WomenandBiz.com

EB: What was your education and professional experience?  Were they helpful to starting your businesses?

Kristin Marquet

Kristin: My passion is writing, thus I majored in English/Literature in college.  While in college, my hobby was writing on dating and relationships.  My hobby evolved into a blog and e-newsletter  that flourished into an interactive community where women discuss problems, ask questions, or get advice.  This was the birth of Marquet Publishing.

Then after college, I could not find a writing job that paid enough, so I changed my plan and researched jobs that would enable me to write while making decent money.  It took some time, but I eventually landed the role of the head of marketing for a law firm.  After the firm gained media attention from the website, articles, and press releases, other non-competing firms noticed and hired me to freelance for them.  After a year, I left the firm and worked as a consultant while I created my pr company.

EB: When did you establish your businesses?

Kristin: I established Marquet Publishing in 2005 and Marquet Communications in 2007. Read more

EB: Dear Jennifer:You’ve been contributing to WomenandBiz.com since March 2007, when we published our 6^thissue. We truly appreciate your expert contribution. Through your articles, our readers came to learn a lot about internet marketing, social media, website design and content and just a little bit about yourself and your own experience. I thought it would be interesting to also learn more about how you got started, the challenges you faced and overcame, and your successes. Would you share your journey with our readers?

Jennifer Shaheen

Could you tell us about yourself before becoming an entrepreneur?

Jennifer: I think I have always been an entrepreneur at least that is what my family tells me.  I grew up in Providence, RI and as a kid I was always coming up with crazy business ideas. One idea was a yardsale that had a friend of mine dressed like the Easter Bunny for neighborhood kids to take pictures with.  Even then I was looking for a hook to get people to stop and shop.

EB: What was your education and professional experience? Were they helpful to starting your business?

Jennifer: My journey is a bit different, I started my 3^rd business my junior year of college.  That’s the business I have today.  My first two businesses were launches and failures out of the gate because I didn’t understand the importance of planning and relationships.  My third attempt was different – I used the professors in my business school at Hofstra University as an advisory board.  They allowed me the flexibility to learn and really use what was being taught in class as value for planning my business.  The answer is yes my education and professional experience was very helpful. Read more

EB: Dear Monique:

It’s been over a year since we featured you on WomenandBiz.com. Could you give us an update on your business?

Monique Hayward

Monique:  Dessert Noir Café & Bar in Beaverton, Oregon, has now been open for four years as of January 29, 2009.  In addition to delivering great desserts, fantastic cocktails, and delectable savory dishes, we focus on supporting the local community and being “the place” in Beaverton for live music, local art, and special events.  (And a few celebrity appearances from Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman, a close business advisor and mentor; screenwriter Mike Rich; Columbia Sportswear’s chairman Gert Boyle; and others have helped generate buzz, too.)

Since we last touched base, Dessert Noir Café & Bar has received more local recognition in the media, including a feature as “Restaurant of the Week” on KATU Channel 2’s “AM Northwest” news magazine show and a highlight as a “Hot Spot for Romantics” in the “Destination: Beaverton” special section of The Oregonian.  We’ve also made some strides on the national stage with having one of our “liquid dessert” cocktail recipes featured in Mocha, food writer Michael Turback’s 2007 book on chocolate and coffee. Read more

Elizabeth Lesser, co-founder of The Omega Institute, and author of “The Seeker’s Guide – Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure” and “Broken Open – How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow”.

I first heard about the Omega Institute by reading Elizabeth Lesser’s first book “The Seeker’s Guide”, which was recommended by the instructors of the yearlong Spiritual Depth Course I took at One Spirit Learning Alliance.

Elizabeth Lesser

Elizabeth Lesser was a midwife and birth educator before starting the Omega Institute with her two co-founders Pir Vilayat Khan and her then husband Stephan Rechtschaffen. Elizabeth recalls being interested in having a spiritual life since a young age, and by the time she was fifteen, she was reading books on philosophy and spirituality. When spiritual teachers started to come to the United States from India, Elizabeth found mentors and kept learning. Pir Vilayat Khan had the idea of starting a university to teach how to discover one’s purpose in life and how to develop oneself psychologically and spirituality. Stephan and Elizabeth were responsible for building the Omega Institute. Although they had no business experience, her ex-husband is a medical doctor, and she has a degree in education, they self-taught all strategies needed to make the business a success. Read more

Wendy Kaufman, Founder and President of Balancing Life’s Issues Inc.

What was your education and professional experience? Were they helpful in starting your business?

Wendy Kaufman

I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Syracuse University and a Master’s Degree in Industrial Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.  Following graduation, I worked in human resources, career placement and held various positions at universities. Then for several years I worked as an independent consultant before forming my own company, Balancing Life’s Issues, Inc.  Combining my education, life and work experience, I found my clients responded to my down-to-earth, direct and honest approach and insights related to work/life balance issues.

When did you establish your business?

I incorporated BLI in 2001.

How did you spot the opportunity? How did it surface?

I was doing well as an independent consultant and my schedule was overflowing; I actually had to turn down opportunities- this was a key moment for me.  It was then that I decided to start building my business by hiring other speakers who shared my same passion and approach. Read more

Could you tell us about your education and professional experience?

Jane Pollak

I hold a BA in Studio Art and Theatre Arts from Mount Holyoke College.
I hold an MA in Art Education from Columbia University Teachers College.
I am a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (Coaches Training Institute).

When did you start your business?

I hung up my first artwork in July 1970. It marked the beginning of getting paid for my talent. I officially got into business-took out a sales and use license-in 1980. I incorporated as an S-Corp in 1991.

How did you spot the opportunity? How did it surface?

It wasn’t like that. I heard about the Pink Tent Festival (1973) and entered my work. I exhibited in several craft shows in CT over my first 10 years in business. I didn’t think of myself as a business, simply a free lance artist making money selling my work. Big mistake in self-perception, but a great learning experience. Read more

When we first interviewed you back in 2003 for WomenandBiz.com’s first issue, Zinc Bar was about to celebrate its 10^th year anniversary and you had just opened Flatiron Lounge with your brother Alex. A few years later you opened Pegu Club.

How have your ventures changed, if in anyway, since you’ve established the first business?

Kristina Kossi

Not too much, I am still creating, designing and opening clubs. Alex and I have been improving upon the formula that has worked for us for 15 years at Zinc Bar. This coming October, we are very excited to be moving to our new bigger space on West 3^rd street.

What are the most difficult challenges you faced as your businesses were growing?

Spending time at each one, I’m at Zinc Bar most of the time, but I am fortunate enough to have great partners that are at Flatiron Lounge and Pegu Club.

How do you balance your personal life and motherhood with running and growing your businesses?

Because I’m a business owner, I can arrange my schedule, but it requires a lot of discipline. Firstly, and always important to me is that the kids are happy, and I’ve spent enough time with them, and then, spending time with friends or taking a class or two, for myself. Read more

* What was your education experience? 

Lynda Weinman

I had an unorthodox and alternative education, for both high school and college and I think it influenced my attitude towards work and life in a significant way. I went to schools where there wasn’t a lot of structure or forced prerequisites, and students had a lot of choice. What this encouraged me to do was to identify what really interested me and learn that it was up to me to find internal motivation to pursue my interests. I graduated from Evergreen State College in Olympia Washington in 1976 with a BA in Humanities. The personal computer had yet not been invented, so I had no experience with software or design in college. Read more

at NAWBO-NY Signature Awards Event, March 2008

Please tell us about your business

My business is Sachs Morgan Studio, and we design theater buildings for the national performing arts community. Our clients tell us that we design theaters that work for their owners, their patrons, and for the theater professionals that use them. We design theaters people love!

Anna Sachs – photo by Amy Fletcher*

Would you like to share a few examples?

Sure, one of my favorite projects is the theater in the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. It took about ten or eleven years to develop. . Lots of our projects are lengthy because they start in the conceptual phase and then often pause for a fundraising phase, then after the funds are in place there is design development, construction documents and then construction of the building itself. These are long projects!

The concept of the theater at the National Museum of the American Indian was inspired by the original American Indian architect that headed it up. Everything was designed in a circle, based on the “circle of life”, which of course is the “way of the people”. It was very challenging for the theater component of the project, that there were to be NO straight lines in the theater; not one in the whole building. . As an audience member you can access the stage from the audience, which works beautifully for American Indian pageants, and also provides good accessibility for the disabled: anybody in a wheelchair, or any parent with a stroller can just go right up and across the stage and then come right down the other side. It’s all about that circle – there is a free flowing feeling about it. The Museum uses it once a week for their meetings, which makes us very proud. Read more

Marsha Firestone founded the Women President’s Organization (WPO) to promote economic security for women by accelerating the growth of women owned businesses and women led businesses.

Marsha Firestone

Marsha was working for the American Woman’s Economic Development Corporation (AWED – a not for profit organization that assisted and trained women in starting and running their businesses) as the vice president of training over 12 years ago. She realized that although there were services for start-ups and young businesses, there were none for women who had already achieved a certain level of success. She was expecting to become the president of AWED, and planning to establish the division that would assist existing businesses. Since the position was not offered to her, she saw the opportunity to start WPO in 1997.

Marsha has an expertise in adult learning theory and in small group communications and she was able to combine her educational background with her experience assisting small businesses to create this small group learning experience for thriving women in business.
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