizational standpoint, Abe also discovered that optimizing her role meant making herself replaceable. “I prioritized stepping off the floor at least once a week, which forced me to rely more on my team, which required better SOPs [Standard Operating Procedures] on absolutely everything,” she says. “We have never been more organized.”

Huerta says that having a deeper understanding of organizational structure allowed her to readily implement practical changes too: “Whether it’s developing roles, or adding new roles that were missing, or how we organize our own roles to not have cognitive overload,” she says. Along with adopting a more financially fit model, she says that “in creating these systems, you build trust, and you empower your team to grow alongside your business.”