Istiana & Rachel are the co-founders of Monday Girl. The business started as an online network group for working and businesswomen and grew into a full business with 18+ sold events with 4500 professional members. The Monday Girl Team shares its growth story with Onside Media.
How and when did you start this business? Please share your growth story.
Monday Girl started in 2017 when we realized how difficult and exhausting it is to meet like-minded women, build your network, and your career all on your own. We got tired of sending cold LinkedIn messages that went unanswered and those awkward corporate networking events just to get a foot in the door. What started as a fun brunch and a Facebook group grew organically into 18+ sold-out events, 4,500 professional women across Canada, and a full career platform to help close the networking gap and make it easier on women to get ahead in their career.
Tell us the products and services you offer.
Monday Girl is Canada’s first and largest career platform for professional women. We connect our members to job opportunities, mentorship, and career support through our Social Club digital membership, weekly newsletter, podcast and events. Here you can connect with 4,500+ professional women across the country, find a mentor, get resume advice and access to support that is often out of reach for minority women and new grads.
What were the initial difficulties you faced?
Growing our community and launching has never been an issue for us simply because so many women can relate to how terrible traditional networking is and how lonely it can be figuring it all out on your own. Balancing building the business on the side and our full-time jobs has always been the challenge for our small but mighty team, but we’re excited about how far we’ve come over the years just running this as a side hustle.
How did you maneuver your business during 2020-2021? Kindly list a few learnings.
After 18+ sold-out events with over 250 women in our rooms, we had to massively pivot when the pandemic hit. Over the past year, we went entirely digital which was a blessing in disguise because we were able to expand past our local city of Toronto and reach women all over Canada. Our newsletter, podcast, and Social Club membership are all accessible online. We’ve definitely learned how to adapt and just roll with the punches!
How did you hear about Visa Canada’s She’s Next Grant Program?
A near and dear Social Club member kindly sent us a link to Visa Canada’s She’s Next Grant Program for business owners! It’s incredibly cool to see how supportive and empowering our community is for each other. It’s all about paying it forward and holding doors open for one another.
Kindly tell us about your plans for 2022.
In 2022 we hope to start moving back into IRL events knowing how much our members are craving community and the chance to connect again offline. With health and safety top of mind, we’re excited to bring back that Monday Girl experience! You’ll also have the chance to connect with some incredibly inspiring industry leaders next year like Leen Li (CEO of Wealthsimple), Lillian Jia (Amazon), and many more if you’re a Social Club member!
Any words of wisdom for young entrepreneurs?
Spend your time around things, people, and places that fuel your energy, not drain it. Building a business takes a ton of time, patience, and perseverance and it’s a lot easier to stick with it when you’re doing tasks that excite you and surrounding yourself with supportive people. If something is not working, we always think: automate, delegate, or make some tough decisions!
For more info:
Website: mondaygirl.ca
Instagram: Mondaygirlto
LinkedIn: Mondaygirl
This Story is authored by Yugbodh, Onside Media, Toronto, Canada. If you have stories to share kindly email: – info@theonside.com
