HERA: Women empowering women

Your Tribe took Nelson by storm in 2016, a place for women to connect, share and support each other. After a Covid-induced lull, Your Tribe has been re-branded, re-focused and re-released. Judene Edgar speaks with founder Caron Proctor about the newly re-named HERA.

Everyone needs support, and now more so than ever says life coach and founder of Hera, Caron Proctor. Hera is a women’s collective focussed on women uplifting women and building meaningful connections that lead to personal and business growth.

Founded in 2016, Your Tribe (as it was previously known) started with just 28 women at Fairfield House for an informal gathering. “Many of my life coaching clients were looking for somewhere to connect with others and to feel supported, both in their personal life and business,” says Caron.

It quickly grew to 120 members by the end of the first year. Members were able to join weekly pow wow’s and a larger end of the month gathering, and hosted charity fundraisers and public talks. Over the years Your Tribe supported members with business networking, sales and promotion opportunities but also funerals, weddings and friendships. “It quickly morphed into something I wasn’t really prepared for,” says Caron. “I felt very personally responsible for all of the members.”

However, Covid put most of Your Tribe’s activities on hold, so they shifted to a hybrid model providing both online and in-person activities. Along with the financial impacts of lockdowns on businesses and members, the dynamics changed without the personal connection.

After Covid restrictions lifted, instead of picking up where they left off, Caron felt
that it provided an opportunity to regroup and reconsider what was needed. “It closed one chapter but also opened another,” she says. “There was still a solid group of women, many who had been with me since the beginning, so I knew there was still a need, but their needs had changed.”

One of the key lessons from Covid was the need to have a community of supportive people, and to stop trying to do it all by yourself. “Covid reinforced the need for
personal connection and what you can do when women show up for each other. Technology can provide such a disconnection that it’s important to be able to connect in person.”

Talking with others, the idea of rebranding Your Tribe to Hera was founded. Caron describes Hera as more of a strength network than a support network. “It’s about unity and connection. Allowing the strength of other women to uplift and empower each other.”

The name Hera comes from Hera, Queen of the Gods and protector of women, but also reflects that ‘Her’ is at the nucleus of the network. “In an age of separation, competition, and uncertainty, it’s vital to belong to a supportive and inspired group of women with a focus on collaboration over competition,” says Caron. “I think the rebrand also helps to identify its point of difference better.”

However, it was three months back home in Sheffield in South Yorkshire late last year that really helped her to formulate her next steps. Going home on a one-way ticket to help care for her mother in the final stages of her battle with terminal cancer was challenging, confronting but also inspiring. “The Northern women were powerful, kind and gritty,” she says. “The strength of these women helped build me up and helped me to find renewed confidence. It also made me rethink my life, my priorities, and my work.”

Having seen the devastating personal impacts of Covid, and the financial, emotional, and social struggles of members, she knew what was needed was something more than just a network. “It’s important to recognise and acknowledge that our lives are not just our work.”

Caron says that the aim is to provide a supportive community for positive, focused women to unite, share experiences, and build confidence and new connections.

“These wise words taken from an African proverb resonate deeply with me and the essence of Hera,” she says. “If you want to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”

Caron says that part of her commitment to connect and cheerlead women in 2024 was to eliminate financial obstacles. “With rising costs, I've halted the monthly subscription to build a new currency based on connection and community bonds.”

Other than a small one-off registration fee of $39, Caron says that the biggest commitment is to shared values, goals and to showing up for each other. But she says that she couldn’t have done this without the support of the existing members who’ve stood by her, for whom she has immense gratitude.

“We encourage women to share their stories, and to talk with people who won’t dive in to fix you but instead will hear you without judgment. Hera is more than a community; it's a living testament to the strength that emerges when women unite.”

Hera offers members the opportunity to be part of inspiring talks, workshops, monthly gatherings, and exclusive members' deals along with online tools, mini shops, and small powwows to provide a wide variety of ways to connect and share with like-minded women and, of course, to make new friends and build an unbreakable network of supportive and positive women in Nelson for personal and professional growth.

“Hera is not just a gathering; it's a safe space where every member helps shape the community's direction and purpose,” says Caron. She says she frequently finds that women can lack the confidence to speak or to promote themselves in more traditional business settings, so Hera focusses on giving everyone opportunities to talk, to tell their story, and to be heard.

So, if you’re ready to connect, collaborate and commit to uplifting yourself and others, then Caron says this is the group for you. To find out more about Hera and the value of investing in yourself, go to lifecoachnelson.co.nz/hera