Many families might talk about their workdays around the dinner table, but Lisa Niemetscheck’s childhood was one in which the dinner table served as the hub for her own family’s business.
Her father, a car mechanic, would work on vehicles while her mother handled the business side of things right from the kitchen table.
Niemetscheck, meanwhile, would zip through her hometown of Richmond on in-line skates to deliver flyers for the car repair service. She later learned to assist her mother with the paperwork and work with her father to overhaul engines.
“I grew up feeling a sense of responsibility, just having to step up to the plate and help when needed,” said Niemetscheck, general manager of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE).
She brings the same can-do sensibility to her organization, which supports female entrepreneurs through mentoring and business workshops.
Founded as a Vancouver-based non-profit in 2002, Niemetscheck oversaw its January 2016 transformation into a registered charity that helps women nationally.
“Building the organization through some period of quite some change has been a big reward for me,” she said. “We have, in many cases, tripled the size of our programs and taken our programs to places like Prince George, and we’re going to Toronto.”
Niemetscheck credits FWE founder Christina Anthony for persuading the team that every problem has a solution, even if that solution is as simple as doing a ton of work.
“Nothing makes us happier than when we get an email that said, ‘Oh my gosh, thank you for that connection,’ or ‘Thank you for my amazing mentor – they’re sent from heaven,’” she said. “When we get those emails, it just fills us with joy. Then we know we’ve made an impact – a real impact.”
Join us to celebrate the 2016 Forty under under 40 Awards January 25, 2017 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. For tickets and event info visit www.biv.com/events/40under40.
