Share our valentine with your circle of support
Happy early Valentine’s Day! Have you heard the old saying "Loving is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction?” Women’s Initiative has a vision that we will all look in the same direction at a growing economy that includes women who have been traditionally left out. If you love Women’s Initiative and the amazing women business owners in your community who are graduates of our program, then please tell someone about us. Tell a friend, a co-worker, or a client. Women’s Initiative is actively creating a vibrant community of women in business. We need allies of all kinds to make this happen including business connectors, mentors, volunteers and advocates. Simply CLICK HERE and enter the name and email address of those who should know about the work we do. Personalize an email message and SEND! Please note that Women’s Initiative will not collect any personal information from the email you send. Your friend will decide whether or not she or he would like to sign-up for our e-newsletter and get involved with us.

Open for business in Oakland’s Fruitvale district
The Fruitvale Public Market opened a few weeks ago and two Women's Initiative graduates have businesses in the market. The new businesses include a second store for Connie Rivera’s Mixcoatl Arts & Crafts, and Rosalva Diaz’s La Verbena Café. The new market opened with mariachis playing and a crowd of shoppers and well-wishers. Consider taking your valentine to see the beautiful Latin American beadwork and jewelry at Mixcoatl Arts & Crafts. Then stop by La Verbena Café for fresh juice and a specialty sandwich. CLICK HERE for more information about the market.

Power of the Small Business Vote
The aftermath of the primary elections revealed that small business owners and their employees are a noteworthy voting bloc, and the voting mass outpaces more well-known blocs like veterans and union members (Source: NFIB). According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in California, small business owners and employees made up 28 percent of the Democrats who voted on Super Tuesday, versus union members who were 24 percent. Heathcare is a top issue for small business owners and their employees. A previous study by NFIB revealed that of 814 small business owners surveyed, 84 percent are "extremely" or "very likely" to vote. They are highly concerned with policy decisions and are prepared to take their concerns to the ballot box. For more information about NFIB and the voting power of small businesses, visit their website.

Claudia Bauer
Owner of I, Claudia Inc.

For the past year, Claudia Bauer of I, Claudia Inc. has helped over 30 Women's Initiative clients and volunteered more than 100 hours with Women’s Initiative clients and staff through our SuccessLink program. Claudia Bauer is a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in national brand marketing, copywriting, corporate communications, trade books and magazines. Claudia helps our clients who are SuccessLink members market their products and services in their own voice through letters, product descriptions, web sites and brochures. Claudia is proud to have Women’s Initiative on her client list, which includes Williams-Sonoma, BabyCenter, Pottery Barn, and The Discovery Channel.

Our clients had the following to say about her work:
“[Claudia] was professional, highly focused, and very efficient. Her demeanor was warm and welcoming, and she produced some wonderful copy for me in practically no time.”

“She had some exciting ideas about how to angle my pitch to TV shows and helped clarify the differences between a release and a pitch.”

“I would surely recommend Claudia to others. I like the way she was able to produce catchy, concise copy for my business despite being unfamiliar with my services.”

For more information about Claudia and her professional services, please contact her directly at (510) 595- 8234 or iclaudiainc@gmail.com. We are looking for more corporate and entrepreneurial leaders like Claudia to share their skills and support new entrepreneurs as a Business Connector. Women’s Initiative especially welcomes Connectors that reflect the ethnic and social diversity of the communities we serve. The ideal Business Connector will have experience as a business owner, founder or senior manager. If you are interested in our SuccessLink Business Connector program, CLICK HERE.

photo credit: Nancy Rothstein, Women's Initiative graduate

Elizabeth Woods
Magnificent Quiche

Washing, cutting, sautéing, frying, baking, dicing, stirring…for many of us, cooking can be an exhausting task that we would rather avoid. This is definitely not the case for Elizabeth Woods, whose earliest memories as a young girl involve cracking eggs for her mother and aunt, her first teachers in the kitchen. For Elizabeth cooking feels more like a massage. “I go into my kitchen and get into this zone that is so relaxing.” One of Elizabeth’s most relaxing pastimes is also the heart of her ever-growing business, Magnificent Quiche. The word magnificent describes more than just Elizabeth’s quiche. Her clearly envisioned business plan, her unrelenting commitment to her dreams, and her pure passion for cooking all fall equally into the category of magnificent.

Always the cook, Elizabeth started a part-time business in 1999, mostly catering for family and friends while working full-time as a program coordinator for a non-profit. While attending a party catered by Elizabeth, a Costco buyer tasted one of her quiches and, very impressed with its taste and quality, invited her to pitch her product to Costco. Even though Elizabeth had not yet developed a label or nutritional facts for her quiche, she agreed to the meeting and remembers entering Costco holding her quiche wrapped in nothing but tinfoil. Surrounded by other business owners who had professionally packaged products and fancy media kits, Elizabeth remembers looking down nervously at her simply packaged quiche, but a voice in her head immediately reassured her: “your product is magnificent and you deserve to be here!” That voice could not have been more right as Costco is considering Elizabeth’s quiche business as one of many contracts. She also has contracts with notable companies like Kaiser, the Marriott, and the Ramada Inn. Proof that you can’t judge a quiche by its cover.

With her business already steadily growing, Elizabeth found Women’s Initiative in 2001, allowing her to refine her business plan and clarify her objectives. “Women’s Initiative said to me everything that you have on paper is a yes! You can do this!” She credits Women's Initiative for helping to build her confidence, for rounding out her business plan, and for bringing her out of the kitchen and into the arena of business. Her quiches have received awards such as ‘Overall Best Dish’ and ‘Best Quiche of the West’ in cook-offs and conferences.

Only made stronger by her very supportive family and encouraging friends, Elizabeth’s faith in herself and in her business consistently propels her forward, despite the challenges that every business owner must face. One year ago, when she quit her non-profit job deciding to devote herself fulltime to her business, she found herself struggling with the costs of her commercial kitchen and made the hardest decision of her career. “I had to choose between either giving up my apartment or my commercial kitchen.” With the help of her family, she chose to keep her kitchen, living with her brother until her business regained its strength. Looking back on the experience, Elizabeth exclaimed optimistically “this is your runway and sometimes your runaway is bumpy.” And Elizabeth definitely keeps on moving over the bumps. Today in addition to having her own duplex, she has a beautiful office in downtown Oakland and a newly relocated commercial kitchen in San Francisco.

Articulate and charismatic, Elizabeth can easily describe the future of her business to you in a way that will leave you feeling inspired and excited about your own dreams. She now has a staff of six in her kitchen and makes 55 different kinds of quiches with ingredients ranging from lobster to steak to artichoke and zucchini, keeping her kitchen humming eight hours a day, five days a week. Once Elizabeth has gathered the necessary capital, she plans to bring her quiche to Microsoft, Whole Foods, MGM Grand, and the Bellagio. As a tribute to her sister who died of lung cancer in 1990, one day Elizabeth would like to fulfill her sister’s dream of opening up a restaurant. Featured menu item? Quiche, of course.

Who knew that quiche could inspire so many people to utter the same word time and time again: “magnificent.” All of Elizabeth’s magnificence will be honored at the Women's Initiative gala on May 14 as she is slated to receive an Enterprising Woman of the Year award.

Check Elizabeth out at www.magnificentquiche.com.

     -Anna Proctor