Stories
Transforming lives one woman at a time
Devorah was a go-getting strategic business consultant working out of a home office. A well-deserved great reputation gave her little trouble finding clients, but she could never take on too many, because between the “just one or two” loads of laundry and “just putting up lunch” to be ready when the kids came home, the morning would zip by with just an hour or two of client work accomplished. Frustrated with her lack of productivity, Devorah also suffered from feelings of loneliness and isolation. Driving home from client meetings, she would talk out loud to herself: who else was there to share her thoughts, strategy challenges and deliberations with?
Devorah then decided to rent a workspace and see if it worked better for her. From the first day, Devorah’s productivity was 25% higher! As she relaxed into the serenity of a time and place for work separate from the demands of her home, Devorah discovered the next benefit of the Hub: community. Other like-minded professional women with whom to talk, to consult, to share ideas… Devorah felt more enthused and excited about her work than she had in years.
In the supportive and conducive environment of the Hub, Devorah was able to grow her business so much that she eventually needed to move out of the Hub! Devorah opened her own consulting office with four employees (two of whom she had met at the Hub) and has continued to attract bigger clients and more lucrative projects.
Chana, an insightful entrepreneur, saw a need for a product that was unfulfilled in the current market. She started a business to produce and sell the product, saw some initial growth… and then stalled. Determined and persistent, Chana dug her heels in and tried different strategies, one after the other, to push her business forward – with little success. Then Chana attended the annual Temech Conference for both education and networking purposes.
As she mingled, Chana struck up a conversation with Tanya. In the atmosphere of trust and natural camaraderie that permeated the Conference, Chana shared her dilemma with Tanya, and Tanya responded in kind, sharing how she also wanted to advance professionally but felt lost as to how to do it. As the two women talked, they realized that Tanya’s sales skills and outgoing personality might be the perfect complement to Chana’s introspection and desire to focus on her product.
A partnership was born. The two started working together, also bringing in Racheli, an administrative assistant that they had met at the Temech Conference. The combined force of the three women proved to be way more than the sum of its parts. Chana tripled her income while reaching new markets that she never dreamed of. Tanya found her niche in marketing, leading to a full-time position that uses her skills to the max. Racheli gained a steady job, a skilled supervisor and a caring mentor in Chana.
Naomi graduated from an accounting program in a well-known Jerusalem post-high school for Haredi women. With sound skills and a solid resume in hand, Naomi began her job search. To her delight, she got a steady stream of job interviews. To her chagrin, the result of every single interview was rejection. Something must be going very wrong at the interview, Naomi realized, but what?
Naomi was referred by a former teacher to Temech’s Pre-Employment program. She participated in the Pre-Employment Job Search series, encompassing interview simulations, resume building and cover letter writing. One of the key takeaways of the program is to reconcile values the Haredi community holds dear – such as humility and modesty – with the need to present oneself confidently during a job application process.
Naomi learned how to realistically assess and market her skills in a way that is appropriate and expected in a standard workplace while still being true to herself and her values. Naomi’s efforts bore fruit immediately. The first interview she had after completing the program brought her job search to an end… with an attractive job offer.
Chani was born into a Russian immigrant family with zero connections in the Israeli hi-tech world. Despite her enthusiasm, dedication and successful completion of comprehensive studies in software development, Chani was unable to find a job. She submitted her resume to many relevant companies, but barely got called for interviews and received not a single job offer. Her family was struggling and needed her financial contribution, so after several months of rejections, Chani resignedly took a position as a child care provider. It offered low income, low mobility, and lots of frustration… but it was a job.
Then Chani discovered TechUp. She commuted straight from her child care job every morning to TechUp in the afternoons. After four months of hands-on internship experience and exposure to tech companies, in addition to guidance on interviewing and presentation, Chani landed an interview for a software development position with the Israeli government – and she clinched it!
Chani’s starting wage was double what she was earning as a child care provider, and this was just the beginning. The experience and resources Chani gained through TechUp have opened the doors to an entirely new, limitless world for her and her family.
Esti ran a thriving company providing call center systems and services to major commercial endeavors like HMOs and banks. Businesses that provided service to hundreds or thousands of callers daily relied on Esti for the performance of their phone networks, as well as the ability to analyze all the call data and optimize their call center efficiency. Clients clamored for Esti’s services and her business grew… until the mobile revolution drastically changed the call technology landscape. The days were numbered for her soon-to-be-irrelevant business.
Esti shared her unenviable situation with her Ksharim networking group – and Leah, a fellow group member, came to her rescue. Leah helped Esti analyze what Esti brought to her clients independent of technology… and they realized that, at the core, Esti was really an expert data analyst. Leah immediately hired Esti to do data analytics for several of her projects, with spectacular results.
Energized and confident, Esti reinvented her business to offer technology-agnostic data analytics consulting. Esti’s business skyrocketed – even as her primary service became obsolete! She reached the level of business she had at her peak five years before, and even surpassed those earnings.
Shifra grew up in Bnei Brak, the fourth daughter in a family of seven. She always assumed she would spend her life in the city, but as housing prices rose and her own family grew, Shifra and her husband moved to Afula, a growing community in Israel’s periphery. While housing prices were definitely less expensive, job options were also difficult to find.
When she lived in Bnei Brak, she had been involved in fashion and so she began a small shoe store in her home. Even though she was bringing quality products in from Bnei Brak, her neighbors could not make the switch. She found that everyone would take a day trip, two hours on the bus each way to buy basic purchases. And she found that every woman who had a small business was suffering from the same problem.
Shifra participated in a Temech networking group designed for women in the periphery. In a brainstorming session on how to attract and maintain customers, Shifra committed to bringing the city feel to their small town.
She created a sale day in honor of Rosh Hashanah and marketed it as “Bnei Brak comes to Afula.” She brought ten other vendors on board, from children’s clothing to jewelry, to household goods. She scheduled it early in the season to pre-empt the trips to the city. Women loved the idea. Vendors loved the idea. Shifra and her colleagues doubled their sales, built their community and saved everyone a lot of hassle.
