NAWBO-LA Online Newsletter
April 2008 Issue
PEAK Graduates Share Program Insights
 The capacity-building NAWBO-LA PEAK Leadership Academy SM continues to offer an exceptional learning opportunity for peak-performing women entrepreneurs, with the next session beginning in May
For Brenda Zamzow-Frazier, president of accounting services firm The Zamzow Group, her “wow” moment in the most recent NAWBO-LA PEAK Leadership Academy SM came when surveys completed by stakeholders of her company demonstrated a large organizational hole that wasn’t being properly filled. Based on the surveys, she made the dramatic decision to make a major shift in her management team.
Such is the impact of this five-session capacity-building academy, which offers a portfolio of programs that show entrepreneurs how to create the successful transition to a professionally managed firm, without sacrificing the entrepreneurial spirit that inspired their companies in the first place.
Funded through the Enterprise Institute of NAWBO-LA’s Legacy Society and NAWBO-LA corporate partners – Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric (both Sempra Energy utilities) served as first-time sponsors for the fall 2007 session and will sponsor another session at the end of this year – PEAK delivers high-impact contact under the instruction of Dr. Yvonne Randle, vice president of Management Systems Consulting Corporation and a lecturer at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. The small class sizes – about 12-15 women per PEAK session – allow for quality interactions and a premier learning experience.
Strategic Management Crash Course
Recent graduate R. Christine Hershey, president and founder of communications firm Hershey|Cause, said, “I didn’t have the business protocols I needed until I took this class. It’s like the mini-MBA I never got.” Zamzow-Frazier called it “a crash course in strategic management.”
Both women praised the “takeaways” that came from the course, which required them to develop and present a strategic plan for their business.
“I always have been the typical founder-centric model. This really was a way to get the best thinking from an MBA-level professor so I would have the tools to give my team the skills and background they needed to help develop and implement the plan,” Hershey said. She added that at her 20-employee firm there’s now “a higher level of accountability across the board” as her team puts into place more effective internal processes in areas like cost accounting, human resources, operations and sales.
For Zamzow-Frazier, the takeaways included learning to make more strategic decisions and “not sweat the small stuff,” becoming more goal-oriented and focusing on the end result. “I’m setting achievable goals as opposed to biting off more than I can chew,” she said. “I’ve taken other courses in strategic planning, and they all seemed very theoretical. PEAK was very practical, because we used our own businesses as a case study.”
A Sponsor Supplier Pipeline
PEAK provides women business owners with the tools they need to take their companies to the next level in a structure designed to fit the realities of entrepreneurs’ businesses and lives. In addition, it offers valuable connections with corporate sponsors.
Long-time NAWBO-LA corporate partners Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric, both Sempra Energy utilities, chose to become PEAK sponsors to enhance their ongoing supplier diversity initiatives and further build the capacity of their business suppliers.
Margot Kyd, vice president of Supply Management and Fleet Services for the utilities, said, “A core part of our strategy is to mentor and develop diverse business enterprises to increase their capacity to serve us. We have sponsored a number of women business owners who currently do business with us through the PEAK Leadership Academy to assist them in growing their business to the next level. We’re also trying to reach more broadly to nurture the growth of diverse business enterprises to strengthen our pipeline for the future.”
Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric Supplier Diversity Manager Yolanda Padilla attended the recent PEAK sessions sponsored by her utilities and commended the participants for “their passion in what they’re doing in their businesses. It’s outstanding to see the strength of these women business owners.”
Kyd added, “Having the opportunity to personally participate in the presentation of the final strategic plans from these companies was very rewarding. I was extremely impressed by the quality and thoughtfulness put into them. It reassured me that this is a good investment of Southern California Gas Co.’s and San Diego Gas & Electric’s resources and time.”
The Next PEAK Opportunity
NAWBO-LA members interested in becoming part of a community dedicated to each other’s success are encouraged to register for the spring 2008 PEAK Leadership Academy, which begins on May 27 and will be sponsored by Citibank. The application deadline is April 30.
Application criteria for the upcoming session include:
- Must have gross revenue between $250,000 and $900,000
- Must have five or fewer employees
- Must have 50% or more ownership
- Must sign a confidentiality agreement upon acceptance
- Must be a NAWBO-LA member or accept a complimentary NAWBO-LA membership
By taking part, participants will receive the following deliverables:
- A professional analysis of their organizational effectiveness
- A written and comprehensive strategic plan for their business
- Tools and processes to ensure plan implementation
- Access to a community of successful women business owners
Recent graduate Hershey – like Zamzow-Frazier a current board member of the Enterprise Institute of NAWBO-LA – highly recommends the program: “One of the most powerful things NAWBO-LA can do is to help women develop as business owners and leaders. This class addresses capacity-building and technical assistance needs really strongly and seems to fit that mission perfectly.”
To find out more and download a PEAK Leadership Academy registration application, visit www.nawbola.org/events/info.php?id=1614.
Congratulations to the fall 2007 PEAK Leadership Academy graduates:
>> BACK
|
