Busy women find support, outlet in Lady Project

PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Sierra Barter founded The Lady Project in 2012. In three years, its membership has grown to 650 and it now includes chapters in six locations. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Sierra Barter founded The Lady Project in 2012. In three years, its membership has grown to 650 and it now includes chapters in six locations. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

Sierra Barter didn’t set out to begin a national movement when she started a nonprofit social organization, The Lady Project.

Instead, she and her friend co-founded what they thought would be a fun way for interesting women to network, for social and professional reasons. That was in 2012, and in three years, The Lady Project has branched out from Providence into a series of large and small cities across the country.

More than 650 women have become members, with 300 in Rhode Island alone.

Chapters exist now in New Haven, Conn.; Nashua, N.H.; Boston; New York; Washington, D.C.; and Seattle. This spring, affiliated chapters will launch in Philadelphia; Boulder, Colo.; and San Diego.

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Barter, who grew up near Milwaukee, moved to Rhode Island to attend Johnson & Wales University. After graduating, she started her own social media consulting business, @SierraBarter, and also worked part time for the university. Now, she has a full-time social media job at Johnson & Wales. She continues to run her own business, but on a contract basis. She’s also pursuing an MBA at Johnson & Wales, in addition to leading The Lady Project.

Such a busy schedule is typical of the women who join the organization, she said. “A lot of my friends are what I like to call slashers,” she said. “They might be a social media consultant/CEO of a nonprofit/graduate student/mother.”

The women who participate get together in fun, lively settings about once a month. They listen to speakers, but more often participate in activities together and have fun. The demographic skews to women in their 20s and 30s, but there is no age barrier.

Forty percent of the women in the club own their own businesses and 90 percent have at least a bachelor’s degree, a demographic that has made its events and newsletters attractive to advertisers. MailChimp, an email-marketing service provider, and The Dean Hotel, a boutique hotel in Providence, have sponsored some of the group’s annual meetings.

When the group formed, Barter, 28, and her co-founder, Julie Sygiel, 28, knew these kinds of women, but the women didn’t know each other. An idea was born. Sygiel, a chemical engineer by education, had founded an intimate-apparel company. Barter had her social media consulting business.

“We both realized we knew so many incredible women that were doing something that wasn’t on their business card,” she said. “Especially when you’re starting a business, you need all of these people.”

They both wanted an outlet for networking that wasn’t dominated by older men, and decided to launch The Lady Project. It’s taken off, quite literally, expanding by spread of their network into primarily college towns and cities.

Barter felt a sense of accomplishment when the chapter launched in New York. The kickoff invitations were sent out only 10 days before the event, but managed to attract more than 100 women.

In each of the cities, a manager volunteers to lead the chapter. Barter herself doesn’t get paid to lead The Lady Project. At this point, it’s volunteer. At some point, she hopes it could become something more.

In the larger cities, such as Boston and New York, the club has taken root because, once outside college, people have found it harder to meet others outside work. “It’s hard to make friends as an adult,” Barter said.

The annual events, including a summit that draws members of all chapters together, are held in Providence. She’s seen women from around the country become enchanted with Rhode Island. She’s hoping some will relocate here.

“More women are starting businesses,” she said. “They needed that ‘side hustle’ to pay their rent. Women are entrepreneurial.” •

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