Selling piece of mind and Swedish nature – Swedish IWEC 2017 Women Business Awardees

Helene Åkerström Hartman from Orbaden Spa and Resort, Marie Lindqvist Pahlstad and Jenny Helldén from Zilenzio received the 2017 IWEC Award in Seattle Nov 12-14 backed by chambers from all over the world and Microsoft.

ZilenZio offers you peace of mind in the form of sound-absorbing furniture and design for the work-place. Our vision is a balanced acoustic environment for every workplace. The material we use as insulation in our products is an environmentally friendly natural material, that has the same sound absorption qualities as snow. The wood we use comes mainly from the Swedish forests north of our factories in Örebro. Every ZilenZio panel represents a small piece of Scandinavian nature. Starting the company 10 years ago, Marie Lindqvist-Pahlstad and Jenny Helldén are today well established within the industry, known for running a professional and caring company with world class products. – We sell sound-absorbing functionality with an edge, and no one can beat us, says Marie who is the CEO of ZilenZio.

Owner and CEO of Orbaden Spa and Resort in Hälsingland Sweden, Helene has brought new life and international wild life tourism to the region. Starting the company 10 years ago, Helene is today well established in the Swedish spahotel and conference business attracting the world to Hälsingland and Orbaden. – My motto has been to take internationalization back to my home village, to think global but act local, says Helene. I wanted to bring back development, growth and jobs to my home rural community. Combining relaxation and sports with local culture, nature and wildlife is an important part of the Orbaden concept. We offer our guests the time to relax and reflect while experiencing Swedish nature and wildlife, says Helene. The hotel has also attracted Swedish international celebrities to design their personal suites including Olympic and world champion Carolina Klüft, actor Peter Stormare and model Victoria Silvstedt. I am personally very involved in animal and wildlife conservation in my community and region as well as in Africa, says Helene. Orbaden also has a special “Rainbow suite” where part of the profit is donated to supporting HBTQ refugees in Sweden.

It is an honour to bring these Swedish entrepreneurs into the global IWEC network of awardees, says Charlotte Kalin, CEO of The Chamber Trade Sweden, which is responsible for scouting for IWEC awardees in the Sweden.

Previous IWEC awardees from Sweden: Pernilla Stålhane from Pallmax, Maud Spencer from Svalson, Ida Backlund from Rapunzel, Signhild Arnegård Hansen from Svenska Lantchips, Karin Söderlind from House of Dagmar, Karin Bodin from Polarbröd, Emy Blixt from Swedish Hasbeens, Britt Marie Stegs from Hälsingestintan, Isabelle Löwengrip and Pingis Hadenius from Löwengrip Care and Color.

 IWEC is a unique chamber initiative which promotes women to expand their businesses internationally. Our Swedish awardees will gain access to an impressive network of 227 awardee business women from 38 different countries employing 125 000 people and with a turnover of 25 mdr USD. 

To be nominated for IWEC you need to be a woman, own a majority of your company, turn over around 12 million Swedish crowns and have started expanding your business internationally.