Hot August Days
Patrick Henry, networking expert and our August keynote speaker, pointed out the importance of asking questions as a way of increasing our business referrals. With humor, he discussed how the type of question – along with an attitude of curiosity, genuine interest and tone – determine whether the results are likely to be successful. All who attended remarked on the very practical take-aways they could put into practice right away.
Most recently, your NAWBO-OC board has been very busy asking questions, reflecting on how we do business as a board and what we might do differently to ensure that we are growing and sustaining a vital organization. Our all-volunteer board set aside two full days in July for our annual retreat and is reconvening on August 12 for a full day of board training. Twenty three board members times three full days is an incredible investment of time and talent that is sure to positively impact all NAWBO-OC members.
While on the topic of questions, just last week I was asked by Adolfo Bailon, Senior Field Representative for Senator Boxer, if I would meet with him. The Senator was seeking input from NAWBO-OC. I quickly agreed and enlisted the support of NAWBO-OC members Rachel Owens, Cathy Daugherty and Shaila Mistry who have been providing voice on behalf of women business owners to legislators for a number of years. Kathy Hills and Cindy Reynolds joined in and we met on August 3rd with Adolfo at Cathy Daugherty’s office in Orange.
The tone of the meeting was friendly, respectful, and conducive to real sharing of information. Adolfo seemed genuinely interested in what we had to say. We gave voice to small business owners in a very knowledgeable, experienced-based and persuasive manner. While providing specific examples about our own, our client’s, and our colleagues’ frustrations, the approach was to create a successful, productive collaboration which benefits small business rather than an adversarial climate over what is or is not happening. While we are not naïve about the outcome of this meeting, engaging in the dialogue is key to being heard. Harnessing our passion and convictions in ways that allow others to hear what we have to say is critical. We are more likely to be asked for our input again. In this regard, I believe this meeting was an enormous success. We learned a lot at this meeting and all of us were proud to be in the company of our NAWBO-OC colleagues. As we left the meeting, we addressed the issue of how can we get our members to be more engaged in public policy issues because laws are created that impact how we do business. Voices in this process are important. Where is ours? We welcome your ideas, so please speak up. No thoughtful idea to help our members will go unanswered.
Hope to see you at our Second Annual Wine Tasting on August 23rd.
Be sure to mark your calendar for our September 13th meeting Cashing in on Dressing Up, Image Management in Today’s Business World with Diana Jennings.
Make sure to register for our annual Remarkable Women event which will take place on Tuesday, October 4th at The Grove of Anaheim.
We are off to a very exciting year, and you won’t want to miss a thing!
Maureen Rhyne, Ph.D.
President, NAWBO-OC