Corporate Partner Corner
Special benefits and offers from our corporate partners for NAWBO members.
What to “Know” When Redesigning Your Website
The small business game has changed. When you are looking at new ways to showcase your business online, the first place to start is your business website. Redesigning your website is a major task, and can cause hurt your ranking and search value if you don’t plan ahead. Here are some tips to keep in mind.
Look at Other Sites in Your Industry
Most entrepreneurs have no idea what their goals should be when they create or redesign their website. The first suggestion that we make to our clients is to look at other successful businesses in your industry and see how they are presenting themselves online. This will give you a sense of how they brand themselves and you can discover key features that you might be able to leverage in your own site.
Know Your Goals
Most businesses have a website but don’t identify any goals for their site. Be clear on what the 1 or 2 top goals are for your site so that your redesign aligns with them.
Know Your Metrics
…the right metrics that provide insight into what is valuable on your existing site and what kind of traffic it has. This gives a baseline to measure the new site against. Without knowing what is being viewed, you might decide to move or eliminate content that is actually bringing you traffic and helping your rankings.
Know Your Optimization Strategy
If you work with an SEO firm, make them aware of the new site redesign BEFORE you start so they can ensure all the hard work done is not lost. One big mistake made is failing to add proper redirects when URLs change, creating 404 error pages – which are bad.
Know Your Audience
Knowing how to relate to your target audience’s challenges will help craft the right content — content tailored for people, not search engines.
Have a Maintenance Plan
How the site is built can depend greatly who will be doing the updating so be clear on how that will happen. Update the core software regularly so your site is not risk for security breaches, slow downs and broken pages.
Final Tips
- Always make a backup of the existing site – just in case!
- Be realistic about timeline and budget.
- Make your site mobile friendly and add an SSL certificate – these are not optional
- Secure forms with anti-spam options
- Phase out rotators – they slow the load times and people ignore them
- Optimize images to help with load times
- Write descriptive page title and descriptions
Submitted by Roberta Kiphuth
President, Detati Digital Marketing
For more information about building a better website, visit us at www.detati.com.
President’s Message | August 2018
Welcome to NAWBO Silicon Valley’s 2018 – 2019 fiscal year! We have an outstanding new and renewed group of board members who are eager and ready to serve our chapter and its members.
As the new President, I’m honored and privileged to build upon our chapter’s success, which was recently led by Maxine Goulding along with our past board members. Maxine’s fearless leadership has allowed us to be where we are today, and we are ready and excited to take our organization to the next level.
We will build upon our Silicon Valley’s uniqueness and create One Voice in making our message clear. NAWBO is about women business owners succeeding through technology, education and expanding global markets. Melissa Grimshaw-Vargas, Program Director, and Toni Navy, Communications Director, will help us promote and advance NAWBO with the marketing techniques and technology available today. Maxine Goulding will focus on raising money and awareness for our NAWBO Education Group through our annual Crystal Chair gala event, so we can create and foster a mentorship program in the future. We are the only NAWBO chapter that has an International Affairs Director, Griselda Quezada-Chavez, bringing global interests to the forefront. These women, along with our other highly qualified board members, will play an important role in making our chapter innovative and exciting.
Our goals this year will be to increase Advocacy, Member Engagement, Corporate Partners and Membership, and we will do this with the help of our members. We want to encourage your involvement so that we can strengthen our sisterhood and grow our businesses. In addition, we will focus on highlighting stronger business connections within the organization, advocacy opportunities and your impact on the communities we serve.
We ask for volunteers to help in the various committees where you can share your knowledge and expertise that will help us build a powerful organization. By joining our leadership team you become part of the women business owners taking action, growing their business and making change on a local, national and global level. We will think and act like connectors and networkers whether it’s at one of our NAWBO events or through other events we attend, so we can support our members and increase the number of business women that we serve.
Our passion and commitment is to NAWBO and our member’s success. When we unite our efforts and wide background of experience and knowledge, it will lead us into resonating One Voice in carrying out our mission and goals for 2018 – 2019. I’m looking forward to a fun and successful year with our dedicated board members, along with our amazing members!
Warmest regards,
Flordelisa Harris
President, MAWBO-SV
President’s Message – March 2018
Hello NAWBO Silicon Valley Members and Friends,
NAWBO has made history for 40 years. I am proud to continue this tradition through our Crystal Chair Award Gala to be held on March 20 at the Silicon Valley Capital Club in San Jose. In 1975 our founding member, Susan Hager said, “Get a seat at the table or build your own table, and make sure to include other women.” She invited a dozen or so like-minded women to a meeting to talk about entrepreneurship and the rest is history.
In 2017 the NAWBO Silicon Valley Board of Directors decided to honor women that brought their seat to the table and what better way to do it than to recognize them at a very special event – Crystal Chair Award Gala. This was the foundation for our gala and we will celebrate women who have made a bit of history of their own. It’s perfect timing with March being Women’s History Month.
Come enjoy our keynote speakers, Diane and Carl Stuart that are in law enforcement and a Navy Seal, respectively. They will talk about how two successful and dynamic business owners handle their working relationship.
There will be surprises, raffle prizes, a delicious menu created by the Capital Club, an award-winning Emcee, Janice Edwards and much more.
Register from our event page HERE.
NAWBO Silicon Valley also recognizes Women’s History Month.
Did you know Women’s History Month started in the 70’s and gained momentum in the early 80’s? In the 70’s women in history was an unknown subject. It was not being taught in the classrooms or talked about. To address this situation, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women initiated a “Women’s History Week” celebration for 1978.
President Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the Week of March 8th, 1980 as National Women’s History Week. In the same year, Representative Barbara Mikulski, who at the time was in the House of Representatives, and Senator Orrin Hatch co-sponsored a Congressional Resolution for National Women’s History Week 1981. This co-sponsorship demonstrated the wide-ranging political support for recognizing, honoring, and celebrating the achievements of American women.
By 1986, 14 states had already declared March as Women’s History Month. This momentum and state-by-state action were used as the rational to lobby Congress to declare the entire month of March 1987 as National Women’s History Month. In 1987, Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month in perpetuity. A special Presidential Proclamation is issued every year which honors the extraordinary achievements of American women.
Read more
To your success in 2018 and beyond.
Maxine Goulding, President
NAWBO Silicon Valley
President’s Message – February 2018
Hello NAWBO Silicon Valley Members and Friends,
Much is happening at NAWBO Silicon Valley in 2018. To give you a sneak peek I have listed a couple of very exciting events in February.
February 12 – Bizwomen Mentoring Monday
A few of our NAWBO Silicon Valley members will be mentors at the Bizwomen: Mentoring Monday, hosted by the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
Mentoring Monday is a one-of-a-kind event that brings together women in a casual, fast-paced coaching atmosphere. As an attendee, you will have the opportunity to meet individually with highly successful businesswomen in Silicon Valley for one-on-one coaching sessions for conversations. It is expected that every attendee will have the opportunity to meet with four to seven mentors. The quick turnaround is organized chaos which will be fast, fun and fulfilling as everyone gets the chance to meet new people and gain new insights.
February 20 – NAWBO Silicon Valley at Adobe
Join us to hear Donna Morris table about “How Employee Success Translates to Customer Success”.
Adobe challenges everyone in the organization to Make it an Experience. The ability to deliver these experiences to its customers starts with its employees. At this special event, Donna Morris of Adobe will share Adobe’s journey to foster a culture where employees understand the value of creating great experiences and the opportunities they have to influence the experience of its customers.
Come see this exclusive and unique look into the progressive culture at Adobe. Meet Donna Morris, our host and guest speaker, whose rallying cry is “disrupt or be disrupted.” Catch a rare glimpse into their global headquarters for a quick tour and delectable appetizers; all while networking with our NAWBO members and elite guests.
Our events hosted by companies such as Adobe are always a ton of fun, high profile, and very well attended. Adobe Systems, Inc. is a premier Silicon Valley enterprise and we are honored that they are hosting us this special evening.
NAWBO Silicon Valley continues to diligently work on bringing exciting and informative events to you. We know connections are important to our members, we know that building relationships are important and insightful educational a networking event for Tuesday, April 21st.
I do hope you join us at our fabulous February events. To see the details for both events listed go to www.nawbo-sv.org.
To your success in 2018 and beyond.
Maxine Goulding, President
NAWBO Silicon Valley
President’s Message – January 2018
Hello NAWBO Silicon Valley Members and Friends,
I don’t know about you, but 2017 went by like a rocket ship. The last month I remember was March 2017. In fact, this is the second year in a row that time flew by. I know why. I decided a few years back to concentrate my energies on business growth, researching the best clients and how to find them, and creating new services. The good news, it is working – really working.
I attribute a lot of my success to NAWBO Silicon Valley, NAWBO California and NAWBO National for the work they do to provide support, member value, business events and more. They continue to evolve and expand their offerings such as, online access to business education, informative keynote speakers and streamlining Chapter Operations Nationwide, just to name a few.
NAWBO gave me the opportunity to be a Board member, which taught me how to run an organization, and those skills transferred into my business. It was all about taking the information that was provided to me, with the help of my peer support and business education that got me going. I felt braver in taking a little more risk and not analyze everything seven ways to Sunday to make decisions. With that attitude I was making inroads in my business, attracting more clients and hiring more people. Voila! This takes me back to my first paragraph of this letter and how I got to where I am today.
NAWBO was created to help women business owners in various stages of business. I recommend you get to know your organization from top to bottom and take advantage of what they offer and use all the information on their websites. To give you an idea of the benefits for our members, see the shortlists of your local and national benefits:
NAWBO Silicon Valley Benefits (short list):
- Networking Events: a chance to engage in deeper conversation, learn from others expertise and insight, build partnerships, and possible business opportunities.
- Business Education: through our monthly meeting keynote speakers and networking
- Online Membership Directory enables members to update and manage their own profile.
NAWBO California Benefits (short list):
- Public policy voice in State Legislature an opportunity to testify in front of legislators
- “Best Practices” training for chapter leaders
- Annual conference provides opportunities to get to know NAWBO members throughout the state and information for business owners
NAWBO National Benefits (short list):
- Website: members have access to a multitude of tools and resources critical for navigating the everyday challenges of business ownership.
- Leadership Development: NAWBO provides an opportunity for members to hone their leadership skills at the local and national level.
- National Conference: The Women’s Business Conference is the only event of its kind that provides women business owners with personal and professional business development opportunities to take their businesses to the next level of success.
Please see entire lists on www.nawbo-sv.org, wwww.nawbo.org/california, www.nawbo.org
To your success in 2018 and beyond.
Maxine Goulding, President
NAWBO Silicon Valley
President’s Message – December 2017
Dear NAWBO Silicon Valley Members,
What I learned this month about prospects in this New Age of the Seller.
I was going over my sales efforts to check if I am getting the job done. I found out it’s not because my sales team isn’t working hard enough, it’s because the rules of prospecting have changed – the New Age of the Seller.
Here are reasons why:
- Cold calling is over. In the New Age of the Seller, prospects want to get to know you first.
- Potential clients don’t need a salesperson to make an informed decision, buyers are acquiring much of that information on their own, online.
- Prospects are pre-qualifying prospective vendors. In the New Age of the Seller, a prospect might have considered a dozen vendors, but in the new Age, that number might be as few as two, maybe even just one.
- Reality, vendors are being ruled in or out before they know the prospect even exists.
This new empowerment for prospects are finding it saves them time, contributes to their decision-making journey, and reduces contact with uncompetitive, and therefore, irrelevant vendors. Consequently, getting in front of a prospect for a first meeting requires more time, effort and strategy.
New rules:
- Demonstrate some level of relevance before granting an introductory meeting, let alone a sales call.
- How are you relevant to that individual prospect, because the prospect decides what’s relevant.
- Networking – in person and online – you must become a professional networker.
- Prospect development and nurturing must be practiced with patience and a dialed-down sense of urgency.
- Don’t lead with any element of the price/product/service value proposition. That won’t get you through the door.
- Demonstrate your corporate values. Today, what your company stands for is a major relevance factor.
- “Contribute first, contract second” is the Holy Grail of relevance.
Today is a whole different story of how to get in front of your prospect. You have to put more emphasis and resources in training, equipping, budgeting and measuring prospecting skills.
Maxine Goulding
NAWBO Silicon Valley – President
President’s Message – November 2017
NAWBO is more than networking and a place to find a direct link to a revenue stream, it’s a place where we can build long lasting relationships that lead to better business and personal lives.
I joined NAWBO Silicon Valley in 2006 and I have been on various positions on the Board of Directors. I thought if I’m going to build a business I should know “how” to run a business and not just work in my business. I knew I was good at what I did, but without the prior it’s very hard to stay in business. What a surprise to discover a secret of business growth – (people do business with someone they like, know and trust) and then I got out of my own way. I introduced myself to members, I joined the Board of Directors, helped on Committees, attended the National Conference, attended NAWBO-CA Propel Your Business Conference, and collaborated with other like-minded organizations. The rest is history.
There are many ways to get visibility and credibility as a member of NAWBO Silicon Valley:
- Gain valuable Internet exposure with an online profile.
- Have your photo displayed on the NAWBO Silicon Valley home page. Submit a testimonial and provide a photo when you create your directory listing and you will be highlighted in the rotating testimonial section of the home page. Send photo and testimonial to our Executive Administrator at info@nawbo-sv.org.
- Get exposure through NAWBO’s Facebook Group and interact, ask questions, and promote your business with other NAWBO members. To join the Facebook Group, search Facebook Groups for “NAWBO Silicon Valley” and request to join.
- Highlight your business at the dinner meeting by purchasing a sponsor’s table. Sign up for a display table ($75) when you register for the monthly dinner meeting.
- Volunteer to support other NAWBO members. How? Join a committee, or become an ambassador to network more closely with other powerful business women.
- Attend workshops and classes when available. NAWBO Silicon Valley will periodically send out information for these business education opportunities.
- Exhibit your business at exclusive NAWBO Expos and Trade Shows. How? Act on various opportunities throughout the year at a reasonable cost.
- Be in the spotlight at dinner meetings by hosting the Wine Bar. How? $120-$200 estimated cost; host the wine bar and speak to the group to introduce yourself/your business.
- Participate in the incredible networking opportunities at NAWBO Silicon Valley events. Attend NAWBO-SV lunch meetings, dinner meetings, and NAWBO Silicon Valley special events/mixers, etc. Check our website for upcoming events at www.nawbo-sv.org.
Contact our Executive Administrator at info@nawbo-sv.org for more information on any of these.
President’s Message – August 2017
Wow! NAWBO is making changes Locally, Nationally and Internationally. It’s exciting to see our organization stretch and grow from many angles. What’s new and what’s coming…
NAWBO Silicon Valley
We heard you. So you’ll be happy to know NAWBO Silicon Valley is having its 2nd Annual Crystal Chair Award event next year – March 20, 2018 (mark your calendars). You’ll see and hear detailed information coming in our Newsletter and monthly meetings. We will also be asking our members to get involved in any way they would like to participate.
NAWBO Silicon Valley wants to hear from its members and what better way to get your opinions and suggestions than from short surveys (very short) surveys. We want to understand what we can do to improve our meetings and programs. We are here to help.
NAWBO National
NAWBO national conference
OCTOBER 15-17, 2017
This year’s theme is “Together We Dare.” As women business owners, we’re naturally “daring” individuals. After all, we took a huge leap in starting our own businesses and continue to dare every day-to break boundaries, push limits, change the status quo, work together, attempt the unexpected, be authentic and create our magic. We simply look at the world differently and see opportunities in obstacles. Join NAWBO’s inspiring community of women entrepreneurs as we dare together to reach new heights in our lives, our businesses, our communities and the world. There’s no limit to what we can do when TOGETHER WE DARE! To register and get more information, see the National Conference 2017 section below.
NAWBO International
FCEM conference in Rome
NOVEMBER 20-22, 2017
FCEM is non-profit, non-governmental, non-political and non-sectarian organization whose activities at the national and international level are aimed at promoting women’s entrepreneurial initiatives and reinforcing national associations of women business owners. FCEM is the acronym for ‘Les Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises Mondiales’, or World Association of Women Entrepreneurs. Today, the FCEM network includes over 60 countries across five continents and one member from each country of which NAWBO National is a member. Global is emerging and our world is shrinking. Doing business internationally is a faster way to grow your business! See the International Affairs section below for more information.
Sincerely,
Maxine Goulding
NAWBO Silicon Valley – President
Rainmaking – Mid Year Accountability
By Monika Miles, Miles Consulting Group
Welcome to July – just past the midpoint of 2017! If you’re the kind of woman business owner who likes to pause and take stock of where your company is at a given time – this is a good time of the year to do it. Many of you know me as a state tax consultant. But I recently expanded my business to include training aimed at helping other professionals who sell their services to build their pipelines. In this “Rainmaking” side of the business, I talk to my participants frequently about accountability. If you don’t stop and periodically review key indicators in your firm like progress toward your sales goals for the year, the progress (and potential lagging points) of longer projects, your collection rate on receivables, and your rate per hour (or profitability of fixed fee projects, if applicable), then how will you know when it’s time adjust? This is particularly important for those in the businesses of selling services – like accountants, attorneys, and consultants. Our inventory is time. So the question is, are you on track with your inventory management?
Building a sales pipeline is one of the areas that truly requires regular review – much more frequently than just at the midpoint of the year. But, if you haven’t been regularly reviewing it or honestly engaging with it, this is a good time to get re-energized. “The year is half over?” OR “The second half of the year is just beginning!” So much of what we do when we lead service businesses is to find ways to motivate ourselves every day to keep up the good work. That includes combining a positive mind-set with accountability.
So, what are some of the things we might consider measuring at this critical, mid-year point? Hopefully you have created a strategic plan, on paper! For those of you who have created it in your minds, this may be a little harder. But don’t despair – you can do this too. And this will be a good opportunity to actually put it on paper, or into a spreadsheet.
3 things I recommend that service providers evaluate at this critical mid-year juncture:
- What is your sales goal for 2017? And where are you with respect to that number? The sales goal is projected revenue. It is the amount represented by signed contracts, or projects truly already in the revenue pipeline. Ideally, at the beginning of the year you would have projected by month or at least by quarter, how much revenue you’d earn throughout the year. Many businesses are cyclical, so this number may not be ratable. But take a moment to review your 6 month numbers. If your revenue does come in fairly evenly during the year, are you halfway there? If much of your revenue comes in during the first quarter, do your remaining anticipated client projects make up the difference? If not, regroup and re-evaluate what you’re doing (or not doing) to build your pipeline. Are you getting out there and meeting face-to-face with your network and people who refer work to you? If you are a thought leader, are you seeking out speaking engagements or writing articles that will allow you to touch many people? What about blogging, or guest blogging?
- How many new clients did you want to add this year? Are you halfway there? This benchmark is similar to revenue, and just may be a different way of looking at it. Many of us break down the revenue number into a formula. For example, if our stated revenue goal from new projects for the year is $100,000 and our typical project averages $5,000, we’d need to engage 20 new clients over the course of the year. If you haven’t landed 10 of those by June 30, evaluate why. Are you getting to the right people who can make the decision to hire you? Are you able to close the projects when you have an opportunity to get to the table? Or are you not even invited to propose? If the latter, a quick re-evaluation is necessary. Most people will not be able to close every proposed piece of business that comes their way. But, hopefully, you have a reasonably good closure rate when you do get to the table. It’s important to know your business and to know what a successful average closing rate might be for your industry. Be honest in your evaluation. If you sell higher end consulting, your closing ratio may be lower than someone who sells a cheaper product. Do some math, and during the mid-year evaluation, be honest with yourself about why your closure rate may not be as good as you hope. And if you needed 20 new customers to hit your revenue goal, make sure you are honest with yourself about what it will take to make up the difference in the next 6 months.
- Did you have plans this year to increase your rate per hour, or your profitability per hour (which might be even more important!) Hopefully one of your goals this year was to make money by working smarter, not necessarily by working harder. If so, it either means being more efficient with the time you spend on client projects or raising your rates. As consultants who are paid for our services (often by the hour), consider some different pricing options. Do you have varying rates per hour for different types of projects? Do you have a minimum revenue number per project before you’ll even take it on? People call me sometimes with “one off” questions. Back in the early days, I often gave away answers for free, thinking that I’d make the investment and then, someday, those companies would grow and become a big client. Well, guess what? Not everyone will grow, and not everyone will become a great client. So if, even at their early stage, I can provide a good service for an hour or two of my time, and get paid, why wouldn’t I? So, I have taken a different approach with potential clients who really just have a few questions. If I can truly provide a service that requires a little of my time, but delivers them incredible value, I will bill them. (We agree on this ahead of time, of course.) But I’m no longer shy about this being a two-way street. A client who receives good advice for a fair rate will at the very least appreciate you, and will also likely refer you. So, don’t give away too much of yourself, whether to a prospect or an existing client. Make a conscious evaluation of the time you spend with prospects who may never become clients. Consider your business model and whether an hourly billing model is serving you. Would a flat fee for specific projects be more beneficial for both you and your client? It’s a good time to re-evaluate and maybe try it out on your next engagement.
And as you do this mid-year evaluation, don’t forget to give yourself some kudos for your accomplishments so far! Congratulations on getting to the halfway mark. I’m excited to be here!
Monika Miles is the Immediate Past President of NAWBO Silicon Valley and is President of Miles Consulting Group, a firm specializing in multi-state tax consulting (sales tax and income tax) for middle market businesses. Her clients include technology, manufacturing, software and SaaS based companies doing businesses across state lines. When she’s not assisting clients with multi-state tax issues, she passionately shares Rainmaking strategies with other professionals. If you are interested in learning more check out Monika’s webinar series on Rainmaking coming up in August.
President’s Message – July 2017
Thank you for the great honor of being installed as your President of NAWBO Silicon Valley. I accept this role as a great responsibility to continue to create, communicate and implement the organization’s vision, mission and overall direction.
The NAWBO Silicon Valley Chapter was founded in 1988 as a 501(c)(6) organization which supports and empowers women business owners. As the world changes around us, we are continually assessing the needs of our members and adding events and programs that support the development of today’s women business leaders.
With that said, the 2017-2018 NAWBO Silicon Valley Board of Directors had their first Board Retreat and have come up with some exciting plans to help support our Mission. They will continue to invite stellar keynote speakers, create exciting programs and provide business education. I am looking forward to seeing these plans unfold, so get involved, attend meetings and build relationships. Invest in your business future and beyond!
Also, I would like to take a moment to recognize your new Board of Directors for 2017-2018:
- Monika Miles – Immediate Past President/Corporate Partner Director
- Flor Harris – President-Elect/Interim Secretary
- Jennifer Dizon – Treasurer Director
- Griselda Quezada Chavez – International Affairs Director
- Karen Hebert – VP Membership/Interim Communications Director
- Vandana Agrawal – Public Policy Director
- Toni Julian – Programs Director
Thank you for placing your confidence and trust in me and our Board of Directors to serve you.
Sincerely,
Maxine Goulding
NAWBO Silicon Valley – President
President’s Message – June 2017
Dear Members,
As I write this I am frantically preparing to leave on a much needed vacation. But, before I go I wanted to let you know about something exciting. We have a new website! Go check it out at nawbo-sv.org. This beautiful new representation of our chapter has been a long time coming. So we hope you like it as much as we do. The new site is modern, mobile, and packed with useful information and resources. So, check back often as we intend to be updating information regularly to provide you with relevant content to delight, inform, and engage you.
A special thanks to our VP of Communications, branding strategist Karen Hebert of The Oya Group and corporate sponsor Roberta Kiphuth of Detati Digital Marketing for their efforts in making this a reality!
NAWBO Silicon Valley was well represented at the recent Silicon Valley Business Journal’s annual Women of Influence event. Our own Toni Julian was an honoree at this year’s event. And many of our members and alumnae of the prior classes of WOI were in attendance to cheer her on. Judging by the cheers coming from the crowd, I can proudly say we were among the loudest!
The WOI event showcases 100 women in Silicon Valley annually. Honorees are women from industry, non-profit, business owners, and other areas. Only a small percentage are women who truly own their businesses. And that got me to thinking – we should all raise a glass to ourselves and each other. Because who is a woman of influence if not an owner of her business? Every day we influence the lives of our employees, our clients, and our families. In general, we tend to work harder with less and have to work smarter to be recognized for our achievements. And yet, most of us wouldn’t trade what we do for anything else. So, in the spirit of Women of Influence, stop and congratulate yourself, for you are awesome!
Speaking of awesome, I’d like to use this, my last President’s message, to thank my Board of Directors who have worked so hard over the past two years to make this organization a success. I proudly hand the gavel back to Maxine Goulding and the incoming board to take us to the next level!
Thank you to all of our members for your support of our organization. We are here to help each other, educate, have a voice in public policy and enjoy each other’s camaraderie. If you’ve been joining us regularly at meetings, thank you! If you haven’t joined us in a while, come on back and be part of something great. Hope to see you all at our June meeting.
Thank you for allowing me to serve you as President these past two years!
Fondly,
Monika
Hood & Strong LLP : 100 Years Young and Still Going Strong
San Francisco, February 1, 2017: – It’s a banner year for one of San Francisco’s leading public accounting firms, as Hood & Strong LLP marks its 100th anniversary and celebrates with other Bay Area companies who also have reached the rare centennial milestone.
On February 8, 2017, Hood & Strong will welcome more than 200 business, community and civic leaders in honoring fellow centenarians and the enduring role these companies continue to play on the thriving Bay Area business stage. Hood & Strong is holding the event at the Italian Athletic Club in North Beach—which also just reached the century mark—and promises a San Francisco-themed evening attended by a “who’s who” of local dignitaries and elected officials.
“We’ve been doing business in San Francisco since 1917, and instead of just celebrating among ourselves, we thought it would be great to honor others who share our legacy of success and sustainability,” said Robert Raffo, managing partner of the accounting and business consulting firm. Hood & Strong reached out to more than 150 other centenarian businesses to help celebrate the milestone, including organizations that have been clients of the firm for almost 100 years.
“Walter Hood and Addison Strong opened the firm’s doors at 625 Market Street in 1917 to serve the financial needs of growing San Francisco businesses and individuals,” said Raffo. “Just like today’s entrepreneurs, Walter and Addison saw a need and filled it: growing companies and individuals who were creating great wealth, but not being served by the established firms of the day. Many household names that are still thriving—Levi Strauss, Wells Fargo, Adhesive Products Inc., the Olympic Club and Guittard Chocolate—were among the firm’s very early clients. The billing rate for partners was $20 a day, and $1 per hour for staff. Yes, times have changed!”
What hasn’t changed, Raffo noted, is the firm’s and San Francisco’s focus on philanthropy and giving back to others. To further honor the firm’s legacy, Hood & Strong staff have initiated a year-long “100 Acts of Kindness” program, which will coordinate philanthropic activities throughout the year to help the underserved. The initiative kicked-off in January with a food drive for the San Francisco Food Bank, and will continue with other acts of kindness throughout the year.
Partner Darlene Hall is spearheading the 100 Acts of Kindness initiative. “Volunteer service has been a priority for the firm since its inception, and as we mark our 100th birthday we are expanding our impact and providing more coordinated opportunities for the firm and our employees to participate and give back.”
“We wouldn’t have made it to 100 if we were just about the numbers,” said Raffo. “Hood & Strong is dedicated to building on our 100-year legacy by continuing our commitment to our clients, our communities and our staff. We are grateful for this opportunity.”
About Hood & Strong LLP
Hood & Strong LLP was founded in 1917 and is one of Northern California’s oldest, largest and most respected public accounting firms, providing audit, business advisory, tax, and information technology services to nonprofit organizations and privately held businesses. Hood & Strong maintains offices in San Francisco and San Jose, but serves clients across the Bay Area, throughout the U.S. and around the globe. http://www.hoodstrong.com/
EDITOR’S NOTE: Media are welcome to attend the February 8 Centenarian event. It begins at 5:00 p.m. and concludes at 8 p.m. at the Italian Athletic Club, 1630 Stockton Street, San Francisco. Free valet parking is available. RSVP to Jen Gainza, jen@mackenziesf.com.
What’s New in Public Policy
This year’s National Advocacy Day will be Tuesday, June 13. I hope you will consider joining us for what promises to be the best experience yet as we continue to strengthen and expand our role in the advocacy arena of Washington D.C. We have saved your seat at the table where decisions are made so please plan to show up to represent yourself, your employees and your fellow women business owners.
Please see the links below for more details and to register.
Additionally, we are proud to host our first annual NAWBO Academy for Public Service on June 14 in Washington, D.C. This day will bring together the information and questions you need to select and follow the best path into public service for you. In this curriculum designed just for NAWBO members, we will discuss: Running for office; Working on a political campaign or for a political party; Serving on a government task force or board; and
- Representative Pat Tiberi (R-OH)
- Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH)
- Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
- Representative Barbara Comstock (R-VA)
Silicon Valley Business Journal Mentoring Monday
NAWBO-SILICON VALLEY was well represented at the Silicon Valley Business Journal Mentoring Monday event held on April 3 at Villa Regusa in Campbell.
Not only did we have a display table where our executive administrator, Marit Fox, was able to talk about NAWBO to several visitors but Monika Miles and Maxine Goulding were mentors.
President’s Message – April 2017
Along those lines, Maxine Goulding and I participated as mentors on NAWBO’s behalf in Biz Women Mentoring Monday on April 3. This event was held in 43 cities across the country on that day, so we were part of a national event aimed at mentoring – in a very unique setting. 30 mentors sat at individual tables, and had discussions with up to 9 different mentees (in short 7 minute sessions). The format is like speed-dating, but for mentoring! The experience was rewarding for me – as I believe that I was able to give some meaningful advice (or at the very least – food for thought), to several of my mentees. And I hope that the mentees who came to my table walked away with something of value. In theory, a 7 minute mentoring session isn’t really enough to develop a mentor relationship. But we did invite many of these women to come to a NAWBO meeting and check us out!
Because I believe that nothing happens by accident – this season is also our membership drive time! If you’ve been a recent guest of NAWBO and liked what you’ve seen, or you’re a former member who is ready to come back and re-engage, we invite you to do so. Come check out our upcoming April and May meetings. April is our corporate partner recognition luncheon and is a great opportunity to meet with our sponsors in an intimate setting. May is an evening event at Maggiano’s featuring speaker Kathleen Ronald. (Kathleen was a former NAWBO-SV member before she moved to Southern CA several years ago. We are excited to welcome her back.)
Finally, I’d like each of our members to think about how YOU can help to make a difference in the life or career of a fellow business woman. One way is to serve on our local NAWBO-Silicon Valley board. We are currently accepting nominations and looking for “a few good women”! If you’re interested, please reach out to me, Maxine Goulding or Pam Hedblad. And we might be reaching out to you. So, if you’re tapped on the shoulder, please consider the invitation to join us. It takes a village! We are each fabulous women business owners, but we continue to be Better Together!
President’s Message – March 2017
Dear NAWBO Members and Friends,
If you attended our Crystal Chair Awards Gala in February, I hope you enjoyed the elegance and camaraderie of this gala event to celebrate women business owners in Silicon Valley. The evening was the culmination of much planning, teamwork and dedication to excellence. Sounds a little bit like what we women business owners do every day in our businesses! It was about celebrating the history of NAWBO-Silicon Valley, celebrating this year’s award recipients and recognizing the talents of women who have been courageous enough to bring their chairs to the table over the years to empower other women business owners.
An event like this is possible only with the help and dedication of many people. I’d like to thank our sponsors who donated money, time and often their own sweat equity to making the event a huge success. Thank you to our key financial sponsors – Hood & Strong & Farmers Insurance, California Special Occasions (Maxine Goulding and her event team set a beautiful table), The Oya Group (Karen Hebert created all logos and brand feel for the gala), Brand Via (Sam Brown for the beautiful pens and related swag), Loring Ward/Werba Rubin (Aaron Rubin for the beautiful venue downtown), Copa Design (Jason Saldana and his team for our printed program and signage), Abbott Stringham & Lynch (wine sponsor), and Miles Consulting Group (flower sponsor). We also had a couple people who helped us capture the feeling of the event. Thanks to Erika Svensson of With a K Produktions for her videography and Roberto Gonzales of Nueva Foto for the photography. We will be sharing the photos and video from the event in the next month or so. We’ll let you know when it’s ready.
The event also would not have been the same without our inspirational keynote speaker Madison Nguyen, former Vice Mayor of San Jose, and our emcee the fabulous Janice Edwards. Thank you to our NAWBO National CEO, Jen Earle for making the trip to join us in celebration and share information about our national organization.
Big congratulations to our award winners: Carla Cobb Davis of BizBox Technology won The Crystal Chair Award for lifetime achievement.
Sandy Jamison, Tuscana Properties won The Woman of Distinction Award.
Vandana Agrawal, BringMax won the Woman Business Advocate Award.
Finally, thank you to our many raffle prize donors for adding some fun to the evening as people vied for prizes including beauty packages, wine baskets, a tea basket, Sharks tickets, and even a 7 day getaway vacation! And to our table sponsors who proudly displayed their companies in the event space. And to our many NAWBO members who assisted during the event to make it appear seamless!
When the NAWBO-Silicon Valley Board brainstormed this event, we wanted to create an event with meaning and purpose that would become an annual celebration of women business owners in our community. The name “Crystal Chair” is in honor of NAWBO’s founding President, Susan Hagar who said “Get a seat at the table or build your own table, and make sure to include other women.” In looking out over the crowd of women business owners, Past Presidents of our chapter, sponsors, guests and family members, I felt a huge swell of pride in this organization, our community and the things that we accomplish together as an organization of women business owners. If you enjoyed the event, please reach out and help me to thank our board members Maxine Goulding, Jennifer Dizon, Pam Hedblad, Karen Hebert, Flordelisa Harris, Griselda Quezada-Chavez, and Vandana Agrawal, and our administrator Marit Fox. And tell your friends about NAWBO and the energy of the women in the room.
Fondly,