Growing Global Markets for Women’s Handmade Craft With Susan Hull Walker (9/2/26)

©2026 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.

Have you ever wondered how to build a global brand without sacrificing authenticity; why purpose-driven businesses have a competitive advantage; and the importance of trust-based partnerships in global business?

Then this is the wegginar® for you.

Susan Hull Walker, Founder and Creative Director, Ibu Movement, will present, "Growing Global Markets for Women’s Handmade Craft," and will discuss all of the above and more.  

To learn more and to register free of charge thanks to wegg's sponsors, visit: https://womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org/2026/08/18/growing-global-markets-for-womens-handmade-craft/.

Discover practical strategies for scaling a mission-led business and how women entrepreneurs are reshaping the future of luxury.

Today in Global Small Business: Scaling Up For Global

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Scaling up for global.
• When and how to scale up your startup internationally.
• Quote of the week:  "Scaling is multidimensional.  Different methods address different things." –  Fred Ehrsam
• Scale and innovation keeps Amazon Web Services humming.
• How to scale sustainably into a global brand.
• Choose the right partner when going global and getting ready to scale.

A Lifestyle Shoe Company Expands Its Footprint

©2019 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Today's Global Small Business Blog test for readers comprises 3 questions:

1. Which USA company began in a small condo in Manhattan Beach on 26th Street and The Strand in 1992?
2. How many square feet was their first office?
3. Where are they today in the grand scheme of things?

Answers:

1. Skechers -- cornering the world as they design design, develop and market a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women.
2. 1,800 square feet of space in Manhattan Beach.
3. Skechers has expanded into a global brand with annual sales of more than $4 billion.

Read more about how Sketchers is celebrating its groundbreaking of company expansion.

Today in Global Small Business: From a Small Business to a Global Brand

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Following one simple plan  -- find out what it is -- grew a tiny Hong Kong shop from a small business into a global brand.
• Three winners of the Google video competition -- in partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce and World Trade Organization.
• Consumers can now buy high-end products from airport duty-free shops, department store counters and e-commerce channels; learn which category is ruling the roost.
• Believe it or not, everyone can compete on the global playing field.
• The day after Mother's Day:  lessons from Mom from entrepreneurial leaders.
• Just land a new customer overseas?  Losing sleep over how to get paid?  Attend the next educational WEGGinar™, Wednesday, June 6 at 11:00 a.m. Central Time, "Grow Globally by Offering Competitive Financing Solutions" and presented by Tamara Maxwell, Director, Minority and Women Owned Business & Multiplier Outreach Division, Office of Small Business, Export-Import Bank of the United States.  Tamara will make sure you don't lose a customer as a result of not knowing how to finance the deal. The WEGGinar™ is free of charge, thanks to the generous support of global sponsors: UPS, IBM and Bank of America – go here to register: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7394069852172520451.

Today in Global Small Business: The Global Blockchain Ecosystem

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:.

• Become your own global distribution solution.  Listen to a WEGGinar™ held on Wednesday, March 7 at 11:00 a.m. Central time and presented by Rebecca Herwick, President and CEO, Global Products Inc. The WEGGinar™ is free of charge thanks to generous support from IBM, UPS and Bank of America but you must sign up to attend: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/144914921515073794.
• Five steps to making it as a global business leader.
• Women making their presence in the global blockchain ecosystem.
• Strategies to help your global brand maintain its domestic roots.
• What it takes for Indian brands to go global.
• Who said?  "We consider a commitment to a disciplined and consistent culture of ethics and fair play to be a competitive advantage in the global marketplace."

7 Steps to Take a Business Global

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Career advice expert Margaret Francis talks about how to transform a local business into a global brand that has the potential to impact billions of lives across the globe.  She focuses on seven (7) key steps to take a business global:

1. Get ready and be prepared.
2. Be focused.
3. Use technology.
4. Find reliable partners.
5. Educate yourself about other cultures.
6. Start slow.
7. Utilize trade shows.
8. Oh, there's one more:  Read a good book.

Read more ...

How Jack and Jill Went Global

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Justin and Rachel Bernhaut decided to reinvigorate their Jack N' Jill toothpaste business, owned by Justin's father and familiar to many growing up in Australia the 1950s.

The Bernhauts invested $150,000 in formulating the product, relaunching the brand and then using the original machinery to make the first 50,000 tubes by hand.

From day one the couple created Jack N' Jill as a global brand, setting up websites overseas and now more than half the business' sales are generated overseas, with a turn of more than $8 million a year.

Read more:  How small family business Jack N' Jill went global

The Importance of a Global Brand

©2013 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Everyone knows the Apple brand, yet creating a global brand presence in one or more international markets isn't cheap or easy, especially for a small business owner. But it is worthwhile, provided you understand the reasons why. Below I spell out what a global brand is and five reasons to develop one.

Read:  Making the Case for a Global Brand

Factors to Consider When Developing a Global Brand for the Audience of the 21st Century

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Flavia Barbat conducts an interview with Sandy Suffield (former art director at Apple) from the London office and Mike Abbink (co-founder of Method) from the New York office. The entire interview includes Wolff Olins and several of its global creative directors and is available in the most recent Premium Issue of Branding Magazine, entitled "Crafting the Brands of the 21st Century."

Here's an excerpt of the interview:  Meet the Global Creative Directors of the 21st Century 

And here's the first question posed to Sandy:

Overall, what do you consider to be the first thing one must take into consideration when developing a brand for the audience of the 21st century? 

Building a Global Brand Is Not Easy

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Dominique Turpin, Nestlé professor and president of IMD business school, says that big global brands are now born everywhere but building one is not easy.

Much as in developed markets, a brand must offer something meaningful, innovative and different for the consumer. And the innovation does not relate only to the product. It also applies to pricing, advertising, communications and a company’s entire business model.

This all looks simple on paper but is hard to put into practice.

Read the entire article here.

How to Get World Attention on Your Brand

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Every entrepreneur and small business owner wants customers to find them.  In other words, to be discovered.  To know you exist.  How do you make it happen?

Try designing not once, but twice, the First Lady Michelle Obama's inaugural gown and you are sure to become a worldly household name.  And that name is Jason Wu.

Read:  First Lady in Red:  Michelle Obama Repeats Jason Wu for Inaugural Ball