Cheers To Our If
you
happened
Female Entrepreneurs
to
pick up a Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper early last March, you might
h ave
been
privy to an interesting article female
regarding entrepreneurs
in the City Different. In fact, according to the consumer website Nerd Wallet, Santa Fe ranks first out of 289 locations around the United States as the best place to be a women entrepreneur. Female-owned businesses ove r of
30
local
comprise percent
entrepreneurial
enterprises in the area. To celebrate this, we’ve featured a handful of leading regularly
ladies
who
appear
Fine Lifestyles.
in
Dr. Kristen L. Biggs Skin Care & Vein Centre “Patients have sought me out because of the belief that female physicians are more compassionate, better listeners and willing to spend more time with them. It’s certainly the feeling of the community and what many are looking for in seeking new providers. I’ve known many patients who find my practice attractive because I am a female surgeon. I also have the experience of being a mother, and those maternal and nurturing instincts from my family life translate into my professional life. I’m interested in my patients on a personal level.” PHOTO BY TERRY BEHAL
Valerie Fairchild “I have been in the jewelry business in Santa Fe since 1976. In 1975, I apprenticed to a special order jeweler in Portland, Oregon, before returning to Santa Fe to start my own manufacturing workshop with my first employees. Since 1976, my operation has grown while continuing to manufacture on site. My store features varied collections, work by other local jewelry artists, custom design, inlaid gemstones, diamonds and colored gems. Repairs and insurance appraisals are also done on premise. I continue to be inspired to create new designs, and am now making jewelry for the third generation of my first clients.” PHOTO BY CAROLYN WRIGHT
Barbara Lenihan Pandora’s
Barbara Meikle Barbara Meikle Fine Art
Lisa Rodgers The Longworth Gallery
“I think I was born to travel and find beauty in exotic places. I traveled to Alaska in the early 1970s, worked on a fishing boat, taught school to native children and took pictures for Alaska Magazine. But fabrics really caught my eye––they seem the ultimate creation to make the functional beautiful. I designed clothing for a while and in 2000 started Pandora’s with Betsy Hackman. I’m seduced by color and texture. I travel to Latin America, Europe and Asia to find creations that I use to make Pandora’s an ever-changing fantasyland of touchable color.”
“After having worked in galleries nationwide, I moved back to Santa Fe in the early 90s and started selling my own work. I opened a cooperative with seven other artists and a few years later opened a gallery with another artist as partner. I am now the sole proprietor of my own gallery and I love it! I love meeting the people who come to Santa Fe from all over the world and being able to share my artwork and creative spirit with them. I love controlling what happens to my own work, which is very important to an artist’s career.”
“With horses n’ dogs needing to be fed... (oh yeah, and a mortgage)...
BARBARA MEIKLE AND HER HORSE, HANK
With an idea With a mission With a plan With dedication and determination With good advice from S.C.O.R.E. With good credit... With my credit cards and a bank loan from L.A.N.B. With a husband who believes in my dream No-one has turned me down when I’ve sought financial assistance in Santa Fe; and for that, I operate one of the city’s most unique and successful fine art galleries in the state. No-one sees my gender here, only my seriousness, focus and capabilities.” LISA RODGERS, PHOTO BY CAROLYN WRIGHT