Inspired by The Finest

I’m attending a series of monthly workshops specifically created for women-owned businesses. It’s called Triple L – Ladies, Learning and Lunch – and is hosted by SCORE, which has thousands of volunteers who help new and evolving businesses, and is supported by the SBA.

I wasn’t expecting the caliber of women who attend or the diversity of the careers they are building. For example, one bought a very successful commercial cleaning business that she wants to make sure she grows in a careful manner. Another is refining a service that helps people individually and families in general who have to relocate due to a new job. She has written a couple of books on the subject and is now working with large companies in helping them help their employees in the relocation process.

Each month SCORE brings in a speaker who will address a specific topic: writing and revising a business plan, the ins and outs of human resources, and debt vs. equity are just some of the topics covered. Many times (okay, most times) my head feels like it’s going to explode with all the information I’ve been given. The afternoon includes lunch (always delicious, too), which gives attendees time to talk.

Among the many interesting things I’ve learned at the Triple L sessions is that no matter what business we’re in, most of us are grappling with similar issues. Workers’ compensation insurance, acquiring capital and team building are all subjects that have been discussed. I applaud these women who, like me, eagerly ventured into the business world trying to make their way.

And while I am excited to be a part of this group of dynamic businesswomen, I can’t help but notice the empty storefronts I pass when I walk to the Pasadena campus where I attend these workshops. To me these empty storefronts represent dreams that were either unfulfilled or fell apart. Call it silly, but a little piece of me mourns for what I think are these lost dreams. Perhaps it’s my own fears that bring these thoughts to mind – or maybe it’s just an overactive imagination.

I turn my attention then to those people who have strived to build a successful business, to provide an excellent product or service, who have built a reputation that has not gone unnoticed. These are the ones who have been voted The Finest, the best, by readers of Crescenta Valley Weekly.

Tallying of the 9,000-plus votes cast by CV Weekly readers has been completed, the winners have been notified and we are in the process of designing a magazine that provides a quick reference of who these winners are. The magazines will be inserted into our Sept. 29 newspaper. A reception celebrating these chosen ones is also being planned.

I congratulate them and thank them for the hope they inspire in all of us who are trying to make a go of it.

  robin goldsworthy