SAN DIEGO - New efforts are underway to help women in San Diego take control of their careers and grow their own businesses.
Michelle Moore creates jewelry from items she finds all over the globe.
"I collect ethnic pieces from around the world through my travels and I stitch them together into unique pieces," she said.
Moore's store, 7 Stitches Ethnic Jewelry, is facing a big challenge.
"I think most of us that are local are trying to get a foot in as a local establishment and get known locally," she said.
On Thursday, Moore took a key step toward solving that problem. She joined more than 2,000 other women in Escondido for a conference to empower them with instructions on how to start and grow businesses.
Moore came up to hear Facebook's Ana Martinez's keynote talk on internet marketing.
"This gives everyone an opportunity to get the ability to get their face out there, their product out there, and get people normally who they wouldn't get to buy products from them," Martinez said.
The state Board of Equalization put on the free conference, and representatives from AT&T, Disney and a former astronaut were also scheduled to speak.
Moore hopes what she heard Thursday helps her sell more jewelry to people who never set foot in her Liberty Station shop.
"I don't know that I'm challenged more as a female, but as a small business, absolutely," Moore said.
But it's a challenge she now feels closer to conquering.
