Ms Bravo Quiroz, a businesswoman and mother understands it takes practice to develop confidence speaking in English, that creating networks from scratch takes time, and that not having a family nearby to help look after children can be challenging.
Obstacles for female migrants include expectations they'll comply with the gender norms of their country of birth, caring responsibilities, and lack of confidence.
A pilot program at the Casa Bonita Cultural and Empowerment Hub, a social enterprise in Seddon, has provided five international students with mentorship and hands-on experience of business, including e-commerce, styling and customer relations.
The program gave participant Brenda Gil the confidence to develop her own plants and handcrafted pots venture in a courtyard at the rear of the premises, called El Boske Botanico [[el boss-kah bot-TAN-ik-kah]].
''She gave me the opportunity to be the manager of the shop. So that is the way as well that I could learn all the processes with the system, how to create your own business, how to manage the inventory and all the things that you need to do as a business. And then that's why I was ready when there was the opportunity here to just create my own business.'
During COVID-19 lockdowns in Victoria last year, Luz Restrepo [[looz res-STREP-oh]] co-founded the social enterprise Migrant Women in Business.
The organisation advocates for opportunities for migrant businesswomen and supports them to make their ideas a reality.
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