A Donegal woman could be one of the next famous girl bosses to come from the programme which counts Marissa Carter among its past members.

A call is now being issued to ambitious female entrepreneurs who would like to be considered for participation in the 9th Cycle of the Going for Growth initiative.

Enterprise Ireland and KPMG are looking for 60 female entrepreneurs to take part in the programme that has supported some of the most successful and notable businesswomen in the country.

You could be part of the next lot of women to be chosen, but the first step is applying.

If you need any persuasion, take it from former participant Marissa Carter – Cocoa Brown’s ‘Girl Boss’, WMB Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 and IMAGE Young Businesswoman of the Year 2016.

Marissa is enjoying a holiday in sunny Tenerife this week, but she took time to share her experience with her Snapchat followers.

To see Marissa sunning herself on a lounger while taking a rest from building her global empire is all the inspiration you need.

“You meet up once a month for six months with eight other entrepreneurs and one leader entrepreneur who has had phenomenal success in her field.”

“You work on growth in your business – focusing on different areas each month and then you report back.”

Current leaders include Oonagh O’Hagan of the Meagher’s Pharmacy Group, former Penneys executive Breege O’Donoghue and Maeve Dorman of PayPal.

As the Lead Entrepreneurs are giving their time to the initiative on a completely voluntary basis, there is no charge to suitable entrepreneurs for participation in the round tables.

Marissa was very honest and encouraging in her account of the programme.

“I joined Going for Growth when I was starting Cocoa Brown and it was an incredible help to me for growing Cocoa Brown.

“This is the incredible part – it’s free. The programme is sponsored which means the participants don’t have to pay, which is phenomenal.

“The catch is it’s really really bloody hard to get on the programme! There is only 60 entrepreneurs accepted every year. You need to be in business, self-employed for two years and your business needs to show that it has the capability and potential significant growth.”

Over 450 women entrepreneurs have already participated in a cycle of Going for Growth.

Besides an increase in their confidence, ambition and motivation, most of the participants in the most recent cycle of Going for Growth increased their turnover over the six months of the cycle by an average of 36%, bringing the turnover of the group to over €35.3 million. An additional 70 jobs were created by participants, while 685 existing jobs were strengthened, according to the programme guide.

Completed applications may be returned by email to info@goingforgrowth.com or posted to: GOING FOR GROWTH, 6 JAMES’S TERRACE, MALAHIDE, CO. DUBLIN

Applications must be received no later than Friday 20th January 2017. Visit www.goingforgrowth.com for more info.

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