Women’s business network provides vital knowledge and skills to corporate employees and entrepreneurs to help them succeed 

Xtraordinary Women’s Network adds evening networking to its offering to inspire and empower participants to build careers in private sector or start their own business.

At the beginning of 2015, when spiritual healer and human resources specialist Michelle Vooght returned to the corporate sector, she found herself in the difficult position of having a full-time job while still running her own business. A few months later, this experience would help her  establish an evening networking chapter for the Xtraordinary Women’s Network (XWN), a chapter which started catering to both men and women in the corporate and entrepreneurial sectors since July this year.  

The XWN was founded by Gwen Kloppers in 2009 and is a women’s business platform focused on leading, inspiring, supporting and recognising entrepreneurs in South Africa. The network has five chapters in the Western Cape – in Somerset West, Century City, the Southern Suburbs, Durbanville and Blouberg – and is in the process of expanding to Gauteng.  

The XWN’s Xtraordinary Evenings was launched on 30 July at the Cape Town Hotel School in Mouille Point and is also held at this venue once a month. It is specifically held in the evenings as few networks provide after-hour networking opportunities.  

“While traditional business networks have long focused on empowering entrepreneurs, Xtraordinary Women is doing something different by catering to both men and women in the private and entrepreneurial sectors by offering them themed networking meetings. By using a themed approach, we will inspire and educate attendees to move from the dream of starting their own business to finally getting it off the ground and help those in the corporate sector with valuable skills and advice on how to develop their career in that sector,” says Vooght, who is the chapter leader for the XWN Holistic Network at Century City and the Xtraordinary Evenings.  

The Evenings launch event kicked off with a focus on How your story contributes to your success and featured Kloppers, who spoke about what inspired her to start the XWN six years ago, while the second event earlier in September looked at how to ignite your passion and live your purpose. Over the next few months, the evenings will focus on Living your Brand, Finding a Coach or Mentor, Business Tools and Guidelines You Need to Get Started, Resillience and Tenacity, Success versus Failure, Social Media Platforms and many other empowering topics specifically geared towards helping attendees build their dream and keep on track.

Like the morning network events offered at the various chapters, the evening network will draw on inspirational speakers who can offer important advice and skills to attendees. Guest speakers who have presented talks at XWN over the years have included South African actress and director Sandra Prinsloo; chef and radio personality Jenny Morris; rape survivor, author and international inspirational speaker Alison Botha; Yuppiechef kitchen utensils e-retailer founder Paul Galatis;  Jeanne Groenewald, founder and managing director of Elgin Free Range Chicken, the largest independent free range chicken farming operation in South Africa; Groupon CEO Daniel Guasco; Sarah Collins, founder of  The Wonder Bag (a non-electric portable cooker) and one of Fortune magazine’s most powerful female entrepreneurs of 2013; and motivational speaker, life coach, author and Mrs South Africa 2015 Top 100 semi-finalist Basha Taylor.  

“We want those who attend our events to walk away with basic skills and knowledge that they can apply in their careers or businesses immediately and we therefore invite speakers who can share and transfer such knowledge and skills,” says Kloppers. 

Reflecting on her own experience, Vooght says: “Over the years, Gwen and I have seen many entrepreneurs returning to the corporate sector or take on a day job and give up on their passion in order to make ends meet.  I know how horrible it can feel to have to return to the corporate sector when you are passionate about running your own business and how easy it is to give into that feeling that this is the end of that dream. I personally started missing the networking and the inspiration I gained from those networks. On the other hand, there are people in the corporate sector who really love working in that sector and this is a place for them to be inspired and to learn skills to help them on their career path.”  

“I really want to inspire both men and women to continue on their journey and to see every little detour towards their dream as a very necessary step in the process.”

According to an article by Jacqueline Whitmore in Entrepreneur magazine, “networking is undeniably one of the most effective ways of meeting people who can help you grow your career or your business” and “much like investing, networking compounds over time”.  

XWN members who have seen the benefits that networking reaps are stylist and image consultant Nedine Pieters and real estate professional Beauty Balangile.  When Pieters moved from Gauteng four years ago, she knew no one in Cape Town. Determined to start a business in the image consulting industry, she knew that a nine-to-five job was not an option.  

“The biggest challenge at the time, which was quite daunting, was where to start. I knew I had to get out and meet people, but the question was, where and how,” she explains.  

After finding a range of networks online and attending one, she was advised to attend the XWN.  

“The name itself intrigued me,” she says.  

Pieters booked and attended the Blouberg chapter. “From there, as the saying goes, the rest is history. I cannot look back without being thankful for the platform the Xtraordinary Women’s network has given me and all the friends and clients I have made along the way. I have grown my business from knowing no one in Cape Town to bumping into women on the street who have used my services, attended one of my styling events or have met me at the Xtraordinary Women’s network. “It is heartwarming to hear how these women’s lives have been changed by the service I have provided to them, the changes they have made to their wardrobe and how they experience buying clothes now. This exposure would never have happened if the network was not there to help entrepreneurs gain exposure, learn and grow, and get support and help from like-minded women on their own journey to build a successful business.”  

Pieters, who owns Creative Styling Solutions, says what sets the network apart is the fact that while networking is considered to be work, the XWN makes it fun and places an emphasis on building relationships with many networkers becoming friends over the years. “You are also surrounded by entrepreneurs who are as invested in your success as you are, there is a great list of resources to draw on and you are able to learn and grow while networking.” 

Beauty Balangile attended her first network meeting in February this year. It was a tough time for the youngest member of the network as she was going through a rough time in her business and dealing with a number of personal issues. “I felt I had lost my power and most importantly I felt I had lost my voice,” says Balangile, who works for Keller Williams Realty.

When she first started attending the network, she struggled to speak about herself.  

“I could not even introduce myself without crying. I would start tearing up when my turn came because with everything happening in my life, I thought ‘who would be interested in listening to little me’.”  

However, Balangile says she was pleasantly surprised when fellow entrepreneurs started connecting with her and could even relate to some of the challenges she faced.   

“Being an entrepreneur is not always as glamorous as the movies may portray. Just recently we had a speaker who reminded our members that ‘it takes ten years to become an overnight success’. That is the reality of being an entrepreneur.  This network is supposed to provide a space where we can celebrate each others’ successes, but also reflect and support each other through the realities of being an entrepreneur,” adds Kloppers. 

Balangile says she quickly learnt that if she wanted to be a good businesswoman, she was going to have to learn how to be vulnerable – a foreign concept to this independent woman – and reach out to other entrepreneurs for support and advice.  

“Over the last seven months, I have networked with phenomenal women, authorities in their fields. I feel like the butterfly on the Xtraordinary Women’s logo. I joined it as a caterpillar, but the network nourished my soul through its holistic events, then taught me how to network, connect with the right people and grow my business. It helped me through the changes and testing times in my business and has inspired me to go for my dreams and let go of limiting beliefs.  

“I have found my voice and my power. Whenever I thank Gwen for this platform, she always reminds me that I would not have gotten this far had I not made the decision to change and do the work that needed to be done. That response says a lot of about how she manages this platform. She understands that it’s not about her, it’s about the people the network inspires, how it connects different people and honours ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”  

For more information, contact:
Gwen Kloppers
CEO and Founder of Xtraordinary Women’s Network 
Cell: 084 256 8096
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Issued by:
Lynne Rippenaar-Moses
Wrap it Up PR & Communication Strategy
Cell:  073 534 5560
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.