The Connection

    From left are Catherine Read and keynote speaker Jessica McCarthy.
 By Bonnie Hobbs   

More than 120 people attended the Sept. 25 Women’s Economic Empowerment Luncheon at the Sherwood Center in Fairfax. And besides enjoying a tasty meal provided by Songbird Asian Café & Bar, a woman-owned business in the City, they received valuable advice from fellow female business owners. 

Hosting were the Fairfax City Economic Development Authority (EDA), the City of Fairfax Commission for Women, the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce (CFCC) and the Old Town Fairfax Business Assn. Fairfax Mayor Catherine Read was asked to share her own business story and, at the outset, she did.

Having knowledge about marketing, technology and social media, she opened two small businesses and, in 2007, began a social-media consulting company. And when she needed to leave the office world, she still persevered.

“When I left, it was because my mother had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer,” explained Read. “And I had the flexibility to run my own business and spend the remainder of my mother’s life with her. And looking out at the women here, I know there are similar stories about raising children, taking care of elderly parents or those seriously or terminally ill. This is what we do as women – we figure out how to make it all work.”

Read then moderated a panel discussion featuring the owners of, respectively, Down The Line Sports Center (Fairfax City’s first indoor pickleball facility), Jenni Bae; Flex Professionals (an employee-recruiting and flexible-staffing agency), Jamie Hirschfeld; and Brooke’s Bridal & Ball, plus Brooke’s Bridal & Beyond (selling wedding dresses and evening gowns), mother and daughter, Nanci and Brooke Ramos. Below is a portion of it:

* What are the everyday challenges you face, and how do you overcome them to keep moving forward?

Hirschfeld: “About 90 percent of our job candidates are women, so our challenge is getting [employers] to understand the value of flexibility and how they can embrace that. And now that more companies are bringing back people to the office, it’s a challenge for us.”

Nanci Ramos: “Our largest challenge is staffing. We have lots of student [employees], but then they all go back to school. It takes at least two months to train a bridal stylist; it’s not just a sales job. So we try to find young girls that want to make bridal a career. But we now have three girls who are in training for that.”

Bae: “Staffing is definitely an issue, especially part-time staff who want to be there and are competent to do the job. It’s a hard combo to find, [as well as] people to take over the smaller tasks that I could delegate.

“When I work with men – vendors, sports companies, athletes – one of my struggles is how to communicate with them in a way that maintains my dignity. The tone they take with you sometimes is appalling. I have to be receptive but also let them know where I stand.”

* What shifts and business challenges have you faced in recent years, and how have you successfully adapted to continue growing?

Brooke Ramos: “It took two years to create our business plan. I’ve been in the bridal industry about 12 years, so putting myself out there and making myself known was a little struggle, but also a great accomplishment.”

Bae: Pickleball is a brand-new thing, so there was never a game plan for everyone to follow. It’s really figuring it out as you go, so I thought about what I’d want as a consumer. I don’t like to model my business after everyone else’s. I’m constantly looking for ways to offer something different that no one else is doing. Fairfax City gave me this opportunity, and I could be as creative as I wanted.”

Hirschfeld: “During COVID, we only did part-time placement, never full-time, so we added that to our repertoire because people were looking for full-time work. But they wanted it to be flexible, whether it be employee remote or hybrid. Also, we used to interview people face-to-face but now we’re doing lots of Zoom interviews.” 

Keynote speaker Jessica McCarthy, president and co-owner of Joy Riot, spoke about amplifying marketing. “We’re an integrated marketing agency that creates emotional connections between brands and audiences,” she said. “We do that through branding, websites and marketing.”

When she was in fifth grade, she said, her mom took her to a place to paint something decorative. She loved it, but her mom couldn’t take her every week. “So I gave the owner a business proposition,” said McCarthy. “I said, ‘More people need to know about your business, so I’ll make flyers and posters in exchange for painting privileges.’” She did all that, plus invoicing and record-keeping, enroute to a marketing career.

“Branding lays the foundation,” she said. “You have one chance to make a good, first impression. Logos cause your customers to make judgments about the brands they represent. But branding is about much more – it’s your look, feel and voice. It’s how you answer that email and how your staff interacts with customers.

“Ask yourself what you are and what your business does. How do you want it to be perceived? What are you trying to get across, and what’s your brand’s personality – the friend to grab a beer with or the wise aunt you go to when you’re in trouble?

“What problem are you solving for your audience? Are you giving them relief? What do you want them to feel? And finally, why do you do what you do? Because you’re good at it? You like some aspects of it? Or because you’ve figured out some secret sauce to do something? For me, I have a passion for connecting people, networking, and connecting brands to their audiences and problems to their solutions.”

McCarthy said the next piece is “telling your story. People focus too much on the rational benefits, but anyone else could say, ‘I do it better.’ So it’s about creating a personal connection so people will say, ‘Yeah, but I really like them because of x, y and z.’ So how do we create that emotional connection?

“Think about what’s at the core of your brand and the heart of your audience and find the overlap. On the brand side, it’s also about why you do it. Why did you start this venture, why do you come to work every day and why do you stay in it? On the audience side, it’s not just knowing your demographic, but what’s going on in their daily lives that makes them think about what you have to offer. Where they overlap is where you find the emotional connection.”

“Even if you’re working with the government, you need to remember there’s a human being on the other side of that transaction,” continued McCarthy. “What are you doing for that person that’ll make their life better? 

“You also need to create awareness of and trust in your brand. Make people remember it but do quality social-media posts over quantity. Paid social media helps expand your audience, and digital social media has unparalleled targeting capabilities. Tell your story everywhere you get the opportunity.”

Following her speech, female business owners in the City networked with people offering business-support services and with other women business owners. But first came a special grant presentation. In August, the City announced it was accepting applications for five Women’s Entrepreneur grants totaling $25,000 to help women-owned businesses in Fairfax City. 

The funds will enable the awardees to procure consulting and other services to enhance their business capabilities. However, at the luncheon, Tara Borwey with Fairfax City Economic Development (FCED) said six businesses would receive grants. 

Since some grant requests came in under $5,000 and luncheon tickets sold out, the total amount granted was increased to $27,859. “We had so many good applicants, we added one more grant,” said Borwey. “And the proceeds from this luncheon helped fund it.”

The recipients were: Stephanie Dallojacono, Smiley Skin Beauty; Julia Hughes, BE2 Pilates; Mi-Kyong Kwon, HopeSpring Child & Family Clinic; Monisha Mittal, Mittal Accelerated Communications; Eurona E. Tilley, Epiphany Pilates; and Alison Friedman, Liberty Baking Co.