Welcome new members to Fresno Women's Network

Welcome to our newest members who joined Fresno Women's Network in September 2013: Dora Arreguin with Fresno Memorial Gardens, Michelle Duarte with U GOT IT FLAUNT IT, Tatiana Holland with European Wax Center, Heather Ruggles with Property ID, and Stephane Russo with Bella Vista Memory Care Community. 

Are you interested in joining Fresno Women's Network? Click HERE for information.

SBO News of the Month

The September SBO dinner meeting was held last night and our gracious hostess was SBO member, Betty Gortzen.

What an inspiring group of women we have in the SBO! Apart from the great food and garden location there was time to speak about our businesses with each other and what has been happening since we last met a month ago. The strength of the SBO group is the open discussion among those who attend and the building of relationships that are ongoing and the ability to share information and inspire each other.

The topic was "Bad Brain, Bad Business!" This was lead by Dr Mikell Suzanne Parsons, one of our SBO members and what an eye-opener it was for all of us. We learned that without taking care of our brain we would not reach full potential in our own personal lives or in our business. Water and sleep are two of the main components along with the food we eat and do not skip breakfast! As business owners we tend to not take care of ourselves well enough having both business and family obligations.  We are too busy running our operations and growing the business and burning the candle at both ends by not having enough sleep and skipping meals. Mikell ended her discussion with a test using her eye exam light that showed we were all out of balance with our brain and we need to mend our ways to function at a higher level. I think some of us are actually going to change our habits and will soon be booking an appointment to get ourselves on the right track to business success and our healthy lives.

If you are a small business owner and have not joined this group which is part of the Fresno Women's Network membership opportunities then you may be missing out on very valuable and helpful information to ensure your success. We also have a Facebook group that you can join where a lot of additional information is shared between meetings.

The SBO Forum is about building relationships and one of the goals is to be a catalyst for creative problem solving that fosters ongoing success in life and business.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, 17th October and Keirsten Quest will be leading the discussion and the topic is "Time! Where Does It Go?". Save the date and further details will be available soon on the website.

Welcome new members to Fresno Women's Network!

Welcome to our newest members who joined Fresno Women's Network in August 2013: Ginny Burdick with A Sense of Place fine art, Monrae English with Wild, Carter & Tipton, Dawn Golik with U.S. Small Business Administration, Pam Hutton with Clovis Community Medical Center, and Sheree Willhoite with Central Valley Self-Help Legal Services

Are you interested in joining Fresno Women's Network? Click HERE for information.

Dig In & Discover

At the SBO (Small Business Owners) dinner meeting last week the topic was "Dig In & Discover". The discussion was lead by one of our members, Alison Haugan and for those who attended it was an experience in digging deep to find answers to the roadblocks that continually rise to impede our success.

The women who attended were dynamic, talented and above all, prepared to share their ideas and experiences. We always start with a meal together and introductions where you will always learn something you did not know about the people who attend. We heard about how Alison was actually in the last episode of X Files and had to jump out of a helicopter; that Mikell is a choreographer and loves to dance; how Betty shared the great achievements of her grand-daughter; Suzanne shared her experience of working and living in another country and many more stories from those present. This is all part of the way we build relationships with each other which is the power of networking when you really do talk to each other.

We were also privileged to have Cindy Merzon, one of the FWN Board members in attendance to see what the SBO Forum is all about. Cindy herself was formally a small business owner and understands the challenge of owning a business and making it successful.

Our leader for the evening, Alison Haugan sure made it challenging with her questions. We had small groups and each person had a question that we had to discuss and come up with answers with help from the others. It was all about digging deep and finding the truth into what changes one could make to move forward and the result from this becomes plans for future progress.

An example of questions put to our work groups are:

"What is taking you off track from having the business of your dreams? What 3 things can you do to get ON track? Are you willing to do them?"

"What do you believe is impossible for you to accomplish right now, which if it were possible, would change your life forever?".

If you are a small business owner and have not joined this group which is part of the Fresno Women's Network membership opportunities then you may be missing out on very valuable and helpful information to ensure your success. We also have a Facebook group that you can join where a lot of additional information is shared between meetings.

The SBO Forum is about building relationships and one of the goals is to be a catalyst for creative problem solving that fosters ongoing success in life and business.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, 19th September and Dr Mikell Suzanne Parsons will be leading the discussion and the topic is "Bad Brain - Bad Business". Save the date and further details will be available soon on the website.

August's President's Message

The heat is on!  Are your networking skills heating up as well?

A recent survey told us 80% of our members joined the network for the purpose of networking. I hope this year we are giving you, our members, what you are asking for--the power of networking possibilities. This is why relationships are so important in our personal and professional lives. We are always looking for ways to connect with one another. In doing so we get refreshed, we improve our selves, and we become more vibrant. I look forward to our monthly luncheons, all of our special events, mixers, and monthly Connect 4 get togethers. Joining a committee is a great way to contribute your skills to the network while building your relationships, and  developing skills for your personal and professional growth.

I am encouraged by all the relationship building I see and hear at these events. Developing these relationships takes time and they are the foundation for networking and mentoring. When we talk about networking and mentoring, we are describing the activities of individuals in a group: cooperating, connecting, coaching, and teaching each other - all the while having fun!

September is the month our Board Development Chair, Cathy Ferguson, will be taking nominations to fill positions for the 2014 FWN Board of Directors.  Please contact Cathy if you are interested in a board position or have any other questions about board service.

Remember this is your network and we want to provide you with a positive and memorable experience.  We welcome your suggestions for improvement.  Please fill out the evaluation slips at the luncheon.  If you want to get involved and don’t know where to start or have any suggestions for improvement you can always contact me by email or 559 307-9981.

We look forward to having you at the September luncheon. Remember to register online and ... save the date October 3, 2013 for Pasto & Vino! Our Special Events committee has been working hard to bring you this great event. This year there will be the addition of an art show! Check it out on our website and follow us on Facebook.

Outstanding Success for Net@Noon Mini Trade Show

Yesterday, August 13th the Fresno Women's Network held its annual Mini Trade Show which was attended by members and their guests. This event was organized by the Membership Committee under the leadership of the Committee Chair, Sandra Rodriguez. Congratulations to a job well done to Sandra and her Committee on organizing such a great event. 

Members and guests were welcomed by the smiling faces of two of our Executive Board Members, Cindy Merzon who is the Parliamentarian and Connie Smith who is 2nd Vice President.

There were lots of great vendor tables ranging from education, senior care, travel, jewelry, promotional items to medical and health. All the displays came from our membership and what an array of services our members offer each other. Have you checked out our Member Directory where you can find people who can offer you a great service? If you missed out on the event check out our photo gallery on Facebook.

The luncheon part of the event was a great success as we also had Members who sponsored and hosted tables. The table I was at was sponsored by Alison Haugan who has several businesses. I learned that it was OK to eat chocolate which I love because it is good for the brain and heart so guess I just have to change the brand of chocolate to the healthy product. I also found out that she has some great skin care for someone like me with a wrinkle here and there as she has products for the aging skin. 

We had some great people at our table, some I knew and some I met for the first time. We had two doctors, one a dentist (Dr Treva Lee) and one a naturopath (Dr Mikell Suzanne Parsons), Joyce from Evangel Home (our Community Connection), Ann Marie from AAA, Gail is a banker and Linda who had a display table and she writes and publishes children's books. Did you meet all the people at your table and find out what they do?

Following the eating part of lunch is where the real fun began with some of the best networking I have attended in a long time. An usual "scavenger hunt" was organized and we were all handed a paper with 20 questions and we had to find the answers! It was match a name to the questions which meant that everyone started talking to each other and moving around the room to fill in the sheet and in doing so met people they probably may not have known in the past. The sheet started out as "Find a member or guest who....." and some of the people you had to find were: 

• Has a Doctorate Degree ...........
• Was a cheerleader ....................
• Played a musical instrument .......
• Was in a swim team ..................
• Was in a debate team ...............

How did you go, did you get all the answers and fill in the blanks? I got stuck on number 17 and that was "Who went to an Ivy League School". I did hear some discussing the fact that Fresno State could be classed as Ivy League because they had ivy growing there but not sure that would pass for an answer. What do you think?

We ended the event with a presentation to the winners of all the great prizes offered by the vendors and we thank you all for your great contribution and enabling the Net@Noon Mini Trade Show to be such a success and hope you will return next year. For those who were not in attendance we missed you and hope you can come in August 2014!

(Don't forget to leave us a comment below as we love to hear what you have to say about FWN events.)

Welcome to our newest members who joined Fresno Women's Network in July 2013: HandsOn Central Claifornia, Lisa Bundy with Chloe + Isabel Jewelry, Andra Christenson with Gypsy Garden Arts (referred by Debbie Milla), Andrea Gaitan with Olam Spices and Vegetable Ingredients, Patricia Galvin with Foster Industries, Inc., Dr. Mikell Suzanne Parsons with The Natural Path Health Center (referred by Richelle Jarrell), Barbara Schlueter with AngeliCare Inhome Companion Care (referred by Karen Sorensen), Kathy Sisk with Restoration Life Foundation, Victoria Smith with VMS Family Counseling Services, and Jerrie Snyder with Girl Scouts Central California South (referred by Cathy Ferguson).

Are you interested in joining Fresno Women's Network? Click HERE for information.