 By Mimi Roberson, CEO, PIVOT The Center for Creative Leadership recently surveyed more than 500 female leaders about ways to attract and retain top-notch women. As someone who currently leads a nonprofit but has been president and CEO of a hospital system with 2,500 employees and 1,000 medical staffers, the top answer hit home. The women surveyed tended to be motivated by opportunities to make a difference in the world. They saw their careers as a calling, one that they wanted to be meaningful and enjoyable. My experience in both the corporate and nonprofit worlds (in addition to my current role at PIVOT, I’ve served on many nonprofit boards over the years) has been that women’s innate tendencies and acquired skills lend themselves to success in both. But many of us don’t quite appreciate that the nonprofit world a great place to find a career that’s a calling – if only we let ourselves make the leap. Women excel across all industries and job functions. We have great female software engineers, construction workers, pilots, doctors, lawyers, and, yes, hospital executives. But it’s also true that women are drawn to certain professions in large numbers – particularly professions involved with caring for and nurturing others. That nine in 10 nurses and more than three-quarters of U.S. public school teachers are women (and nearly 90 percent of primary school teachers) is no accident. Nonprofits fit those same molds. A nonprofit’s calling is to make a difference in the world. Nonprofits run after-school programs for disadvantaged kids, they feed the hungry, they protect animals, they preserve the natural environment – they engage in all sorts of areas of need in their quests to do what they can to make the world a more just, safer, healthier place. But for diverse reasons, the sorts of women who can do so much for nonprofits are often hesitant to join and lead them. I earned a law degree and wanted to use it. As my career progressed, what drove me was to do meaningful work, do it well, and to include others by being a part of – and, later, creating and leading – teams of people who aspired to do good things. I always kept a toe in philanthropic endeavors. But I wasn’t alone in associating my success as a human being to my success along a career path that fit neatly along societal expectations. That is, if you have an accounting degree, you become a CPA; if you have a law degree, you practice law; if you have an MBA, you go into corporate management; and so on. Such expectations can give rise to the belief that you’re somehow shortchanging yourself if you dedicate business hours to work not directly related to your hard-earned educational and professional qualifications. My time at PIVOT has taught me otherwise. I have learned that the skills successful professional women have honed indeed apply wonderfully to nonprofit work. What kinds of skills do I mean? Pretty much all of them: communication and networking skills, skills in managing people and relationships, strategic planning skills, money-management and budgeting skills, data-management skills, strategic planning skills, and on and on. If a skill is valued in corporate America, it’s valued in nonprofit America. I think what’s holding some of us back from making the leap to an immensely rewarding career in nonprofit leadership is that we feel that doing so would mean sacrificing the career we had envisioned. My sense, though, is that idealized career paths exist mostly in one’s imagination, and my experience has been that doing something deeply meaningful to me and of great benefit to children and young people in need – as is the case with my work at PIVOT – quickly washes away lingering doubts. And you don’t need a law degree, an MBA, or even a paid job to flourish in the nonprofit sector. Women who have dedicated themselves to raising families have quietly developed many of the competencies that nonprofits covet. Managing a home involves bargaining, budgeting, managing, planning, communicating, relationship-building, empathizing – and, lord knows, multitasking. It takes a ton of energy and an ability to deal with stress triggered by everything from “what’s-for-dinner-Mom?” to medical and veterinary emergencies. These are qualities that nonprofits thirst for. Pivot certainly does. We connect existing nonprofits to help them achieve together a greater good than might be possible on their own. Our need to empathize, build relationships, and communicate among organizations with apparently divergent – but upon closer inspection shared – goals makes ours one of many nonprofits particularly suited to a woman’s perspective and capabilities. As the nest empties, a “stay-at-home” mom (they do leave the house) can make a huge difference as a part-time or full-time contributor to the sorts of nonprofits they often volunteer for anyway. For such women, the challenge is to have the self-awareness to recognize all you can bring to a nonprofit and the self-confidence to just go for it. The nonprofit world will welcome you with open arms. Whether you’re a corporate warrior or one who has dedicated your life to your children or your parents or others, I invite you to join me in the nonprofit world. We women have the chops; it’s really just a matter of marshalling the courage to dive into a true calling.  By Mimi Roberson, CEO, PIVOT
PIVOT (a 501c3) was founded by John Elway, Larry Mueller, and George Solich to harness the power of doers and dollars to help Colorado’s NextGen succeed. https://pivotdenver.org/  by Krystal Covington, MBA
While delivering magazines to one our members in Cherry Creek, I found myself lost, knocking on a door, not realizing that Vive+ wasn’t open that day. In my haste to find an entry, I mistakenly opened the door to a restaurant that was under construction with someone busily working inside. Quickly throwing the door closed while attempting to run from the scene of my mistake, I tried to get down the block, and was called back. Tiffany Fixter, the owner of Brewability Lab, was inside preparing for the grand opening of her new venture, Pizzability, and wanted to see how she could help. Tiffany greeted me with warmth, confirmed that she knew who I was and was familiar with the magazine. After offering to take the delivery off my hands, she provided me a tour of her new restaurant, sharing the innovative strategies she’d implemented to create a supportive environment for both patrons and staff. While I’d heard of Brewability and had the location on my list for a possible Women of Denver event, I hadn’t actually visited yet and knew little about its social enterprise mission. Through Tiffany’s tour, I was astounded to find that her businesses are run by adults with disabilities ranging from autism to blindness -- a population often believed to be unhirable. Through her background in special education, Tiffany became familiar with the tactics required to engage and support those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In both of her businesses she’s created systems that allow her team to work effectively using tools specially designed to allow them to provide services independently. I’ll have to be honest in saying that I’m truly in awe of the uniqueness of her endeavor, and as a lifelong volunteer and “giver” I admire a woman who creates pathways to help others achieve. Even more inspiring were the responses Tiffany provided to the questions I asked in our interview. I believe deeply in the power of authenticity when it comes to women supporting each other. If we’re not honest about our journeys, challenges, and needs we can’t learn from each other or help one another. Tiffany is generous with what she shares, providing incredible insight for those desiring to follow in her footsteps. While knowing someone else’s journey can’t save us from mistakes, it can certainly help us navigate with a bit more confidence that we can tackle anything that comes our way. To follow are a few highlights of the Q&A I had with Tiffany and the wisdom she shares. WOD. Social enterprise is a model I love to promote because it blends social impact into the typical profit model of business. What inspired you to start a social enterprise business? TF. As a former teacher and day program director, I knew I wanted to create employment for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Craft beer is a hot industry in Denver and I wanted to combine my passions together: hence, I created Brewability Lab and now Pizzability. I wanted to do a social enterprise because I think it is important for customers to know this is a real business. We are not here for pity. We want to be a part of the community, but in order to thrive, we must have customers. WOD. What are a few examples of things your restaurants do to provide a venue conducive to helping differently abled individuals? TF. Our menu and point of sale are visual, which makes ordering easy for our staff as well as our customers who are non or low-level readers. We built a sensory wall which includes a light-changing bubble wall, marble panel, wiggle seats, noise canceling headphones, fidgets and more. These adaptive items are free to use while dining or working within Pizzability. We also have adaptive dining items available to staff and customers to make dining out more accessible for children and adults who need those accommodations. We have weighted silverware, bendable silverware, adaptive cups, plate guards, EZPZ mats, etc. We also cut up and blend food on request. WOD. Is Brewability your first business? If not, what other businesses have you launched in the past? TF. My first business was an iPhone app called “My Video Schedule.” It was a video based scheduling app which used video models and pictures to motivate and educate individuals with autism on daily living tasks. It is no longer on the market due to financial constraints with constant updates. I am not a developer, and each change was very expensive. Ultimately, larger educational apps copied the concept and I was unable to compete with the market. WOD. How did you acquire the capital and other resources required to get started in business? TF. I’ll be very honest. My credit score is terrible. I have been turned down by so many banks and loan officers, I couldn’t tell you how many “no’s” I’ve actually received. It is hard. It hurts. It is a constant struggle. When I decided to do the brewery, I wanted to trial the idea by doing a Kickstarter to see if the community would support it. We were able to raise $34,000, but unfortunately I did not start my business in the same fiscal year as the fundraiser so it all went back in taxes. Yet, I am very blessed. My parents own three businesses in Estes Park and were able to help me purchase the Brewery, formerly Caution Brewing Company, that I found on the market as a turn-key.  Zoho One is a customizable, integrated operating system for your business—and on November 14th, Zoho's experts are coming to Denver to go over exactly what that means. The folks at Zoho are always looking for ways to educate and empower women entrepreneurs, so we've teamed up with them for a half-day event all about streamlining your business. Their experts will be there to answer all your questions and share tips and tricks and best practices for automating day-to-day tasks so you have more time to focus on what really matters. Join us at the Magnolia Hotel to learn how to optimize your efficiency, giving you time and resources back to take care of yourself and to concentrate on your business' growth. Oh, and did we mention Zoho is bringing breakfast (and coffee)? Don't miss out! Zoho One is a sponsor of Women of Denver
 In this series from Flatiron School, we’ll be talking to women in tech about their career journey, the essential lessons they’ve learned, and how more women can follow the path to join essential roles in computing. This month we're featuring Remmy Clay who currently works for Sawatch Labs. Remmy made a career switch from Sydney, Australia based Litigation Lawyer to US based Software Developer. Catch a glimpse of her exciting journey in her interview. How would you explain your role to a 5th grader? Being a Software Developer is like solving puzzles, all day every day. I have to figure out which piece goes where and how the pieces all fit together. I build puzzles that help people figure out if they should buy cars that are good for the environment. What inspired you to follow this particular career path? Before I enrolled at Flatiron School, I was a litigation lawyer in Sydney, Australia. Two of the things I enjoyed most about my job were that I was always problem solving and learning new things. I originally considered a career in tech because of the exciting, fast-paced nature of the industry. The more I looked into software development, the more it appealed to me. While in many ways development and law couldn't be more different, there is some overlap in terms of problem solving and learning - things I already knew I enjoyed. I started teaching myself to code on night and weekends and, before I knew it, I was hooked. If you could go back 5 years ago and talk to yourself at that time, what would you share with her about her future in this career? That you absolutely made the right choice in making this career switch! Yes, resigning from work to study something completely new is daunting, but it is also incredibly rewarding and invigorating! There will be highs and lows and you will learn so much, so quickly and be a much stronger person for it. What were the most important actions you took that helped you land the job role you have now? Networking! Not only was I embarking on a new career, I was doing so in a new country. I didn't have an existing network to draw on, so I tried to meet as many people in the industry as I could. In the end, both of the job offers I received came about directly or indirectly from networking events. I met the CTO of Sawatch Labs, the company I now work for, at a 'Develop Happy Hour'. Tell us about the most exciting (or inspiring, or creative) thing you've done so far in your career? The most exciting accomplishment so far was seeing version 2.0 of our Electric Vehicle Suitability Assessment (ezEV) go live. I was involved from the start of the process, and got to work on numerous aspects of both the front and back end. Seeing it rolled out to our clients was incredibly rewarding. What was it like attending Flatiron School? I had a fantastic experience at Flatiron School. I graduated from the online full-stack developer program (self-paced). Studying online gave me the flexibility to travel between Australia (home) and the US, allowing me to visit family and friends, and plan the move to Colorado. Between the technical instructors, and the great network past and present students I never had much difficulty getting my questions answered and always felt supported. Flatiron School equipped me with the skills and confidence to continue learning throughout my career. Learn Coding Basics Free at This Upcoming Event Learn to code for free at this day-long workshop with world-class instructors Sat, August 10, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
WeWork The Hub, 3601 Walnut St., Denver, CO 80205  At Women of Denver, we love featuring impact-driven leaders making moves in their career. One of our newest members, Taj Kattapuram, MD Radiologist at Radiology Imaging Associates, PC, certainly fits that mold with a passion for supporting women's health initiatives at the state and national level. Learn more about Taj and her inspiring work in the Q&A below.
What unique impact do you make on the world through your work? My specialty is breast cancer imaging. I'm passionate about women's health and a strong advocate for patients to receive appropriate and timely health services with as much access as possible. I support reducing barriers to obtaining healthcare. Tell us about a recent accomplishment you're proud of? Every year I testify on several pieces of legislation at the state and national capitals. This year I'm particularly proud to have assisted in writing and testifying on a piece of legislation that made it all the way through to become an official bill. What actions do you take to support and empower other women? The bill I helped push through this year was HB19-1301, a bill on breast health care. The reason we pushed this bill so hard is because we know a big barrier to patients receiving appropriate healthcare is cost. This bill "should" guarantee all women with private insurance will not have any co-pays or other cost sharing when it comes to breast cancer imaging evaluation starting in 2020. It's not perfect, but it's a huge step in the right direction. How did your career take off, and what do you attribute your success to most? My passion for advocacy took off while I was in training in Boston. One of my male colleagues said I'd make a good leader and recommended I join organized medicine. How do you keep yourself passionate and driven regardless of how busy you are day to day? My patients inspire me. Finding breast cancer early and helping guarantee women a higher quality of life and years to come means the world to me. What do you see as the future of your industry? It will be very interesting as artificial intelligence tries to make a play in medicine, but at the end of the day I feel nothing beats the humanism in medicine. What is the best piece of advice you've ever received? There is no harm in asking. What's been inspiring you lately? My family. What do you love most about Women of Denver? I am most excited about the opportunity to connect with women who are as passionate and driven as I am, but likely in different career fields. I'm looking forward to learning from different perspectives. What else would you like our readers to know about you? You can find me at any Invision Sally Jobe breast imaging center, Good Samaritan Hospital, and few other outpatient facilities should you ever have a breast concern.  Teresa Adams has forged a career in head hunting and search consultant in the Denver area, connecting her clients with careers in which they can seek and grow their passions. Below, she reflects on how changes in life and the experiences that go along with it have helped her to not only grow as an individual but also as a business woman.
Q: What inspired you to do the work you do today? Was there a particular moment or experience that led you to this career? A: Prior to starting my own practice, my first inspirational moment came from my work in the tech industry where I found myself constantly being recruited or advanced. “What an honor to be the person on the hunt for up-and-coming talent,” I thought. My second inspirational moment was leaving a big city behind for an 85-acre horse ranch after I got married. The move inspired me to look inward, self-assess, evaluate my strengths and passions, and use this self-knowledge to start my own business as a headhunter/search consultant and career coach. Q: Everyone has a special gift, that thing that many would call their superpower. What do you think yours is and how did you discover it? A: Listening intently, and the ability to connect are my superpowers. Each allows me to cut to the chase, which helps me to get to the heart of the matter in my career transition coaching with a passion and spirit of opening possibilities. Recruiting and coaching talented individuals is about solving a problem – it’s getting them into roles and companies that allow them to express and contribute their gifts and thrive. By listening and connecting, I allow the magic to happen, which is finding them the work that will set their hearts and souls on fire. “I connect people to their callings and companies to the right human solutions”. This is my calling! Q: There's a young woman reading this who is on a path to discover where she belongs and how she can make an impact in the world. What advice would you give her to guide her next steps? A: Know what you are gifted and skilled in, and what ignites your passions. Is there a company that has a mission/cause that you believe in so strongly that you want to be a part of? To help my clients determine this, I work with Science of Self workplace assessments which helps individuals’ hone in very quickly on their HOW, WHY, and WHAT they do. This is an excellent foundation to start any career path or transition, knowing yourself. Q: What's the #1 key to earning our worth as women in business? A: Earning your worth starts with knowing your worth, so start with identifying three to five of your most marketable skills and reflect on what work you are naturally driven to do. Then, become your own number 1 advocate. Paint a picture of the career you want to see yourself in and sketch out your own ideal job template, and know the problem you can solve for that company/hiring authority. Finally, be able to articulate your skills and talents to the company or client you’re looking to attract. Q: What are your predictions for the future of Denver's business environment? A: It’s a great time to be a woman in business, and it’s an even better time to be a woman in business in Denver. Our economy is one of the strongest in America. US NEWS ranked Denver as the #13 best place to find a job and #2 best place to live in America, and we’re constantly rated as a fast-growing start-up community, strong in venture capitalism and a healthy housing marketing. Because we’ve sustained such growth for many years now, Denver has solidified its reputation as a business haven for years to come. Learn more about Women of Denver membership.  Mary Grothe is the CEO of Sales BQ and also serves as a Sales Keynote Speaker and Sales Trainer. Early in her career, Mary discovered that she had a passion for sales, and enjoyed coaching and training newer sales representatives. She shares her keys for success below.
Q: What inspired you to do the work you do today? Was there a particular moment or experience that led you to this career? A: I fell into sales. I was 22 years old, and eager to find stable employment to escape working multiple part time jobs. A staffing agency helped me find Paychex, Inc. and I started as a sales admin at $13 an hour where I supported a mid-market sales team of eight reps and one manager. I fell in love with sales, the mechanics behind a high-performing sales team, and the potential opportunities it could afford me. My sales manager mentored me for two years and I eventually earned a spot on the team. I became the #1 representative in 30 days, broke records, and sold millions in revenue. During that time, I was asked to coach and mentor other sales representatives, and I discovered my passion for sales training and coaching. In addition to crushing my quota, I was able to help representatives across the country crush theirs. After nearly eight years with Paychex, I began my own firm and now we coach and train reps across the country in multiple industries. Q: Everyone has a special gift, that thing that many would call their superpower. What do you think yours is and how did you discover it? A: My super human power is sales messaging. In any role play, in any training or live prospect situation, I always find the words to progress a sale. Whether I am developing an outbound message, addressing an objection, or getting creative while trying to solve the prospect's problem, I always find the words. Our training participants love trying to stump me with their sales challenges, but it hasn't happened yet. Q: There's a young woman reading this who is on a path to discover where she belongs and how she can make an impact in the world. What advice would you give her to guide her next steps? A: Dress the part. Speak the part. Be the part. Conduct yourself in a manner that will earn you the spot you desire. Don't know enough yet? Learn. Not sure how to get there? Get a mentor. Not hitting your metrics? Wake up earlier, and pour everything you have into it. Distracted with negativity, doubt, and fear? Put your head down and work... let the naysayers fuel your motivation to crush your goals. Find out if Women of Denver membership is right for you.  In this series from Flatiron School, we’ll be talking to women in tech about their career journey, the essential lessons they’ve learned, and how more women can follow the path to join essential roles in computing. This interview features Madeline Ryerson, Senior Software Engineer at Guild Education. How would you explain your role to a 5th grader? Tell me what you know about college...Exactly! It’s a special kind of school, for people older than you are. And do you think it’s important to go to college?... Yeah, I do too. It’s very important to help you get a job, but sometimes it’s really expensive, so it can be hard to do. So, the company I work for helps people go to college, without having to pay a lot! And I build the websites and computer programs to help people choose and apply to the program they want to do. What inspired you to follow this particular career path? Before I went to Flatiron School, I worked in market research for ~2 years. I really enjoyed the big picture of what I was doing -- equipping marketing teams with data to drive their strategy -- but I didn’t love doing the same thing every day. I had taken one computer science class in college, and when I started thinking about leaving my market research job, took a few online programming courses. I realized I loved programming, and decided to apply to Flatiron. The rest is history! I love actually building products, and not just helping other people decide what might be the right thing to do or build. If you could go back 5 years ago and talk to yourself at that time, what would you share with her about her future in this career? 5 years ago, I had not, even for a second, considered a future in tech. I had recently discovered market research, and figured that when you set out on one career, you didn’t really make a switch for a while. So the first thing I would tell her is to not be afraid to take the plunge onto an unknown path, especially if it means you’ll be doing something you really love! The second thing I would tell her is, “You’re seriously never going to be done learning in this industry, so don’t get discouraged when you feel like you know nothing. You know so much more than you think, and you’re constantly learning more just by struggling through these new problems.” What were the most important actions you took that helped you land the job role you have now? Just putting myself out there! I am traditionally terrible at networking, it is not my comfort zone at all. But I had just moved to a new city, without a job, and had absolutely nothing to lose. So, I cold called/emailed friends of friends, got coffee with so many people, and applied to every job that looked interesting, even if I wasn’t fully qualified. Flex those networking and interviewing muscles, even if you really don’t want to! After starting at Guild: I think it’s really important to make yourself accessible, and show that you are willing to help out with anything and everything, especially when you’re starting in a junior role. Before I was contributing at a more senior level, I made myself known as someone you could come to for help, or to simply get stuff done, which meant I was trusted to take on more individual responsibilities as I grew in my career. Tell us about the most exciting (or inspiring, or creative) thing you've done so far in your career? I was engineer #3 at Guild, and was very junior when I started! It was intimidating, but also incredibly exciting to just be thrown into the deep end. I learned so much just by being forced, for lack of a better term, to “make it work.” Starting that early on, I was also able to learn a lot about the company and our business model, which personally helps me do my job a lot better. I don’t think I’d like working for a company whose mission I was not aligned with, or where there was lack of transparency around how the organization worked. What was it like attending Flatiron School? In a nutshell, attending Flatiron was one of the best decisions I have ever made. From the technical skills I acquired, to the amazing people I met in my cohort, it was truly a life-changing experience. I especially appreciated Flatiron’s dedication to helping us learn how to learn, through projects, pair-programming and its rigorous curriculum. I certainly graduated well-equipped for my first job: not only technically, but also with the confidence that I could figure out the unknowns as I began to grow in my career. Explore careers at Guild Education: https://www.guildeducation.com/careers AWS 101 - Learn CI/CD with CodePipeline
July 24 from 6-8 p.m. Amazon.com is the largest e-commerce marketplace and cloud computing platform in the world as measured by revenue and market capitalization. So, how does Amazon do it?! Amazon Web Services, or AWS! AWS is a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms to individuals, companies, and governments, on a paid subscription basis. The technology allows subscribers to have at their disposal a virtual cluster of computers, available all the time, through the Internet. Learn about Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment with AWS's CodePipeline. We will walk you through deploying a static site onto an S3 bucket and setting up a pipeline with CodePipeline to listen to changes to your Github Repo.  TCBY franchisee and Fort Collins resident Jenny Brynteson has an unusual marketing tactic that has helped her two TCBY stores (FoCo and Greeley) rank #3 and #4 in sales nationwide – kids. Instead of textbook marketing strategies like newsletter campaigns and local ads, Jenny has tapped into the local schools through field days, class parties, and fairs to reach young frozen yogurt fans. She says that by helping kids write cards or play games on free TCBY coupons for Halloween, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, foot traffic and awareness of the store has spread steadily helping launch her to the top of TCBY’s sales charts. Meanwhile, kiddos have the freedom to make their own treat with TCBY’s self-serve machines and compare orders after school with their friends. Below, Jenny discusses how her unique approach to marketing has helped her corner her own share of the frozen yogurt market, while continuing to give back to the community that has helped her thrive. Q: Tell us a little about your background in business. How did you become an entrepreneur and what education or experiences helped you get here? A: I grew up in a family of car dealers, with my great-grandfather, grandfather, and father owning and running a dealership that was started in 1922. After we married, my husband joined the team as General Manager while I was occupied raising our four children. I was involved in the dealership on a minimum level during my childhood, but very much enjoyed the competitive nature of the car business. In my primary years, I went to a fledgling school that required a bit of fundraising to support the extra programs required to keep the school running. I was a natural when it came to raising money, and loved the idea of being #1 in sales or fundraising. I cold called to raise money for jog-a-thons, called friends and family on land lines to sell Christmas wreaths during the holidays, and thrived on the idea of being at the top, and often was. I went to college, received a degree in Health and Exercise Science, and loved the aspect of my education that focused on helping people to be their best while building teams. Q: What inspired you to go the franchise route and why TCBY? What did you have to invest to get started in this business? How did you acquire the necessary capital? A: I stumbled upon TCBY, and owning a franchise, when we sold our car dealership in 2005 after 85 years. My father was in the habit of taking my children for an evening treat and one evening he brought the kids home from a visit to TCBY, only to give my family devastating news that our local shop would be closing their doors. We were so sad, as the location we took for granted for so many years would no longer be there. As it happened, we had a little money that we could invest from the sale of the car dealership. Over the next year the idea came to us that we should reopen TCBY. My children were nearly out of the house, the market was right, and the self-serve frozen yogurt concept was new and fresh for our area.  Q: Tell us about the marketing strategy that's led you to your current success. How does it work and how did you come up with the idea?
A: Our target market is families, women between the ages of 20-45, and their children. We have chosen to connect to our community by becoming involved in various school functions such as field days, fun runs, back to school events, and run teacher appreciation weeks. We feel that by expressing genuine appreciation and interest in our teachers and the children of our community, we gain an invaluable relationship that builds friendship and trust. These relationships are what we believe are key to our success. Q: Are there any local resources that helped you in gaining funding, learning to run your business, or getting support and advice? A: I’ve chosen to be on the Franchisee Board of Directors over the last three to four years and have benefited greatly as I’ve listened and learned from the other members, as well as the women at Famous Brands who work tirelessly at the corporate level to build our company and make the Franchise owners around the country more profitable. My store manager, Shannon, and I have learned together over the past eight years by trial and error, and have gained confidence through our experiences to risk making mistakes and go with our instincts sometimes. Q: Do you have a support group of women? A: I have several small groups of women who encourage and support me, and I draw a lot of support from Shannon (my store manger), my wonderful ladies at Famous Brands, and my husband who keeps our books running smoothly when he isn’t working on his own career as an attorney. Q: What's next for you as you continue to grow as a business owner? A: I am looking forward to cultivating my relationship with both the Fort Collins and Greeley communities. Q: What advice can you share for those considering a franchise or starting their own business? A: We have learned that by giving, we receive. By that, I mean that there is a benefit in being generous. We donate product, give coupons, and are not afraid to delight our customers with special days like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and National Frozen Yogurt Day when we give things away, and show honor and appreciation to our customer base. It always comes back to us when we are genuine and personable with people. If you don’t love people, hire a staff who does to be the face of your business. I’ve met business owners who don’t participate in these national events and are afraid to give too much. I believe it limits their success. Our Success begins and ends essentially with maintaining a clean shop and training (and raising) a friendly and reliable staff. I credit Shannon for hiring and training a staff who are loyal to us and each other, and who have become a good team while welcoming new employees into the mix. Our retention rate is very good when you consider that we hire mostly high school and college age people. We have had quite a few over the years who start with us at 16 and have stayed right through college! We have a reputation for being a positive work environment and are a coveted place to work.  Contributed by Krystal Covington, MBA
Denver's expensive. It takes nearly 100,000 of income for 2 adults and 2 kids to live comfortably and make rent. That's why it's so important to not only focus on earning more income, but lightening your expense load as well. I asked the Women of Denver community to share their top ways to save money in Denver and this is what they shared.
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