Welcome to the September 2006 issue of the monthly newsletter for the National Association of Women Business Owners® (NAWBO®) San Francisco Bay Area Chapter.

September 2006 News Summary

Member News

— Welcome New Members!

— Member Spotlight of the Month: Terry Kiskaddon, Harper Greer

Ideas, Inspiration and Opportunities

— NAWBO®-CA Introduces Online Search Mechanism: StatePulse

— OPEN from American Express ^SM and Entrepreneur Magazine, Call for Nominations, Woman of the Year

— RFP for Speakers: 2007 NAWBO® Women's Business Conference in Atlanta

NAWBO®-SF Events

— September Dinner Event: The Top Ten Things Every Business Owner Should Know to Protect Her Business, with Melinda Garcia, Esq.: September 14

— Walnut Creek Resources and Referrals Meeting: September 21

— Marin Relationships and Referrals Meeting: September 26

Other NAWBO® Events

— NAWBO®-SV Dinner Event - Leadership Untamed: September 19

— NAWBO®-SV Celebrating Women at the Top: October 17

— NAWBO®-Sacramento - OWL (Outstanding Women Leader) Luncheon: October 19

— NAWBO® Public Policy Days: February 25, 2007 - February 27, 2007

— NAWBO® Womens Business Conference: May 31, 2007-June 2, 2007

Other Special Events and Dates to Remember

— WIPP Leadership and Legacy 5th Annual Summit, September 11-13

— WITI Women's Leadership Program - September 12

— Girl's Night Out to See Menopause the Musical and Help a Great Cause: September 13

— Entrepreneur's Toolkit Seminar with Myra Hart: September 14

— Boardroom Bound Candidate Pipeline Seminar: September 14-15

— Women of a Certain Age Conference: September 15

— WLE and Jones NY at Macy's Union Square: October 26

Welcome to Our New NAWBO®-SF Members!

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the following new members. Thank you to all of you - we look forward to seeing you at upcoming events, and to the opportunity to grow, thrive, and lead together!

May Pon, NAWBO®-SF President

Annette Brown, Greater Bay Bank
Barbara Mark, Ph.D., Full Circle Institute
Linda Quinn, Linda Quinn Solutions
Elinor Stutz, Smooth Sale

Member Spotlight: Terry Kiskaddon, Harper Greer

How It All Started ...
Terry Kiskaddon knew she wanted to become a fashion designer by the time she was 10. As the only girl with four male siblings, clothing excited her. "I would whip up a new outfit at night and wear it to school the next day - then I didn't have to wear hand-me-downs from my brothers!" Terry says with a laugh. A decade later, after studying fashion design in Atlanta, moving to California, and obtaining a $30,000 SBA loan, she established her own clothing company: Harper Greer.

One Size Does Not Fit All ...
Terry Kiskaddon started out making clothes for women sizes 6-12. That changed when she met her future partner, John, and his mother, Lillian, who convinced them to design clothing for women like Lillian - larger than a size 12. The Harper Greer line was sold wholesale to specialty and hi-end department stores throughout the nation for five years. Terry opened her first retail store in the SoMa district of San Francisco in 1989, and opened a second retail store in Berkeley in 2003.

Style and Beauty for the Full-Figured ...
Terry believes that any style can be made for plus size women as long as they are properly fit. How does a new design become reality? The first samples are cut in a size 16, tried on Harper Greer's fit models, and viewed with a critical eye before putting them into production.

Terry's Business Philosophy …
To make clothes with the best fabrics, style and fit possible and have fun doing it!

Visit Harper Greer online.

NAWBO®-CA Introduces StatePulse

NAWBO® is now providing all state and local chapters with StatePulse, a tool for state government news and resources. The StatePulse News window brings a daily update of state government news to any website. StatePulse news content includes stories from all of the major newspapers in the state and press releases from government officials and political sources including:

--Office of the Governor
--Office of the Attorney General
--Office of the Lieutenant Governor
--Major State Agencies/Departments
--State Legislators and Legislative Leadership
--Candidates for Statewide Office
--Political Parties

Whether you are looking to identify and contact a legislator or to locate a particular state agency, StatePulse provides comprehensive, categorized access.

StatePulse connects users to the:

--Executive Branch websites (including all websites of the members of the Governor's cabinet)
--Legislative branch and each member's website
--Judicial branch
--Bill tracking tools State regulatory agency or commission
--Newspapers around the state

Visit NAWBO® California to see StatePulse in action!

Call for Nominations! Woman of the Year

OPEN from American Express ^SM and Entrepreneur Magazine will honor one outstanding woman entrepreneur as Woman of the Year. If you are the woman business owner who best exemplifies the qualities needed to be truly successful in business today - competitiveness, compassion and clarity of vision - you could be our winner.

To qualify, a woman business owner must:
--be a founder of the business
--own at least 51% of her business
--be actively involved in day-to-day operations
--have been in business for at least one full year
--have 2005 sales of at least $1 million, and
--have less than 100 employees.

Click here to learn more and review the contest rules.

The deadline for entry is October 15, 2006.
Enter now!

RFP for Speakers: NAWBO® National Conference, Deadline September 15!

The National Association of Women Business Owners is holding its 2007 Women's Business Conference from May 31 to June 2 at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta. Topic areas of focus for the event include: marketing and branding; growing your business; health care affordability/options; hiring and retaining quality employees; business exit strategies; succession planning; and emerging technology that may change the way business is done. NAWBO® is seeking speakers who have written books and/or have widespread recognition. Submissions must be postmarked by Sept. 15, 2006. To review the request for presentations click here.

The Top Ten Things Every Business Owner Should Know

The Top Ten Things Every Business Owner Should Know to Protect Her Business with Melinda Garcia, Esq.
Managing Shareholder of Garcia Law Group
Thursday, September 14
6:00pm to 9:00pm
World Trade Club, San Francisco

*NAWBO®-SF September Dinner Event*

*This presentation does not represent legal advice or the creation of an attorney/client relationship. Always seek specific legal advice.

Melinda Garcia, Esq. is the managing shareholder of Garcia Law Group, A Professional Law Corporation with offices in Pleasanton and Glendale. Melinda is an attorney focusing her practice in the areas of business and real estate. She advises business owners in areas of employment, intellectual property and business organization and will be focusing on what YOU need to know as a business owner to keep you and your business safe legally, financially and in real estate.Melinda's presentation will be of great benefit to both new and established businesses. You may be surprised at what you will learn or rediscover that will help you to protect your most valuable asset - your business! Melinda will address the following issues and many more:

• Choosing the right business structure for the present and into the future
• Using your lawyer and accountant to manage formation and taxation, and to avoid common legal pitfalls
• Developing trustworthy business relationships with third parties in managing your finances
• What you should know about having employees in California
• Protecting your intellectual property
• Understanding the business use of real property

Learn more and register for this event here.

Walnut Creek Resources and Referrals Meeting, September 21

Walnut Creek
Resources and Referrals Meeting
Thursday, September 21
7:30am to 9:00am
Il Fornaio in Walnut Creek

Ruth Stroup is the spotlight business owner at the Walnut Creek Breakfast meeting on Thursday, September 21. She will talk about selling yourself even when your product is not fun or sexy. Ruth notes, "No matter what your business, when you own a business, you are in sales. And when you're in sales, the first thing you sell is yourself." Ruth Stroup owns an insurance agency affiliated with Farmers Insurance. Ruth will share tips gained from over a decade of financial services sales.

The Table Topic for this meeting will be "Are you taking enough risk in your business?" We will share perspectives about what risk is, how we gauge what is "enough" for us, and how we can challenge one another to take prudent risks and stretch ourselves as we grow our businesses. Members and guests are invited to come prepared to share ideas, insights and observations in a safe, supportive environment.

The Walnut Creek Resource & Referrals group meetings incorporate spotlight opportunities for NAWBO-SF members to present information to members and guests. Frequently presentations include opportunities to participate in exercises that demonstrate unique attributes of a business service or product. Members also share in round table discussions on provocative business-related topics that give everyone an opportunity to share and learn.

Register online here.

Marin Relationships and Referrals Meeting, September 26

The next Marin Relationships and Referrals Breakfast meeting will be held on Tuesday September 26, 2006 from 7:30am to 9:15am at Il Fornaio Restaurant in Corte Madera.

This month's speaker will be Dr. M.J. Koontz. Dr. Koontz will be speaking on "The Importance of Diversity in Families and in Business. "

Click here for more details and to register online.

NAWBO®-Silicon Valley Event: "Leadership Untamed"

NAWBO®-Silicon Valley September Event
"Leadership Untamed"
Tuesday, September 19
Pre-Meeting Seminar: "How to do Business with Lockheed Martin" 5:00pm to 5:30pm
Registration/Networking: 6:00pm to 6:45pm
Presentation and Dinner: 6:45pm to 8:30pm

A Passion for Excellence

Nancy K. Austin co-authored the #1 best selling book among businesspeople, "A Passion for Excellence: The Leadership Difference" with Tom Peters. Join NAWBO®-Silicon Valley for this exciting September dinner event!

Register for this event here.

NAWBO®-Silicon Valley: Celebrating Women at the Top

NAWBO®-Silicon Valley
Celebrating Women at the Top
Awards Dinner and Business Expo
Tuesday, October 17, 5pm to 9pm
Crown Plaza Cabaña, Palo Alto

Keynote Speaker: Niki Leondakis, Chief Operating Officer, Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants

At their annual awards dinner, NAWBO®-Silicon Valley recognizes exceptional women in several areas, including The Pinnacle Award (formerly Enterprising Woman of the Year), The Rubicon Award (formerly Business of the Year), and Member of the Year.

Promote Your Business to This Market
Celebrating Women at the Top is a lively, inspiring event. Held in conjunction with the awards event, NAWBO-SV's Fifth Annual Business Expo offers a rare opportunity to reach hundreds of women business owners, women executives, and key people from associated companies in Silicon Valley.

Learn more and register online here.

WIPP Leadership and Legacy: 5th Anniversary Summit

WIPP Leadership and Legacy:
5th Anniversary Summit
A Vision and Voice for the Future
2006 Fall Leadership Conference

September 11-13, 2006
Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill
Washington, DC

With 1/3 of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives up for re-election, the exploding political impact of women business owners, and WIPP's voice on Capitol Hill, 2006 is a critical year for WIPP's top members to come together to attend WIPP's Fall Conference. If you attended our Leadership and Legacy Summit last fall, or our spring conference, you know the quality you can expect for this event and the people you will meet.

Open to Business Leaders, the 2006 Leadership and Legacy 5th Anniversary Summitpromises to educate, engage and empower you.

Find out more about this event and register here.

WITI: Women's Leadership Program, September 12

Women in Technology International Women's Leadership Program Los Angeles Convention Center Tuesday, September 12

WITI is proud to partner with SHAMBAUGH Leadership for a one-day event taking place at CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2006 in Los Angeles.

This program will give you the information and tools to overcome potential inhibitors that most women face in their work environments, as well as share opportunities that will help you climb your personal ladder to success.

Session Topics Include:
--Identifying your "Six Degrees of Separation"
--Designing your Strategic Network
--Building on your Social Intelligence to connecting to others and get them to cooperate with you
--Leveraging your Existing Relationships to expand your Support System
--Asking for What you Want and Need
--Leveraging the "Law of Reciprocity"
--Listening to your "Board of Directors"

Learn more and register online.

Plan A Girl's Night Out to See "Menopause: The Musical"

Plan A Girl's Night Out to See "Menopause: The Musical" and Help a Great Cause

NAWBO®-SF member Caterina Rando is pleased to let you know about this very special event …

Wednesday, September 13th
7:00pm to 7:45pm: Fashion Show,
featuring Weekender Clothing
and Cookie Lee Jewelry
8:00pm: "Menopause: The Musical"
Theatre 39 @ Pier 39
San Francisco

Join us for a Fall Fashion Show, Fabulous Accessories, Musical Comedy and Wine! What More Could You Ask For? Here's a chance to have some fun, see old friends, meet new ones, and add to your fall wardrobe, all while helping teachers in hurricane torn states. All the profits from this event will go to benefit Fashion for Compassion, a non-profit organization that is helping teachers who lost everything in Hurricane Katrina.

Tickets for this special fashion show, musical and a glass of complimentary wine are $41.50, a savings of $5 off the regular ticket price. Call the theatre box office at 415 433-3939 to order your tickets today or visit www.gggrouptickets.com and click on Girl's Night Out. Mention booking group code GGG. Gather 15 or more friends together for an additional savings. For group tickets call 415-668-0525.

Entrepreneur's Toolkit Course

Entrepreneur's Toolkit
with Professor Myra Hart of Harvard Business School
Thursday, September 14, 9am to 5pm
San Francisco Hilton
33 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Price: $595 with the use of the code "EK" at registration (course list price $995)

The ENTREPRENEUR'S TOOLKIT is a one-day course intended to provide entrepreneurs with actionable strategies for setting up a new enterprise. This course covers every critical step necessary to "operationalize" an entrepreneurial concept.

This course covers the gamut of steps necessary to bring a business plan to life. These elements include the following:

--Opportunity, discovery, and testing
--Developing partnerships
--Financing
--Legal issues
--Developing an organization
--Marketing a new enterprise
--Mining human capital

This course is relevant to entrepreneurs who are looking to start new organizations or have recently started organizations, as well as the private capital community that looks to fund new concepts. Participants will emerge from this course with a clear understanding of what it takes to successfully develop and implement a new concept.

To register call 800-528-0460 or click here.

Boardroom Bound® Candidate Pipeline Seminar

The following is information about yet another great organization called Boardroom Bound on which I serve as their Los Angeles Team board member. As with WLE and WIPP, Boardroom Bound was founded by a NAWBO member - Linda Bollinger - who is filling a need and trying to make a difference.

The following information is about an exciting and unique training program that will help women get onto local, state, and national, small, medium and large corporate boards, as desired. After completing their intensive two-day training program, qualified participants are matched with companies seeking board members.

Thank you,
Syndi Seid
Advanced Etiquette

Do you want to improve your capability of gaining a corporate board assignment?

Into the Pipeline…Preparing Women &
Minorities for Corporate Board Service
September 14-15, 2006
Beverly Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles
includes attendance at Awards Luncheon and Honoree Reception

Boardroom Bound® is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public service. Boardroom Bound® prepares and champions independent, diverse Director Candidates for corporate board service through its Boardology® Institute. The Boardroom Bound Boardology® Institute presents a development program in an intensive two day seminar framework. It is designed to jump-start a prospective candidate's preparation for corporate board service and to equip candidates with tools and insights to conduct a successful appointment campaign.

Learn more and register here. Questions? Contact Syndi Seid, former NAWBO®-SF
Chapter president at 415-928-1912 or
[email protected]

Women of a Certain Age Conference, September 15

Call Productions proudly announces the 2nd Annual Women of a Certain Age (WOACA) Conference Series.

The dual-conference series in 2006 addresses health concerns, financial issues, career transitions, business and business start-ups, beauty, wellness, menopause, divorce, midlife and more. Conferences will be held in San Francisco and Sacramento.

Register here!

The inspiration for this Conference series is the question, "What do I want to do with the second half of my life?" Do you wish you had an answer but come up short? Conference activities, that are designed to explore this question, include speakers, vendors, information booths, breakout sessions, and more.

Key benefits of attending a Women of a Certain Age Conference:

--Make great connections - expand your network or create your own.
--Problem solve with a core group of your peers in discussion groups.
--Learn the latest about women's health, hormones, and healthy aging.
--Empower yourself through the support of other women - boost your momentum.
--Spend a day in a supportive environment - a safe place to share ideas and challenges.
--Meet women who will help and support you and your goals.
--Learn from and share with experts in management, finance, health, career change, starting your own business.
--Get a free 45-minute coaching session to be scheduled for a later date.

Find out more and register here.

Key Dates: Mark Your Calendar!

-- September 11-13: WIPP Leadership and Legacy 5th Annual Summit
-- September 12: Women in Technology International Women's Leadership Conference
-- September 13: Girl's Night Out to See Menopause the Musical and Help a Great Cause
-- September 14: Entrepreneur's Toolkit Seminar with Myra Hart, Professor, Harvard Business School
-- September 14: The Top Ten Things Every Business Owner Should Know to Protect Her Business, with Melinda Garcia, Esq. - September Dinner Meeting
-- September 14-15: Boardroom Bound Candidate Pipeline Seminar
-- September 15: Women of a Certain Age Conference
-- September 19: NAWBO®-SV Dinner Event - Leadership Untamed
-- September 21: Walnut Creek Resources and Referrals Meeting
-- September 26: Marin Relationships and Referrals Meeting
-- October 15: OPEN from American Express SM and Entrepreneur Magazine Woman of the Year Call for Nominations Deadline
-- October 17: NAWBO®-SV Celebrating Women at the Top Awards Dinner and Business Expo
-- October 19: NAWBO®-Sacramento - OWL (Outstanding Women Leader) Luncheon
-- October 26: WLE and Jones NY at Macy's
-- February 27, 2007: NAWBO® Public Policy Days: February 25, 2007
-- May 31, 2007-June 2, 2007: NAWBO® Womens Business Conference

Thank you to our Corporate Partners:

The NAWBO®-SF Monthly Newsletter is designed and edited by NAWBO®-SF member
Jennifer Donahue Marketing Communications for Businesses Large and Small

If you would like to submit stories, news, events, or happenings for the next issue of NAWBO®-SF's e-news, please send to the newsletter editor,
Patricia Olson, at [email protected]. Copy submission deadline is the 22nd of the current month for the next month's newsletter (e-mailed out the first week of the month).

We invite anyone who is not already a member to join NAWBO®-SF. Take advantage of a growing package of member benefits and activities. To find out more, visit our website: www.middleastwomen.org/membership.html.

To subscribe to (or unsubscribe from) this newsletter, contact Rhoda Singer at 415.333.2130, or email: [email protected].

© 2006 The National Association of Women Business Owners® - San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NAWBO®-SF). All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of NAWBO®-SF is prohibited.