Successes of businesswomen focus of CBT Power Lunch

How times have changed — especially for women in business. Decades ago, businesswomen were commonly called “gals” and often treated as servants by customers and vendors, even if they owned the business.
“I’d have men tell me — not ask me — to get coffee for them,” said Lynn Wobig of Wobig Insurance Group and Allstate Insurance. “And we didn’t dare tell a potential employer that we were married because they’d think that we’d be getting pregnant and quitting our jobs. We’ve come a long way since then.”
Wobig and more than a dozen other local businesswomen discussed the challenges they’ve faced as entrepreneurs and company managers during the Columbia Business Times Power Lunch, held Aug. 11 at the Country Club of Missouri and presented by The Callaway Bank.
Wobig said to succeed in business back then, women had to be versatile and have a lot of patience and a good sense of humor. “Men had their own way of doing business, and to survive you had to learn how to accept those challenges,” she said.
Certified public accountant Tami Benus said she started her business to work from home, and one challenge she faced early on was being treated seriously. “People would say that I was just playing and didn’t have a ‘real’ business,” she said.

Benus credited fellow Power Lunch attendee Susan Horak of RE/MAX Boone Realty with keeping her on track. “I worked for Susan as an accountant, and she taught me not to give up on myself,” Benus said. “We were both going through some rough times then, and I thought that if she didn’t fold, well, neither would I.”
Stephanie Hall of Mark Hall Fine Cabinetry said working in a male-dominated industry such as home construction has inherent challenges. “I still have contractors who will ask to speak to the person in charge because they figure it can’t be a woman,” she said. “I tell them, ‘You can talk to me; I’m in charge.’”
Hall said the misperception of contractors just makes her work harder to know as much as possible about the industry. “I don’t want to be that dumb girl who doesn’t know the answer,” she said.
Caroline & Company, a staffing service that’s been in business for more than 30 years, began with a simple business plan written on a Big Chief writing tablet, said owner Caroline Gower. At that time in Columbia, there were no temporary employment agencies, so Gower created a niche for her business.
When Carol Denninghoff and her six women partners started House of Brokers 30 years ago this month, they endured all sorts of slurs from male real estate agents during their first year in business. “We were called the House of Hair and Nails and the House of Broads,” she said. “But the interesting thing is that we got a lot of business from women who were excited that our agency was owned by women. That was a surprise but also very rewarding that we had that support from other women.”

Of the original seven women who started House of Brokers, two are still with the agency.
Yvette Gonzales established GolfTEC last year in Columbia. Her background in information technology at Shelter Insurance was ideally suited for the high-tech golf-improvement franchise. “I love the idea of being in charge of a growing company,” she said. “But my challenges aren’t just because I’m a woman; they’re also because I’m now self-employed and I don’t have the safety net and that others are now dependent on me for their living.”
There are 140 GolfTEC stores throughout the country, and Gonzales said her Columbia store is in one of the smallest markets. “Marketing is a real issue, and I’ve learned that it takes really getting involved in the community, making a real grassroots effort and reaching out to everyone in the area, not just golf enthusiasts,” she said.
Kari Everly, a chiropractor and owner of Mid-Missouri Clinic of Chiropractic, said in addition to the challenges of being a woman business owner, she has also had to work at breaking down stereotypes associated with chiropractic care. “People have preconceived notions about chiropractic, and my challenge is to let people know that they don’t have to be in pain all of the time,” she said.
There are a lot of women who work in residential real estate, said Susan Horak, who’s been with RE/MAX Boone Realty for nearly 25 years. The challenge for women, she added, is in the commercial real estate market. “It’s improving because commercial property owners understand that today it’s all about marketing, and the ‘good old boy’ way of networking is a thing of the past,” she said. “This opens a lot of opportunities for women to be successful in that area of real estate as well.”
But as a contractor for approximately 20 years, Horak said she’s seen her share of discrimination. “For many years I’ve always purchased lumber at a couple of local lumber companies, and unlike the men who work for me, I’ve never been given a cap or a jacket from those businesses, and I’ve never been asked to go duck hunting.”
Horak said her feeling is that some men are more comfortable socializing professionally with other men because they’re afraid that socializing with women “will be taken as a come-on.”
“One of the struggles is that as a man, you could call another man to invite him to lunch to pick his brain, so to speak,” Horak said. “But as a woman, if you do that, it’s still taken in a different way. Unless you’re under 20 or over 100, there’s that awkwardness between men and women interacting professionally.”
Moresource owner Kat Cunningham started her human resources business on a shoestring budget and the help of an SBA loan. “Some of my clients have been with me 20 years, and my business has grown through word-of-mouth advertising,” she said. “It’s been frustrating at times to be included among my male peers, but I’ve been persistent in breaking through the glass ceiling. Networking is so important for success.”
Jennifer Bukowsky of Bukowsky Law Firm said it took her nearly a decade to decide to open her own firm. “It was a great choice,” she said. “I love being the decision-maker, and it would be difficult to go back to any other way of working.”
Bukowsky added that there are advantages in being a businesswoman. “I’m better with social media than most of my male colleagues,” she said.
MayeCreate owner Monica Pitts said her young age has presented more challenges to her Web and print marketing business than her gender. “I started when I was 25, and it was hard for clients to take me seriously and to earn their respect,” she said. “But it’s also important to understand that not everyone is going to like you, so you just have to keep focused on your goals.
“I once received a rude, chauvinistic email from a male client, and I fired an email back telling him I would not accept being treated in that manner,” Pitts said. “He apologized, and he’s still a client. It pays to stick up for yourself, especially as a woman, and to do what’s right.”
Both Andrea Jira of Line-X and Michelle Spry of Midway Electric said being a woman in a male-dominated industry is difficult, but any difficulty should be challenged head on. “I’m not afraid to go to a job site and work right alongside any of my employees,” Spry said. “I work twice as hard, and they understand that I expect the best from them because I expect the best from myself.”
Nelly Roach, owner of Caledon Virtual and KimberMedia, said her biggest challenge as a woman is to balance work and her family obligations. “I am a wife and mother first, before being a business owner,” she said. “My priorities are clear, and I am lucky to have a husband who’s supportive. To be successful in business, you’ve got to have a family who’s with you all the way.”
Nancy Fay, who owns a Mary Kay Cosmetics franchise in Columbia, concluded the Power Lunch discussion with simple advice. “To be a good businesswoman, you must remember to set smart goals, not just goals,” she said.