How should women approach business? Like a boss, of course. And these women want to help

Melissa DiMercurio and Chandra Metz have been "business besties" for years, DiMercurio says.

"She and I have a similar kind of personality and vibe, and we've always wanted to work together," DiMercurio said.

Their businesses are a little different; Metz is co-owner with her husband of C&M Lawns ("We make tall grass short"); DiMercurio is CEO of Curves Ahead, a marketing firm for small businesses, and founder of Girl Boss Marketplace, a network for businesswomen.

So … "I kind of brought this idea to the forefront of like, what if we brought a seminar or conference? Because there's really nothing quite like that in Washington County," DiMercurio said. "The Chamber does a really good job of networking events, but we wanted to bring like a conference to Hagerstown and bring together all small business owners, especially because with the stadium coming to town, there's so much room for opportunity."

They'd been hearing from small business owners who wondered how they could get in on that opportunity.

Their answer was to highlight the need to collaborate, and, coupled with developments in downtown Hagerstown and their desire to bring businesses together, they had the theme for their seminar: collaboration over competition.

"I mean, the vision for it became pretty apparent once we started putting all the moving pieces together," she said.

But there was a twist.

They targeted women entrepreneurs.

And thus, the Girl Boss Assembly was born.

The first assembly took place last week in, where else, downtown Hagerstown.

And the response was a little stronger than they expected.

"We were like, 'Oh, we'll just work with the (Washington County Chamber of Commerce) and get a few people … like maybe 20 people,' " she said.

But they sold 70 tickets, had four different event partners and collected several sponsors.

"It just came fast and furious," she said. "And feedback was just like, 'We needed this. Thank you for hearing us.' And we were kind of a little flabbergasted … when people started to jump on, it was like, 'OK, we're doing something really purposeful.' "

They're still collecting feedback, she said, but they already know one thing: If you missed the Girl Boss Assembly, be prepared to mark your calendar.

There will be another Girl Boss Assembly next year.

"I'm just going to say we're going to do it again next year," DiMercurio said. "I don't know all the parameters, I don't know all the details yet." But they planned this week to meet and "kind of just debrief and go, 'OK, now what?' … but we're excited; we want to keep doing it."

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So what is this 'Girl Boss Assembly'?

Think unbridled energy on speed and shaded hot pink.

The inaugural Girl Boss Assembly at the University System of Maryland Hospitality Center on West Washington Street featured pulsating music, a lot of pink balloons, merch including T-shirts that screamed "Just a Girl Boss building her empire," and a series of speakers chosen to encourage the women (and a few men) in attendance to leap from their comfort zones and start minding their business.

They included the Chamber's Businessperson of the Year Steve Schutte (who's also running for Hagerstown mayor this year), Alpine Plant Bar mother-daughter team Shelley McIntire and Sarah Elwood, Les Cookies Delight owner Natoscha McKinnon and Chamber President Paul Frey. Later, they heard from a panel featuring Sass magazine owner Kim Dow, Five Lions Marketing founder Chad Smith and HighRock Studios sales and marketing assistant Devan Zeger.

They discussed their own journeys in business, gave advice and challenged their listeners to overcome their doubts and fears.

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Why target women?

"I think there's a lot of support around minority small businesses and we're working in a great direction, and I think even more can be done. And it was really to more inspire women entrepreneurs to go out there and get their big ideas; like, take risks and and do these things. And we wanted to inspire women to be authentically themselves," DiMercurio said.

"And of course, my brand is all about, I help women entrepreneurs and I have this 'Girl Boss' brand, so I was like, 'you know what, let's just really make it fun and put hot pink everywhere.' We wanted women to really feel comfortable in the space because we know uniquely that … it's hard to be a woman in business. We're still navigating a path forward. It hasn't quite evolved into what I think we all would hope just yet.

"We wanted to inspire women and say listen, you can be authentically you. You don't have to act like the boys. You can wear hot pink and you can make it fun and invite everybody into your world in a way that you would do it."

As the number of women entrepreneurs expands locally ("big time," DiMercurio observed), "I think the nice thing that I'm seeing, too, is that women are starting to lock arms now like never before," she said. "And I think certainly it's always been something that we've done, but I think now we really need to work together to make sure that we have a voice. And the only way to do that is not to compete against each other, but to collaborate."

And she's seen more women in business starting to partner with each other, she said.

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Now … what to do with all that energy.

"We just sent out a feedback survey because we really want to hear from the community," DiMercurio said. "We want to know how we can make (the Girl Boss Assembly) better — how we can continue to provide really great resources for these types of events."

It might spread to other counties, she said.

"And we're just excited for the opportunity, and we want to partner with whomever wants to get involved and help us grow this thing."

To find out about future developments, check DiMercurio's website at www.curvesaheadco.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Girl Boss Assembly provides resources for women entrepreneurs