Category: NAWBO

Value in the Valley: Empowering Women to Reach Their Highest Potential

On September 27, 2021, the Oregon Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO Oregon) will hold a virtual event entitled “Value in the Valley.” It is a message to encourage every professional woman to climb their highest mountain and become who they are capable of becoming. The guest speaker for this event is Tammy Butler Robinson.

We invite you to join us at this event. You can register here:

About the event

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, and how you can still come out of it.” – Maya Angelou

Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once wrote that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. You may know which destination you’re headed to, you may know how to get there, and you may even have that strong desire to arrive there. But you will never reach that destination if you don’t make that first, small, single step.

Our journey to greatness begins this way. We may have the passion, the drive, and the plan to make our dreams a reality. But without taking that first step, our dreams will be just that—dreams. And there’s no assurance that the journey itself will be easy. More likely than not, we’ll be called upon to make sacrifices, as well as to face setbacks and heartaches. Nonetheless, if you truly believe that your dreams are worth pursuing, that you’re willing to persevere against all challenges, that you stay true to your values, and that you exercise self-care no matter how hard it gets, you will see the value in the valley and finally reach your destination.

About NAWBO

The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is the unified voice of over 10 million women-owned businesses in the United States representing the fastest-growing segment of the economy.

Founded in 1975, NAWBO propels women entrepreneurs into economic, social, and political spheres of power worldwide by:

  • Strengthening the wealth-creating capacity of our members and promoting economic development within the entrepreneurial community
  • Creating innovative and effective change in the business culture
  • Building strategic alliances, coalitions, and affiliations
  • Transforming public policy and influencing opinion-makers

About Tammy Butler Robinson

Tammy Butler is a proven leader with a strong background in housing and community development, expertise in public finance and management, and a deep commitment to improving communities and the lives of women in Indiana. As a Managing Principal with Engaging Solutions, she has successfully led and managed the company’s call center business and co-managed the firm’s planning and community outreach sector. Prior to that, Tammy spent over a decade in State government as a fiscal analyst for the Indiana House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee; Assistant Director of the Indiana State Budget Agency; Director of Claims Management for the Family and Social Services Agency; and Data Director for the Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning.

Tammy’s passion for improving the lives of women and families in Indiana extends beyond her corporate life. She is pastor of The House of God Church in Indianapolis, leading a congregation whose members are among the most underserved and underrepresented populations in the state. Her problem-solving skills, knowledge, and experience engaging stakeholders in the community planning process have led to the creation of multiple programs that have changed lives.

Tammy lives in McCordsville, Indiana with her two children, Myles and Brian Jr.


NAWBO Oregon Past President Chosen for Exclusive Accelerated Growth Training

NAWBO Oregon past president and Sacred Fire Creative founder Malee Ojua joins a select group of 25 women business owners undergoing the NAWBO Accelerated Growth Program, a 10-month business leadership training created by NAWBO and sponsored by Wells-Fargo. 

Portland, OR, March 2021—Sacred Fire Creative (SFC) announced the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) selected SFC CEO Malee Ojua as part of its new learning program. Open to only 25 participants, the NAWBO Accelerated Growth Program helps women business owners scale up their enterprises.

The NAWBO Accelerated Growth Program aims to increase its participants’ market competitiveness.

The NAWBO Accelerated Growth Program is an offering of the organization’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Development. The program, launched in 2021, is a top-tier educational plan designed to help women business owners increase their competitiveness in their respective markets. It’s also meant to set them up for higher levels of growth and expansion. Wells-Fargo sponsors the program.

Participants are to attend eight one-hour online learning sessions for four months. Topics covered in these sessions include developing a leadership mindset, building successful teams, strategic planning, and brand messaging. After completing the program, they will take part in mentorship/mastermind groups for six months. They will also receive other benefits that will help them grow their business.

According to NAWBO, women own 40% of all privately held companies in the country today. Still, the size of their revenues remains significantly below other types of businesses. Educating women business owners enables them to progress to the same or greater levels.

NAWBO is a network of women business owners in the US formed in 1975. Its purpose is to share resources and to provide mutual support among its members. It also lobbies economic and public policies benefiting women entrepreneurs.

Sacred Fire Creative is named one of the top digital marketing agencies in Portland.

SFC is a Portland-based digital marketing agency specializing in helping its clients build a legacy through solid branding. With a unique and robust brand, SFC clients can forge deep connections with its customers, thus creating a loyal community. Among the companies that SFC has worked with are ArisGlobal Software, RiverWest Acupuncture, Johnson & Johnson, and NYU Langone Medical Center. Expertise.com named SFC one of the top digital marketing agencies in the city.

Aside from her role as SFC head, Malee Ojua is also involved with NAWBO’s Oregon chapter. She is the chapter’s current program director and served as its president in 2020. Additionally, she hosts bimonthly virtual forums on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB). Ojua participated in the Goldman Sachs 10KSB program in 2019. A former aeronautics engineer, she founded SFC in 2014.


Examining the 30-Year Legacy of NAWBO and the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with the Business Tribune in my capacity as Programs Director and President-Elect of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Oregon Chapter. In that interview, I talked about how the 18-month-old NAWBO Oregon Chapter stands on the 30-year legacy of NAWBO and the groundbreaking 1988 law that made it all possible. I also spoke about the challenges that women business owners still face today.

 

Women’s contribution to business is previously misrepresented

 

Before the 1990s, the business sector’s spotlight is focused entirely on men and their contributions. Women’s contributions to business didn’t matter much. In fact, prior to the passage of the Women’s Business Ownership Act, the US Census Bureau only collected data from women business owners who operate from home. The Bureau largely disregarded data from bigger women-run corporations, known as C-corporations.

 

This level of misrepresentation obviously made it difficult for women back then to start up and grow their own enterprises. Gender stereotyping labeled women as high-risk borrowers, so few banks and lenders were willing to give them the funding they needed. Those that were required women borrowers to have their male relatives sign their loan applications for them. There were even stories of women having their teenaged sons sign these applications for them, if you could believe that.

 

Aside from lack of funding sources, women in business also didn’t have much support in terms of education and resources. Women business owners were pretty much on their own back then, to succeed or fail only by their sheer grit.

 

NAWBO lobbies to change the scene for women in business

 

Fast forward to 1975, when a group of like-minded, Washington DC-based businesswomen got together to share information and solutions to challenges faced by women in business. Led by Susan Hagar, this group of women eventually incorporated themselves as the National Association of Women Business Owners.

 

Initially, NAWBO endeavored to show support for women business owners by publishing a directory of women-run enterprises in the Baltimore area. NAWBO’s growing influence led the group to take part in the White House Conference on Small Businesses. They also participated in task forces and committees to bring to the fore women’s concerns and challenges in the world of business that time.

 

Their efforts paid off in the long run. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed H.R. 5050, also known as the Women’s Business Ownership Act. NAWBO was recognized as one of the organizations whose support made this historic law possible.

 

H.R. 5050 changed the landscape for women in business. For one, it scraped existing laws requiring women to get male family members to sign for their loans. For another, the Act created women’s business centers throughout the country. From these centers, women can get seed funding, training, resources, and other forms of support to start up and grow their businesses. Lastly, the Act enabled the formation of the National Women’s Business Council. The Council assists in creating policies regarding women in business.

 

Women in business still face challenges today

 

The passage of the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 certainly opened more doors for women in business. More than that, the law revealed the true value that businesswomen bring to the table.

 

Nonetheless, women business owners still face a myriad of challenges today, 30 years after President Reagan signed the Act. These issues lie mostly with finding adequate funding and gender discrimination. Entrepreneur Magazine has a great infographic that illustrates the problems that women in business still face right now.

 

Personally, I find finances to be a major challenge in running Sacred Fire Creative. As I mentioned in the Business Tribune article, I can be obsessive with my personal finances and the money that comes in and out of my company. So, it’s always my advice to other women business owners who are just starting up to keep track of their finances. More importantly, they should seek financing instead of using their credit cards when taking care of their business expenses.

 

With regards NAWBO Oregon, our focus right now is to build a strong support network for our growing membership. Eventually, once we get the numbers, we will shift our attention to advocate state-level legislation that will promote concerns of Oregon’s women business owners.

 


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