Blog • IPWA Santiago

Blog

July 4, 2019

Success or Struggle? Starting Your Santiago Business

On June 26, IPWA hosted three amazing and successful entrepreneurs who shared their experiences with IPWA members as part of “Success or Struggle? Starting your Santiago Business.” Our own Michelle Clarke moderated the event and facilitated a short interactive activity as well to conclude the event.

The event was the perfect atmosphere to ask deep questions about the highs and lows of starting a business in Santiago. Questions answered by the panel included:

Did you ever consider the possibility of giving up and starting over?
How do you cope with your fears?
Why do you think Chile is considered a country for start-ups, entrepreneurs, and business owners?
How did you get your first client?
When did you decide to formalize your project? (from a legal perspective)

The entrepreneurs also shared with IPWA members that it can be very difficult at the beginning when starting a business. The panelists shared some tips of the trade including:

Find your niche and provide them a unique product/service
If you are working, try to keep your actual job while developing your own business. This will provide you a “safety net” that will allow you to pay your bills until your business is profitable.
Make a business plan! You may find some tips to develop one on the web, or you may look for professional advise (one of the IPWA members who was at the event is a professional consultant who may provide you this type of service).

Meet the Panelists

Maria Soledad Torres: Maria Soledad is a forward-thinking lawyer and negotiator with progressive expertise in international business law and inmigration law. She provides legal advice and counseling. Her business web page is:www.legalglobal.cl

Leah Southwell: Leah arrived in Chile 6 years ago without a plan for work. After a few years of experimenting she found a formula that worked and a market that she was perfect to service. Leah now has four people working with her and is doing well by Chilean standards. Her business web page is: executiveenglishnow.com

Gaby Jachuf: Gaby is an attorney majored in Business Law, who has an entrepreneurial spirit. When she moved to Chile, she decided to set up her own business by doing what she is most passionate about: setting up events & celebrations. Gaby is in a sabbatical period due to her pregnancy and will join us to share her local experience.

In closing this was a really wonderful event that provided IPWA members with a secure space to share their experiences and ask the real questions about the unknown of starting a business in Santiago. We look forward to seeing you all at our next event on July 24.

June 5, 2019

Sustainable Santiago

Many IPWA members have asked for Barbara Alcayaga’s Powerpoint presentation. We have shared it below for your reference.

January 31, 2019

January Event: New Year, New You – The Natural Way

To kick off 2019, IPWA hosted “New Year, New You, The Natural Way” with IPWA’s own committee member Caitlin Wheat speaking. Caitlin is a trained Naturopath who creates practical and personalized plans for her many clients. Around 20 women, including lots of new faces gathered to hear Caitlin’s expert tips about nutrition, health, and how to “re-frame” our new year’s resolutions. We also got to try many of Caitlin’s healthy and easy to make recipes including pesto, tumeric hummus, and protein bombs. At the end of the event, Caitlin did a cooking demonstration, showing us all how to make healthy chocolate mousse using bananas, avocados, and cacao powder. All of these recipes will be available on the IPWA facebook page and the IPWA website, so we can all incorporate them into our healthier 2019 eating habits. If you have questions or want to learn more about Caitlin Wheat and her work as a Naturopath contact her at caitlin@caitlinwheat.com. We look forward to seeing everyone at our next event!

DOWNLOAD RECIPE PDFS

Chocolate Energy Balls

Turmeric hummus

Dairy-free Chocolate mousse

Vegan pesto

Contact Caitlin for more information

www.caitlinwheat.com

+56 9 4204 1006

Facebook: naturopatachile

January 10, 2019

Moroccan Twilight – December Event

IPWA recently hosted a members-only Moroccan Twilight event, celebrating the end of an amazing year!

A group of about 20 women and their guests joined together for an evening of conversation, delicious food, fun music, and camraderie before the holidays. Everyone was able to relax and enjoy the beautiful night and outdoor setting. Music was provided by DJ Claudio “XhuXhu” Munoz (http://djxhuxhu.cl) and catering by Mauricio Useche Torres of The Coolinist catering (@thecoolinist).

IPWA is already hard at work planning the 2019 lineup of events and are looking forward to seeing members old and new in the new year!

Menu provided by The Coolinist:

Smoked eggplant and tomato dip with Moroccan spices and pita bread chips – shared platters
Orange and olive salad with red onion and herbs
Chickpea stew with dates and lemon
Lamb and apricot tagine over cous cous with vegetables

November 15, 2018

Breaking the Expat Barrier with Carla Ducci

Carla is a well-known bilingual psychologist in the expat community and you could see she was very experienced when talking about the issues that expats face when living in Chile.

She was very open about her own story of growing up in the USA and the challenges of moving back to Chile and how that felt for her. This allowed the attendees to connect with her and felt safe to share their own experiences. This was followed by group work around the biggest challenges in relationships and everyday life that expats face. Most people found they had the same feelings around these topics and it was great to know that no one is alone in this.

Then coming together and reframing these stories was very empowering and great for changing perspectives on the challenges faced and breaking out of the negativity that often surrounds the expat life in a new country.

Camila, one of the attendees said that ¨the IPWA event had a great mindblowing sharing activity. We could express in a safe and openminded environment about our vulnerability when crossing cultural settings.¨

Not only was it a great learning experience but the workshop also generated a lot of connections between the attendees who all felt like they were in the same boat.

October 5, 2018

September Event: Deb Derrick – The Long Road to Finding My Voice

And what a voice it is. Deb Derrick was a very engaging speaker, I could’ve sat there all night listening to her and her stories in that beautiful venue. She got very personal with us and delved into her history and about the memoir she is writing.

Deb had identified specific moments in her life where she was able to speak out and started to establish her voice. I was inspired not only by the hardship she has been through to end up doing the amazing things she has done, including being on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but just how she carries herself and the confidence with which she talks. Deb was also able to give us practical advice on finding our own voice and cultivating it.

She also gave some insight into a shared experience that I think a lot of expat women in Chile go through, including myself, which is having to move because of her husband’s job and how hard that made finding her voice and what she wanted to do with her life.

It was also wonderful to see around 20 other women there, and I was able to go around and speak with many of them, I just always wish there were more time to chat!

Thanks again for another great IPWA event, I’m looking forward to the next one.

September 2, 2018

An Evening with Ambassador Carol Perez

On August 28, about 30 women gathered for one of IPWA’s most exciting events of the year. The group was lucky enough to spend the evening listening to US Ambassador Carol Perez, who shared her story about being the first female US Ambassador in Chile. She has experienced many ups and downs, challenges, and unique hurdles throughout her career, which she shared openly with the group. Ambassador Perez gave key advice about being a woman in a leadership role, emphasizing the importance of sponsorship vs traditional mentorship. She also urged us all to maintain strong support groups, and reminded us that we should all stay connected through IPWA. The evening ended with a very open and honest question and answer session, and I know all of us left with new inspiration to be strong women leaders.

During her presentation, Ambassador Perez referenced this Harvard Business Review article for further reading.

August 22, 2018

July Event: Christmas in July

On July 25th, IPWA celebrated Christmas early with a Christmas in July themed networking and social event held at Flannery’s Geo Pub. Turnout was excellent with lots of new faces joining in the merriment. Lauren Brown, IPWA Events Co-Coordinator, led the group in introductions and also invited the group to share a favorite Christmas memory. Considering the varied geographical background of our members, many memories included the snowy Christmas mornings of the northern hemisphere, while others remember a southern hemisphere Christmas, complete with palm trees. The event lasted until 11:00 PM, with many new connections made and friendships forged. From the decorations, to the Christmas music, and festive holiday attire, the Christmas spirit really was all around in July.

IPWA is already looking forward to December and our next Holiday event!

July 25, 2018

How International Women Can Find Work in Santiago, Chile

By Margaret Shuttleworth

It is tough finding a job in a foreign country. For those of you who have been looking for a job in Chile and haven’t had luck yet, I have created a guide on how to go about finding work here. This guide is written with the assumption that not everyone has a working proficiency level of Spanish. So if your Spanish isn’t perfect, and you’re looking for work that allows that, I hope you will find this guide useful.

Start Up Chile

You’ve probably heard of Start-Up Chile by now. It’s an amazing incentive program that the Chilean government started for entrepreneurs to create to bring start-ups to Chile. It started in _ and receives between 200 and 250 companies per year. These companies are from all over the world, and there are certainly some that operate in your native language.

If you want to search for jobs at international start-ups that are part of this program, you can check out the Start Up Chile job portal.

Though it’s a start, not all of the start-ups list their jobs on this site, so do some research about which start ups in your language are part of the Start-Up Chile program, and check on their site for job openings. If you want to see all the companies that are part of the Start-Up Chile program, here is a list of all 750 of them.

Expat Jobs

If you’re not interested in working at a start-up, but want to find a job that only requires that you speak English, check out Xpat Jobs. This site is great because it allows you to search by language. If you are only able to speak both English and Spanish, you can search with that filter. If you’re only able to speak English, it’ll only show you jobs with that as a requirement. I found this feature very helpful when I was searching for jobs in Santiago, since my Spanish is limited.

Embassies

Check out your native country’s Santiago embassy for job openings. Some of these jobs may require Spanish, but there is also a chance that there will be clerical work where only your native tongue will be necessary.

Jobs in Santiago – Lastly, here is a fantastic Facebook page for expats seeking work in Santiago. I recommend joining the group and checking it frequently to see if anyone has posted anything that you are interested in and think you’d be a good fit for.

I hope you found this guide useful and I wish you luck in your job search! If you have other job leads and want to share them with the IPWA community, please email me at marshuttleworth@gmail.com, and I will add them to this list.