Women In Business 2013

Focus 2013

WOMEN IN BUSINESS Celebrating Rising Leaders Throughout Our Communities FOCUS • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2013

SHOWING

THE ROPES David Patton/Focus

Heather Hill, left, of Legacy Ballet says she’s learned a lot about how to run a business from Laura Bryngelson, owner of Calapooia Brewing in Albany.

For women learning to run their own companies, having a mentor can make the transition easier

Finding your mentor

BY JENNIFER ROUSE

When Heather Hill started her own dance studio, Legacy Ballet, in Albany in 2007, she had years of experience in teaching ballet. What she didn’t have was experience owning a business.

“You’re constantly learning as you go, and for every project that you finish, five more begin,” Hill said.

That’s where talking to someone who has been down this path before might help. Someone who can give you advice.

An outside voice to help guide you. Someone like a mentor.

Mentorship has always existed, both formally and informally, in the business world, but the concept has recently gained traction, with the U.S. Small Business Administration, former President Bill Clinton’s philanthropic foundation, and financial giant Citigroup all pouring money into new mentorship initiatives in 2012 as a way to strengthen new leaders.

Bill Hubel, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Corvallisbased Citizens Bank, has seen firsthand the benefits of mentorship over his 30 years in banking.

“I’ve had many mentors, and many people I’ve learned from over the course of my career,” he said. He’s also helped guide many younger leaders, including Stacy Bostrom, a vice president and branch manager with Citizens.

“Having a mentor means having a third party,” Bostrom said. “When situ-

Adaptive leadership Men and women tend to manage with different styles — but the best leaders are flexible based on the person, situation

BY MARIA L. KIRKPATRICK

Women and men communicate differently. But how that carries into the workplace and whether it impacts their ability to manage and supervise effectively still is a matter of huge debate.

The American Psychological Association said a woman’s leadership style tends to rely more on tools such as mentoring and coaching, while a man’s style is centered around command and control.

And many people hold the opinion that emotion im-

pacts women’s decisions and the way they structure their management abilities.

But research also suggests that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“I don’t know if it’s gender-based or it’s valuebased,” said Barbara Bessey, director of the Small Business Development Center at Linn-Benton Community College. “There are definitely different leadership styles. Some are very analytical. Some take into account human dynamics.

Others function with numbers and logic.”

The managers who are the most successful are those who have a wide range of choices about how they can act.

“Those who can be tough, direct a n d straightforward when you need to be,” Bessey said. “And Barbara then be soft and relaBessey tionshipbased when you need to be.

And be able to tell the difference when to do that.

“In the past, I would have said women tend to look at the picture from a holistic perspective. That they make management decisions based on not just the compartmentalization at work but how that decision makes an impact on the

whole life of everyone involved. But that’s a bit simplistic to call it a gender difference.”

Management research calls it situational leadership or adaptive leadership.

Collaborative and transformational characteristics are more effective, and so those characteristics are more prevalent in better managers.

Transformations Female leaders are more likely to lead in the transformational style of leadership, especially in the areas of supporting and encouraging those they lead.

See LEADERSHIP on page 2

ations come up, he can offer me different alternatives and perspectives. He gives me a sounding board.”

Sometimes, mentorship is formal. The Small Business Administration as well as private groups offer to connect entrepreneurs with more experienced businesspeople. Some companies offer formal leadership programs as part of their training.

Business networking organizations such as chambers of commerce and trade organizations can help provide mentorship.

And other times, it just falls into place.

For Heather Hill, mentorship began at a disc golf game. Her husband plays disc golf with Mark Martin, who owns the Calapooia Brewing Co. with his wife, Laura Bryngelson. A chance conversation led to a part-time job at Calapooia in the years before she opened Legacy Ballet, and that led to a continuing friendship and mentorship with Laura.

See MENTORS on page 5

Women make their mark in business For the second installment in our 2013 Focus series of special sections, we’re taking a deeper look at women in business throughout the mid-valley.

As I noted in the introduction to January’s “Still Going Strong” section, it’s hard to run a business — and it can be particularly challenging for women, still a minority among business owners and managers.

But there’s no doubt that there’s a place for women and their management and communications styles in busi- Mike nesses today.

McInally So, in this section, you’ll find stories that examine the differing management styles between female and male managers; the distinctions aren’t necessarily as clear-cut as you might think.

But relationships with mentors are important to women in business, and so this section also includes a story that takes a deeper look at how those mentorships work — and how they benefit not just the mentee, but the mentor as well.

Finally, this section includes profiles of individual women in business across the mid-valley — women we’ve identified as rising business leaders in their communities. You’ll be hearing a lot more about these women in years to come, and we found it inspirational to read about their journeys. We hope you also find something to inspire you in these pages.

— Mike McInally, editor, Mid-Valley Newspapers

Private practice pays off

Baseball runs in the family

One big, delicious idea

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2013

ALBANY DEMOCRAT-HERALD, CORVALLIS (OR) GAZETTE-TIMES

‘WE’VE BUILT TOGETHER’ Trish and Trent Irwin remodel home to make space for their business and family

BY JENNIFER ROUSE Many small business owners talk about finding space for both work and family life, but Trish and Trent Irwin of TnT Builders in Albany have built that balance into their lives — literally.

TnT Builders co-owner Trish Irwin in her Albany office.

They remodeled their home to create a sleek office where Trish, the company’s business manager, can access blueprints and a laptop on one side, or turn to see into their living room on the other.

“Family has been a driving force for us,” Trish said. “I’m a stay-at-home mom with a full-time job, and that gives me incredible flexibility, both as a mom and as a business person.”

TnT Builders began in the Portland area in 1998, when the two decided to combine Trent’s carpentry skills with Trish’s business management background. In 2003, they moved the business to Albany, Trish’s hometown, to be closer to family and allow their three children, now 15, 13 and 6, to grow up in a smaller community.

It was around that same time that the couple shifted their business’s focus from framing for general contractors to creating decks and outdoor living spaces for homeowners. It started out Jesse Skoubo/Focus as a sideline — something they’d done for themselves

TRISH IRWIN Occupation: Business manager, TnT Builders Family: Husband, Trent, the production manager of TnT; daughter Tilly, 15; Tess, 13; and son Tai, 6.

Best business advice ever received: “I tend to be somewhat obsessive about projects I’m working on, so some of the best advice I’ve received was that done is better than perfect.”

Advice to young women getting started in business: “The world is your teacup. Don’t let preconceived notions about the role of women or what a woman’s job is tell you what to do. Make up your own mind, and follow your own passion.” and helped friends with, simply because they enjoyed it.

“We love backyard parties. That’s the best part of summer, and occasionally winter too,” Trish said.

When they added deck and patio construction to their business, they soon found themselves struggling to keep up with their framing. Trish said deciding to give up the original core of their business to narrow their focus proved to be a major benefit to their longterm success.

“You have to try to ask yourself, what are you doing on the weekends? What’s that one thing? Then it’s not

as big of a risk. You find yourself immersed in it because you love it,” she said.

Running a business like theirs means you’re also immersed in your relationship — 24/7. Learning to mesh their strengths while being together almost constantly was the biggest difficulty in starting their business, Trish said.

“You can’t go home and complain about your boss or your co-worker, because that person is probably your spouse,” she said. “But on the flip side, we get to spend so much time together. My husband knows exactly what is going on in my work life, and he is just as thrilled for my successes as I am, because everything we do, we’ve built together.”

Trish and Trent like to joke that they’re a mom and pop shop — after all, the couple are mom and dad to three kids, and they run a family business out of their home.

But by combining their skills and passion to create TnT Builders, they also hope to build something more enduring.

“We don’t want to be the kind of mom and pop shop that when we’re done, it’s done,” Trish said. Instead, she said, they hope to create an professionally run company with an established brand that will endure after they one day retire. “To do otherwise seems wasteful of all the blood, sweat and tears we’ve put into it.”

Amanda Cowan/Focus

Heidi East McGowan of Healthy Business Systems & Associates, LLC, a Corvallis consultant with a home office, pauses for a portrait.

Leadership Continued from A1 Transformational leadership styles are defined as those that focus on teamFor more on the differbuilding, motivation and collaboration with employ- ences between male and ees at different levels of an female managers, check organization to accomplish out Monday’s Mid-Valley InBusiness section. change for the better.

Research suggests that men are somewhat more 500’s top executives are felikely to display transac- male and just 2 percent are tional styles of leadership, firms with women CEOs.” This leaves women in a especially in the area of giving correction and discipli- difficult situation. In many nary action. Transactional cases, they are alone at their leadership is defined as level. One way for women to “keeping the ship afloat.” navigate the challenging Discipline and incentives are leadership space that requires deciused more to sion making motivate emauthority ployees.

‘WE LABEL PEOPLE and is to collabo“Men and ALL THE TIME. rate. women are still burdened with EVEN IN THE MOST “ Wo m e n stereotypes,” report success ADVANCED said Karin by bringing WORKPLACES.’ Magnuson, others into training spe- KARIN MAGNUSON decision makcialist on facing and by LINN-BENTON ulty at LBCC. using a colCOMMUNITY COLLEGE “If a woman is l a b o ra t ive very direct and style, said straightforward, she can be Heidi East McGowan of perceived as bitchy or de- Healthy Business Systems & manding, where the man in Associates in Corvallis. Mcthe same situation is seen as Gowan conducts custom decisive or authoritative. If a training sessions and is a male is probing for the un- women in leadership conderlying subtext or feelings sultant. or unspoken message, they “Good leaders adopt both can be seen as weak and fem- styles,” McGowan said. “I inine. We label people all the think the more we have time. Even in the most ad- women in high-level leadervanced workplaces.” ship roles, the more we learn. As research on effecStill a minority tive leadership evolves, the Women still are a minority more men and women will benefit as they lead in a in leadership.

The Harvard Business Re- changing work environview said “women occupy 40 ment.” percent of all managerial poMaria L. Kirkpatrick is sitions in the United States, a freelance writer who but only 6 percent of Fortune lives in Corvallis.

MORE INFO

Amanda Cowan/Focus

Dr. Sydney Piercey is photographed in an exam room at Piercey Neurology Feb. 13.

‘Eye on the prize’ Dr. Sydney Piercey focused on her passion to build a successful practice

BY JEN MATTEIS Today a neurologist with her own practice, Piercey Neurology in Corvallis, the roots of Dr. Sydney Piercey’s profession go back a long way.

As a child, her dream was to be a doctor. Following the advice of “Keep your eye on the prize,” Piercey has made that dream a reality.

“That was my mother; she would tell me, ‘Keep your eye on the prize, keep focused,’” she said.

Piercey, who grew up in Utah, worked at Hewlett-Packard after graduating from Oregon State University with a degree in chemical engineering, but it was never her passion. She later attended medical school in Portland to pursue her original interest, choosing neurology simply because it intrigued her.

“I picked neurology because at the end of the day somebody told me pick the profession you wouldn’t mind reading about at 2 a.m. when you’re tired,” she says.

“Every cool TV show was about the brain; I thought, that has got to be the most interesting specialty.”

After completing medical school, Piercey worked for years at The Corvallis Clinic. However, she eventually split off into

DR. SYDNEY PIERCEY Occupation: Neurologist at Piercey Neurology in Corvallis Family: Married for 22 years to Rick Olson, with three kids, ages 20, 18, and 13 Best business advice ever received: “Keep your eye on the prize; keep focused.”

Advice to young women getting started in business: “The biggest advice I’d give is I use what I have. I don’t spend money I don’t have; I don’t get into debt.” her own practice.

“I really liked the doctors there, but where we wanted to go in our lives grew apart,” she said. “It came to the point where we just had to split our ways.”

Piercey left The Corvallis Clinic on Jan. 1, 2011. Just 15 days after leaving, she began accepting patient calls for her own practice, which she had planned to open within one month. The result?

“We were so excited, we screamed: in two weeks we’d scheduled 600 patients,” she relates. “It was just so amazing.”

The doors opened at Piercey Neurology one month later, on Feb. 1, 2011. Since then, the prac-

tice has grown from two employees to 25, and from two exam rooms to three locations: Albany, Corvallis, and Salem.

Piercey attributes her start-up success to support from the community, friends who didn’t shy away from a paintbrush, and “a lot of elbow grease.“ “I had tremendous support from the community and I had a tremendous office manager. We worked 24/7,” she says. “Everyone in the community just came and pitched in. It was like ‘It’s A Wonderful Life.’”

Growing up with parents who owned a real estate and investment company equipped Piercey with practical business advice.

“The biggest advice I’d give is I use what I have. I don’t spend money I don’t have,” she says. “We need to take care of our patients and my employees, and in order to supply them with security and reasonable growth I’m very frugal.”

Her love of frugality, however, does not extend to her dreams.

“Do what you love and just have fun,” she says. “There were some rough bumps in the road but at the end of the day I’m a neurologist and I’m a doctor; I can do what I love. I am the luckiest person in the world.”

Jen Matteis is a freelance writer who lives in Corvallis.

ALBANY DEMOCRAT-HERALD, CORVALLIS (OR) GAZETTE-TIMES

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 22, 2013

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2013

ALBANY DEMOCRAT-HERALD, CORVALLIS (OR) GAZETTE-TIMES

Batting 1.000

David Patton/Focus

Jeni Billups, senior vice president of sales and marketing, shows some of the products made at Oregon Freeze Dry in Albany.

Jesse Skoubo/Focus

Corvallis Knights General Manager Bre Kerkvliet worked her way through the ranks of the organization to become the first female GM in the league.

New Corvallis Knights GM’s lifelong love of baseball propels her into a boys’ club

BY MIKE MCINALLY If Bre Kerkvliet seems comfortable as a woman working in the male-dominated world of baseball — and she does — it might be because, in some ways, she’s been preparing for this role for years.

Kerkvliet recently was named the general manager of the Corvallis Knights, one of the teams in the West Coast League — a nonprofessional league that gives college players a chance to improve their skills during the summer months.

She’s already familiar with the Knights organization — she’s worked her way up since the summer she was an intern.

And she’s been familiar with baseball for years,dating back to the days when she attended games with her umpire stepfather, Bob Knight.

“It felt kind of cool being the umpire’s daughter,” she recalled.

It was the start of a lifelong involvement with baseball. She worked as a volunteer at Richey’s Market American Legion games during the summers in Corvallis and hung out with baseball players and fans during her days at Corvallis High School.

So, after the Knights moved from Gresham to Corvallis, it didn’t exactly come out of left field when she got a call from her stepbrother, Brooke Knight — now, the team’s coach.

Knight’s message to Kerkvliet: “You need to be a part of this.”

She got a summer gig as one of the team’s interns, and the job turned out great. Eventually, she approached Dan Segel, the club president, and asked for more responsibility. He obliged, and she’s continued to move up the ladder at the organization.

As the Knights’ general manager, she focuses on the club’s business operations. That includes seeking partnerships and sponsorship deals with other mid-valley businesses — not to mention the small matter of getting people to come out to see Knights games. The Knights are selling more than just base-

BRE KERKVLIET Occupation: General manager, Corvallis Knights Family: Mother, Nancy Kerkvliet, a professor at Oregon State University’s Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology; stepfather, Bob Knight, mid-valley businessman and real-estate agent. Her father, Paul Kerkvliet, died of cancer when she was 4. Fiancee, Bryan Miller, a contract timber faller.

Best business advice she’s received: From Dan Segel, the president of the Knights: “It’s OK to get uncomfortable. It’s OK to fail as long as you learn from your mistakes.”

Advice to other women: “Make sure you’re confident in yourself. … Stand up for what you believe. Don’t just follow the crowd. Be true to who you are. …

If you do the right thing and are happy with yourself, then it usually turns out.” ball: The idea is to pitch an afternoon or evening at the ballpark as a broader entertainment experience.

“Baseball is just the backdrop,” she said. “We are an entertainment option.”

Her longtime mid-valley connections — and a lifetime of volunteer experience — are vital.

“I feel like my network has grown because of my volunteerism,” she said, in part because the volunteer work helps give her a chance to “meet the person behind the business card. … I have a relationship with my customers. Really, all you have to do is ask. If you never ask, you don’t ever find out. You hear the word ‘no’ a lot. But when you hear the word ‘yes,’ it’s all worth it.”

So the job is a great match for Kerkvliet. And the location, she said, is ideal.

“I am a small-town girl,” she said. “I love Corvallis.

The quality of life here is great. I want to help make this town even better than it already is. I like that I can drive five minutes and be on the other side of town. I am completely happy staying with the Knights for as long as they’ll have me. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”

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A determined spirit Oregon Freeze Dry VP Jeni Billups is developing and stirring interest in Mountain House brand

BY MARIA L. KIRKPATRICK You can’t go hungry working in the food industry, and Jeni Billups has her plate full as a vice president at Oregon Freeze Dry in Albany.

services. However, Oregon Freeze Dry narrowed its scope and recently eliminated its manufacturing and services not related to its original line of freeze-dried foods.

Billups again is working on food and overseeing marketing and sales and research and development for Mountain House.

With the company for only “That paralleled closely with about nine months, Billups said it my background of taking a busiis a wonderful thing to be in a ness to the next level,” Billups place that is a fit for her and ensaid. courages her to enjoy a balance Seeing it as one step away from between work and life. farming, food manufacturing apBillups had been working for peals to Billups. fruit and vegetable ingredient “The closer you are to the manufacturer SVZ in central farming community the more Washington when she accepted ‘down to earth’ the the offer to join business is,” Billups Oregon Freeze Dry. said, intending the (SVZ stands for ‘THE CLOSER pun. “The food inSpyer Van der ViYOU ARE TO THE dustry is still an injver Zwanenburg, dustry where a FARMING the earliest owners handshake is a of the company.)

COMMUNITY, handshake and you Her role was THE MORE stand behind your president of SVZ USA. She started “DOWN TO EARTH” word. So, the inas a whole is the American diviTHE BUSINESS IS.’ dustry an industry I enjoy sion and created working in.” market awareness JENI BILLUPS Food, she said, is in the United OREGON FREEZE DRY something everyStates for the one identifies with company and its and needs. It’s something people products. This was followed by a are emotional about. building acquisition and product Billups said that people in the manufacturing. industry like to jokingly remind Billups knew of Oregon Freeze themselves that they have job seDry and had professional contact with its officers through industry curity because everyone has to associations for about eight years. eat. While she once considered She had a high level of respect for studying nutrition, it was her the company and its business ac- brother who suggested food science. She found many opportunitivities. And, while she wasn’t ties and, while the food industry looking to make a career move, there were many facets of Oregon still is male-dominated, she has never felt disadvantaged due to Freeze Dry she found appealing. being a woman.

Originally, she was hired to Billups said she was drawn to oversee contract pharmaceutical

Coming Monday in Mid-Valley InBusiness Margo Mack carves out a successful career in auto sales Lynda McHenry keeps the gluten-free food coming

JENI BILLUPS Occupation: Vice president, Oregon Freeze Dry Family: Husband, Rich, and sons Jacob and Grant.

Best business advice ever received: “Don’t ever let your age or level of experience prevent you from receiving full compensation for the job you’re doing. Not just monetary compensation but make sure that you feel confident that you are equal to your peer.”

Advice to young women getting started in business: “Don’t let the fact you’re a woman be an advantage or disadvantage.

Just be the person God created you to be and the rest will fall into place.”

Oregon Freeze Dry through the passion employees express for the job they are doing and the sincerity that resonates through the company.

Billups met her husband Rich in Paradise, Calif. High school sweethearts, they married 28 years ago. He worked in law enforcement to put her through college at University of California, Davis, where she studied food services and technology. Rich is retired but works hard as a stayat-home dad. The couple has two sons, one an officer in the Marines and the other in eighth grade at Santiam Christian School.

“I thank him every day for his sacrifices,” Billups said of her husband.

She is able to balance her work and free time, which is centered on her family.

ALBANY DEMOCRAT-HERALD, CORVALLIS (OR) GAZETTE-TIMES

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2013

For the love of pretty

Jesse Skoubo/Focus

Michelle Powell of Michelle’s Personalized Skin Care reclines in her Fourth Street salon in Corvallis. the same careful consideration that’s gone into her business thus far.

In a way, Powell has been headed into this line of work since the day when she was 12 and her mother threw her and her sisters a Mary Kay party.

“I’ve always loved pretty things,” she remembered, but her father discouraged her from going in that direction while she was growing up, steering her instead to business school.

She didn’t much care for that experience: “I hate sitting behind a desk,” she said.

“I hate sitting behind a computer.”

Instead, when she got married, she and her husband Todd decided that she would stay home with their two growing boys. As the boys grew older, though, she started to feel a little restless: “I really was struggling with my identity. What is my passion?”

After a stint working parttime at Zoey’s in Corvallis, she decided to take the plunge into skin care, studying the

craft at the Northwest Institute of Esthetics in Eugene as well as pursuing continuing education at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Occupation: Owner, After a stint working in a Michelle’s Personalized spa — where she learned a Skin Care, 644 N.W. lot about dealing with Fourth St., Corvallis clients but also learned that Family: Husband, Todd; “the spa environment is not two sons, Jason, 21, and really for me” — she swalAustin, 18; a daughter-inlowed hard and opened her law, Maria, 21 own business.

Best business advice “My husband said, ‘just ever received: Start conrent this place. Give it your servatively, and be conheart and soul.’” servative with business And that, she has done — decisions. and that dedication shows in Advice to young women the attention to detail that getting started in the marks her business. business: From a mentor, “For women, it is about the Deanna Carr: “She told scents and sights,” she said. me to have a passion for “They want to walk in and what you do and go out and learn and learn and see the beautiful sights and learn.” Also, there’s nothsmell the beautiful scents.” ing to be ashamed about “It has been a lot of hard starting small and building work,” she said. “But I’m not before taking the next afraid of hard work.” step: “If you can’t do it litAnd despite the hard work, tle,” Powell said, “you Powell has no regrets about can’t do it big.” taking the plunge into business – regardless of where the business. “It would be the next steps take her.

“It fulfills you,” she said of boring not to have this.”

MICHELLE POWELL

With hot sauce on top Sisters taste success with yogurt shops

JANE HUMPHREYS Occupation: Yogurt Extreme co-owner Family: Parents Pat and Raymond Humphreys, daughters Hope and Sierra.

Best business advice ever received: “Don’t be afraid to take risks because as long as you have the passion, drive and strong work ethic you will succeed. Have faith in yourself and in your product.”

Advice to young women getting started in business: “Love the business you want to start.

Be passionate about it.

Surround yourself with employees who also love the business.”

BY MARIA L. KIRKPATRICK Jane Humphreys didn’t know anything about running a yogurt shop when she and her sister set out to open Yogurt Extreme in Corvallis.

That was three years ago.

Since then, they have opened another Corvallis location, one in Albany and paved the way for two more in Eugene.

That’s pretty extreme.

Humphreys is businessminded and her older sister, Jennifer Rampone, who lives in Southern California, is creative. Together, they make a successful team.

Yogurt was all Rampone’s idea. Humphreys previously owned and operated a furniture wholesale company. She had closed up shop and taken a year off when her sister approached her with the idea of a self-serve frozen yogurt shop in Corvallis. Rampone pushed the idea while Humphreys laughed and made fun of her. One day Humphreys fired back an “OK, if you get a location like the Jamba Juice next to OSU (Oregon State University), I’d do it.”

Humphreys never thought it would happen. But within 24 hours Rampone found a location — ironically, Jamba Juice was moving out — and scheduled a meeting.

Humphreys was held to her word and had to get a business plan ready in 24 hours.

“Now she gets to say ‘I told you so,’” Humphreys said of her big sister.“She was right.”

Continued from A1

Not from the textbook

BY MIKE MCINALLY Michelle Powell pursued her passion – and built a successful business the old-fashioned way.

Now, with the foundation laid for her successful skincare salon, she’s pondering her next move – while working to stay true to the principles that have brought her this far.

For the last three years, Powell’s business, Michelle’s Personalized Skin Care, has been tucked into a cozy and inviting small space above Greg Christiansen Construction along Corvallis’ Fourth Street, a few blocks from the heart of downtown.

She’s built a client base through tried and true methods such as community contacts, word of mouth and consistently adding services, bolstered by continuing education. (Her latest service is an acne clinic.)

Now, she has a sense that another set of decisions loom: Should she expand?

Hire an employee or two?

Think about relocating closer to downtown?

These are the same sorts of decisions that eventually are faced by anyone who’s started a business and worked hard to make it grow. But that doesn’t make them any easier.

One thing seems certain, though: Powell will approach these decisions with

Mentors “I’ve had dance mentors, but then I have my businessowner mentors,” Hill said.

“It’s great to have somebody you can talk to who is a couple years ahead of you in starting a business.”

Michelle Powell took a risk, opened her own skin care salon

Jesse Skoubo/Focus

Yogurt Extreme co-owners Jane Humphreys and Jennifer Rampone sit down to a cup of “FroYo” in their Monroe Avenue shop in 2010.

Humphreys is a single mother to 10-year-old and 7-year-old daughters. Family has been her strongest support system, with her mother and father, Pat and Raymond Humphreys, looking after the girls while she worked sometimes up to 80 hour work weeks to get things going. She said her biggest lesson in business has been to let go. She has hired managers and is training herself to step back and let them take on their duties.

With five locations, the stores remain under independent ownership. The two Eugene stores are run by sis-

ter-in-law Karen while Humphreys oversees the Corvallis and Albany locations. By not operating as a franchise, Humphreys said, “we can still follow our own paths and make independent decisions.”

Decisions such as what toppings to offer. Making customers happy is what it’s all about, Humphreys said. She welcomes suggestions and often makes items regular, no matter how odd they seem.

The oddest? Hot sauce. It now is a staple on the counter.

The most unique to the area?

Mochi. Humphreys specially orders this rice product to

get the best-tasting.

Community is important to the business plan. Television screens on the walls show slideshows of patrons partaking in tasty fun at the shops. People come to sit and see photographs of their neighbors and schoolmates.

Humphreys gives back too. She supports school events and close to her heart is an annual fundraiser for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland.

Humphreys credits the hospital for saving her youngest daughter when she required a heart reconstruction.

Humphreys also shares her experience as a business owner with others. She is looking forward to talking to and giving a tour to Girl Scout troops to help them complete their Women in Business badge.

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One of the biggest benefits of mentorship is that it’s person-to-person. While business schools may focus on textbook knowledge, a mentorship relationship provides mentees with someone who can discuss the interpersonal aspects of running a business.

“In the textbook, they give you a utopia version of things. Human nature is not like that,” said Bostrom.

Talking to Hubel, she said, she can draw on his years of experience in handling the human-caused challenges that arise.“He’s experienced more out of the box things, things that I never have.”

W h a t ’s more, no textbook or business course will listen to you and commiserate when things aren’t going Stacy the way Bostrom you’d hope they would. Bryngelson, of the Calapooia Brewing Co., said that she turns to Hill or other small business owners for companionship as well as advice.

“You can call up your fellow business owner and say, ‘Hey, are you dealing with this? OK, me too.’” she said. “It’s reassuring.”

Other times mentoring is more technical. Bryngelson sought tips from Carol Lee Woodstock, owner of Woodstock’s Pizza in Corvallis, when it came to dealing with state taxes and licenses. In turn, Bryngelson spent time sitting down with other hopeful brewers and distillers to dispense what she’s learned.

That type of firsthand knowledge is what makes having a mentor valuable, Hill said.

“If I were to take a class,” she said, “I’d only be getting the textbook version.

With mentorship, you can learn from people who are actually going through it.”

Different paths Good mentorship relationships are not set in stone; your mentor doesn’t have to act exactly like you or have followed the same career path.

In the case of Hill and Bryngelson, you don’t necessarily have to be in the

RESOURCES Small Business Administration: sba.gov Service Corps of Retired Executives: www.score.org Women’s Business Center at Mercy Corps Northwest: www.mercycorpsnw.org/wh at-we-do/womens-businesscenter/ same kind of business.

However, Hill said it’s been helpful to talk things over with a fellow female small business owner; Hill said she’s learned a lot from watching the way Bryngelson balances work and family and attempts new ideas in her business.

“I’ve learned from Laura that you have to try new things, and then if they don’t work out, you let go and you move on. I think women sometimes take that a little more personally, and when you’re opening a business, you can’t please everyone,” Hill said.

Other times, gender doesn’t matter. Hubel, of Citizens Bank, said that when he started his career 30 years ago, management of banks was primarily a male-dominated role, as was management in many industries. He’s seen that change: at Citizens Bank, 10 of the 13 branch managers are women.

“We’re really just interested in who can do the job and who is the most qualified,” he said. “Leadership is what matters.”

Learning to lead Leadership, like so many things that mentors attempt to communicate, is a tricky thing to quantify, much less teach. But when its done right, that’s exactly what mentorship is about: training new leaders.

“When I look at the mentors I’ve had, I see how they’ve developed by doing certain things, and it’s those leadership skills that I try to emulate,” Bostrom said.

Hubel said that it’s humbling to realize that people are seeking you out for advice and mentorship.

“It’s a tremendous honor when someone seeks your counsel. It’s also a responsibility,” he said. He said he tries to advise people by giving them different options and letting them decide which path to take. The point of mentoring, he said, is not to create clones of yourself, but to create new leaders — leaders who will in turn help mentor those who come behind them.

Jennifer Rouse is a freelance writer who lives in Albany.

6

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2013

ALBANY DEMOCRAT-HERALD, CORVALLIS (OR) GAZETTE-TIMES

FINDING BALANCE IN NUMBERS Jamie Hughes didn’t know what she wanted to do — until she discovered accounting

BY MARIA L. KIRKPATRICK Jamie Hughes is a numbers person.

Working as a certified public accountant at The Anderson Group in Corvallis, Hughes likes numbers and putting them to work in a way that can make a difference in someone’s bottom line.

“I enjoy the aspect of public accounting,” she said. “Rather than working at a big firm and being a big auditor. I am more interested in working with small business owners and helping individuals and estates, trusts in standard tax returns. I like that I can actually make a difference and talk to somebody and understand their business to help them make decisions.”

A career in accounting wasn’t planned. Hughes chose to attend Linfield College and took classes not knowing what she would become.

Her parents were selfemployed, which made sense to her, and her mother was pushing her toward engineering but she wasn’t interested. Her mother is Corvallis architectural designer Susan Harthun and her father, Calvin Harthun, is a contractor.

But it’s always been about numbers for Hughes.

“I wanted something different,” she said.

An introduction to business class in college put her in touch with some basic areas of business but when she discovered accounting

JAMIE HUGHES Occupation: Certified public accountant with The Anderson Group Family: Husband, Branden, and children Kaitlyn and Owen.

Best business advice ever received: “My parents, through their actions, taught me that hard work and doing the right thing is the base of being successful.”

Advice to young women getting started in business: “Good work ethic, a quality education, good morals and always strive to do the best you can. If you’re putting out your full effort, you should be able to make it.” sabbatical to raise a family.

Hughes schedules her life to make time for her Andy Cripe/Focus husband, Branden, and two children. They enjoy garJamie S. Hughes, a CPA with The Anderson Group in Corvallis, says accounting has become largely populated by females. The flexible dening, camping, hiking schedule and potential for telecommuting allow moms to balance career and family. and snowboarding. Howled her to a greater appreci- work a week. That makes it ever, she is the one she jumped into accounting of the business and how I trekking to the office while possible to have a full ca101 and never looked back. could help those businesses ation for the small town Branden, a carpenter by where she grew up. She re- reer as well as outside life. in the big “It was trade, is a stay-at-home “It allows you to stay in turned to become partner picture,” something dad. He tends to the coucontrol and still be a at The Anderson Group by Hughes I felt I ple’s 2-year-old and 8mom,” she said. “It is a age 30. could do ‘IT WAS SOMETHING said. month-old. Economic very attractive career for Accounting used to be a “Rather well and I FELT I COULD DO times being what they are, women.” male-dominated career. than just was interHughes said, this arrangeThe Anderson Group Over the years, however, it being part esting, as WELL AND WAS currently is dominated by ment makes sense. has been shifting in a big of an acinteresting INTERESTING, Hughes also is involved way to favor females. In her female employees with counting as acin her community, where families.

The American college courses, Hughes staff.” counting AS INTERESTING AS she has held positions at Institute of CPAs points said there were about 15 After a can be.”

ACCOUNTING CAN BE.’ short stint students and only about the Boys & Girls Club of out that accountancy caHughes Corvallis and Chamber of reers rank among the top three of them male.

The in eastern credits JAMIE HUGHES Commerce. She is a memfield has become more wel- 10 careers for women and Washinggreat proTHE ANDERSON GROUP ber of the American Institon, where coming to females because encourages companies to fessors and tute of Certified Public she went to it includes so many differ- hire females. The a college Accountants and the Oreent aspects. In many situa- work/life balance is atfollow her job bookgon Society of CPAs as well tractive and provides options, Hughes said, acnow-husband, she settled keeping for a plumbing an the Greater Corvallis tions to women who wish countants can choose how in Salem for two years. company for her start.

Rotary Club. to telecommute or take a Leaving Corvallis, she said, many hours they want to “I got to see the insides