BRINGING WOMEN TOGETHER!
A few years ago, Belgian entrepreneur, resident in Switzerland for 20 years, mother and free spirit Gwendoline Bloch had an idea: She was dreaming of creating a holistic community for SuperWomen like you! A platform for women to exchange, empower and evolve – together. In this interview she speaks openly about her path, personal challenges, community purpose and how it all started.
Gwen, tell us a bit about your background.
Gwen: After my studies I moved to Mallorca, where I lived and worked for 5 years. Then I moved to Frankfurt/Germany and managed an art gallery with presence at fairs all over Europe. For 20 years now, I live in Switzerland, where I worked in Marketing, Communications and Events for companies like First Tuesday / Xing and SwissRe.
After that, I went on a completely different career path: Real Estate. I didn’t have much knowledge, but I felt like I wanted to create something from scratch. I got a job at an International Real Estate company working with Investors in commercial properties all over Switzerland. I learned a lot; I gained lots of knowledge in Real Estate Business and managed a small team.
After the company moved from Switzerland, back to Israel, I became a center manager for an iconic shopping mall in Zurich, where I worked on branding, events, with tenants and on a renovation project over CHF10 million. And then came the pandemic.
Which in fact was the calling that you needed to finally start Women World.
Gwen: Exactly! The shopping center had to close shops, restaurants and was not operating very well. I already had the idea of Women World in my head for a long time and felt that it was the right moment to help women stay in touch, get support and be able to meet and exchange, during the pandemic mostly online. We started with branding, the website and created the business.
Tell us more about the idea. How did you come up with it?
Gwen: This is also a very personal story. In my life, I had the opportunity to travel, meet lots of people, have real connections, and build an international network around me. I was always a very active and dedicated person. Until 10 years ago, while juggling my career, marriage and two young children, I got a burn-out. I had panic attacks in places with lots of people and was not able to drive a car, which was scary to me. I felt like my life was on hold. I decided to not take medication, but instead dived into all kinds of spiritual therapies, from taping to pendulum, family constellations, yoga, breathing methods and hypnosis. These practices helped me to connect with myself again.
Today, I know tools to help myself and how to deal with my thoughts. But during that time, I wished I had known and understood these things already when I was younger. That’s why I had the idea to create a community for women that helps to understand yourself and offers a platform to empower and evolve together. Always hustling between family and career, I realized too late that I didn’t take care of myself. Especially during the pandemic, I saw that many people were struggling with the same issues. It was the right time for Women World to get going.
What were the next steps that lead to creating the community?
Gwen: I got the opportunity to work with a really great professional company “Kunde&Co” who created the entire Branding, design, logo and slogan. They helped me through the entire Website development and design together with “Krock Digital Solution”. I started to talk about it with my girlfriends and we brainstormed. I had the chance to find women that immediately wanted to join the project, like Talia. She supported me from the start with social media, graphic design and web support. Other women joined during the journey, which became a great way to exchange and get things done. We created a WhatsApp group, sent out newsletters, created music playlists, events, retreats and even a podcast. We tried and failed, but always put a lot of effort in bringing this collaborative idea to life.
Did the purpose of the community change over the years?
Gwen: Not at all! Our slogan “Exchange, Empower, Evolve – Together” is our main purpose. We offer women the possibility to meet, learn from each other, have fun, talk openly about all topics and taboos, personally develop with our coaches and experts, and get inspired by our blog.
Women World is a safe place to surround yourself with different women in different stages of their life. As we all want to evolve physically, mentally, and emotionally, we organize beauty escapes, styling swaps, cooking experiences, kundalini retreats or other holistic events that have a real impact on our lives. Feedback that we once got was: “It feels like I am part of the movie ‘Sex and the city’, where women can feel and exchange everything!”. That’s what it is all about.
It’s said that who you are, depends on who and what you surround yourself with.
Gwen: I totally agree! Surround yourself with the right people! We need great relationship with all kinds of people and background. Surround yourself with people who lift you up and push you to be a better version of yourself through your journey. In this sense, we bring women together to experience and discover life in a very unique way. I have met a lot of beautiful women and souls, and I learned that women are really out there to help and support each other. Weather they are professionals, housewives, teachers, mentors, family or trusted friends.
Even when it’s not possible to meet in person. The future looks bright, as we intend to grow internationally and organize more events and retreats in different locations and we offer the help from all our coaches, online in private or group sessions or offering their own events/retreats to the WW community. Stay tuned for all our ideas and let’s move forward together!
Have a look at our experience section on our website, where you will find upcoming retreats, events and our coaches. Become part of our community and most importantly, have fun!
Christina Mathis is a copywriter and blog curator at Women World.