As a
woman in today's world, the word "multi-task" is a core part
of your being. Whether you're a stay-at-home mom trying to run a
small business or a fast-paced woman climbing the corporate ladder,
life seems to dump a plethora of items on your plate. The question
then becomes, how do you find time to socialize AND acquire the
resources you need to live a happy, successful, and fulfilling life?
That question is what led me to start Wild Women Entrepreneurs.
I knew from years of event planning and networking that the two
go hand in hand. We, as a society, generally do business with the
people we know and trust. So, why not expand that circle? Each of
us is on a personal journey through life to achieve our fullest
potential. There is no reason why we cannot help one another do
so and have FUN in the meantime! That's what life is ALL ABOUT!
Wildly Yours,
Ja-Naé Duane
President/Founder
Ja-Naé Duane, president & founder
Ja-Naé Duane is an entrepreneur devoted to singing, acting, networking, and guerilla and buzz marketing. She is a professional opera singer that began her career at 13. Since then, she has performed in world-famous attractions including The White House, Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Lincoln Jazz Center, and the Boston Esplande.
To tie her love for performing with her natural entrepreneurial instincts, Ja-Naé offers a free newsletter and blog to other singers and artists at www.Ja-Nae.com. It covers tips and promotional tactics on how to get noticed and to generate publicity.
Ja-Naé founded Wild Women Entrepreneurs in 2005, from a desire
to have an organization that helps success-driven women to share talents,
skills, and resources with each other, a community that shows women that
they can be themselves and be successful businesswomen as well.
Ja-Naé created her own major at Northeastern University and New England Conservatory, with a collaboration between the two institutions. Her degree was Opera. She did her graduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University and received a MA in a collaboration program with the Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. She also received an AD from Boston University’s Opera Institute. She is currently studying at the Metropolitan Opera.
She has won the NATS competition, is a recipient of “Who’s Who Among American College Students,” Carnegie Mellon’s Award for “Graduate Vocal Excellence” the “GUSH Award,” and
has twice received the key to her hometown, West Haven, CT.
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Katherine (Kate) Powers, founding board member
Kate Powers returned to her entrepreneurial roots after suffering a work injury that left her physically unable to continue in the areas of employment she had previously known. Despite the fact that her first endeavor failed, she learned and walked away from that experience with many lessons learned.
After the birth of her daughter, Kate needed to do something that would reconnect her to the adult world and generate income at the same time. She became an independent consultant for Creative Memories (CM). CM (http://www.mycmsite.com/kpowers) is a company that makes keepsakes albums and is successfully in its 19th year.
In addition to her work with CM, Kate used her past experiences to become an expert in personal coaching and direct sales business coaching. She offers training sessions, consultant crops, business meetings and ample opportunities for their business to grow.
As the treasurer and co-founder of Wild Women Entrepreneurs, Kate felt that women needed a place where they could find resources, information, help and support in building their business. One of her dearest friends had the same vision, and thus the Wild WE organization was conceived.
Kate is a graduate of The University of Massachusetts at Boston with an Arts & Science degree, double majoring in History and Art.
Kate lives in a full three-decker house in Boston, MA, with her husband Andy, their daughter Abbi, her mother, her brother, his pregnant wife, their three year-old son and Scruffy the dog.
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Shannon Cherry, APR, MA
Shannon Cherry, APR, MA, began her career in the communications field as a TV and newspaper journalist. Due to the unrealistically demanding schedule, she decided to make the transition to public relations and marketing, and she was a natural.
She worked as a PR pro for several nonprofits and major corporations and aggressively designed and developed dozens of innovative public relations strategies though various press conferences, trade shows, and news releases. The experience she gained was a strong encouragement for her to pursue her own destiny by becoming an entrepreneur.
As the founder and president of Cherry Communications (www.cherrycommunications.com) in 2002, Shannon also created Be Heard Solutions (www.beheardsolutions.com) in 2005, the subsidiary designed especially to help female business owners and entrepreneurs to find their voice, tell their story and be heard without a high price tag.
In addition to being a public relations and marketing expert, Shannon is also a published author. She is the contributor of dozens of e-zine articles and has received several state and national awards for brochures, newsletters and magazines she wrote and produced. She also co-authored the book, "Become Your Own Great & Powerful: A Woman's Guide to Living Your Real, Big Life."
Shannon earned accreditation in public relations from PRSA in 1995. She received a bachelor's degree in communications from SUNY Geneseo and an MA in Communications Administration from the University of Memphis.
She lives in Albany, NY with her husband Matt, their twin daughters Lyra and Sophia, her dog Arizona, and her cats, Zenobia & Ansel.
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Stephanie M. Cockerl
Despite her natural gift with webpage programming, Stephanie initially entered the work force by interning for an architectural firm. However, after her great-grandmother’s death in 1997, she realized that life is too short to do anything but what makes you happy, and she pursued a career in the challenging and dynamic nature of the World Wide Web.
In March 1997, she began her career as a freelancer. She was hired as an HTML Programmer, and the rest fell into place. Today, as the owner of NextSTEPH (www.nextsteph.com), she helps organizations define and implement goals for their websites. She also works with clients and audiences to effectively and safely harness the power of the World Wide Web for information gathering, information sharing, marketing and career pursuits.
Over the years, Stephanie has become an award winning web designer, developer, professor and web consultant. She is a Certified Webmaster, awarded by the International Association of Webmasters and Designers; listed on Who's Who on the Web, has been featured as "Webgrrl of the Week" by Webgrrls.com, an international networking organization for Women in New Media; Silicon Salley, a magazine that recognizes women in technology; in iVillage.com, a leading online community for women as a "Featured Technodiva"; and is one of the 171 faces in the book, Futurize Your Enterprise: Business Strategy in the Age of the E-Customer, by David Siegel in 1999. She has also been honored with membership into the Order of Omega, an honor society that recognizes individuals for their contributions to fraternity and sorority life. Stephanie has also worked with clients such as Jackie Davis, an interior Designer featured on the HGTV show "Decorating Cents" and also worked on the website for 2002 Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Golisano.
Stephanie, a native of New York, received a Bachelor of Architecture Degree from Cornell University in 1996, her Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Media Management from Metropolitan College of New York, formerly Audrey Cohen College in 2001, and many certifications.
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Daryl (David) Crockett
Daryl (David) Crockett was born in Rhode Island and received her B.S. in Accounting from Bryant University in Rhode Island, and then attended the New Hampshire College MBA Program. Many who knew her well at this time felt that the field of Accounting would never offer enough creativity to keep her fully interested in the profession.. and they were right.
Shortly after college, Daryl set out in pursuit of the American Entrepreneurial Dream, preferring consulting and owning her own businesses to "working on the inside". On her journey, however, there were some jobs worth taking, and she worked as a controller and eventually as Chief Financial Officer for several firms, including one publicly traded company.
In 2000, tragedy rocked Daryl's world. While she was working on an IPO, her husband, David, was killed in a construction accident, leaving her widowed with her two boys, ages 10 and 13. Unable to continue traveling internationally and balancing the demands of her CFO duties with the needs of her family, she returned to consulting, assisting companies and executives in developing and implementing systems and strategies for growing companies. Her firm, Peppermill
Consulting (www.peppermillconsulting.com), provides business growth strategies and executive coaching. Her other websites include www.PeppermillProductions.com and
www.NegotiatingforNiceGuys.com.
In addition to being a non-fiction writer, speaker, consultant, and executive coach, Daryl Crockett is also a prolific fiction writer. She has developed many animated cartoon series treatments, TV sitcom series premises, and various scripts and screenplays. Daryl currently lives on a small farm in Massachusetts with her new husband, Dean, their children, dog and cat, some goats, sheep, chickens and one not-so-lonely llama.
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Joseph Iaricci
Joseph Iaricci is the owner of JPI Associates which provides accounting and tax preparation for companies and individuals. He earned a bachelors degree in accounting from Clemson University. In addition, he has taken several intensive CPA review courses as well continuing education seminars to keep current with changing accounting laws.
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Former Board Members:
Lori B. Davis
Lori B. Davis owns a virtual assistance (VA) firm called Davis Virtual Assistants, which began in her teeny-tiny apartment in San Francisco in mid-January 2000. Just one day before deciding to become an entrepreneur, she had survived her fourth and final downsizing from regional IT positions, where she managed Microsoft™ and Novell™ LANs/WANs (Local Area Networks/Wide Area Networks).
Davis Virtual Assistants (www.DavisVA.com) is the internet's premier location for the Virtual Assistance industry. Lori works with clients to outsource their administrative, technical and creative business needs. Virtual Assistants are ‘Invisible Paper Pushers;’ they take care of the clients’ back office while they go out and do whatever they have to in order to bring home the bacon!
Lori lives Gloversville, NY, with husband Joe, Shakey the young feline addition to the household, and Cagny, a 10-year-old cat also referred to as “the old man of the house.”
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Lauren B. DeMino
Ever since a business law course in business school lit a fire in her, she decided on her future as a lawyer and has devoted her life – while having fun in the process – to it ever since.
Lauren was a 2002 graduate of the Boston University School of Management, with a concentration in finance and management information systems and a 2005 graduate of the Boston University School of Law, with a concentration in business organizations and finance law.
She co-owns Exemplar Law Partners, LLC (www.exemplarlaw.com), a firm that is pioneering change in the legal industry, and she is extremely proud to be a part of it. Exemplar Law Partners, LLC, is the first firm in the nation to completely abandon the billable hour in favor of fixed pricing, and are second to offer satisfaction guarantee. It is a full-service law firm, focusing on providing cross functional solutions and outstanding customer service.
Lauren, a board member of Wild Women Entrepreneurs since 2006, currently resides in Brookline, MA, with her boyfriend Young, her cat Nugget, and occasionally a bunny whose name is Dust.
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Ann Zuccardy
In the mid 1980s, Ann Zuccardy broke into technical writing by accident when PCs began coming onto the business scene. Having never taken a business or computer course in her life, she realized that she had a knack for figuring out computer technology and teaching it to others. She took programming courses and worked her way up the ladder to become a programmer. She quickly became the techno-nerd who knew how to document everything. She worked her way to becoming a technical writer before she even knew what a technical writer was!
Despite her years of experience, Ann never felt totally "at home" in corporate America. When her daughter was a toddler in 1996, she followed her wild woman instincts and chose entrepreneurship. She started the Vermont Shortbread Company (VSC) (www.vermontshortbread.com), a choice that allowed her to stay at home with her toddler daughter but at the same time gave her a means to support herself while doing something she loved.
With a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Southern Connecticut State University, she would also like to pursue her graduate studies to get her MFA in creative non-fiction.
Ann currently resides in Huntington, Vermont, small rural town outside of Burlington, with Brian, his girls Leah and Mikaela, her daughter, Joanna and kitties, Gypsy and Winston.
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