Winning With Women Wednesday: An Interview With Lynette Barbieri & Vanessa Coppes Co-Founders of the Entrepreneurial Think Tank for Women

November 18, 2015 by MILSPRAY® 8 Comments

Get To Know Lynette

Lynette Barbieri is a woman who enjoys life, lives for the moment and does it on her own terms. Barbieri has owned her financial business for over 18 years and is the Co-Founder of the Entrepreneurial Think Thank for Women. ETTWomen is where her passion lies. As she continues to grow in her personal endeavors, she also mentors women entrepreneurs. As a mother of 4, Barbieri fully understands the obstacles women face while trying to pursue their goals. Also, as a woman in finance she understands the challenges women face when they are working in a predominantly male driven industry.

Get To Know Vanessa

Vanessa Coppes believes women are multi-faceted.  They embrace the outer roles of wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend.  And they have inner roles; those that need to be honored in order to be authentic, productive and truly happy. Like many women, Coppes struggled with weight, periods of insecurity and postpartum depression.  It was the wisdom of her mother and the connection with other strong, beautiful women around her that reminded her of how to best honor and nurture herself back to living life.   She meets women where they are and helps them create lives and businesses they love.  She is the Author “5 Steps to Fabulous,” the Social and Digital Media Strategist for BELLA NYC Magazine and the Co-Founder of ETTWomen.

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1. Lynette and Vanessa, in your own words please share with us what it means to take on the role of being Co-Founders for the Entrepreneurial Think Tank for Women?

It means service that comes with heartfelt and genuine dedication, but also a lot of responsibility. It is our passion to support and encourage women to go after their dreams and to live the lives and build businesses that support that lifestyle. We are humbled by this amazing journey we’ve been on for 3.5 years.

2. What responsibilities and duties do you both oversee and part take in?

We work as a team as much as we allow each other to. We are both very controlling but have learned to work with and rely on each other’s strengths. We outsource whatever else we need support with as we are clear that we cannot do it all. It’s fabulous to have a rolodex of profes-sionals at your fingertips as we look to our members first whenever we need something.

3. How did you discover you wanted to create this organization?

Lynette started the group three years ago and named it the Freehold Think Tank for Moms. I attended 2 meetings and having had experience in both entrepreneurship and networking groups that didn’t live up to their expectations, I was very opinionated. I must have grown on her quickly as she asked me to partner with her shortly after. We agreed to make pivotal changes to how the meetings ran and what the group offered as well as change the name to ETTWomen to be more inclusive.

4. Do you have a quote, mantra or tip regarding how our audience could manage their one-to-one personal interactions better?

We have 2: “Together, we achieve more!” It’s our group’s tag line and “Everything happens for a reason.” A testament to how we met and how we approach everything that happens to us in our daily lives and businesses.

5. Who was an influential boss/mentor for you and in what ways did they shape you to be-come the leaders you are today?

Vanessa: I’ve always looked up to my mother who is the very definition of resilience. Another would be my high school principal, Maria Amalia Leon de Jorge.
Lynette: I look up to a woman named Frances Averett, she is a seven figure income earner in Primerica who raised five small children after her husband passed, and built a huge business back in the 80’s when finance and mompreneurs were not favorable for women, Vanessa Coppes, for all she has achieved after coming to a strange country knowing really nobody and raising two small boys. Lastly, I would add my grandmother to the list.

6. What do you think the greatest challenge is for women business owners today?

Guilt and the lack of a network of support.

7. What is the highlight of your work week?

We are always fascinated by the leaps and bounds our members make to improve themselves. We’ve created a philosophy of introspection, understanding that in order for our businesses to grow, we must also grow (360º Lifestyle). Getting a call, email or text message from one of our ladies about how they took action in a particular aspect of their lives or businesses, makes everything we do even more rewarding.

8. How would you characterize your management style?

Psycho-control-freaks. All joking aside, as controlling as we both can be we’ve learned that as much as we try to, in the end, we are not in control.

We manage from a spiritual realm and always with the intention that what we do, what we take part in or get our members involved with serves the greater good.

9. How do you stay abreast of hot topics within your industry?

We are both avid students of life and business, we are always seeking out new ideas and implementing new things. We are also very open to our member’s feedback. They are always up to interesting things and we share and regroup often. It’s the only way to keep up with the times and stay current with our offerings.

10. When speaking to others about the Entrepreneurial Think Tank For Women, what is the most important message you want them to take away from your conversation?

That we genuinely care about their personal and business development. That the more we work together, the more we can accomplish.

11. If you weren’t doing this job, what would you be doing?

Vanessa: I’d be teaching high school.
Lynette: I would probably be a therapist.

12. If you had one more hour to inject into your day, how would you spend it?

Vanessa: I would sleep.
Lynette: I would go out and meet/network with more women.