You're invited to join the "Oak Cliff Women in Business" Networking event Tuesday, Dec. 13
Graphic Designer and small business owner Vicky Gouge of Full Moon Design Group, Inc. is busy this holiday month at her Oak Cliff office, but wants other busy women business owners in Oak Cliff to take a break and join her for some networking, socializing, and education on Tuesday, December 13th from 6:00pm to 7:30pm at the Bishop Arts Theatre.
Located at 215 south Tyler Street, the former TeCo Theatre recently changed its name to reflect the neighborhood it’s located in. Vicky Gouge was a big part of the rebranding of the theatre, helping to create its new website and design its new logo.
Teresa Coleman Wash, Founder and Creative Director of the theatre, is the hostess of this month’s OCWIB meeting. Last year Wash was recognized by the Dallas Morning News in a Sunday cover story about her theatre’s productions and educational programs for teens.
Every business woman in Oak Cliff is invited to RSVP and attend the fun evening of conversation, networking, food and wine. The monthly event is open to the public and free.
Co-hosts for the evening are Becky Moffett, owner of Qualigraphics, Elisabeth White, Owner of Rediscover Your Closet, and Cindy Hawkins, Managing Partner and CEO at Padgett Business Services®, all business women from Oak Cliff.
Begun in September of 2010, Oak Cliff Women in Business started as a collaboration of Heidi Maggio, Karen Chappell and Linda Holt, good friends who are successful business women. Each live and work in the Oak Cliff neighborhood. Their idea, to bring business women together once a month at different locations to network and socialize, is now in well into its fifth year.
Chappell says, “Our motto: Make friends first and the business will grow. If you are a business owner or leader and live or work in Oak Cliff, then you don't want to miss this opportunity to make friends with other women who are working hard to make a difference in our hood.”
Maggio and Chappell run “Kessler Simple Solutions,” a service which offers ways to simplify life through de-cluttering, rearranging or organizing. Coordinating with clients, the women set up personalized systems to enhance any space so clients save time and money, leading to less stressful, more meaningful lives.
Linda Holt is a graduate of Alabama and a partner in Square Foot, Inc., a real estate development company located in Oak Cliff. She’s an active volunteer in the Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts, Board Member Methodist Hospital Women's Guild, and a Board Member Oak Cliff Women in Business.
Gouge has been a member of the group since it began. An active community volunteer, she and her twin sister also coach a local Swim team at the Oak Cliff public Kidd Springs Pool. A year ago, it was on the City Parks & Recreation budget’s chopping block, about to be bulldozed under and made into a “splash park.”
The twin coaches rallied their Sailfish swim team members, parents and neighbors and saved the pool through visits to the City Council and fund-raisers that included a “swim-a-thon” by team members.
“The kids set a goal: one to however many laps they want to swim,” Sailfish head coach Becky Moffett said. “They have up to two hours to do it. They cannot get out of the pool in those two hours, but they can take a break at the side of the pool for some water.” Together the team, parents and neighbors raised enough money to impress the City Council.
The pool is now scheduled for demolition after next season, with a total reconstruction over the winter months, hopefully ready to receive team members in the new pool in the spring of 2018.
That 180-degree reversal of the City Council’s decision to close the Oak Cliff pool is an example of what Oak Cliff business women can do when they join forces.
The monthly meetings rotate to different sites, an easy way to encourage members to visit each-other’s businesses.
Methodist Health Care System holds an annual meeting at its site, encouraging OCWIB members to get a mammogram while they are in the complex. Meetings have also been held this year at Victor Hugo’s Casual Dining & Bar, Salon on the Square located at 1203 Eldorado and JED'S GRILL at 1001 W Jefferson Blvd., to name a few.
Complimentary lite Bites, wine and bottled water is typical faire at each meeting.
There is a drawing at each OCWIB meeting. Business Owners can offer to bring a door prize worth a minimum of $30 to the next meeting to talk about their business to the group in a short 30-second “live” commercial. Raffle Prize winners also get to explain their business to the group. Business owners and women hoping to be business owners one day soon are encouraged to come to the Theatre and bring a friend.
To host a future Oak Cliff Women in Business Meeting contact Vicky Gouge at: gouge@fullmoondesigngroup.com
For more information see The Oak Cliff Women in Business Facebook page.
For more information on Kessler Simple Solutions: www.kesslersimplesolutions.com or call (214) 941-7183.
Article Author Judy Porter is a proud member of Oak Cliff Women in Business. judy-porter@sbcglobal.net