January President’s Message: Let’s Celebrate!

The Columbus Chapter of NAWBO was established in 1996, and since 1998, we have been honoring notable and inspiring women business owners at our annual Visionary Awards. This very special honor showcases women who have achieved success with their business while making notable contributions to their communities, their industries and to initiatives for other women in business. It’s not just about having an incredible business – it’s also about giving back and making a seat at the table for other women to follow.

The women who make up our Visionaries are extraordinary indeed, but what truly sets them apart is their willingness and desire to lift up other women owned business in Columbus and to set the stage for future growth. That’s what makes them Visionaries.

We have honored 49 women since 1998 and this year, we welcome 5 more: Theresa Harris of TMH Solutions, Crystal Hughey of Corporate Cleaning Inc., Lori Kaiser of Kaiser Consulting, and Lacey Picazo of ZoCo Design and Kimmi Wernli of Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter Company. We will honor these 5 inspiring women at our Virtual  Visionary Awards on Thursday January 14^th from 12 – 2 pm.

Don’t let the virtual nature of this event dampen the buzz! Past President Betty Collins, long-time member and past Visionary Chair Teresa Russell and our chapter manager, Arien Lawless, are working hard behind the scenes to make this year’s Visionary Awards a stand-out event. We will utilize a brand-new virtual event platform, Hopin, to make our 2021 Visionary Awards feel more like our in-person celebrations.  Our Master of Ceremonies is Lindsay Karas Stencil, the brains behind the Be Bolder podcast, the founder of BOLD Ventures (an entrepreneur-first venture capital firm) and a sought-after local attorney. Our generous sponsors (many of which are also our Business Champions) will also be on hand and exhibiting in our new event platform. And, don’t miss out on the numerous raffle prizes that will be up for grabs (airline tickets, a year’s worth of Bath & Body Works candles, curated wine, gift certificates to local restaurants and ski and snowboard rentals for some winter fun).

More than all of this fanfare, though, I hope you will join us to celebrate our 5 Visionaries: Theresa, Crystal, Lori, Lacey & Kimmi. These five women are the real stars of the show and this is our opportunity to lift them up, celebrate them and thank them. Women business owners in Columbus are better because of the path all of the Visionaries have laid for us, and we all have lessons to learn from them as we forge ahead in our own businesses.

I challenge all of you to not only purchase a ticket to our Visionary Awards, but to also reach out and invite a business owner in our community who would benefit from hearing these inspiring stories. Let’s make this year’s Visionary our best yet!

Registration information go to https://nawbocolumbus.wildapricot.org/event-4031397

Ticket prices are $30 for members; $35 for guests.