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NAWBO-CA is proud to announce that two lucky NAWBO Members were scholarship recipients for ULCA's
Management Development for Entrepreneur's certificate program, graciously sponsored by corporate sponsor, Union Bank.
The program, taught by UCLA's award-winning faculty, enables entrepreneurs to develop essential management skills and strengthen their ability to build and manage effective and profitable organizations.
Says Richard Chacon, Director of Supplier Diversity and Development and Union Bank, "The results of our 15-year commitment to sponsor women business owners at the UCLA Price Center is unquestionably positive. NAWBO member companies continue to show positive growth as a result of their UCLA experience."
Recipient Angela DePaoli from Bargas Environmental Design in Sacramento said of the program "The first weekend was; mind-blowing, game changing, inspirational, amazing networking, transformative for my business...I really could go on and on! This is such an amazing gift and I can't wait to write Union Bank and tell them what it does for my business! It is going to change things I know for sure!"
Recipient Schenae Rourk from Redwood Resources in Los Angeles, adds:
"I attended and it is a fabulous program. The professors are exceptional."
Past recipient Karen Mora of Accountability Plus in Santa Barbara states, "This UCLA MDE program was awesome. I would highly recommend the program for serious business owners who want to take their business to the next level."
NAWBO-CA thanks Union Bank for their generous support and commitment to woman business owners and our NAWBO members.
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SLIDING DOORS: Has NAWBO changed your future?
Have you had the opportunity to describe to another woman business owner the value you personally get from NAWBO? While at the NAWBO Women's Business Conference in Minneapolis, I spoke with a new attendee, and tried to describe what I have gotten out of being part of NAWBO. The conversation helped me realize just how much NAWBO has changed the trajectory of my business and my life.
That experience brought to mind a movie I saw many years ago, called Sliding Doors, starring Gwyneth Paltrow. In the film, one small event started a chain reaction that resulted in a string of different events that dramatically changed the course of her life.
My life changed when my banker encouraged me to enter NAWBO Sacramento's Outstanding Women Leader awards. I went to a meeting to check NAWBO out. I didn't win an award that year, but going to that first meeting started a chain of events that have changed my life and led to my business growing to a level of success I had never imagined.
- At my first NAWBO national conference, in San Diego in 2011, I met other women who had also started small and had grown their businesses into multimillion dollar corporations. For the first time I met role models and realized I could do that too.
- I also realized there that to achieve the growth they had, I needed to get out in front to lead my company, going beyond working in the trenches. I could hire others to do the work, but no one else was going to lead the company.
- As I got more involved in NAWBO, I stepped into board leadership and gained valuable experience and insights about building a motivated team. Those leadership skills have helped me lead my company, and develop the leadership abilities of my staff.
- I also met a business coach because of NAWBO. I didn't think I needed one at first. (We'd all like to think we can do this without help - right?) But as our friendship grew, and because of insights I got from attending PROPEL, I let down my guard and learned to trust her with my hopes, fears, ambitions and frustrations. She's helped me refine my vision for the company as it has grown. One of the biggest gifts she gave me is helping me detach myself from my company. When I started the company, it was a part of me. But she helped me see that I could set it free to be so much more.
- NAWBO taught me to pay attention to key financial numbers. The knowledge helped me realize there were errors in how my books were set up, and catch an error that would have been very expensive with the IRS if it had continued. The knowledge helped tremendously when it came time to move out of our first space and buy a building. And it gave me the confidence to interview different banks for our business, which led to a much larger line of credit and a much lower fee.
- Joining our chapter's mastermind group gave me a valuable sounding board as I purchased our building, hit HR issues, updated processes and procedures, faced a culture shift brought on by new and younger staff, and more. Thanks to their advice, I reduced some of my load by hiring an executive assistant and outsourcing HR and CFO services - and the business has flourished as a result. And now that I've joined the national NAWBO Circle mastermind with other $1mm+ businesses across the country, I have even more connections, wisdom and experience to turn to.
The biggest blessing NAWBO has brought me though is an informal benefit of NAWBO - the close connections and friendships with so many other women business owners. Because of NAWBO, I know I am not in this alone. My life is so much richer for the relationships, experiences, and network of talented, smart, motivated women who are my mentors and my friends.
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Here are some upcoming opportunities you won't want to miss. You never know how your future could change as a result . . .
- The 2018 PROPEL conference in Sacramento, April 22 - 24, 2018. Early Bird pricing ends in a couple of weeks - November 30th. To register, go to www.NAWBOPropel.org
- And save the dates Sept. 23 - 25, 2018 for the next NAWBO National Women's Business Conference (WBC). It will be on the West Coast next year, in Spokane Washington. Early bird pricing ends December 31, 2017.
- If your business has revenue of $1 million or more, I strongly encourage you to join the NAWBO Circle. The $2500 annual cost is far less than other mastermind programs, and includes WBC registration and a special track at WBC with speakers and events geared for larger businesses, plus two other in-person get-togethers with other women from across the country who are mentors in your shoes - or perhaps have walked in them a few miles ahead and always have valuable experience to share.
- Speaking of that, NAWBO is specifically focusing on helping WBOs grow to the $1 million+ level. We learned at WBC that NAWBO will soon be announcing an exciting new partnership with Maria Sharapova and her chocolate company, Sugarpova. Five businesses will win the opportunity to work with Sugarpova's leadership team to grow their businesses to $1 million or more in revenue. Watch your national NAWBO newsletter for details.
Yours,
Anne Staines
President, NAWBO CA
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PROPEL 2018: The Conference of Small Change for Extraordinary Gains
What's your One Small Change? Extraordinary gains begin with one simple step. One slight shift. One new direction. Share yours and learn about others' at PROPEL 2018. Visit the PROPEL 2018 website t
o see the exciting agenda as it gets locked in!
Help to shape your 2018 PROPEL conference!
Connect with Mindy to volunteer. Teams are forming for programming marketing, sponsorship, ad sales, and giveaways committees.
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5 Star Chapter Program Update
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The 5 Star Healthy Chapter Program provides a road map for chapters to create clear goals and actions plans for growing a healthy, thriving chapter. This plan is a simple and effective way to keep chapter boards and committees clear on objectives and activities, and serves as an ideal tool for transitioning
boards without losing the progress made from year to year.
Congratulations to the following NAWBO-CA chapters that have completed the first 3 stars:
- Los Angeles
- San Francisco
- Silicon Valley
- Santa Barbara
- San Diego
This coming year, chapters will be working on completing their 4
th
star. Which star is your chapter working on?
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