In an ever-changing workplace landscape, women are under mounting pressure to be everything and do everything at once.
The generation before them was taught to put on the shoulder pads, take up space and prove they could do anything a man could. And although women today inherited that same confidence and tenacity, they've also watched the cost of fitting their lives into systems that were never designed with women, mothers and caregivers in mind.
So many have decided to build something different, for them, on their own terms.
Beth Powers didn’t set out to create the Omaha Women’s Network, but after years of doing the work herself, she came to the realization that what Omaha women desperately needed was a place to find their people.
From Videographer to Connector
According to the Census Bureau’s latest combined data, 12.7 million of the nation’s 29.8 million nonemployer businesses were women-owned in 2022, that’s 42.7%. For many women, striking out on their own has become a way to build a career that works with, rather than against, the rhythms of their lives.
Starting out as a videographer, Powers built a successful, referral-based business and was “booked and busy,” but eventually realized she was trading her most precious resource: time.
“Becoming a mom really sharpened my vision and made me realize this is it. No one’s going to come figure it out for me,” Powers says. “If I’m going to be away from my kids working, the work has to be worth it and it has to pay me accordingly.”
Powers didn’t need another course or networking event. She needed to figure out how to build a business that fit the life she wanted to live. For years, the pieces of that vision existed separately. Then, in 2024, they came together as Omaha Women’s Network (OWN).
OWN wasn’t really about collecting business cards over coffee. Powers had something much more specific in mind: creating the kind of room she wished existed when she was trying to figure it all out herself and she soon discovered she wasn’t the only Omaha woman looking for the same things.
Women Need Each Other
The needs of women entrepreneurs are uniquely their own. Too often, they find themselves working from the kitchen table, shouldering a litany of decisions with little encouragement or guidance from others. There are no co-workers to delegate tasks to, no brainstorming sessions in the break room, no quick lunch break to laugh, decompress and remember they aren’t doing it all alone. Powers says many of OWN’s members are solo entrepreneurs, which is why the in-person component matters so much.
“If you don't have a group of gals around you who can reflect back to you, who can hold space for you and who could be there for you when you're crying because something didn't go right and then when you're like jumping for joy because you just landed a big gig and celebrate with you, it can feel so heavy and hard.”
More Than a Mastermind
OWN has a yearlong program called the Inner Circle mastermind for women working toward their first six figures and beyond. Members are placed into groups of eight and meet monthly for masterminds, networking events and business spotlights, with quarterly retreats, dinners and hot-seat coaching.
Then there are co-working days, where women who might otherwise work alone can simply sit alongside one another.
What sets OWN apart is the depth of connection members build.
“I don't think that you're going to grow your business sitting on your computer going through an online course. I think you're going to grow your business by being around other business owners, finding ways for you to collaborate, going out there and trying something, failing miserably, coming back and then talking about it, ‘How can we do it better?’” Powers says.
And sometimes, that connection changes the trajectory of a business entirely.
When Connection Becomes Collaboration
For OWN clients Jodi Krymuza and Tina Schwahn, that connection led to collaboration. The business coach and personal stylist discovered their work could complement one another through a workshop. They began hosting workshops together and now deliver keynote speeches as a team, while considering a partnership.
Lauryn Mohr, a functional gut health specialist, and Nicole Niu, a pelvic floor therapist, found a similar connection at OWN’s annual Meant for More summit.
“A year after that Meant for More, they opened an in-person clinic called Origins Holistic Therapies,” Powers says. “Fast forward another year, now they’re bringing other providers into their clinic.”
And while the connections made through OWN can open doors to new collaborations, clients and opportunities, Powers believes growth is about more than simply watching the numbers climb. For the women in her network, reaching that next financial milestone is ultimately about creating something bigger: more freedom, more choices and a business that supports the life they actually want to live.
Six Figures But Not at Any Cost
For OWN, the goal of reaching six figures is not simply about a bigger number on a spreadsheet. It’s about what that number can make possible. The mastermind is designed for women working toward their first six figures and beyond, but Powers’ own definition of success has changed dramatically over the years. When she was younger, she wanted recognition, followers and visibility. Now, her ambitions look a little different.
“Success to me is my kids. I just want to be with my kids,” Powers says. “The more profitable my business is, the more time and choices I have to be with them.”
For Powers, financial success isn’t the destination. It’s the freedom to choose how she spends the life she worked so hard to build. And that distinction is at the heart of what she hopes to give the women who come through OWN: not simply the tools to make more money, but the ability to decide what that money makes possible.
Meant for More
If OWN is about building a business alongside other women, its annual Meant for More summit is the biggest expression of that idea. When Powers launched the event in 2024, she hoped 100 women would show up. They did, selling out the first year. The following year, she doubled her goal to 200 and sold that out, too, all while eight months pregnant and leading the event from the stage.
“I was eight months pregnant. And so last September, we sold it out and I was on stage eight months pregnant leading a 200-person event. It was lovely. I don't recommend doing that,” Powers laughs.
Now in its third year, Meant for More is designed to be less about packing in information and more about creating meaningful connections, with networking, a panel, keynote programming and a two-hour mastermind session.
The Legacy
Powers comes by her entrepreneurial spirit honestly. The daughter of two Omaha small-business owners, some of her earliest memories are rooted in their work. She remembers Saturdays spent with her mother at the hospital doing rounds and playing hide-and-seek among the clothing racks at her father’s store.
She knows firsthand what building a business can demand from a family. But she also knows it can create something lasting.
“I would love it if by the time my daughter is an adult that if she says, ‘I want to start a business,’ people are like, ‘Amazing,’” Powers says.
Her hope is bigger than her own daughter. She wants female entrepreneurship to become “more of the norm and not the exception.”
When asked to finish the sentence, Omaha is better when women … she says:
“Have more money.”
For Powers, that answer isn’t simply about money as a measure of success. It’s about what financial independence gives women: choices, time, resources and the ability to build lives and businesses on their own terms.
That’s what OWN is all about.
“The more profitable my business is, the more time and choices I have.”