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Three Oak Cliff women, Linda Holt, Heidi and Karen Chappell, attended a women in business meeting in Lakewood a few months ago. They liked the all-female business group that Darlene Ellison started so much that they decided to start up their own women in business group here in Oak Cliff. Holt co-owns Square Foot real estate company, and Maggio and Chappell own a professional organizing service called Kessler Simple Solutions. They all were members of Rosemont Early Childhood PTA, and they’re using some of the same networking ideas to start the business-focused group.

Why did you guys want to start an Oak Cliff Women in Business?

Maggio: The idea is that women make friends first and then support each other in business. Darlene Ellison started this as a small organization within her bank, and the idea caught on. So now she has 600 people in her database who network with other women.

Chappell: Linda met some of the members at a meeting she went to, so she said, “Hey, you girls, let’s go to this.” So we went, and we were standing there, and we thought, why isn’t this in Oak Cliff? And Darlene is our biggest cheerleader. She’s letting us use her model.

Holt: She’s already worked out all the kinks, so it’s easy.

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TELL ME MORE ABOUTTHE IDEA. WHAT IS WOMEN IN BUSINESS ALL ABOUT?

Maggio: Well, when you get there, everyone puts their business cards on the table, and before you leave, you pick one up. So, without a lot of grandstanding or hoopla, you get a lot of networking done. You relax and sit down and talk to each other, and then when you get home, you look at the cards. You’re there being social, but you share the same issues. If you own a business, and you’re trying to solve them all on your own getting answers from that many different women, you’re going to come up with a solution.

Holt: It’s about just realizing who our contacts are in our own neighborhood. There’s so much talk about “slow” in the marketplace and so much discussion of using and maximizing what’s local. We’ve been doing it with RECEPTA for many years. And now it’s become the cool thing to do. ButI think that women, particularly, are not networking and going out and shaking hands near as much as the guys are. You’re taking care of a household and taking your kids places, so you’ve got a lot on your plate. It’s a way of giving permission for women to do that in a very casual way. You become friends first with women you don’t know, and then you support those women.

Chappell: I think there will be a lot of businesses that we didn’t even know were women-owned businesses. I can’t wait to see who all ends up on the list. I think it’ll be fascinating.

HOWCANWOMEN JOIN THE GROUP?

Chappell: We brainstormed on who we thought would be good founding members. So we’re going to have a founder’s social first, and then in September, we’re going to have our kickoff social, and we’re going to send out invitations to as many women as we can find.

Maggio: The founders’ responsibility is going to be to find other members. We already have a pretty healthy database going among the three of us, but I’m sure there’s so many more out there that we don’t even know about.

HOW MUCHWILL ITCOSTTO JOIN?

Chappell: There’s no membership fee. All we’re asking these women to do is come, have a glass of wine, have an hors d’oeuvre and get to know these women.

Maggio: They don’t have to pay for the socials either. If you’re hosting it, you’re advertising your company, and we’re hoping that will be the draw. Companies can give door prizes, and if you give one, you get to stand up and give an advertisement for 60 seconds.

Holt: There’s also a charity spotlight every meeting. Each member has a pet thing they support, so each one gets four or five minutes to spotlight their charity.

Funny People

Though it’s just the early show, the floor at Mouth comedy club in Deep Ellum is approaching standing-room-only status. Seconds after the lights dim, five energetic women take the stage to rock music, whoops and hollers. Sure, the audience is composed partly of supportive buddies and family (Lori “Lori-tab” Valle Wright notes that members of her large Hispanic family can be counted on to fill audience gaps), but considering that this is only their second performance as a group, the all-girl improv act known as Heroine Addiction is already gaining a respectable following. The women met while taking classes at Ad Libs school of improv. They landed at Ad Libs for various reasons — Dawn “Dawn Syndrome” Douglass wanted to improve her public speaking skills, for example, while others, such as Catherine “Cathastrophic” Brockette, wanted to build upon previous acting experience. And Jenny “Estro-Jen” Clifton, from Oak Cliff, just wanted to test herself. “It seemed like the most frightening thing possible and I wanted that inner challenge,” she says. The troupe also includes Lynsey “Hale Storm” Hale and Christa “Christa Meth” Haberstock. There’s also the nickname-less sound guy Michael Alger, who says working with the women has been a blast — “but what else is he going to say with all of us here?” Clifton chides. Joking temporarily aside, the women say they have bonded over the experience. Improv requires you to be open and vulnerable. To bear your soul, Brockette notes. “You have to trust those you are working with. And yourself.” Next step? “Letterman,” Clifton says. And we’re pretty sure she’s not joking.

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AFTER/ KLM Construction added a third story to the home, converting the bottom floor to a two-car garage and storage space. In an 18-month renovation that cost roughly $350,000, the company broke the ash-colored, horizontal wood band that dominated the façade. Now the house, with its 10 windows each 5 to 6 feet tall, stands with an emphasis on the vertical. The second and third stories are unified with a contemporary, smooth beige-and-gray finish, accented with warm, honey-colored wood. Allan Clemons bought the home in January 2009, attracted to Oak Cliff and East Kessler by its hills and the mix of artists and professionals. “This is my Austin,” he says. Of his choice of furnishings, he says, “It’s kind of like my choice in suits. I want to be able to buy a suit that will be classic and wearable and maybe in style for 20 years.” That pursuit leads Clemons to outfit his new home in an amalgam of antiques and contemporary pieces. He is especially attracted to burnt orange as an accent color. His high-back dining chairs are upholstered in burnt orange, and a 3-foot-diameter antique foundry wheel hanging in the main stair landing is spackled with the color. His leather couch, an award-winning ’80s Knoll piece, is also burnt orange. The color reminds Clemons of his formative years in the ’60s and ’70s and his time at the University of Texas. The bathrooms and kitchen are decked in mosaic glass tile of many hues, and all interior doors slide into adjacent walls; some are salvaged from the original home. The only swinging doors are the aluminum, commercial-grade entrance doors. Clemons plans on expanding his backyard and creating an elevated walkway to his third floor. He has time — he wants to retire here.

to view a slideshow of before and after photos of the Clemons’ remodel project.

? As the owner of a dog or cat, what do I need to know about Dallas regul At I ons ?

Common sense and a strong fence will go a long way toward keeping you and your pet out of trouble. But there’s more to it than that. to keep things safe and legal, here’s how it works:

1. register your dog or cat with the City of Dallas Animal services department by mailing up-to-date vaccine information along with a $7 fee for spayed or neutered pets and $30 for unaltered pets. t his is not just a way for the city to make some quick and easy cash. t he process prevents the spread of diseases such as rabies, and helps prevent the forced euthanization (Dallas had more than 26,500 last year alone) of unwanted pets. Pet owners who do not wish to spay or neuter their pets can obtain an intact animal permit for an additional fee of $70 per year if they are a member of a purebred dog or cat club, or have completed a responsible pet ownership class.

2. up to four dogs or cats can live in an apartment or condominium, up to six in a single-family home, or up to eight in a home with more than 1/2 an acre of land. t his law became effective in 2008 and includes a grandfather clause for anyone who owned more than the allowed number prior to 2008, as well as a provision for volunteers fostering homeless dogs and pets for approved rescue groups.

3. It is illegal to tether or chain a dog. w hen dogs 6 months and older are confined outdoors, their yards, pens or kennels must be at least 150 square feet, and each dog must have a weatherproof, three-sided shelter.

4. When dogs or cats are outside their home or yard, keep them on a leash. The only exceptions to this are designated off-leash dog parks or freeroaming feral cats that are part of a trap, neuter, return program. When a cat is spayed or neutered through a T-N-R program, the vet “tips” one ear, so you can easily identify a participating cat in your neighborhood.

5. A dog that barks while protecting his home isn’t a dangerous dog; he’s just doing what dogs do. But one that causes injury could be officially deemed a “dangerous dog”. If a dog is outside its home or yard and causes serious injury to a person or another animal, a resident can request a city hearing to determine whether the dog should be declared dangerous. No fines are involved and no monetary damages are awarded, but if a dog is determined to be dangerous, its owner faces serious consequences. The dog may be euthanized, ordered out of the city, or allowed to return home if the owner complies with a stringent set of rules that includes paying a “dangerous dog” registration fee of $50 per year. Currently, 21 dogs that have been deemed dangerous live in Dallas.

6. Other good rules to know, whether or not you own a pet, is that it’s illegal to place poison where it is accessible to a dog or cat; to sell or give away pets on any property except for pet stores, animal shelters and animal rescue group adoption sites; to offer animals as prizes in auctions, raffles, giveaways or other promotions; to transport a dog in the open bed of a pick-up truck, unless it’s in a carrier; or to fail to pick up after your dog.

—REBECCA POLING

GOt A m A z E yOu CAN’t f IN d yOu R wAy th ROu Gh? Email howitworks@advocatemag.com with your question.

To viE w a dETailEd dallas map of dangerous dogs, find state rabies statistics, and learn other animal tidbits from Rebecca Poling, visit the Back Talk blog at oakcliff.advocatemag.com