KPBJ.COM | Creating opportunities: These women entrepreneurs ...
It’s the dream of many to go out on their own, start their own business, be their own boss. And each year an increasing number of women are doing just that.
According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, firms that are majority-owned by women increased at around two times the rate of all firms between 1997 and 2006. In the state of Washington alone, there are an estimated 158,881 privately-held, majority women-owned firms, accounting for 31.2 percent of all privately-held firms here.
In Kitsap County there are a number of young women entrepreneurs who are making a go of starting and running their own businesses, all before turning 40. And many of these women are looking beyond the “usual” business opportunities and building something entirely new. These are the stories of just a few of them.
Heidi Kaufman, Neighborly Greetings
Heidi Kaufman, 39, started Neighborly Greetings LLC, a community welcome service, with her husband, Geoffrey, in November 2004.
“We deliver welcome gift bags filled with maps, community information and goodies from local businesses to newcomers in Kitsap County,” said Kaufman. “This also provides a way in which local businesses can market their businesses while simultaneously performing a valuable community service.”
Kaufman was a Navy wife and frequent relocating, thanks to the Navy, limited Kaufman’s job options. So she worked primarily as a full-time mom and donated her time to various volunteer activities. But as her children got older, she knew it was time for a change.
“Like many Moms, I lost my job when my children grew up!” she said. “Since I didn’t have a competitive resume, I knew I was going to have to draw on my strengths and create a job for myself.”
And although the Navy life made it challenging to find a career in some ways, it also, to some extent, served as the inspiration for Neighborly Greetings.
“In 1991, after one of our many Navy moves, I literally had a tantrum,” said Kaufman. “I was very tired of having to start all over again, not only locating, but choosing a new dentist, hairdresser, dog groomer…There wasn’t a welcome service in our area, but there was the need for one and that started my idea for Neighborly Greetings.”
Since the company’s inception, a little more than two years ago, Neighborly Greetings’ deliveries have grown from 15 per month in Port Orchard to 200 a month throughout most of Kitsap County.
Being in control of her career and her business is what appeals most to Kaufman when it comes to being a business owner.
“I like having the ability to take my business in any direction I want, creatively or otherwise,” Kaufman said. “I also enjoy having the flexibility to manage my own time. I am always available for my family and, now that my husband has retired from the Navy, we are able to work together.”
Cynthia Land, LMP, RYT, Expansions Yoga
Cynthia Land, a self-described “high-tech industry refugee,” fled her former career as a public relations director after the company she worked for went bankrupt shortly after September 11, 2001.
“The technology we created is currently in use by Sprint,” said Land. “However it was way ahead of its time and the company I worked for didn’t have the ability to leverage its cutting-edge technology into investor dollars, so when 911 hit and investor dollars dried up, we were one of the first companies to go bankrupt. Instead of staying in the high-tech industry I went in exactly the opposite direction and became a yoga teacher.”
It was her success as a yoga teacher that drove Land to found her own studio.
“I was teaching classes at another facility and my classes became so large I had a waiting list,” she said. “I always told myself I’d open a yoga studio but it was more of a five-year plan. I got lucky when a larger space down the street became available. I hired another teacher and we opened up shop.”
Land relocated from the Seattle area back to her “roots” in Kitsap County and Expansions Yoga opened its doors in Old Town Silverdale in May 2004, when Land was 38.
“At the time, Seattle was already becoming saturated with yoga teachers,” said Land. “I saw an opportunity in Central Kitsap where there was only one dedicated yoga-only studio.”
Today the studio offers a full range of yoga classes, from “Itsy Bitsy Yoga” for babies to adult classes, as well as one-on-one instruction. Land is proud of the fact that after almost three years in business, Expansions Yoga is going strong.
“We’re on the verge of a remodel to fit more people into the space,” said Land. “We now have five teachers who have very different approaches to this practice. We’ve hosted two successful yoga retreats. [And] we’ve offered Free Yoga in the Park classes in both Bremerton and Silverdale with massively positive response.”
Kristina Smith, Shangri-la Home Inventory Specialists
In July 2004 Kristina Smith, now 38, married her husband, Trevor. At the time the two worked for the same company, handling different territories.
“We had decided that Washington was going to be home,” said Smith. “There was only one rep for the Pacific Northwest, me, and my husband was the rep for Northern California, so, one of us had to go. I quickly volunteered, of course. We had our youngest daughter in February 2005, so that worked out well.”
But as much as Smith enjoyed being a mom, she missed working with people, and so set out to find something new.
“When I was coming up with ideas of what I wanted to do there seemed to be a recurring theme between all of them: working with people and somehow helping to protect them and all of their hard work,” Smith said. “While I was pondering, I found that every time I sat down to watch the news or read the paper they were filled with stories of people just like me that had experienced a traumatic event in their lives. House’s burned down, businesses were ruined…The same thought kept going through my head: that it could be me or my family at any time.”
On top of this, Smith found herself struggling to follow her insurance company’s recommendation to inventory the contents of their new home.
“I found that I would stop and start and sometimes it was hard to get started at all,” she said. “It was time consuming and I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right. I thought, ‘if I’m having this kind of trouble I bet others are, too.’ Wha-la: I found my new business.”
Smith opened Shangri-la Home Inventory Specialists for business in October 2005, providing inventory services to homeowners and businesses.
“We gather critical data including: video, photos, model numbers, serial numbers, item descriptions, item values, and then the information is placed into an organized format,” said Smith. “If our clients experience a loss of property they are prepared to quickly and accurately fill out their insurance claim forms.”
Shangri-la also has a full line of emergency service preparedness kits, first aid supplies, and other relevant items, which will be available for sale through Shangri-la’s Web site mid-March.
Shangri-la incorporated in February 2007 and Smith finds that entrepreneurship suits her just fine.
“I really like being able to take my ideas and make them reality,” she said. “I am a really creative person and enjoy people. I find that I get to interact with people on a whole new level.”.
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On behalf of the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina, the branch where you participated in Transformation Nation Triad, and your YMCA trainers, we are so grateful and humbled that you chose to participate in the program.




