Lakeland Women's Business Network Marks Grand Opening With Ribbon Cutting Wednesday

A Lakeland-based network of women entrepreneurs is holding its grand-opening ribbon cutting on September 17, and it arrives after more than three years of quietly building what its founders call an alternative to the traditional networking room. Polk County Women Mean Business now counts 118 dues-paying members, and the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce is hosting the ceremony at the group's home base, COhatch Downtown Lakeland, 211 E. Main St.

The organization was co-founded by Jessica Robinson and Luanna Baughman more than three years ago. It ran as a free community for most of that time before converting to a paid-membership model in March 2026 and incorporating earlier this year. Wednesday's ribbon cutting marks the first time the group has formally opened its doors with chamber recognition.

Robinson said she built the group because she disliked the way most business networking felt: like walking into a room where people wonder who let you in. She wanted something built around peer support instead, a place where women running businesses can talk honestly about balancing leadership with motherhood, caregiving and the pressure to keep a company afloat, rather than treating every meeting as a sales pitch.

Three pillars: community, closet, market

Membership revolves around three things. The first is peer community: alternating Thursday morning "Coffee & Connections" meetups at COhatch that spotlight a member's business followed by open networking, paired on off weeks with virtual masterminds. Monday evenings are set aside for something less typical of a business group, confidential group therapy sessions led by a licensed mental health professional, held virtually.

The second pillar is the Confidence Closet, which gives free professional clothing to women entering or returning to the workforce. What started as a rack of donated blazers and blouses at meetings has grown into a mobile unit, a 16-foot air-conditioned trailer that now travels to shelters and partner organizations including Senior Connections, the VA and Talbot House.

The third is the Indoor Market, a monthly event at COhatch open to the public, both as vendors and shoppers, held every third Saturday.

Why Polk County still lags on ownership gap

Census figures show male-owned employer firms in Polk County outnumber women-owned firms by more than 3 to 1. That gap is part of what Robinson said drove her to start the group, arguing that women in business are often carrying more than the business itself: leadership, household responsibilities and caregiving on top of the pressure to succeed, often with less support than their male peers get from traditional business organizations. Amy Wiggins, president and CEO of the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber recently introduced a new tracking metric that shows 152 of its members now identify as woman-owned, including nearly a third of the 144 businesses that joined the chamber in 2026. Wiggins said Florida ranks first nationally in new business startups and second in women-owned businesses with employees, and she believes local counts undersell the real number because so many owners don't self-report.

Members interviewed for local reporting on the group credited the consistency of the meetings, not just the content, with pushing their businesses forward. One member who runs a travel agency said connecting with other women regularly, in person and virtually, motivated her to keep a tighter schedule and show up more on social media, which she said led to more bookings. A local Realtor and member said the group has pushed her to think bigger and kept her going on days when running a business felt like assembling furniture without instructions.

What's next

The group already has its indoor market calendar mapped out through the end of the year at COhatch, with several dates for 2026 already sold out to vendors. New members can still test the waters first: a first PCWMB meeting is free before anyone has to decide on membership, and meetings run on alternating Thursday mornings at 9 a.m. at COhatch Downtown Lakeland.

Anyone curious about the ribbon cutting or the group's Confidence Closet mobile unit can find meeting times and market dates through the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce.

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