E-Newsletter, Vol.3, No.5 Professional Women’s Network May 2001
The poem, Without Fanfare, by R.H. Grenville, was in my April Daily Word, and I related it to Professional Women's Network, and the friends I have made through our organization, for their encouragement and their smiles, and for the many wonderful things yet to come. The more you reach out and get to know each other, the more blessings you will find.
Our tradeshow is coming up, May 31. Let's really turn out and support this event, learn about each other and what we do. Invite your friends to come along and participate. Where else can you get a tradeshow table for $10! Have a wonderful month!President
ABOUT PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S NETWORK
The Professional Women’s Network is dedicated to supporting professional and businesswomen in Hawaii, acting on the premise that mutual support is a necessary factor in bringing about personal growth and business success. The Network’s objectives are to promote the exchange of professional ideas and provide an opportunity to share experiences that will help women expand their business position in the Hawaii marketplace. We are committed to providing women in Hawaii with the opportunity to obtain support from other like-minded women in the pursuit of their professional and business goals. We are committed to challenging our members with new ideas and information that will help them attain their business and personal goals.
Membership Information can be obtained by calling 533-4800
YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bonnie Lambing
President
Karla Phillips
Newsletter
Jocelyn Pratt
Vice President/Programs
Pat Shapiro
Special Events
Sharon Mujtabaa
Secretary/Historian
Rudi Laarhoven
Scholarship
Elaine Myers Hammond
Treasurer
Barbara Guss
Past President/Advisor
Louise Wooden
Arrangements
Gloria Affigne
Past President/Advisor
Jane Brown
Membership
Carol Williams
Past President/Advisor
Anne Chai
Publicity
Mary Houghton
Executive Director
Sue Kenwolf
Webmaster
HELP!
Volunteer now to help with our Holiday Party and Silent Auction! December is just around the corner! Contact Pat Shapiro or any Board Member .
BRING a GUEST or a prospective MEMBER to the
May LUNCHEON & TRADE SHOW
Thursday, May 31
2001 Luncheon Dates: June 28
July 26, August 30, September 20, October 25, November 29
by Rudi Laarhoven & Karla Phillips
NANCYE BETHUREM (Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing) will be moving to Las Vegas on May 19. She is an environmental attorney and will be taking a position providing advice to federal land managers of three- million acres of public land located in Southern Nevada, and providing legal advice on other environmental challenges. Nancye said that she wouldn't have been surprised if Elvis himself had stopped her on the street in Waikiki to say she should move to Las Vegas. That's how unusual all the signs were. Her husband secured a new job in Vegas. One of her sons is also working there as well as other friends and family members who have recently moved to the desert mecca. She is looking forward to the move, but will miss her friends here, as well as the beauty of Hawaii, which is making the move difficult. She will miss us all here at PWN!
NATALIE IWASA (Erwin Cabriha & Au LLP) is also on the move. However, her new address is still an Oahu one. Natalie, her husband, and son just finished moving the 2nd weekend in April. They moved from 857 Hokulani Street to 975 Kaluanui Road. It took 11 hours, five men, one 17-foot U-haul truck and one pickup truck, but they made it! Natalie says, Now all they have to do is unpack. . . Where did we put the alarm clock?
JEANETTE FRAHM (PrePaid Legal Services) and her husband Dennis celebrated their 30th anniversary, May 8th. Dennis, very timely, had won some tickets and hotel accommodations at a golf tournament, so they headed off to the Big Island for a few days off, a vacation that they both badly needed.
BONNIE LAMBING (Nikken Independent Distributor) will be on the move at the end of this month as she travels to Paris, France, and a nine-day cruise through the wine country. Bonnie ends her fabulous trip with three days in Nice. She will be finding out if she really learned her French that she has been working on lately.
UTE REGAN (Hawaii Public Radio) has moved to a new position as Corporate Development Manager at Hawaii Public Radio.
NOREEN CONLIN (Special Olympics) has her Special Olympics Summer Games coming up on Memorial Day weekend beginning with 800 athletes and 1,000 Law Enforcement Officers running in the Torch Run. You are all welcome to come to Opening Ceremonies at Rainbow Stadium at 6:15pm at U.H. on Friday, May 25th, and please bring your friends and family! On June 8th Noreen will be taking her “daughter” Cristina (Cristina is Noreen’s visiting student from Russia) to college in Canada and will return the end of June. Those of us who were at the March luncheon had the pleasure of meeting Cristina.
MARY HOUGHTON (MHC, Inc.) has been working hard on a skate-boarding park and inline hockey rink for the children in Hawaii Kai. The keiki are desperate for a place to skate and most of the area facilities are much too small. Mary is happy that the Mayor has provided money to start construction for both rinks at Kamiloiki. The rinks should be completed in time for Christmas.
CAROL SMITH is bringing us in touch with youth, too, by bringing to our attention the achievements of a team of six fourth and fifth grade boys at Kapolei Elementary School. These keiki built a spectacular Web site of which the address is: http://www.thinkquest.org/library/. The scope of the kids’ creativity and level of skill is outstanding. There is something of interest for everyone at the site: a game, interesting facts, links, etc. You can help this team win the national ThinkQuest Junior Competition by going to the Web site and signing their guest book which is in “Contact Us.”
RUDI LAARHOVEN (Computer Training Academy) has been busy furnishing and settling 11 developers into their new area that was leased from the Airport Industrial Park recently. This facility is an expansion of the Computer Training Company and a new company called CTA Development Inc. The building is adjacent to the training school at the Airport Trade Center near the airport. The additional facility was blessed on May 3.
PAT SHAPIRO (Patricia Shapiro Photography) has changed the name of her business as you can tell. Pat says it was time her business had a more professional sounding name to go with her talents and her work. Pat’s Pics is now Patricia Shapiro Photography.
SHARON MUJTABAA (The Caption Company) has stepped up to the plate to fill the position of PWN Secretary/Historian. Jeanette Frahm who held this position for several years will be leaving in July for six months on the mainland. A big mahalo to Sharon and Jeanette!!
Note: Former member Sylvia Hormann-Alper’s husband died on Tuesday, May 7th after a long fight with cancer. Mary Houghton and her husband Tim, Jane Brown, Barbara Guss and Carol Williams attended a service of celebration for the life of Don Alper on Thursday, May 10th at The Lutheran Church of Honolulu. If you would like to extend your support to Sylvia, it would be much appreciated. You can reach her by e-mail: adasha@lava.net
E-mail your member news item for next issue to Karla Phillips: karlaBW@aol.com
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PWN RENEWALS ARE STILL BEING ACCEPTED FOR 2001. HURRY! YOU’LL SAVE $25 by RENEWING NOW!
(After May 31st you will have to pay the $25 application fee which is waived for timely renewals.)
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SANSEI PAU HANA … GOOD FOOD, GOOD NETWORKING
On Tuesday, May 8, PWN members & guests enjoyed great conversation and ono grinds at Sansei Restaurant, during our first Pau Hana Event of the year. Eighteen people were there to network and sample the bountiful and tasty dishes that just kept coming … (pictured above-left to right: Rhonda Wilson (Rudi’s guest), Rudi Laarhoven, Russ and Bonnie Lambing, Jane Brown, Ute Regan, Louise Coward.
We also welcomed new member Cila Goda; Parish Yeganeh, Sandy Wong, Kim Hoiem and Scott Chai (Anne Chai’s guests pictured below with Anne); and Taunee Williams (Carol Williams’ guest).
Stay tuned for our next Pau Hana Networking event coming up in early summer. And don't forget, while we're socializing & eating, we're also doing some great networking.
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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Meet Carol Williams ...
by Karla Phillips
Carol Williams (Hawaii’s Volcanic Values) was born in Laurelton, Long Island, a suburb of New York City. Carol grew up in various locations around New York, but met her husband, John, in Phoenix. She and John have 3 children, Dayna, Wendy, and Jeffrey.
K.P. Please tell me a little about your early life in New York and some of the life experiences that had an impact on you.
We moved several times while I was growing up, but always within New York. My mother and father had a very powerful impact on me, even at a young age (my father, an M.D. who specialized in homeopathy, died when I was just nine years old). They stressed education, open-mindedness, love of family, friends, animals ... all creatures ... to always think positively about others until/unless they proved otherwise. My mother was a very talented, bright and beautiful woman who was self-taught. She was intelligent, well-read, a super salesperson, and an inspiration to all who met her. I also have two brothers who are older than I am, they were replacement Dads as I was growing up … always there if I needed them.
K.P. What was your educational background, and what were some of your past business experiences?
I graduated high school in Monticello, N.Y. and went on to Elmira College for a year. At that time, most young women who went on to college became teachers. I was going to teach language, but had always been interested in the arts ... I liked to write, sketch, paint, etc. I wanted to work in radio and the fledgling TV industry. My mother, my mentor, my friend, my inspiration ... encouraged me to chase my rainbows. So I transferred to Ithaca College where I majored in radio and television. I was told by one of my professors that, since I was a woman in a man's business, I would be nothing more than a go-fer. I set out to prove him wrong!
Immediately out of college, I got my first job in radio at WPAC in Patchogue, Long Island. I was Continuity Director and Traffic Mgr., which meant that I wrote all the commercials, program introductions, promotions, etc. and scheduled them. I also was the female voice on any commercials or promotional announcements that we recorded.
My youngest brother, who was now married with children, had settled in Phoenix and wanted my mother and I to move there, too ... to get away from the cold weather and live in what he thought ... and still thinks ... is paradise. We moved to Phoenix. I went to work in the same type of job for a radio station there: KRIZ radio, where I met my husband. John was a disc jockey at the station. When we got married, I was promptly fired. I went to work for an ad agency as a commercial copywriter and then later, at another Phoenix radio station. John got a job at a radio station in Denver (his hometown) and so we three - John and I and our daughter Dayna, packed up and moved to Denver where our second daughter, Wendy, was born. Since radio is a revolving-door business, we kept on the move. We went from Denver to San Diego, and then San Diego to the big time: LA. John was now one of the original boss jocks on the legendary KHJ Radio. Our son, Jeffrey, was born. I divided my time between being a wife and mother and doing volunteer PR work. As the kids got older, I became more involved in their lives, leading Camp Fire groups, promoting the track team, etc.
After ten years in LA, radio took us to Pittsburgh, PA. I went back to work full-time at an ad agency. I worked first as a copywriter, then moved up to Vice President of Creative Services. Another ten years passed and it was time to take destiny into my own hands. I started a boutique ad agency - we won many creative awards and thrived for six years until the East Coast recession of 1990-91. In the summer of 1991, I ended up in the hospital for the removal of a non-cancerous tumor behind my ear, which the Dr. surmised was caused by stress.
K.P. What brought you to Hawaii and your current profession?
My husband's and my dream had always been to live in Hawaii. We had been here on vacation many, many times and Hawaii kept calling us back. The few days in the hospital and what put me there caused us both to think about what was really important to us. We looked at each other, smiled and knew that it was time to pack it all up and make the move. We closed the business, sold the house, and literally came here on a wing and a prayer.
I went to work at KHVH News 990 and Z-Rock Radio. It was deja vu for me but a great introduction to the local language, people and places. A little over a year later, I went to CNN Radio as Business Manager and Creative Director. After three years there, the station was sold, and I went to Network Media as Director of Marketing. Two years later, my position was eliminated. I spent two months as Marketing Director for Aloha Petroleum only to find out that they really didn't want to market the company. I decided freelance advertising and marketing consulting was the best path for me. Network Media called me to work on a project - selling advertising for the in-room Guest Directories for Aston and Marc, which I'm still doing -- then another project as Advertising Sales Manager for the Waikiki News, which I'm still doing.
In the meantime, I knew I had to help my children start their own business so they wouldn't have to work for others all their lives. A year ago, we came up with the concept for Hawaii's Volcanic Values. After much research and brainstorming, the little coupon publication is about ready to be born. As the managing director, I can use all my years of experience in advertising and sales to make this a very successful business! And my goal is to make Hawaii's Volcanic Values successful enough so that my daughter Wendy, a very talented graphic designer, who brought the book to life, can move here with her new husband.
K.P. What led you to PWN and what do you enjoy most about your membership?
Back in 1993 while I was at CNN Radio, I mentored a young woman who was a recent graduate of Ithaca College, a fellow alumna. She had been to a PWN luncheon as a guest of an advertiser on the station. She thought I would find the organization interesting and we both attended another luncheon and subsequently both joined PWN. What I find most enjoyable about PWN is the camaraderie. I have made truly good friends ... not just business acquaintances. I appreciate their support, their honesty, their aloha! It helps that we are all from different walks of life with different experiences to make each other’s lives richer.
K.P. What are some of things that are most important in your life right now?
As I mentioned earlier, making our little business, Hawaii's Volcanic Values, a success is of utmost importance. But above all, my family is most important to me. I love being my own boss, working out of my home ... it gives me quality time to spend with my husband on a daily basis. We met working together and here we are still working together. John is my true love, my very best friend and my toughest critic. And, my two daughters and my son are my pride and joy. I am so pleased that as adults they remain close to each other and to me. What could possibly be more important to me!>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Are you or your children attending College or another accredited post-secondary school?
If so, you or your child may be eligible to apply for the Alex Memorial Scholarship. For an application, members should call or email the Scholarship Chair, Rudi Laarhoven, Ph.D. 455-2235 or womenweave@hawaii.rr.com.
