Roundtable Discussion Highlights Passion, Creativity & Collaboration
Cascade Business News hosted a group of several inspiring entrepreneurial women recently to discuss the keys of their success and how to support women entrepreneurs in the community. The conversation brought a few issues to light: women entrepreneurs have it pretty good right now, failures seen as opportunities can often trigger a paradigm shift that can lead to success, the support network for women owned businesses is stronger and more comprehensive than ever before and in the words of Pamela Hulse Andrews, “Show up and act like you belong there, and pretty soon they will think you do.” The roudtable included:
Kelli Hewitt, president of E2 Solar, a solar contractor in Bend focused on residential installation for solar water and electricity. E2 Solar has been in business for eight years; the business grew out of Hewitt’s passion for sustainability in her personal life and career.
Elizabeth Ueland, sells residential real estate for Bend Premier Real Estate, and has her core business in manufacture sourcing in China. She is a business contributor to Cascade Business News. For the past ten years she has been working with designers and oversees manufacturing production in China. The changing economy has prompted the recent move into real estate.
Regina Callahan, director and creator of the Central Oregon Wellness Connection, an on-line and printed healthy living directory. Published twice a year, the directory provides a listing of services, practitioners and products that promotes wellness in the Central Oregon community. Callahan is a licensed massage and cranial sacral therapist and has a small continuing education institute for massage therapists.
Pamela Hulse Andrews, CEO of Cascade Publications, Inc., founded Cascade Business News 19 years ago and publisher/founder of Cascade Arts and Entertainment, Sunriver and Redmond magazines. Through the economic downturn of the past few years and dramatic changes in the publishing industry, Hulse Andrews’ business has focused on reinvention to diversify with digital media.
Kathy Kemper-Green is a broker with Arbor Mortgage and is a representative of Network of Entrepreneurial Woman. Prior to working for Arbor Mortgage, she was a school teacher in Sisters for ten years.
Brenda Grigsby is the owner of Moonlight BPO and Pet Paradise. She began her career in Bend 50 years ago as a cook at the D&D Bar and Grill, started an interior design business and then purchased Moonlight Mailing (renamed Moonlight BPO). She grew her business from a small mail house to an international company; her story is chronicled in the book, Minimum Wage to Millionaire.
Renée Alexander is a principle at BBT Architects. She has been a part of the architecture industry for her entire career and has watched women become much more integrated into the field. She has worked as an architect and as an associate principle prior to relocating to Central Oregon in order to take the step towards ownership.
CBN: Why did you become an entrepreneur? What prompted you?
Grisby: I can’t fire myself and I can always count on a paycheck.
Hulse Andrews: I got fired, it was awesome! Circumstances forged an opportunity. I was the editor of another business paper in Bend, Central Oregon Business Journal. I kept complaining to the owners about their lack of quality control and finally they just fired me. It was really devastating but I seized on an opportunity to start my own newspaper, wrote a business plan, got funding and was able to put them out of business in two months. You never know…
Ueland: I had the same thing happen. I worked in corporate for 15 years and they cut me out overnight. It was then I had to reinvent myself and I created Art and Soul Business Development. Two years later I had the opportunity to go international; it was my dream to do international business. My friends said, “but you don’t speak Chinese” and I said, “I’ll figure it out.” I hired a team and opened an office in China. Ten years later my team is like family and I have a whole other life there. Being fired turned out to be a blessing.
Alexander: I have a similar story. I thought my life was set and I was where I wanted to be. Due to some major changes where I was working, I decided that at my age I could be unfulfilled in the position, or this is my time to leap…so I leapt! Here I am. It’s a little scary but here I am.
Kemper-Green: I was a school teacher in Sisters and I decided if I was going to work that hard I needed to enjoy it more and have more flexibility.
Hewitt: It started with my husband and me working in Portland in the corporate world. We knew it wasn’t the path we wanted personally. We started by creating a sustainable path and built a straw off-grid home. That was our passion. Once we finished that we put our effort into working as sustainably as we wanted to live. The business grew from that. It was a short time frame, we had left our jobs of stability and in three months ended up in a fifth wheel trailer on 2.5 acres.
CBN: What support networks have you utilized?
Callahan: I have totally utilized the small business development center at COCC. I took a lot of their classes and one in particular “Launch Your Business” gave me a great connection with Maureen Quinn, one of the advisors there. Also the Network of Entrepreneurial Women. For me, having a room full of women entrepreneurs is powerful. The community is welcoming and has great resources as well as just talking to other women running a business. For me it’s a lot about inspiration.
Hulse Andrews: I’m a member of Opportunity Knocks. They assign you to groups and then the group becomes your board of directors, all done with confidentiality. Initially it was helpful in managing day to day operations from firing a person to cash flow problems. Whatever it is, another person in that group has already had the problem. I took a sabbatical from OK when I got more involved with several non- profit boards, but got back in a group when the recession hit.
Grigsby: When I started my first business 35 years ago, there were not a lot of women owning businesses here. Women were not supposed to be doing that at that time, and I wasn’t fortunate to have avenues of support. I was a single mother of two kids and it was out of survival that I made it work. I didn’t know anything about accounting, I kept money in the refrigerator! It was through trial and failure that I succeeded. What I’ve learned is failure is not a bad word. Failure is a positive because you can learn to move forward and find the answers and not do it again. I think it’s amazing now the opportunities for women. Women supporting women is amazing.
Hulse Andrews: When I wanted to start my paper I offered the other paper $50,000 to buy it but they wouldn’t sell. So I went to Robert Shields, who was the first CEO of Bank of the Cascades. I said “Here’s my business plan and I think I need $25,000.” He loaned me $25,000 with no collateral based on the business plan; it would never happen today. Roger became a huge mentor to me, it was so important at that time. I was really fortunate that he decided to trust me. Money, as we all know, is really important to what we are doing. If you don’t have the money, the cash flow, you can’t survive.
When I started my newspaper it was said, “Isn’t that cute she’s going to start a little newsletter.” They never thought I would make it, and I’m pretty sure I’ve proved the good ole boys wrong. One of the things I told one of my grandson recently was “just show up and act like you belong there, and pretty soon they will think you do.”
Grigsby: My dad, Clyde Purcell, is my mentor and inspiration. We moved here in 1962, and he built the first subdivision here in Bend and then The Riverhouse. His honesty and integrity has given me inspiration in business. He mentored many successful people in Bend, and has raised a lot of money for many nonprofits in Bend.
Alexander: I’ve had a lot of positive people along the way, but my greatest supporters were my parents. They ingrained in me from day one that I can do anything I want, and that there are no boundaries. I have raised my 17 year old with the same attitude. Don’t let anyone say you can’t. My family and many professors would give me the confidence to keep moving forward when I doubted myself, then as I kept moving forward I developed the confidence.
Ueland: My mom was my greatest inspiration. When I went to high school she went to law school. That generation of women didn’t go to law school, besides doing so in their late 30s. She showed me by example that you can do anything. I also come from the Midwest which has a work ethic of “you work till you drop.” I truly love my work.
Kemper-Green: My father was the one who inspired me with his work ethic. He was a small town family physician who would take on everyone and anybody even if they couldn’t pay. He was all about the passion for the people. Giving to the community and being a part of the town was my inspiration. Getting into the mortgage business, it was my boss who mentored me, Rob Moore. I met him at a BNI meeting and then tracked him down and asked him to take me on as a mortgage broker. He’s been mentoring me ever since; Rob is encouraging with his humor and one hundred percent belief in me.
CBN: Have you seen any road blocks locally to women in entrepreneurial roles?
Hulse Andrews: Things have definitely changed. There are more women in the work-force than ever before and there are numerous opportunities to become an entrepreneur. The number of women-owned businesses has increased by 54 percent since 1997. I believe as women we may even have an advantage as small business owners. We are certainly able to multi-task better than most men.
Alexander: Woman can be their own worst enemy. We can be influenced by the situation of being a woman and we need to encourage all others to be who they are. It doesn’t matter what others are saying.
Callahan: I think women have a self preservation gene. Women can get in their own way by worrying and thinking about the worst case scenario.
Grigsby: There are a lot of programs available to women that can be of benefit for women in business. I belong to a group called WBENC. It’s a national certification program for women owned companies out of Washington, D.C. who put on great educational seminars for women and connect you with national and international companies. The government has mandated that corporations who do business with the government outsource 17 percent of their outsource dollars to a woman owned company.
I feel women have to look outside of the box of Bend for self preservation. I have been at events where big companies like Chevron and Wal-Mart are looking to do business with you. They need you. Companies can do work with the government and use you as a second tier business partner, and they get the credit for complying with government regulation. Astra is the North West division of WBENC and holds conferences. I know for myself and my company if I just focused on Central Oregon, I would probably be out of business right now. My business is national and international. The reason to search out certification for industries is that companies are looking through the internet searches to find certifications, and they find you. Our clients from Guam and India found us that way.
Hewitt: We are on the same path to acquiring these certifications and learning how to maneuver through government projects. There are opportunities for small businesses as well as women owned businesses; we are a little different because there are regional licensing regulations to being an electrical contractor.
CBN: How has non-profit work benefited your business?
Hulse Andrews: Giving back to the community should be a part of your marketing plan. If you’re blessed with a successful business it’s only natural that you should return the generosity. You can learn and prosper just as much from participating in non-profit work as you can in running your own business.
Ueland: What I find interesting about Bend is the cache in this town is not how much money you have, or what you drive, but how you give to the community; what organizations you involved in. I think the most beautiful aspect of the Bend community is the spirit of giving.
Alexander: That is one of the first things I noticed and now I’m trying to figure out what organizations to become involved with. I’m passionate about kids and maybe we can do something with the schools. We design schools, so there is a connection and maybe there will be a need.
CBN: What is the best part of running your own enterprise?
Callahan: The flexibility is my favorite thing. I may work a lot of hours, but then I can take the breaks I need to stay fresh, like ride my bike and do yoga. Later I go back to the computer.
Hewitt: It’s a lot of work to having your own business. It’s great to bring the dogs to the office and have a piece of your family with you at all times.
Hulse Andrews: One of my sons, Jeff Martin, works with me so part of my family is always around (plus we bring our dogs to work). Jeff has been here 12 years and has provided a solid and trustful anchor to our company. I agree about the flexibility, but lately in the last year it is the ability to be creative in the spur of the moment. Like all of a sudden I realized we need an App for Cascade Arts and Entertainment, or I think, “Oh my gosh we need an e-blast for Cascade Business News,” and I say to my staff, “we have to have it by next Wednesday!” It creates this spontaneous energy. I love that about a small business, and the fact is your whole staff is like family whether it is good times or bad.
Ueland: I agree. It’s the sense of creativity that keeps me thriving. I’m not always successful in my endeavors; I started a radio program last year and I wasn’t able to get it monetized. So what! It was the passion of doing and creating it; the ability to look at an opportunity and think, “I could create this or that out of it.” That’s what charges me up. I think that’s the greatest pleasure.
Alexander: We are all doing what we believe in, or we wouldn’t be doing it. There is great satisfaction in being able to really take charge of what we want to do in life.
Grigsby: When you own your own business no one can tell you “no.” At our company the words can’t or no are not allowed in our vocabulary. So you can dream big dreams. You can have your dreams, and with yourself and your team you can make those dreams happen. Your passion or creativity can be there every day you show up for work. The other thing that makes me feel good is that I get to help other people pay their bills through my passion and the drive we have as a team. I get to support other families, which is a great feeling. I take that very seriously: supporting other families in the community.
A few of the resources mentioned in the discussion can be found here: COCC Small Business Development Center: www.cocc.edu/sbdc, Network of Entrepreneurial Women: www.networkwomen.org, Women’s Business Enterprise National Council: www.wbenc.org Astra Women’s Business Alliance: www.astrawba.org, Opportunity Knocks: www.opp-knocks.org.
