October celebrates Women’s Small Business Month
October pays tribute to women who own their own small businesses, so we would like to introduce you to six notable ladies whose businesses give back to their communites in their own special way. Beth Barfield owns BEST Consulting, her own environmental consulting small business in Apex, which helps clients nationwide meet air pollution standards and in turn helps make the environment safer for us all. Judy Baker Bullard and her sister Jayne Baker Sturdivant work together to create embroidery pieces that are priceless works of art to their customers in Sanford. Sharon Albrecht helps bring families back to the dinner table with her fresh, homemade meals made at Dinner Savvy in Apex. Rachel Yates has brought hope and healing to her breast cancer patient clients with her shop, Hope Cottage in Aberdeen, which offers products to help them look and feel better during their treatment and recovery. And last but certainly not least, Pinehurst author Vivian Jacobson started her own business to self-publish her book, “Sharing Chagall: A Memoir,” so that she would be able to share Marc Chagall’s life and art with the world.
Green consulting makes unexpected career
By Carrie Frye, Staff Writer
Beth Barfield has successfully run her environmental consulting small business from her home helping industrial clients and the environment.
Hiking the entire Appalachian Trail is one of Beth Barfield’s goals. Being able to hike and take in a deep breath of fresh, clean air is what her small business helps secure. The Clean Air Act was enacted into federal law by Congress in 1963. Major amendments to the Act in 1970, 1977 and 1990, created the Environmental Protection Agency and authorized the development of National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
The law changed the way companies did business and created a niche business for Barfield, 58, of Apex. Barfield Environmental Strategies & Technology (BEST) Consulting has been going strong for 26 years, all from her home office nestled under tall pines in Wake County. Although starting a business for herself was never her plan, she happily assists industrial clients to assure compliance with federal and state air pollution regulations.
“What I really enjoy is integrating physical laws and regulatory requirements to come up with a mathematical solution that complies with both while actually benefiting the environment,” says Barfield.
With a degree in mathematics and physics, she landed her first job with industry leader, Environment Research and Technology, Inc. in 1974. Working in their Boston, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. offices on air quality projects and helping businesses obtain permits, she still managed to earn her master’s degree in environmental sciences from Harvard. When the Washington, D.C office was closing in 1984, she made the brave decision to do freelance consulting for industrial clients.
“I was totally career oriented. I thought I would stay and find a job, but I found a few other projects and consulted independently,” she says.
One of her first projects turned out to be quite memorable and profitable. Referred by a co-worker, Barfield was asked to help Mazda design their first U.S. plant in Flat Rock, Mich. to comply with state and federal rules. She traveled to Japan for two weeks to see their current operations.
“I had to see each process, talk with them about emissions and teach them about volatile organic compounds (VOCs),” says Barfield.
With a firm handle on being self-employed, she and her husband David decided to raise their family in North Carolina.
“All I needed was an airport, and the EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards was in Research Triangle Park,” she says with a grin.
Of course, motherhood and working from home brings its own set of challenges.
“I remember having the phone in one hand talking to a client and having Christopher in the other,” recalls Barfield, whose son is now 22, and daughter Lydia is 18.
BEST Consulting has helped more than 100 clients thus far, and as regulations change, Barfield often has repeat clients for her consulting work.
“A company I helped to get a permit 20 years ago has asked for assistance with compliance issues numerous times over the years and is now considering modifying their newest combustion turbine,” she says.
A Sanford-based industrial client for whom Barfield has done work for more than 10 years recently retained her services for emissions calculations on a new paint they intend to use.
“It’s has been good. To be able to assist my clients, I have to learn how their facility operates before I can determine what regulations apply and see if they are complying. So over the course of my career I have been able to learn how fabric, paper, automobiles, aluminum cans, plastic, electricity, asphalt, and even beer are made,” says Barfield.
However, her latest challenge has been the economy. Barfield has seen a 50 percent drop in business over the past two years, which is changing her method of how she finds clients. She has joined a few networking groups and always keeps up with the changing regulations.
“I wouldn’t be valuable if I didn’t know the regulations. To be able to use math to model physical things that help clients demonstrate compliance with the regulations is rewarding to me, but to throw in that you are protecting the environment; that’s the icing on the cake,” she says with a smile.
Dinner done savvy-style
By Carrie Frye, Staff Writer
It’s that age-old question that comes up every evening that most hate to hear. “What’s for dinner?” is one statement on the minds of hungry family members that can make the one doing the cooking cringe.
Sharon Albrecht’s small business, Dinner Savvy in Apex, can put smiles on cooks’ faces and fill the appetites of even the most finicky eaters.
For two years in a row, its loyal patrons have named Dinner Savvy as the best place to assemble meals in western Wake County. Customers schedule a time to come to the commercial kitchen off N.C. 55 in Apex and in about two hours can assemble a month’s worth of meals from a list of menu options.
Sharon Albrecht, right, works side by side with her mother, Tina Arnold, preparing healthy, ready-to-serve meals for her customers. Visit www.dinnersavvy.com to see this month’s menu options.
The meals are freezable for storing or ready to take home and put in the oven or microwave. Shiny, stainless steel workstations glimmer with the recipe directions and containers of each required ingredient set out ready to go to make the process as simple as possible. Or if one prefers not to make the meals themselves, there is always the option of placing an order for pick-up or delivery.
“I really saw the impact it could have on meal times,” says Albrecht, 46, of New Hill. “I come from a family of good cooks, and there just isn’t enough time for cooking anymore, so we try to help people have healthy meals.”
Using fresh ingredients may be Albrecht’s secret recipe.
“We try to buy locally whenever we can. We use a local, family-operated poultry supplier, a third generation farm, Apple Brandy Beef, buy vegetables and fruits from the farmers market or Ford’s Produce and use Cakes Plus for desserts,” Albrecht says.
The menu changes monthly based on the season and of course, customer requests. Calzones and chicken tetrazzini top the list of favorites currently. Chicken lasagna Florentine with butter pecan topping is an upcoming holiday favorite as well.
Special diets are not a problem for Dinner Savvy either. Albrecht is happy to work to with clients to provide meals that are gluten-free, low sodium, or made based on food allergies, a diabetic diet or whatever is needed.
Albrecht chose to stop being a stay-at-home mom four years ago and open Dinner Savvy with the support of her family.
“I had never operated a food business or even been in a restaurant kitchen, so learning all of the regulations was challenging,” she says.
The transition into small business ownership also includes employing her mother, Tina Arnold, 69. The two work together as a team prepping ingredients, assembling meals or cleaning up.
“She’s 46 years old, and I still pick up after her,” jokes Arnold. “But not many mothers and daughters get to spend this much quality time together.”
And Arnold must be doing a fine job of cleaning up since Dinner Savvy has received five consecutive sanitation grades of 100 without any bonus points and raving reviews from customers of all ages.
Faye Suggs, 71, of Cary is one such patron, who purchases meals not only for herself but for others, too.
“I like to take meals to people from church who are sick. Sharon offers the whole thing, entrees, sides and desserts,” says Suggs. “The meals are always very appealing to the eye and the palette. I feel like I can buy her gourmet-style meals and still be thrifty, because I would spend a lot more at the grocery store. It’s convenient for me, and it is hard to cook for one person.”
And due to increasing requests, Albrecht also plans to begin offering “Savvy Singles,” smaller portion entrees, perfect for her senior or single customers. She also aims to keep her pricing affordable and has a divided out the cost per serving to be as low as $3.33.
Albrecht is happy to hear the compliments of her customers, but her true reward is still found in her family. She keeps her hours around school pick-up and drop-offs for her son and daughter and enjoys working with her mom, but having the commercial kitchen can make it hard to want to cook at home.
“Here, it is so much easier. I hate prepping food at home now, and I would love to have that dishwasher at home. It washes and sanitizes a load in 90 seconds,” she says laughing.
Shop replaces fear with hope
By Jessica Bricker, Staff Writer“Of all the forces that make for a better world, none is so powerful as hope. With hope, one can think, one can work, one can dream. If you have hope you have everything.” ~ Unknown
A customer came into Hope Cottage, looked around and asked, “Is this little show area all you’ve got?,” referring to the display section of the full-service specialty shop that is focused on helping women on their journey through cancer treatment and recovery and sells breast forms, bras, wigs, skin care products, hats, scarves and more.
“No, but Rachel is busy right now fitting a wig. She will be with you in a second,” Bob Yates responded referring to his wife and as he led the lady back to the prosthesis and bra fitting room.
“Can I just wait here?” the customer asked.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Rachel Yates opened her shop, Hope Cottage, in Aberdeen in 2008 after she was inspired by her own plight with the disease. For more information, call (910) 944-2255 or visit online at www.thehopecottage.com.
“Sure,” Bob replied.
The woman came in because she wanted to see if the shop would have bras that she would like. Rachel was back with the customer for about an hour and Bob could hear the woman sobbing.
“When someone cries, the rest of the world stops and Rachel takes care of them,” he says. “In this journey that so many women are on, nobody is really taking care of them. Doctors treat the breast cancer, but not the person. Rachel does both and that is my favorite part of working here with her.”
This type of interaction is not unfamiliar to Rachel Yates, 71, of Pinehurst, who opened Hope Cottage at 430 Magnolia Square Court in Aberdeen in 2008 with the help of her three children and her husband Bob. Her own personal experience with cancer was her inspiration for doing so.
“When I went through my fight with cancer there wasn’t anything here and I had to go far to find what I needed,” Rachel remembers. “I kept saying that there is such a need here in our county for this kind of thing.”
“When you are first diagnosed with cancer of any kind you have this tremendous overwhelming fear,” recalls Rachel. “All of the sudden your whole world is turned upside down and you are moved to a different element. Now you are a cancer patient first and foremost. For me personally, when I see women come in here and look at hats and wigs and get their forms, I feel that they have found a place for that awful fear. It’s not gone, but it has its place. The women are now looking forward, not just sitting static in the horrible moment that they find out they have cancer. This is so inspiring to me, because I know how that is.”
“At times, women come in angry that they have to be here,” adds Bob. “Rachel is sometimes the object of the anger, and women sometimes get hostile with her, but when they leave they are hugging. She turns them around completely.”
Before opening the shop, Rachel worked as a nurse for 35 years. Her caring nature and her own battle with breast cancer is what those who know her believe has enabled Rachel to help and comfort so many women.
Carolyn Gordon, 68, of Pinehurst, a breast cancer survivor who had a mastectomy in 1985, is now a customer of Hope Cottage and whole-heartedly agrees.
“Rachel empathizes and understands what women are going through,” says Carolyn. “I immediately felt I was in the right hands.”
In fact, the shop has done so many prosthesis and bra fittings that Rachel was recently recognized as National Fitter of the Month for September from Amoena, the largest producer of breast forms and bras.
“It’s a very prestigious honor, and I’m very proud of it,” says Rachel.
Family ties run deep in embroidery biz
By Carrie Frye, Staff Writer
Needles move in rhythm with flares of colored thread to create a perfect stitch in time. Creativity honed into a digitized design, large spools of thread, rulers and marks notating the precise location for the design is what the Baker sisters do best and have been doing for 21 years at their shop, Main St. Monograms in Sanford.
Judy Baker Bullard, left, and her sister Jayne Baker Sturdivant have been going strong in their business, Main St. Monograms, in Sanford since 1989. The duo uses Facebook and their website, www.mainstmonograms.com for marketing, but referrals are their best source of advertising.
Judy Baker Bullard, 48, and Jayne Baker Sturdivant, 54, keep their business all in the family with their one employee, their mother Ann Fields-Maddox. And just as the embroidery machines in the back work to create flawless designs, the trio works as a team to make sure their customers are completely satisfied with their custom merchandise.
“We take each piece and treat it with care, because it’s got to come out right, “ says Jayne, laying out t-shirts and measuring to the middle. “It’s art to me, and Judy is so good at designing.”
“If there’s stuff I don’t like doing, it is stuff that Jayne likes, so we make a good team,” adds Judy.
“I enjoy working with them,” says Ann. “I get to work with them in the back, do the receivables and payables and help guide them in financial decisions. They are so good to me.”
The sisters first attended a trade show in Atlanta in 1989 and decided that they were ready to open their own embroidery business. With a small business loan, they had just enough capital to buy their first embroidery machine and get the business up and running.
“We started out fresh. The first machine I had was a 12-head machine and old school with no screen,” recalls Judy. “We had a lot of people tell us not to do it and that nine out of 10 businesses fail, but we took a class at Central Carolina Community College on opening a small business and rented our first space downtown.”
And it only took a year for them to outgrow that location and to move to their current storefront at 900 Hawkins Avenue.
The sisters say their business usually is only about 20 to 25 percent retail with the rest being made up of corporate business purchases.
With the quality of the designs and embroidery, customers have remained loyal to Main St. Monograms enabling them to make a living and raise their families.
“The best part of this job and being self-employed is that if the kids are sick, you go home and take care of them, or if they have a game, you go and enjoy watching them play,” says Judy, whose daughter is now 22 and son is 17.
“We have purposely stayed small because we have our children,” says Jayne, whose daughter is 16.
Although the idea is to stay small, the sisters stay busy and attribute their strong work ethic to their mother.
“She was a single mom with four girls. She was very independent and very organized, and all of us knew we were going to college,” says Judy.
The sisters have put their degrees to work for themselves and their customers. Whether it is a custom designed embroidered t-shirt, monogrammed towels or purses, logoed hats or golf towels or a cherished baby blanket, Christmas stocking or pageant sashes, there is a customer behind each order.
“We prefer talking with people one on one. We take real pride in our work, and we go to whatever lengths necessary to make sure it is right,” says Judy.
Author learns self-publishing business
By Melanie Coughlin, Special to OutreachNC
Vivian Jacobson never intended to start a business. Yet that’s exactly what happened when her passion for the artist Marc Chagall spurred her to write a book about the man behind the art.
Vivian Jacobson wrote and published her book in order to share the life and art of Marc Chagall with the world. To learn more about the book, “Sharing Chagall: A Memoir,” visit Jacobson’s website, www.vivianjacobson.com or email her at ravi@pinehurst.net. Do you dream of writing a book? Start gearing up for National Novel Writing Month. Every November, aspiring authors commit to writing a book -50,000 words- in one month. Learn more at www.nanowrimo.org.
Jacobson admired Chagall’s work since the age of nine when she saw his painting “White Crucifixion” in the Art Institute of Chicago. Years later, she met Chagall at a reception she and her husband Ralph hosted at their home for the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem. Jacobson and Chagall developed a friendship, leading Jacobson to work with the artist for the last 11 years of his life.
Those years gave Jacobson insight into a modernist who rarely spoke of his art. She saw in his work what she calls a “message of hope, peace, reconciliation and love.” It was a message she wanted to share with others. Since 1978, Jacobson has been a noted Chagall lecturer. Through her travels, Jacobson discovered that many people knew about Chagall’s art but that few knew about the artist and his message. Inspired to share her experience and knowledge of Chagall, Jacobson wrote the manuscript “Sharing Chagall: A Memoir.”
“I wrote this book for the world because that’s who Chagall painted for,” says Jacobson.
Once the manuscript was completed, Jacobson faced the arduous task facing every author, the process of submitting the proposal to publishers. She researched the publishing business and learned that changes in the industry made it difficult for unknown non-fiction authors to get their work in print. Not to be deterred, Jacobson decided to self-publish. Yet for all her determination, Jacobson didn’t know where to begin in starting a business.
“I had no idea about marketing or writing a business plan,” she says.
Jacobson found help through Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) business counselor Ted Dawes, whom worked more than 40 years in the publishing industry. His expertise helped Jacobson develop a realistic marketing and business plan.
Next for Jacobson was choosing a printer. She had high expectations of a printer because she wanted the quality of the book to match the quality of the artist and his work. She interviewed and ultimately chose Edwards Brothers, a large book printer in Lillington. Sandy Clack was Jacobson’s primary contact at Edwards Brothers through the process. Clack usually works with major publishing houses and says it was exciting to work with an author face-to-face.
“Vivian was very clear from the beginning on what she expected,” says Clack. “I was so impressed with her.”
The book was printed last February, and Jacobson credited many individuals and businesses with helping her self-publish. From the Weymouth Center, which gave her writing space, to the employees at Staples, who helped her organize her information, Jacobson felt people cared about her. Mary Elle Hunter edited the book, and Kim Gilley of Village Printers helped prepare the book for printing.
“People went out of their way to help me,” she says. “They really wanted this project to succeed.”
Along the way, Jacobson taught herself about marketing, distribution, and shipping. Her marketing plan exceeded expectations; Jacobson expects to break even three months ahead of schedule. Eight months after seeing her book in print, Jacobson juggles normal author duties –book signings and lectures– alongside the business side of book publishing.
“I’m grateful for having been forced to self-publish,” Jacobson says. “I told my husband, ‘I’m a full-time business woman.’”
Read freelance writer Melanie Coughlin’s blogs at redheadedsteppchild.blogspot.com.