Enterprising Women Winter 2021

GIVING BACK by Carrie Peele F or me, it all started with an inspirational lunch. In 2014, I had the good fortune to be seated next to an incredible woman, Linda Stevenson. Linda is based in Erie, PA, but her daughter, Andrea Conner, lived near me in Cary, NC and she was visiting our area to spend time with Andrea. We were attending a “pay it forward” luncheon when our luncheon conversation began. I shared how blessed I felt and wanted to pay it forward to other women entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses. Linda shared that she was on the board of Athena International and was the director of Athena Erie PowerLink. I was fascinated to learn how Athena PowerLink connects selected women business owners and provides them with a skilled advisory panel consisting of financial, leadership, and marketing help, and much more. I was inspired when I learned that Athena offers a turnkey operation—providing materials and training sessions. Linda shared that the license fee was $15,000, but she also shared a number of suggestions on how to raise the funds to cover the fee. I asked her to join me the next morning to share the good news, visiting friends and colleagues who would be interested in sponsoring the program. Before the end of the day, we had checks in hand from Cathy Hunt at Gailor Hunt Taylor & Gibbs PLLC; Beth Hallowell of PNC Bank; Linda Craft of Linda Craft & Team Realtors, and my company at the time, Blue Diamond Limousines & Buses. Athena of the Triangle was formed and funded! Linda and the entire Athena International team supported our newly formed Athena of the Triangle with training sessions, materials, and wisdom—grounding our organization for success. PowerLink The first Athena of the Triangle PowerLink candidate was Lisa Smallwood Howell of Spoken-4 Communications, an occupational and speech language therapy company. Lisa had been in business over nine years and struggled to be profitable. Upon completion of her advisory panels consisting of mentoring and coaching from top professionals who volunteered their time through Athena PowerLink, her business grew 23 percent in only 12 months. Lisa needed that gentle nudging from Athena to give her the improved skills and confidence to keep growing year after year. Lisa now serves on the Athena Triangle board. We are thankful for her dedication and support for the next group of women participating in PowerLink. Each year, Athena of the Triangle has added one new program to our portfolio. Our annual leadership luncheon celebrates Women in Leadership across our communities. The luncheon event creates an opportunity to have experienced women leaders connect and mentor emerging women leaders through a forum that facilitates meaningful connections. Each year we have 400 or more women and male champions share a lunch and fellowship at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, NC. Emerging Leaders Our Emerging Leaders social learning program is a series of highly interactive workshops focused on the Athena Leadership Principle. The program is open to any woman, whether early in her career or leadership experience, with a desire to improve her skills while supporting a network of like-minded leaders. Athena in Tech We have also partnered with Wake County Young Women Leadership Academy, which has over fifty young women in 9th grade to give them a STEM mentor for the entire school year. We are providing role models to encourage more young women to enter STEM fields—addressing the national challenge of women being underrepresented in those fields. Athena Leadership Award I am truly proud to be involved with Athena and the Leadership Award. Watching the recipients is a culmination of hard work, being coachable, making changes, and staying positive while overseeing your business. We honor local women and men for their professional excellence, community service and actively assisting women in their attainment of professional excellence with leadership skills. Selected by our partner, KPMG, the Kristin Tabor Team chose Lori Jones Gibbs to receive the 2021 Athena Leadership Award. The 2021 Young Professional Award was given to Ada Lopez. Athena of the Triangle has grown and now requires paid staff to implement its programs. Executive Director Dr. Tiamesha Walker Smith began her affiliation with us as a volunteer and assisted in the growth of our chapter from the beginning. Haley Gray and Colleen Lozano are our website developers, social networking gurus, and communication directors. Athena of the Triangle mostly consists of volunteer groups of dedicated women and men supporting women. I am proud to be a part of this productive, cohesive group working collectively for women entrepreneurs. Athena is a labor of love for me and the lives we touch with positive, productive vibes. It is my wish to leave a legacy through this robust program that is building and recognizing leaders and making a real difference in the lives of so many. CARRIE PEELE is co-founder of Jade Lending and a member of the Enterprising Women Advisory Board. She is a previous recipient of the Enterprising Women of the Year Award. Learn more about Jade Lending at www.jadelending.com . Building a Legacy of Supporting Women 58 enterprising Women