Welcome our Newest Members and those that referred them!

Welcome to our newest members who joined Fresno Women's Network In October: Trish Beebe with Fresno Pacific University (referred by Joanie Joy), Cheryl Koehn Pittman with Senior Care Home Services, Kathleen Smith with Economic Development Corporation (referred by Lee Ann Eager, and Laura A. Sundell with My Sisters Closet.

October Luncheon

The Fresno Women's Network had another great luncheon this month. Our guest speaker was The Networking Motivator (TM) herself, Beth Bridges. Beth shared "The Five Part Networking Success Plan" with luncheon attendees. 

Remember, for our November Luncheon, we are asking everyone to bring in donations of food and formula and fast food gift cards.

Thank you to Vanessia Carpenter of Summit Realty Group for sponsoring our Buddy Bags and one of our Founding Members, St. Agnes Hospital for sponsoring the luncheon.

Thank you also to all our raffle donors for supporting the Scholarship Fund:

Starbucks Gift Card with Mug and Goodies

Katrina Tonkogolosuk - Marketing Plus

Floral Arrangement

Pamela Alexander - Stephen and Bean Funeral Home

Bottle of Fresno State Wine

Shellie Green - Hampton Inn & Suites

1 lb Box of See's Candy

Penny Childers - Second Chances

Holiday Centerpiece

Karen Cahill - AseraCare Hospice

Cute Scarecrow

Debbie Milla - Milla Vineyards

2 Signature Facial

Carolyn Pierce - Facelogic

New Members of Fresno Women's Network!

Welcome to our newest members who joined Fresno Women's Network last month: Kelly Revoir with AAA Travel and Manya Shubin with Celebrating home.

Have You Seen Them?

Have you seen or met any of them? They are some of Fresno Women's Network members who own small businesses and they attend the monthly luncheons and may be actually sitting at your table. Look out for them as they are very obvious and you will be able to identify them by the big round pin they wear that says "SBO - I am a forum member".

These women are inspiring and are out there in our community helping others in a multitude of ways and offering great products and services as they grow and expand theor businesses and follow their dreams.

On Tuesday night I had the opportunity to spend 2 hours over dinner with some of these ladies and they are the "queens" of networking. We talked, laughed, ate and got to know each other a little more personally and found out what current projects they are working on. To give you an idea of what that means we have Caroline Wade and Betty Goertzen working together on the "Build a Gingerbread House" project at Sierra Vista Mall for the holiday season, then there is Dr Treva Lee, our local dentist in the group who is gearing up for Halloween and the candy buy back program and the candy that is collected goes to Operation Gratitude and eventually sent to the troops serving overseas. One of our newest members, Alicia Hinton spoke about her project which is Lavender's Light and is a celebration of survivors and she related some stories that were awe inspiring.

So by now you are asking "who else was there"? Well, two women you know very well were speaking about their businesses and one was Karen Sorensen who everyone knows is a big key to the running of the FWN but, she also has 17 years as a Mary Kay Consultant and can keep us looking young and beautiful. The other is Sandra Rodriguez-Lucero who is  a consultant with Gold Canyon Candles and is also training to make our nails and toes look awesome.

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine this scene, The candle-lit room, on the table a glass of wine supplied by Judy Wood, those lovely mood management oils from Kathy Mendoza, a beauty treatment from Karen all while having Sandra attending to your nails!

We also had a superstar among us in the name of Nykole Hibbs who was a speaker at the recent Central Valley Women's Conference. She and her mom both did the presentation and she was telling us about the change in direction that they want to take their business, Dinner My Way and how her mom was working on a book!

Trish Hughes, one of our new FWN members has started her own travel agency and took us on a short journey to places she has visited around the world and her favorites so if you are looking for something special, she is the one to talk to! Marjorie Donovan and that MedID card that is so invaluable to have for all the important medical information was telling us about a few new directions she has happening to get the card into the right hands.

As for me, I was the moderator for the evening and love seeing the interaction and sharing of ideas between all our group and really enjoy the time spent with these professional women. I have an speaking engagement on October 10th and will be working with the Central Valley Business Incubator at their upcoming Small Business University 2012 and will be presenting "What is the Cloud?" on behalf of Microsoft.

At the FWN  luncheon on Tuesday October 9,  you will hear the guest speaker, Beth Bridges speak about Networking and how important it is to find new avenues to move forward in both your personal and professional lives so also take the chance to spend some time with our SBO members. Maybe you might be interested in joining our group and making the journey forward into the unknown with your own personal cheer squad!

A GREAT SUCCESS! Angels of Grace Birthday Bash

The "Angels of Grace Birthday Party" was a great success; thank you for all of the donations! Our committee would also like to thank each of our Fresno Women's Network members for allowing us to play such fun games which served as a great reminder as to the true meaning of giving back to others. 

 Because of your generosity, we have been able to provide needed clothing and necessities to Angels of Grace to care for our children in their time of need. Angels of Grace ROCKS!!!!

September Luncheon

Wow! We keep topping ourselves month after month - the Fresno Women's Network September Luncheon was no different. At the luncheon, we paid tribute to the tragic events of 9/11, including Gregory Panten singing a beautiful rendition of Lee Greenwood's, "God Bless the USA". There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

The luncheon was also a birthday party of sorts where we gave a helping hand to our Community Connection partner, Angels of Grace, with gifts and donations of clothing, toys and other much needed items to restock their supplies. Thank you to all of you who brought bags of gifts, with our top contributor, Michelle Peterson (Exactly Write) who brought in 15 bags.

Remember, for our October Luncheon, we are asking everyone to bring in donations for children's socks and underwear.

Our guest speaker was Brandi Orth, Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters. Aside from discussing the checks and balances of Fresno County's election process, Brandi also touched on recent legislation and the complexity of the election process.

Thank you to Renee Rager of Right at Home for sponsoring our Buddy Bags and Jennie Guadagno for sponsoring the luncheon.

Thank you also to all our raffle donors for supporting the Scholarship Fund:

(2) Tickets to Pasta & Vino

Jayne McCallister - London Properties

Starbucks Gift Card with Mug and Goodies

Katrina Tonkogolosuk - Marketing Plus

Scrapbooking Package (benefiting Make A Wish)

Karen Bowser - Creative Memories

(2) Tickets to Pasta & Vino

Jamie Eropkin - Finch Ocheltree, Rowland and Shoopman CPA

Floral Arrangement

Pamela Alexander - Stephen and Bean Funeral Home

Starbucks Gift Card with Mug

Jennifer Wojtas - Orchard Park Assisted Living and Memory Care

Candle by Gold Canyon

Sandra Rodriguez-Lucerno

Manicure Set

(2) Fellowship Tickets for 9to5 with Christ

Penny Childers - Second Chances

(2) Tickets to Pasta & Vino

Jennie Guadagno

Signature Facial

Carolyn Pierce - Facelogic

NEW MEMBERS - Aug 2012

Please welcome the newest members of Fresno Women's Network, who joined last month:
Karen Brown - WJ Bradley, LLC, referred by Rebecca Light
Cathie Garnier - Elder Paws Senior Dog Rescue, referred by Betty Goertzen
Marie Garringer - MetalMark Climbing + Fitness, referred by Katrina Tonkogolosuk
Trish Hughes - Renewed Travel
Rachel Mohoff - Golden Living Center / AseraCare, referred by Carolyn Watson
Tess Phillips - ASI / Colonial, referred by Christine Jones
Carolyn Pierce - facelogic spa essential skincare - spa