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Women In Business 2011

 
WIB2011

This is the ninth year Inside Business has recognized women in Hampton Roads for their business acumen. By honoring these achievements we seek to encourage them and other women to trust in their abilities, strengthen their self-confidence and participate in the economic growth of the community.
The 25 women we honor were selected from nominations from the public. We greatly appreciate the efforts of our judges, who are listed on this page.
The women we honor are a diverse group who do everything from running a hospital to handling the accounting of a Fortune 500 company to creating cupcake sensations. They’ve created businesses and excelled in professional positions while raising a family, sometimes as a single parent or in the face of other adversities, and being involved in the community and their industries. They’ve done it while reaching out to help other women and men along the way.
And that’s just the beginning, because this group of women are not done. We hope this recognition spurs them on to even greater things. We’re proud to introduce them to you.

– Carol Lichti, Editor of Inside Business

The judges
Anne C.H. Conner
President, TowneBank
Williamsburg
2003 Women in Business honoree

Susan Kelly
CEO, Jo-Kell
Chesapeake
2008 Women in Business honoree

Lisa Smith
Attorney
Norfolk

Louisa Strayhorn
President and CEO, Louisa Strayhorn & Associates Consulting
Virginia Beach
2008 Women in Business honoree

Marian B. Ticatch
President, Ticatch Financial Management
Virginia Beach
2005 Women in Business honoree

Photos by Vincent Schilling

 
Scroll down to meet the honorees.
Learn more about each honoree by clicking on her name or photo.

  • Alanna Doczi Deal President of Communications and Marketing The Breeden Co.

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    In less than three years, Alanna Doczi Deal has made herself an integral part of The Breeden Co., a Virginia Beach-based real estate development firm.

    The Virginia Beach native came back to the area after a stint in Washington, D.C.

    "It is nice to be back near my family," she said. In addition to her parents, three sisters and husband, Deal is mother to two daughters, ages 3 and 10 months.

    She has made her family and the 400-employee Breeden Co. proud with an extensive marketing, public relations and Internet campaign to gain brand recognition.

  • Alexandria Peck Berger Journalist

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    In her 50 years as a professional, Alexandria Peck Berger has worn many hats.

    Today, she is an international development strategist who works with individuals and companies seeking new projects or joint ventures with other countries.

    "I've been around a long time," said Berger, who began her career as a professional artist named Andi Peck who did graphics and photography.

  • Amma Anyane-Ntow Guerrier Vice President and Cash Management Officer Monarch Bank

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    As a child, Amma Anyane-Ntow Guerrier wanted to explore many career options, but was told she had to pick just one thing that she could be good at and stick to.

    She didn't believe that. And now, as an adult, not only is Guerrier the vice president and the Virginia Beach cash manamgent officer at Monarch Bank, she also owns Executive Decision, a consulting company that specializes in marketing research, audits and process improvements.

  • Carla Peay Hesseltine owner Just Cupcakes

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    Just Cupcakes owner Carla Peay Hesseltine is having an incredible year.

    She just opened a second location in the Virginia Beach Town Center. Hers was the first Virginia cupcake shop to be featured on Food Network's "Cupcake Wars," coming in second. And she served on Virginia Beach Congressman Scott Rigell's Small Business Advisory Board.

  • Caroline Taylor President and CEO Taylor Made Diagnostics

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    As a single mother, Caroline Taylor was looking to create a business that would allow her to be the boss and balance her schedule with her young family.

    In 1995, Taylor founded Taylor Made Diagnostics in Chesapeake, a facility that provides industrial and occupational medicine to businesses throughout Hampton Roads.

    "We are a full-service medical facility that provides OSHA-compliance testing, workers comp, physical drug testing and audio metric testing to industries to meet OSHA requirements," Taylor said.

  • Claudia "Dia" DuVernet Executive vice president The Up Center

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    Claudia "Dia" DuVernet has put her Ivy League education to good use: She helps those who have fallen on tough times.

    In addition to a bachelor's degree in psychology from Yale, the executive vice president of The Up Center earned her master's degree in social work from Smith College. She uses her education and expertise to help those struggling with a downturn in their lives.

  • Claudia E. Keenan Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff Eastern Virginia Medical School

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    When Claudia E. Keenan arrived at Eastern Virginia Medical School in 2008, she noticed that people repeatedly described it as the "best-kept secret" in Norfolk.

    Since then, she has taught the school to toot its own horn. Keenan revamped the marketing and development departments, created the school's first comprehensive strategic plan and launched an advertising campaign that put EVMS on the map, particularly among philanthropists.

    "It's hard to raise money when you're the best-kept secret," she said.

  • Dasha E. Little President and CEO Apogee Solutions Inc.

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    When Dasha Little married into the military she didn't know it would define not just her family life but her professional life as well.

  • Eden Jones Executive director/GM Atlantic Shores Retirement Community

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    When Hurricane Irene came barreling through Hampton Roads earlier this year, Eden Jones didn't head for the hills, or even off to seek shelter with her family - she camped out with residents at Atlantic Shores Retirement Community, where she is the executive director and general manager.

    In fact, the whole executive team decided to stay at the campus in Virginia Beach, to make sure things went smoothly.

  • Gail Easley Executive Director Crispus Attucks Cultural Center Inc.

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    As executive director of Crispus Attucks Cultural Center Inc., Gail Easley impacts the lives of young people every day.

    Founded in 1990, the Attucks' mission is to present educational, civic and multicultural programming to enhance learning throughout the arts.

    "I oversee the arts education and community outreach programs at the center," Easley said. "We engage young people in the arts as a way to develop skills they need to be effective at home, work and school."

  • Jane Short Account Vice President and CFP Paradigm Wealth Management, UBS Financial Services

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    Jane Short has lived all over the country - Miami, Chicago and New York - but when she wanted to make a new start, after a long career in retail working for Polo Ralph Lauren, she decided to come to Hampton Roads, where her sister lived.

    Now, more than 15 years later, Short doesn't regret the decision for a minute. A vice president of UBS Financial Services, she and three colleagues founded Paradigm Wealth Management Group; she helps manage $350 million in assets for upper-income individuals and families, as well as foundations and corporations.

  • Jennifer Stuebbe Director of Employment Solutions Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    Jennifer Stuebbe is a busy woman these days. In April, her firm, Goodman and Co., merged with Dixon Hughes, and overnight the company's territory grew from 11 locations to 34 nationwide.

    Stuebbe is director of employment solutions at the newly created Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP where she oversees the firm's Human Resource Solutions Group, a separate consulting group of HR consultants, recruiters and business developers working under the Dixon Hughes Goodman umbrella.

  • Joanna Brumsey Shareholder Wall, Einhorn & Chernitzer PC

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    A shareholder with Wall, Einhorn and Chernitzer PC, Joanna Brumsey, a certified public accountant, attributes her success to "always being driven and a need for the client to succeed."

    "In this business, making the client successful is important," she said.

    "When it comes to a problem [for the client], their problem is my problem."

  • Karen Spencer CEO Virginia Eye Consultants & Virginia Surgery Center

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    Karen Spencer arrived with her sleeves rolled up at Virginia Eye Consultants and Virginia Surgery Center in Norfolk.

    Since coming to VEC and VSC nearly four years age as the CEO, Spencer has helped increase staff from 75 to 110 people, formed an all-female management team, and brought new physicians into the practice, among other managerial feats.

    She also oversaw the renovation and expansion of the business's satellite office in Hampton, which increased revenue by 50 percent.

  • Kim Painter Tull Partner Barnes, Brock, Cornwell & Heilman PLC

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    As a single mom juggling parenthood, an accounting career and various volunteer commitments, Kim Painter Tull often worried that she didn't spend enough time with her two kids.

    Now that they're older, she realizes they benefited from seeing her thrive in a fulfilling profession. It instilled a strong work ethic in the children, who also learned the value of community service from their mom's involvement with Big Brothers Big Sisters and other groups.

  • Linda W. Cramer President and Owner Q10 Contracting

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    Linda Cramer is a certified financial contracts manager specializing in strategic planning, business development and execution of government contracts.

    She hails from the Hampton Roads "bedroom community" of Elizabeth City, home to the world's largest U.S. Coast Guard Station. She moved to the area to attend Old Dominion University.

    One of her first jobs out of school was researching and writing technical publications on a Navy contract.

  • Margaret M. Roomsburg Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer Amerigroup Corp.

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    In 1996, Margaret M. Roomsburg, a CPA with 15 years of experience in health care, accepted a job as finance director of Amerigroup, a fledgling health insurance company in Virginia Beach. The 2-year-old startup was so small, only three people worked in the finance department.

    Roomsburg helped Amerigroup blossom into a $6 billion company that pioneered the concept of managed health care for Medicaid and Medicare recipients. Today, as senior vice president and chief accounting officer, she oversees a team of 80-plus employees.

  • Mary C. Aldrich COO and partner Witt Mares PLC

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    Mary Aldrich has brought ideas to Witt Mares that have helped re-energize an already-energetic CPA firm.

    She worked for Witt Mares for seven years before becoming partner there in 2009, a rarity given that, one, she is a female partner in a large accounting firm, and, two, she doesn't have an accounting degree.

  • Monica Bennett vice president of Sales and Marketing Knowledge Information Solutions Inc.

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    In her role as vice president of sales and marketing at Virginia Beach-based Knowledge Information Solutions Inc., Monica Bennett helps manage $50 million in annual hardware and service revenue. KIS provides a full range of IT services, infrastructure support and security solutions for government and commercial clients.

    While Bennett has been a leader in IT business development and management for nearly 22 years, it wasn't a field she ever planned to enter.

  • Norma J. Dorey President and CEO Changes Hairstyling, City Spa and Jake's Place Barbering Lounge & Spa

    Posted: December 9, 2011

    Norma Dorey's 28-year salon career began when she worked at a local franchise shop called The Bus Stop in Norfolk. She eventually became manager at the children's hair salon, but knew she wanted to run her own business.

    "Being under the umbrella of the franchise gave me the confidence to start my own business, and take it to the next level for myself," Dorey said.

    She eventually purchased the salon and renamed it Changes in 1986.