May 2018

AUSTIN WOMAN MAGAZINE | MAY 2018

“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” —Estée Lauder

First we saved his life.

Then we helped save his life’s dream.

Stephen Moore dreamed of competing in the Strongman competition.

Then a drunk driver almost killed him. Watch his story at stdavids.com.

Emergency Care

THE NEW 2018 MAZDA6 IS HERE. IT HAS THE PERFECT BLEND OF STYLE, POWER AND CRAFTSMANSHIP, TO MAKE YOU RETHINK WHAT A MIDSIZE SEDAN CAN BE. AND NOW, IT’S TURBOCHARGED.

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©2018 Texas Children’s Hospital. All rights reserved. Heyne Ranch. AUS036_032618

When we say we’re on our way to Austin, just what does that mean?

It means we’re packing up and crossing the prairie to bring our unique brand of care to your community. Heck, kids aren’t just small adults.

We recognized this more than 60 years ago when we made our case for creating a brand new hospital in Texas dedicated to serving children.

From board-certified experts in pediatric conditions to equipment designed with a child’s safety and comfort in mind, Austin-area kids now have just a little bit more that they can call their very own.

Texas has always been home. We’re just adding a new town.

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Texas Disposal Systems (TDS) values their role as enviTDS also supports the community through corporate ronmental stewards to sustain natural resources and the sponsorships and use of the TDS Exotic Game Ranch and environment for future generations. The company helps Pavilion, hosting fundraising events free of charge. To date, customers manage and divert waste to beneficial uses by the Exotic Game Ranch and Pavilion has helped raise more incorporating solid waste disposal, materials processing, than $24.6 million for organizations such as Kids Outdoor compost production and recycling operations, processZone, Wonders and Worries, Boy Scouts of America, Asing on average between 3,000 and 4,000 tons of solid sociated General Contractors and Operation Game Thief. waste per day, diverting approxiThrough their sponsorship, TDS mately 200,000 tons of waste per has put an emphasis on recognizing year from landfill disposal. TDS’ organizations that promote educafounders have always considered tion and the environment.

TDS HAS PUT AN doing social good a moral imTDS is proud to work with GirlEMPHASIS ON perative, and now, 40 years later, start, whose mission is to increase citizenship is still embedded in girls’ interest and engagement in RECOGNIZING the company’s core values, touchSTEM by empowering more girls ing everything from environto continue STEM studies and ORGANIZATIONS mental and educational efforts impact innovation and economic to philanthropic and community development. TDS’ Eco Academy THAT PROMOTE support. In Austin, a city often curriculum will be incorporated into EDUCATION AND recognized for its social impact, upcoming Girlstart Summer Camps, the company has teamed up with where participants will learn about THE ENVIRONMENT several local organizations to composting and how to divert waste help make the community more by sorting compostable waste into environmentally focused. the correct bin, and then build a TDS partners with schools by teaching staff and stucomposting bin for Girlstart headquarters. dents how to recycle and compost to preserve resources.

TDS also partners with Austin Habitat for Humanity, doThe company has been servicing schools for more than nating soil, mulch and trees for home builds as well as prod13 years, focusing efforts on cafeteria diversion, and is ucts that are made available for resale at the Austin Habitat currently working with more than 330 schools in Central for Humanity ReStore. The partnership allows employees to Texas. TDS recently launched Eco Academy, a program give back as well by donating their time and energy to help that educates K-12 students about trash, recycling and build houses each year. composting options in their schools and includes campusIn addition, TDS partners with Keep Austin Beautiful wide recycling, plus compostables collection in cafeterias.

(KAB) through donations of services during community It was designed to teach the next generation the imporclean-up events along with products for their tool shack, tance of minimizing waste and equip students with the beautification resources and garden build projects. TDS is tools needed to lead green lifestyles. Through the program, also actively involved in KAB educational initiatives, for TDS is now able to reach students in a more impactful way which they implement a co-branded education program for by being in the classroom and working with them directly. school-aged kids.

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78

85

92

ON THE COVER

FEATURE

FEATURE

DEAL WITH IT

THE GATEKEEPERS

STORIES THAT STICK

BY JOHN T. DAVIS

BY SHELLEY SEALE

BY LAUREN JONES

CONTENTS

Detroit Foundation Hotel photo by Joe Vaughn.

MAY

32 SAVVY WOMEN 20 COUNT US IN Women in Numbers 22 B OTTOM LINE Ellen Wood of vcfo 24 G IVE BACK Women’s Storybook Project of Texas 26 F ROM THE DESK OF Kathryn Kenjura of Picket Fences Baby & Maternity

28 P ROFILE 29 PROFILE

Danielle Allen of ATX Seed Ventures

Julie Sanchez and Marta Elena Cortez-Neavel of Abilitee Adaptive Wear

MUST LIST 32 D ISCOVER 34 R OUNDUP

Detroit

WELLNESS 98 W AITING ROOM Osteoporosis 100 DRINK THIS, NOT THAT Wine Not? 102 H ER ROUTINE Symonne Hornaday

POINT OF VIEW 104 I AM AUSTIN WOMAN

Alex

Winkelman Zeplain

Must-use Travel Apps

ATX WOMEN TO WATCH 37 R OLL CALL

GOURMET 94 R ECIPE REVEAL Bacon Mac 96 FOOD NEWS Vista Brewing

Woman-owned and -led Businesses

ON THE COVER Photo by Rudy Arocha rudyarochaphotography.com

STYLE + HOME

Hair and makeup by Laura Martinez bylauramartinez.com

74 SPLURGE OR STEAL Pool Cool 76 ENTERTAINING Derby de Mayo

Styled by Niki Jones

10 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

Veronica Beard Empire Dickey striped jacket, $645; Veronica Beard Xena striped wide-leg cotton pants, $495; Theory cropped novelty checker shell top, $275, available at Neiman Marcus, 3400 Palm Way, 512.719.1200, neimanmarcus.com.

Smile Makeover | Mark Sweeney, D.D.S.

TOM GILLILAND

Founder & Owner of Fonda San Miguel (est. 1975) Loves | Mexican & Vietnamese Food • Gin & Tonics Keys to Vitality | Black Beans • Red Wine • Exercise & Positive Thinking Favorite quote | “There’s no limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t take, but give credit.” (paraphrasing Ralph Waldo Emerson) Most Memorable Celebrity to visit Fonda San Miguel | Dolly Parton

(512) 452-9296

I AM A TEXAS MBA “The McCombs community continues to shape and humble me. From the outstanding faculty and program administration to my classmates and the alumni base. My MBA shapes the way I approach opportunities, measure impact, and continue learning in my professional career in the fast-moving tech space as well as with volunteer nonprofit advisory work.”

SOFIE LEON POMPA Integrations Product Manager, Spredfast Inc. Husband is also a Texas MBA Alumnus, Class of 2011 First generation American with Mexican dual citizenship Member of Development Committee for St. Louise House MBA 2013

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EXPAND YOUR NETWORK

Photo by Korey Howell.

Evening & Executive Programs

VOLUME 16, ISSUE 9 CO-FOUNDER Melinda Maine Garvey CEO Christopher Garvey PUBLISHER Cynthia Guajardo Shafer

EDITORIAL EDITOR April Cumming DIGITAL EDITOR Lauren Jones COPY EDITOR Chantal Rice CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Nick Barancyk, Kat Barclay, Rhoda Brimberry, Sommer Brugal, Anna Crelia, John T. Davis, Kelly DiNardo, Saba Ghaffari, Lauren Jones, Lauryn Lax, Phaedra Rogers, Gretchen M. Sanders, Shelley Seale, Elizabeth Ucles, Alex Winkelman Zeplain

ART CREATIVE DIRECTOR Niki Jones CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

Rudy Arocha, Nicholas Barancyk, Bill Bowen, Angela Doran, Ashley Hargrove, Gary Malerba, Laura Martinez, Vito Palmisano, Natalie Paramore, Gabi Phi, Annie Ray, Erika Rich, Gretchen M. Sanders, MacKay Shields, Joe Vaughn, Jessica Wetterer

OPERATIONS AND MARKETING CFO

Ashley Goolsby MARKETING AND EVENTS MANAGER

Madilyn Biscoe OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR AND CREATIVE ASSISTANT

Courtney Runn

SALES ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Monika Kelley, Christine Moore

INTERNS

Nick Barancyk, Kat Barclay, Kyla Canavan, Saba Ghaffari, Riley Krauss, Elizabeth Ucles

EMERITAE CO-FOUNDER Samantha Stevens EDITORS

Emily C. Laskowski, Deborah Hamilton-Lynne, Mary Anne Connolly, Elizabeth Eckstein

Austin Woman is a free monthly publication of AW Media Inc., and is available at more than 1,250 locations throughout Austin and in Lakeway, Cedar Park, Round Rock and Pflugerville. All rights reserved.

For submission requirements, visit awmediainc.com/contribute.

No part of the magazine may be reprinted or duplicated without permission.

Visit us online at atxwoman.com.

Email us at info@awmediainc.com.

512.328.2421 | 3921 Steck Ave., Suite A111, Austin, TX 78759

FROM THE DIGITAL EDITOR COMMUNITY

PARTNERS

Publication of Austin Woman would not be possible without the support of our monthly advertisers and sponsors, who believe in the impact we are making in the Austin community. The following businesses have stepped up their support of our efforts beyond traditional advertising and we are proud to recognize them as our partners. The team at Austin Woman is grateful for these businesses that have shown their commitment to the advancement of women in Austin and hopes you, as readers, recognize their efforts and support these businesses and all our regular advertisers.

CYNTHIA GUAJARDO SHAFER

Publisher

DIAMOND-LEVEL PARTNERS

A

s I’m sitting down at my desk to write this letter, I can’t believe I’ve spent almost a year working as the digital editor for Austin Woman.

This year has been one of incredible growth, of learning opportunities and of getting to know the ins and outs of the publishing industry.

I have a digital-marketing background and thus, the world of magazines is entirely new to me, but it’s a world I’ve been thrilled to be part of. Working for AW has allowed me to learn even more about this city I’m lucky to call home, tell the stories of incredible female entrepreneurs and give a voice to those who need to be heard. It’s rewarding, to say the least.

So, what have I learned in my first year on the job?

1. Be kind to yourself. It’s perfectly OK not to know everything and it’s fine to admit that. Asking for help is a sign of maturity and no one is expecting perfection, so make sure to let that voice inside your head know that too.

2. Invest in a planner. This is basic but a serious life hack. I’ve used my trusty productivity notebook and May Designs’ planner from day one, and they’ve been such lifesavers for keeping me organized. Between editing copy, writing for the magazine, posting to social media and running the website, days can be hectic and varied but full of excitement, of course.

3. Make sure to have some kind of work/life balance. As a small team, we each take on more than we probably should, but in the end, it’s because we each care so much about Austin Woman and what it stands for. For me, balance means eating breakfast (and not in the car on the way to work, which I know many women are guilty of), getting in some pre-bedtime yoga, taking a weekend SoulCycle class and learning to say no. I think one of the biggest takeaways from the past year has been learning what I need to be my most productive, healthy and successful self.

4. At the end of each day, write the next day’s to-do list. When the clock strikes 9 a.m., I am off and running, tackling my daily to-do list. And when I already have a solid idea of what lies ahead, I feel much calmer as I open my laptop. Think about your daily to-do items and prioritize just one thing. Identify the one task you must get done today.

5. Life is too short to do a job you’re not happy doing. This is a big one. Working for AW has not only been amazing in terms of professional growth, but because I believe in the importance of what we do, it makes me excited to go to work each morning. We are spreading the message of empowerment, of women supporting women, and telling the stories of so many inspirational women each month.

LAW OFFICE OF JANET MCCULLAR

But enough about me. Let’s get to the issue. This is our financial-empowerment issue, one that I am very proud of, and our team has really pulled together to turn around this larger-than-usual issue. In these pages, you’ll find powerful stories of female venture capitalists, those who are taking on the male-dominated finance industry. Plus, there are fun summer-fashion ideas, entertaining tips for Cinco de Mayo and Kentucky Derby season, and real talk when it comes to motherhood.

Do you love our content as much as we do? Is there something you’d like to see more of? Let us know and join us on social media. We can’t wait to hear from y’all!

Sincerely,

LAUREN JONES Digital Editor

14 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

Join the conversation @AustinWoman #TheFinancialEmpowermentIssue

Photo by Courtney Runn.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

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CONTRIBUTORS This month, we asked our contributors: What’s the best investment you’ve ever made?

RUDY AROCHA

COVER PHOTOGRAPHER, “DEAL WITH IT,” PAGE 78 Photographer Rudy Arocha is a native Texan who moved to

Austin to pursue his education in fine arts as a sculptor. He later rediscovered his passion for photography when his grandfather gave him a camera as a gift. Rudy graduated from the Art Institute of Austin and specializes in portrait photography. When not photographing, Rudy enjoys music, the outdoors and spending time with his wife, Maggie.

“Good haircuts will make your whole look.”

JOHN T. DAVIS

COVER WRITER, “DEAL WITH IT,” PAGE 78

John T. Davis has lived in Austin for more than three decades and writes about the music, personalities and culture of Texas and the Southwest for a variety of regional, state and national publications. His byline has appeared in the Austin AmericanStatesman, The Austin Chronicle, Texas Monthly, Texas Highways, San Antonio Magazine, Men’s Journal, Billboard and Newsday and on the website culturemap.com.

He is also a frequent contributor to Austin Monthly, Austin Woman and other local publications.

“The best investment I ever made was a 1965 Chevy pickup in 1973. I’ve never had more fun in a vehicle since.”

ASHLEY HARGROVE

STYLIST AND MODEL, “POOL COOL,” PAGE 74

Upcoming event: “The MighTy Russians, PaRT ii” Olga Kern, piano Music of Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, and stravinsky May 18 & 19, 2018, 8:00 p.m.

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DTK Austin Styling Owner Ashley Hargrove is a renowned wardrobe stylist and model who specializes in styling commercial and print advertising. She has recently worked with People, ESPN, Holiday Inn and many others.

Follow her journey on Instagram @dtkaustin.

“The best investment I’ve ever made and continue to make is having an amazing tailor.”

GRETCHEN M. SANDERS

WRITER, “DANCING DIVA,” PAGE 102

Gretchen M. Sanders is a writer and audio producer in Austin.

She has worked in public radio, has a background in social work, enjoys writing about science and health and is a contributor to Austin Woman, Austin Monthly, The Alcalde and Swimmer. When she’s not working on a story, this Louisiana native loves to run, swim and throw tennis balls for her dog. She ran the Boston Marathon in 2014 and swam around Manhattan Island before that. In 2015, Gretchen started Audio Archives, an oral-history-recording business that helps families preserve the voices and memories of loved ones.

“I made the investment of a lifetime when I signed up for Masters Swimming in 2004. Today, I swim four mornings a week with Longhorn Aquatics at the University of Texas. I love the coach, Whitney Hedgepeth. I love the workouts. I love the way I feel after practice. I’ve met my closest friends in the pool.”

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CONNECT WITH US! CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS ISSUE? Check us out at atxwoman.com.

➥ More happy hours. This refreshing, easy-to-make hibiscus paloma from

Salt Traders Coastal Cooking will keep you hydrated and wanting to lounge poolside all summer long.

➥ More adventures. While many travel to Thailand for the country’s beautiful

Southern beaches, the North has just as much if not more majesty than the South. We’ll show you how to best spend 48 hours in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

➥ More hair care. Summertime is upon us, which means it’s time to take another look at your hair-care routine, learn how to stop UV-ray and chlorine damage and keep your tresses in tiptop shape.

➥ More creative thinking. Are you craving the flexibility of a freelance work

WIN THIS!

DON’T

THE AUSTIN COOKBOOK Written by Paula Forbes, an Austin-based food and restaurant writer, The Austin Cookbook explores the roots of Texas food traditions and the restaurants that are reinventing them, and features more than 80 recipes. The book is organized by Austin’s “major food groups,” including barbecue, tacos and Tex-Mex, and reveals the secrets to such local favorites as Bob Armstrong Dip, Odd Duck’s sweet-potato nachos, Veracruz All Natural’s potato-andsausage breakfast tacos and, of course, smoked brisket that has people lining up to eat it, even in the Texas summer. Part cookbook, part souvenir and 100 percent love letter, The Austin Cookbook is the perfect kitchen companion for proud locals, visitors and Texpats alike.

To enter to win a copy of the cookbook, keep an eye on our Instagram account, @AustinWoman, for the giveaway announcement in May. Word to the wise: We like to be spontaneous. A winner will be chosen and notified at the end of the month.

FOLLOW US

@austinwoman

18 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

LIKE US

facebook.com/austinwoman

MISS

Urban Scavenger Hunt May 6, noon to 6 p.m.

Locations throughout Austin wondersandworries.org/events/ urban-scavenger-hunt

Austin Heart Ball May 12, 6 p.m.

JW Marriott Austin, 110 E. Second St. ahaaustin.ejoinme.org/myevents/ 20172018austinheartball

Third Annual Woman’s Way Business Awards May 17, 6 to 9 p.m.

JW Marriott Austin, 110 E. Second St. atxwoman.com/womans-way-2018

FOLLOW US

@ austinwoman

Hibiscus paloma photo courtesy of Resplendent Hospitality. The Austin Cookbook photo courtesy of Abrams Books.

life? Hear from Austin’s top freelance writers about the four things you should consider before making the switch.

S

AVVY WOMEN

COUNT US IN

WOMEN IN NUMBERS

Facts and figures on females from throughout the world.

BY NICHOLAS BARANCYK, ILLUSTRATIONS BY JESSICA WETTERER

81.4 Percent 1.8 Million Female Veterans of Parents

1.1 Percent of Assets

8 Percent of Partners

Even though it took until 2016 to lift all restrictions on women in the military, females have fought alongside men since the Revolutionary War. With Memorial Day approaching, it’s a great time to remember all those who have been lost and to honor the living for their service. As of 2011, there were more than 1.8 million living female veterans who served in the armed forces. Currently, most women in the armed forces are enlisted in the Army.

However, the Air Force holds the highest percentage of female active-duty members per branch, at about 19 percent.

It’s clear national security is no longer just a boys’ club.

The stock market may have boomed within the past few years, but studies show women are receiving few of the spoils. Only 1.1 percent of Wall Street’s $71.4 trillion in assets is managed by women.

Additionally, only one woman, Leda Braga of Systematica Investments, made the list of highestpaid hedge-fund managers in 2015. This leaves a lot of room for expansion for companies embracing the idea that diversity in the workplace is critical for garnering unique perspectives and financial growth.

Venture-capital firms have been slow to react to demands for diversity.

Women comprise only 8 percent of partners among the top 100 venture firms.

However, the data is slightly more heartening at a smaller scale. Women founded 16 micro-venture funds in the last three years or so, which amounts to 21 percent of new businesses added in that category. And even though the distribution of venture dollars is genderskewed, studies show women are less likely to seek outside investment, thereby retaining creative control of their companies.

Single parents have their work cut out for them.

Between juggling work, balancing the checkbook and taking the kids to violin lessons, time can become a rare commodity. The 2017 U.S. census shows the vast majority of those responsibilities fall on women. Of 11.5 million single parents raising children younger than 18, a staggering 81.4 percent of them are single mothers. When compounded with the fact that it takes an average of more than $230,000 to a raise a child through the age of 17, the stress is palpable. So, give your mom a call this Mother’s Day. She deserves it.

6 Jockeys Early May marks the time to break out the Kentucky Derby hats and mint juleps. As the jockeys compete in the 144th Run for the Roses this month, there’s a noticeably small percentage of women atop the horses. Despite their higher participation in recreational riding, women still constitute a small percentage of competitors at top races. Only six women have competed in the Kentucky Derby in the 143 years the race has taken place. Furthermore, just one woman, Julie Krone, won a Triple Crown race, claiming the gold at the 1993 Belmont Stakes.

20 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

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BOTTOM LINE

SMALL-BUSINESS ROAD BLOCKS

Ellen Wood, co-founder and CEO of vcfo, shares how to avoid the most common financial—and nonfinancial—pitfalls startups make.

BY SOMMER BRUGAL Ellen Wood loves the strategic elements of finance. She enjoys thinking about business strategies and contemplating questions like what optimizes a business, what makes a business better and what makes a business simply go.

Luckily, as the co-founder and CEO of vcfo, a financial and human-resources consulting firm that helps strengthen companies through solutionsbased finance, HR, technology and recruiting support, she’s able to ponder and execute those questions daily.

Wood studied management, accounting and finance at the University of Texas, and later acquired her certified-public-accountant license. An active member in the Austin community, Wood served as the 2017 chair of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and currently serves as the chamber’s vice-chair of innovation and technology.

Throughout her career, Wood has founded many successful businesses. Austin Woman asked her to shed some precautionary insight on the potential financial pitfalls, mistakes and unexpected roadblocks startups and small businesses face when starting out.

Wood says there’s one question all entrepreneurs should ask themselves when starting a new business: How much can I afford to lose?

“I’ve seen a number of early stage founders really in a world of harm by risking everything— and sometimes risking other people’s everything—which turned out to be more than they could afford when it didn’t work out,” Wood says.

She advises new business owners to conduct an in-depth financial forecast of the company, adding that entrepreneurs must look at their worst-case scenario to understand whether they can afford that situation. Entrepreneurs, Wood says, must ensure they can afford to cover their assets should things not work out as planned.

Most companies start out with an American Express business card, Wood says, and while attaining the company’s first credit card isn’t the concern, she notes the problem can arise a few years later, particularly if the company continues to use the same card. That’s because the card is based on the credit score of the individual who opened the card account, the same individual who, in many cases, is no longer connected to or with the company.

Although it’s a mistake made by many early stage entrepreneurs, Wood says it’s something to be cognizant of, as the oversight can cause financial distress many years down the road.

22 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

THINK ABOUT YOUR PRIORITIES.

According to Wood, being the CEO isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

For small-business owners, she suggests considering whether it’s a role you would enjoy having after the business’ initial launch. If a role within the company sparks your interests more, Wood suggests developing a path that allows you to redirect your focus from CEO to that role.

Whether you remain the CEO or commit to another facet of the company’s network, Wood says creating a positive work environment and culture are key to a business’ success.

Photo courtesy of Ellen Wood.

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS.

ASSIGN PROPER ROLES.

One of the more serious mistakes a company can make both early on and throughout the success and growth of the company is misclassifying its employees, referring to them as “contractors” instead of “employees.” Wood says if the IRS conducts an audit and finds the contractors should actually be listed as employees, it can recalculate the payroll taxes the company should have withheld, which can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars the company must pay in back taxes.

To mitigate the problem, Wood says to make sure to evaluate every employee against their credentials and use a legitimate payroll service to manage taxes on the company’s behalf.

When establishing someone’s status as either an employee or contractor, Wood also suggests setting boundaries with each individual. As the CEO of a company, it’s OK to care for your employees.

But Wood says it’s important to remember you aren’t their mother. And while she admits to filling that role at times, Wood works to find a balance while still showing compassion for her employees.

Fostering relationships and a positive environment within one’s company is another factor to consider when starting out. One way of doing so, Wood says, is by giving back to the community.

“Don’t let the early stage status keep you from giving back to the community. It’s really important to do that from day one,” Wood says, “Don’t let the early stage status keep you adding that it’s also an important element in building from giving back to the community.” a company’s culture.

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GIVE BACK

THE POWER OF A MOTHER’S VOICE

Judith Dullnig is spreading a message of love and redemption, one children’s book at a time.

BY PHAEDRA ROGERS, PHOTO BY COURTNEY RUNN

“Don’t forget to brush your teeth.” “Happy birthday!” “I love you, baby.” “Remember to say your prayers.” The sounds of motherhood haven’t changed much throughout the course of time. In fact, if anything has changed, it’s that today, mothers can dote on and nurture their children from practically anywhere. Whether they’re living in a different city, state or, as is the case for the mothers served by Women’s Storybook Project of Texas, within the four walls of a prison, the amount of love and care remains a constant.

“A mother’s voice is a very powerful thing,” says Judith Dullnig, founder of Women’s Storybook Project of Texas, an organization that connects incarcerated mothers to their children, from infants to age 12, through reading.

Dullnig has witnessed countless experiences of the power of a mother’s voice firsthand. One she remembers vividly is the story of an 11-year-old girl who slipped into a coma because of an illness. The doctors had done all they could, Dullnig says, but the girl was still unresponsive. However, when all else failed, her mother’s voice came through. Again and again, the girl was played a recording of her mother’s voice reading a book, and to everyone’s shock, she woke up.

Few people can claim they’ve gone from selling jewelry and fine linens to helping incarcerated mothers read to their children, but that’s the trajectory Dullnig’s career took.

Dullnig was first introduced to the idea that would become the Women’s Storybook Project of Texas when she was visiting friends and working at a trunk show in Louisville, Ky. “We were sitting at dinner when someone mentioned a program that connected mothers in prison to their children through reading,” she recalls. “I immediately knew I wanted to bring a program like that to Texas.”

Having lost her mother when she was just 8 years old, Dullnig knows what it’s like to not have a mother who could read to her.

Just like the growth of a baby, the program started out very small, eventually making big strides.

“I started with five volunteers, four voice recorders, 25 new books and one prison,” Dullnig says.

That was 15 years ago. Today, she has more than 200 volunteers who visit the prisons, record stories and messages from female inmates, then mail a new book, along with the audio recording, to their children. The day has finally come when Dullnig’s office walls are stacked with new children’s books and a long list of prisons to potentially be included in the program.

Only mothers on good behavior for at least 90 days have the opportunity to record stories. If anything changes in their status, they lose the opportunity.

24 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

Currently, in the U.S., there are more women incarcerated than ever before. While the reasons for the uptick in female inmates are complicated, it’s clear the positive effects the storybook program has on the mothers, the inmates, who earn the chance to read to their children. Wardens repeatedly share that the uplifting act spills over to other inmates, which lightens the atmosphere for everyone.

“I’ve always said that this is a simple concept with a very big impact,” Dullnig explains, adding that she often gets letters from guardians and family members, but it’s most gratifying when she hears from the children directly.

The letters are sometimes peppered with artwork and say things like, “Thank you for bringing me and my mom closer together,” and, “I want to hear more. When are the next books coming?”

It’s not unusual for Dullnig to hear about children asking to be tucked into bed with the CD player, sometimes wrapping it in a favorite blanket or putting it under a pillow. Older children have been known to take their

recordings everywhere, carting them around in their backpacks.

Aside from assuring children of their mothers’ love and increasing inmates’ self-esteem, there’s an underlying bonus to the project. By promoting literacy—even from inside a prison—these moms are teaching their children the importance of reading.

Dullnig is often asked about illiteracy among inmates.

“Rarely have we had a problem with illiteracy in our program,” she says. “I’ve run into a dyslexic or slow reader occasionally, but most the time, the mothers read beautifully and with expression.”

Moving forward, Dullnig says she’d like to see Women’s Storybook Project of Texas expand to all prisons in Texas.

“Just because a mom has made a bad judgment call,” she says, “doesn’t mean she loves her child any less.”

To learn more about Women’s Storybook Project of Texas, visit storybookproject.org.

WAKE UP. BE AWESOME.

REPEAT.

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FROM THE DESK OF

KATHRYN KENJURA

The owner of Picket Fences Baby & Maternity shares her struggles with infertility.

BY SABA GHAFFARI, PHOTO BY COURTNEY RUNN When Kathryn Kenjura started her part-time job at Picket Fences Baby & Maternity while a student at the University of Texas, she had no idea she would one day come to own the business.

By 2001, Kenjura was putting all her time and energy into the store as its owner. While she sold custom nursery furniture, fabric and décor, in addition to maternity apparel, the popularity of Etsy and Pinterest, along with Kenjura’s breast-cancer diagnosis in 2009, led to the elimination of that side of the business. From then on, she focused solely on selling TALK ABOUT IT.

“You’re not alone. I guarantee you somebody very close to you has gone through it, is going through it or will go through it. And find your person, even if it’s a stranger. The greatest [help] I’ve found has been through Texas Fertility [Center]. ... There’s a different bond. These are strangers, but they’re now part of my life. You just have to find the support.”

GET EDUCATED ABOUT YOUR HORMONES.

“I feel like [when] most women go in for their annual exams, all [doctors] do is talk about [preventing pregnancy]. … At 30 years old, if you’re not ready, the gynecologist needs to start talking to you about how the longer you wait, the harder it could be. And just know where you stand. … Just know they can do an AMH and FSH, two very inexpensive blood tests, and it tells you so much about your hormone levels, which directly affect your fertility.”

KNOW YOUR FINANCIAL OPTIONS.

“It’s a very expensive journey. A lot of it is not covered by insurance. I think there’s only six or eight states that mandate infertility be covered by insurance. Texas does not. So, it is a lot out of pocket. It’s very sad and very unfortunate.”

BE NICE TO YOURSELF.

“Sometimes I think women are very hard on themselves. I’ve experienced weight gain, which has been very frustrating.

But nobody knows what I’m going through. They just think I’m fat. Well, you have to be nice to yourself. You have to.

And you have to sometimes just sit there and think about what you’ve been through, what you’re going through, what you’ve done to your body, the sacrifices that you’re making and knowing it’s [going to] be worth it.”

YOUR ROAD TO MOTHERHOOD MAY NOT BE WHAT YOU EXPECTED.

“[Be patient] and [try] to stay positive because it is hard.

It is so hard. And [know] that it might not be the way that you thought…but it’s still [going to] happen. And it was the way it was meant for you to get to your baby. Sometimes you have to surrender to other options. It’s taken me a long time to accept the fact that my eggs are not good, and if I want to carry a child, my best option would be with an egg donor. I wanted to know that I’ve done everything that I could. And you finally get to a place that [you are] at peace with that. … I want to be a mother bad enough that if that’s my path, then I accept it.”

26 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

children’s clothing.

Something that surprises Kenjura’s customers is the fact she doesn’t have any children of her own. In the last two years, she has struggled with infertility, and while she admits her line of work can sometimes be difficult, Kenjura has received overwhelming support from her customers.

Kenjura sat down with Austin Woman to offer her advice to those dealing with infertility.

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PROFILES

VENTURING TO THE TOP

Danielle Allen, chief operating officer of ATX Seed Ventures, is bringing a dose of Wall Street to Austin.

With 15 years of Wall Street experience under her belt, Danielle Allen is working to make ATX Seed Ventures, an early stage venture-capital firm, the next major player on Austin’s startup scene.

Allen hails from Long Island, N.Y., but made a detour to New Orleans to attend Tulane University before making her way back to the Big Apple in 2001 to work as a retail broker with Citi Group. Allen’s position with Citi Group proved challenging, as many clients declined to put money into what was at the time a falling market after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Deciding to put work on the back burner, Allen went on to obtain her maser’s degree in finance and investments from the Zicklin School of Business in New York City. After graduating in 2005, she quickly started to climb the career ladder, taking positions with top hedge-fund companies and investment banks in the city, including Perry Capital, Millennium Management, J.P. Morgan and Nomura.

In 2016, Allen and her husband headed to Austin for her husband’s completion of his second residency at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas. Shortly after their move, Allen applied for and accepted an open position for a part-time investor-relations analyst at ATX Seed Ventures, where she started out managing investor communications. Allen soon realized there was a need for a more hands-on approach to operations. Now, a year into her new position as chief operations officer, Allen is helping the company thrive in her direct oversight of investor relations. She helps investors with tax filings, webportal management and new-investment communication. She also oversees fund administrators, accounting, legal, compliance, launch of new funds, events and audits for the company.

Although she has a seemingly neverending daily list of to-do items and responsibilities, Allen says she feels fulfilled by her busy schedule.

“I’ve always liked working, even though there was a choice to stay home with children,” Allen says. “I just feel better at work. It’s where I’m at my best.”

Until 2008, Austin Ventures was the top venture-capital firm in town, with more than $3 billion in assets. Allen says it’s her strong desire to claim this top spot that keeps her motivated day in and day out.

“For 10 years, there’s been a lack of a major venture-capital player in Austin, and I think if we manage ATX Seed Ventures correctly and my partner keeps picking the right investments and I manage the firm well that there’s no reason we can’t step up and be the next Austin Ventures,” Allen says. “That’s what motivates me. I want to take us to the next level.”

28 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

Established in 2014, ATX Seed Ventures is an early stage investor that gives startups their first institutional capital. Once an entrepreneur has used up her credit cards and asked family and friends for money, ATX Seed Ventures steps in. The company has $50 million under management, along with 16 companies in its first round of funding. The company is currently six investments in with its second round of funding, with projections to have backed 10 to 15 companies this round.

Allen explains venture-capital firms cannot simply hand entrepreneurs capital. There needs to be a much deeper relationship before any funding can take place.

“What [startup] founders need is somebody to help them with strategy development,” Allen says. “They need us to plan and to structure their finance rounds.”

ATX Seed Ventures also serves to make introductions between startups and their potential customers.

“Somebody in our network typically knows who your next big customer is,” Allen says, noting one of the benefits entrepreneurs get from working with a VC firm. “We’re making introductions to their partners and to their future capital sources.”

Allen says key factors ATX Seed Ventures considers when investing include market opportunity and timing, the compelling nature of the product or service, and the caliber of the team. She adds ATX Seed Ventures prefers to invest in serial founders who have an exit strategy and the ability to derisk and amplify success for their involved partners.

At the moment, the company’s portfolio of investments includes one Houston-based business and 20 Austin-based businesses, two of which are female-founded. One of the company’s Austin-based, female-founded investments is luxury-service app Key Concierge.

Created by Kim Shrum, the app uses travelers’ preferences to directly connect them to a variety of concierge services. Travelers can use it for any need, from requesting what items they want stocked in their Airbnb to grocery shopping and much more.

The other female-founded startup that ATX Seed Ventures has invested in is Slingshot Aerospace. Founded by Melanie Stricklan, a retired Air Force officer experienced in air-space technology and cybertechnology, Slingshot Aerospace converges satellites and machine warnings to create usable data. The technology proved useful during Hurricane Harvey relief efforts to tell first responders where to help victims among floods. The system can also analyze flood analytics to predict damage and crop yields throughout the world, as well as the amount of oil in U.S. tanks and more.

“We will invest if we feel that we can make an impact,” Allen says of ATX Seed Ventures’ assessment methodology. “And if we believe in the team, if we believe in the products and it’s the right time for what they’re doing, then we’ll make an investment.”

Photo by MacKay Shields.

BY ELIZABETH UCLES

THE BEAUTY OF ADAPT-ABILITEE

The co-founders of a local clothing-and-accessories company are empowering those with medical needs.

Photo of Dr. Julie Sanchez courtesy of Dr. Julie Sanchez. Photo of Marta Elena Cortez-Neavel by Erika Rich.

BY LAUREN JONES Seventy-five percent of what they understand as their company and Rainbow-colored bow ties peek through plastic, neon-colproduct line, Cortez-Neavel says, is still being worked on. ored ostomy covers lay in neatly organized bins and product Each of Abilitee’s products is inspired by someone in Sanchez’s life, sketches are tacked against a bulletin board. The sound of a whether it’s a patient, parent or nurse. Once an idea begins to form, sewing machine hums in the background. Pediatric surgeon Sanchez says she turns to Cortez-Neavel, the designer, to work her Julie Sanchez and entrepreneur Marta Elena Cortez-Neavel are magic. From there, they make a series of prototypes and give the items the women behind Abilitee Adaptive Wear, a company creatto Sanchez’s patients to test. The process can take anywhere from three ing clothing and accessories for those with medical needs. weeks to six months until an item is available for purchase online.

“There is no blueprint, no pattern for a company like this,” Sanchez “For us, it’s really important that whatever product these families says. “It all starts with a need.” have inspired make In the U.S., a difference,” Santhere are millions chez says. “We want of children and our products to make adults with medi[people] feel good about cal needs, yet there themselves.” are few companies One of Sanchez’s making clothing patients, a teenage girl adapted for those with cerebral palsy, particular needs. inspired one of the latest That is where products: a waterproof, Abilitee comes absorbent scarf. The pain. The company tient kept getting chest conceptualizes, infections, Sanchez and designs and proCortez-Neavel explain, duces feeding-tube so the two went to work covers, catheter to come up with a soluclips, ostomy-bag tion to prevent further coverings and medical complicastylish clothing tions. Once the patient options out of a received and started quaint East Austin wearing her new scarf, home, a home that she reported fewer chest currently serves as infections. She was also part main office, recently crowned homeDr. Julie Sanchez Marta Elena Cortez-Neavel part production facoming queen. cility and creative “That’s pretty amazhub. Two years in, ing that she is inspiring so many people with her strength,” Sanchez Sanchez and Cortez-Neavel are already outgrowing the space as they says, smiling. continue to scale and grow their business.

In addition to creating items that are bacteria-resistant, comfortFor the friends turned business partners, Abilitee Adaptive Wear is able and safe for patients, Cortez-Neavel is all about empowering those a life-changing passion project. Sanchez, who often treats patients at with medical needs.

Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, recalls the original “We want our clothing to have integrity,” she says. “People with inspiration for starting the company. She had just placed a feeding tube medical needs often feel marginalized because there aren’t products on a 4-year-old boy with autism and was speaking with his mother. made for them. We want to make them feel like they have value.”

The fear was palpable as the mother burst out crying, coming to terms The busy duo is currently working with students from the Universiwith her new reality of not only raising a special-needs child, but ty of Texas’ McCombs School of Business to develop a sustainable and one who also needed a feeding tube. Sanchez, who’s been a pediatric long-term business plan. As for the future of the company, they want surgeon for 17 years, had dealt with her share of middle-of-the-night to continue to develop their product line and say they would love their emergency-room operations on children who had pulled their feeding website to become a one-stop informational hub for parents, with Youtubes out while sleeping. Inspiration struck, and with Cortez-Neavel’s Tube videos and explanations for those facing new medical diagnoses. help, Sanchez began working to create products that would not only In the end, every step of the journey with Abilitee has been rewardquell parents’ fears, but also prevent infections and empower those ing for the pair. As for Sanchez, she is now able to take care of her with medical needs. patients after they’ve left the hospital.

As their company started to scale, so did the duo’s product inventory.

“It’s a daily thing,” Sanchez says. “You’d be surprised at how many “We started with five items and now we are up to over 30 in terms people you know or people that know someone who is facing someof ideas,” Cortez-Neavel says. “Once we figure out manufacturing and thing like this.” production, those will be migrated to our website.”

ATXWOMAN.COM | 29

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DISCOVER

SPEND 48 HOURS IN DETROIT

The epitome of Americana, this gritty town is experiencing a revival.

The phoenix-rising-from-the-ashes tale of Detroit has been the overarching narrative in Motor City for the last several years.

And while the renaissance continues, the city is quickly moving past comeback kid to cool cat. Both Forbes and Lonely Planet named the city a must-visit destination for 2018. With new boutique hotels, creative restaurants, funky boutiques, and vibrant art and music scenes, we’re not surprised. Here, we offer up a suggested itinerary for a fun-filled weekend in this increasingly attractive city.

Motown Museum

FRIDAY 2 p.m.

In a row of modest houses, Berry Gordy built the Motown empire and kick-started the careers of Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, among other stellar acts. Today, the Motown Museum, aka Hitsville U.S.A., showcases the label’s early years, and visitors can tour Studio A, where legends like The Supremes recorded their first hits.

4 p.m.

Check into the Detroit Foundation Hotel, a 100-room boutique hotel in the former Detroit Fire Department headquarters. From the tall red doors on the exterior to the cleaned and repaired tiling on the lobby walls and the marble flooring in the atrium, much of the historic building has been kept intact. Overall, the conversion is a siren song to the city. Guest rooms feature custom wallpaper with printed photos of historic Detroit architecture, minibars are stocked with local treats and the halls are lined with works created by local artists.

After you get settled, stop into the Apparatus Room, the hotel’s New American-style restaurant run by two-Michelin-starred Chef Thomas Lents, for a light nosh in the magnificently adorned lounge.

6 p.m.

Best known for the spectacular series of Diego Rivera frescoes, the Detroit Institute of Arts is worthy of a visit and stays open late Fridays, when it features live-music performances, special workshops and drinks.

Ambassador Bridge

32 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

The Apparatus Room in the Detroit Foundation Hotel

8 p.m.

Grab dinner at the food truck turned brick-and-mortar location of Thai restaurant Takoi. The lauded restaurant is small and doesn’t take reservations for parties of fewer than five people, so put your name on the list and head across the street to Two James Spirits, the city’s first licensed distillery since Prohibition, for a cocktail while you wait.

Spirit of Detroit

Photo courtesy of C2photo Photography.

Motown Museum

by Bill Bowen. Apparatus Room photo by Joe Vaughn. Ambassador Bridge and Spirit of Detroit photos by Vito Palmisano.

BY KELLY DINARDO

Riverfront photo and Eastern Market photo by Bill Bowen. General Motors headquarters photo by Vito Palmisano. Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation photo by Gary Malerba.

SATURDAY 10 a.m.

Meander past the impressive Monument to Joe Louis, an 8,000-pound, fist-shaped sculpture that honors the heavyweight champ, and The Spirit of Detroit, an iconic bronze monument, to Avalon Cafe and Bakery. The small café from local favorite Avalon International Breads features crave-worthy pastries, muffins and universally loved fresh breads, as well as quiches, a frittata sandwich and heartier breakfast fare.

11 a.m.

Wander through Eastern Market, the largest historic public market district in the country. Every Saturday, flower, fruit, veggie and cheese vendors fill the halls of the six-block open-air market. Pro tip: Check out the streets adjacent to the market, which are lined with specialty shops and cafes.

Detroit’s riverfront

General Motors headquarters

12:30 p.m.

Take an afternoon stroll through Corktown, the oldest surviving neighborhood in the city. Today, it’s dotted with funky boutiques, craft-cocktail bars and restaurants with a focus on locally sourced ingredients. For lunch, Bobcat Bonnie’s, a gastropub serving New American fare and Ima, a cozy Japanese joint specializing in noodles and rice bowls, are strong contenders. Follow up lunch with a latte from Astro Coffee, the perfect midafternoon pick-me-up.

7 p.m.

With a sleek interior, romantic terrace and inventive New American fare, Selden Standard is a buzzed-about dining addition to the booming food scene in the city. The bar serves craft cocktails, specialty beers and rare whiskeys, as well as varied wine options. The seasonal menu changes regularly, but might include specialties such as grilled romaine, charred octopus with white beans and grilled whole trout.

Eastern Market

9 p.m.

Head to Baker’s Keyboard Lounge for a nightcap and some live music. One of the oldest jazz clubs in the country, the cozy club has featured Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway and other musical greats.

SUNDAY 10 a.m.

Tucked inside the Chrysler House skyscraper, you’ll find Dime Store. From omelets to Korean-inspired french fries to a duck Reuben and spicy porkbelly eggs Benedict, brunch is a delicious mélange.

Noon Just outside Detroit in Dearborn, Mich., is The Henry Ford, a 250-acre complex that includes the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, Greenfield Village and Ford Rouge Factory Tour. It would be daunting to tackle it all in one visit, so start with the museum, which is chock-full of Americana, from the monumental (the presidential limo in which President John F. Kennedy was killed and the bus on which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat) to the whimsical (the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile).

The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation

ATXWOMAN.COM | 33

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ROUNDUP

FIVE MUST-USE TRAVEL APPS FOR SUMMER

Planning your ideal vacation just got easier.

BY KAT BARCLAY

Whatever it is, there’s probably an app for it. These days, just about anything can be done on your phone, including all you may need to plan your next trip, from booking flights and lodging to reserving a table at that fancy restaurant you’ve been dying to try. Who needs a travel

agent when you have technology? With summer on its way (June 21 marks the first day of summer.) and vacation time at the front of everyone’s minds, we’ve put together a list of five of our favorite travel apps to help you plan your next trip in a breeze.

FLYOVER COUNTRY

RESY

Do you want to know exactly what you’re looking down at as you stare out your plane window? Flyover Country is an offline mobile app that uses maps and data from various geological and paleontological databases to identify landscapes. The app uses GPS tracking to determine your flight’s speed, altitude and direction as well. Other features include a ground mode for road trips and hikes, as well as access to expert-written field-trip guides.

Calling all foodies! Resy is a must-download app. The app allows users to search from a list of restaurants and then easily book a reservation. Remove the hassle of calling ahead or putting your name on a waiting list once you arrive. Resy partners with a handful of local restaurants in most cities throughout the U.S., including Austin.

HIPCAMP

ZEEL

Hipcamp is a comprehensive camping guide for adventure seekers. Easily find and book camping sites near you, or anywhere in the U.S., through the Hipcamp app. Forget outdated reservation websites; spots to pitch a tent tend to stray off the beaten path when you use Hipcamp, from a host’s private property or remote ranchland to vineyards with vistas or nearby national parks. You can also pay it forward by setting up your own land as a hosting site.

Zeel offers on-demand massages wherever you are staying. Book on the app and a licensed massage therapist will come straight to your hotel or Airbnb in less than a hour. Zeel offers services in more than 85 cities throughout the country, and services can be scheduled in advance or even on short notice. It’s the perfect fit for those looking to add a little bit of spontaneous relaxation to their getaway.

Everyone needs a great hair day every once in a while, and a vacation is the perfect excuse for some pampering. A membership-based app, Prête allows users the freedom to book a hair blowout with some of the best salons in the area, whether it’s at home in Austin or in one of the other nine cities in which Prête partners are located. The app also allows users to schedule blowout-party services in all 50 states—perfect for your next girls’ weekend getaway.

34 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

Photos courtesy of their respective companies.

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BY LAUREN JONES | PHOTOS BY COURTNEY RUNN

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JESS ICA TANTILLO BARNARD AND SANDRA SPALDING

WHOLESALE MANAGER AND MARKETING DIRECTOR AT T WIN LIQUORS

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essica Tantillo Barnard, Twin Liquors’ wholesale manager, and Sandra Spalding, Twin Liquors’ marketing director, have been integral parts of the Austin hospitality landscape since they landed on the scene. They met through Twin Liquors and spend the majority of their time making sure to give great attention to every community event, restaurant and bar with which they interact. Tantillo Barnard, originally from Houston, culled her passion for hospitality studying food and wine in Houston, New York and Spain, while Spalding honed her skills in Italy and Southern California. Known by some as “Twinjas,” Tantillo Barnard and Spalding have been part of the growth of Central Texas’ hospitality scene, never losing sight of the importance of taking care of the community. twinliquors.com

38 SPECIAL PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM 38 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

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ALISSA SHERRY

W R I T E R A N D F O R E N S I C P SYC H O LO G I ST

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orensic psychologist and former University of Texas professor Alissa Sherry has just finished her first book, Perversion of Justice, a narrative nonfiction account of the workplace sexual assaults of #MeToo warriors Cathy McBroom and Donna Wilkerson at the hands of former federal judge Samuel B. Kent. Interviews, newspaper articles, scholarly research and legal documents reconstruct the unbelievable story that ended Kent’s career and led to his impeachment and imprisonment. Perversion of Justice is about how women’s historical tapestries shape their responses to workplace harassment, including the rational impulse to turn on one another.

It’s rational because when workplace policies employ secretive, self-policing investigations, survival becomes more important than unity. Add to this the fact that while 3,000 federal judges serve in any given year, only 15 have ever been removed from the bench. McBroom and Wilkerson’s historic struggle is nothing less than heroic. alissasherry.com

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STEPHANIE MOSHER

E XECUTIVE ADMINISTR ATOR AT CISCO SYSTEMS

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ven a tech giant like Cisco Systems needs its superheroes, and at the company’s Austin office, Stephanie Mosher is that superhero, often called the “queen of everything” by her colleagues. She is the glue that holds this weird, quirky campus together, and for her, being an executive assistant means taking care of the Cisco family. With a nontraditional outlook, she strives to not only keep Austin weird, but to allow Austin’s culture to shine throughout the organization. She is a leader in bringing Cisco’s vast array of teams together through events like Girls Power Tech, Women of Impact and Cisco Leader Day, and because of those efforts, Cisco has been recognized as one of the Top Workplaces by the Austin-American Statesman.

Additionally, she orchestrates philanthropic activities, and is a founding member of the Austin Civic Council.

As a Cisco social-media ambassador, Mosher often speaks about her love for the company. cisco.com

40 | AUSTIN SPECIAL WOMAN PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM | MAY 2018

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SHERRI GRAF

CEO OF IMAGINE COLLEGE COACHING

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hen Sherri Graf waded through the college-admissions process for her children, she saw an opportunity to make a bigger impact on the world. With a background in education and communications, she was equipped for the task at hand. Powered by her love for her family and a passion for helping others, she created Imagine College Coaching. Graf now wears the nickname “collegepreneur” proudly. Since 2010, she has worked with students, young adults and their families on the journey through the college-admissions process, helping each of her clients reach their full potential.

Alongside her tutoring, she also helps students find scholarships and receive financial aid. The passion behind the company is her desire to help others achieve their dreams and the belief that with a guiding hand, any youth can create a positive future. Continuing to rock through life with her four beautiful children, the right ’80s ballad and her beloved goldendoodle, Graf is determined to empower the next generation to find their place in the world. imaginecollegecoaching.com

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MELISSA MALDONADO

PA R T S M A N A G E R AT R O G E R B E A S L E Y M A Z D A

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ative Texan Melissa Maldonado is the parts manager for Roger Beasley Mazda, a locally owned dealership in Central Austin. Early in life, Maldonado decided to follow her successful mother into the automotive-parts industry, beginning her career in Brownsville, Texas. In 2012, she moved to Austin and quickly joined the Roger Beasley family, where she was promoted to manager within three years. As the automotive-parts-and-service sector is typically male-dominated, she works hard to break down barriers. As an integral team member of one of the top Mazda dealerships in the nation, Maldonado has successfully led the department to more than $6.9 million in net parts sales in 2017. She is also driven to make sure customer satisfaction is her team’s main focus.

While keeping up with the demanding dealership pace, she maintains balance by spending time with friends, family and pets, getting away to the beach and cheering on University of Texas women’s athletics. mazdacentral.com

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D R. L I SA M. JU K E S

B OA R D - C E R T I F I E D GY N E C O LO G I ST

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r. Lisa M. Jukes is a board-certified gynecologist whose primary practice location is in Westlake Hills, Texas. With satellite clinics in Marble Falls, Texas, and Lakeway, Texas, Jukes focuses on all aspects of gynecologic care, addressing the needs of women from adolescence through menopause.

She is a skilled surgeon in da Vinci robotic surgeries and emphasizes overall health and wellness.

Additionally, she was the first to offer BioTe bio-identical hormone therapy in Austin, and has for many years offered an FDA-approved weight-loss plan called Ideal Protein. Her practice was also the first in Austin to offer MonaLisa Touch laser therapy, a non-hormonal option for the treatment of vaginal dryness. Jukes was born in England and is the mother of two children. She is enthusiastic about the health and wellness of her patients and truly believes every patient matters. lisamjukesmd.com

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E I G H T H - G R A D E G R A D U AT I N G C L A S S THE GIRLS’ SCHOOL OF AUSTIN

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eet the Girls’ School of Austin’s 2018 graduating class. These 15 young women include award-winning artists and writers, competitive athletes, skilled musicians, talented vocalists, fashionistas and philanthropists. When these students aren’t excelling in academics, they can be found volunteering, participating in cross-country bike rides, competing on horseback and starting their own business endeavors. One of the talented artists in the group has already sold her work to a major network television show. Four members of the class are in Austin’s All-region Orchestra, and the class boasts an impressive 24 awards for writing and art in the 2017–2018 regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Remember these faces. These girls are going places. thegirlsschool.org

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COOKIE BANDEL

PERMANENT-MAKEUP ARTIST AT STUDIO BELL A SPA

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ookie Bandel is the leader in permanent makeup because she listens then does what clients want. Clients are a part of the whole experience, so there are no unwanted surprises. Bandel works with surgeons, providing her services to cancer survivors with areola repigmentation. That’s one way she gives back to her community. Bandel offers six classes a year to share her knowledge and passion of permanent makeup. She has been recognized for correcting and camouflaging others’ permanent makeup and teaching the next generation perfect, lasting permanent cosmetics. Regardless of whether clients choose Bandel, she is happy to share what to ask and look for in a permanent-makeup artist. Her spa also flourishes with massage therapists, aestheticians, manicurists, hair stylists, lash-extension professionals and hydra-facial specialists who take pride in their work and are all masters in their respective fields. It’s true what people say: “You may enter as a stranger, but you will leave as a friend.” studiobellaspa.com

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I L ANA Z I VKOV I CH

CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF WERQ

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lana Zivkovich is the co-founder and CEO of Werq, a leadership-advisory firm specializing in helping successful business executives create thriving, results-driven teams, navigate their most pressing challenges and grow their business. An experienced executive, certified executive coach and licensed mental-health professional, Zivkovich is sought out for her abilities as an engaging facilitator, a dynamic public speaker and an effective and trusted leadership coach. She is highly valued by her clients, who describe her as being an indispensable asset with expertise that will keep things moving forward. Zivkovich obtained a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas and enjoys raising her family in this vibrant city. werqpeople.com

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ANDRA LIEMANDT

FOUNDER OF THE KINDNESS CAMPAIGN

Art by Kim Whiteside.

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ndra Liemandt is a visionary and brings her energy to all her passions, particularly The Kindness Campaign. When her friend’s 12-year-old daughter, a bullying victim, committed suicide, Liemandt discovered a shocking dearth of educational resources. Motivated to make a difference, she founded The Kindness Campaign, which now proactively addresses bullying via powerful curriculum, meaningful activations and events at schools and organizations, teaching the foundational message “I am enough.” This message is also the focus of her band, The Mrs, an all-female pop-rock band that has been featured on Good Morning America, BuzzFeed, grammy.com, The Queen Latifah Show and in Billboard and People magazine. Liemandt’s knack for empowering audiences toward inner and outer kindness has positioned her as a coveted keynote speaker, a philanthropist and an influencer. At the heart of it all, she is a mother of two daughters and is continuously looking to spearhead social change that creates a kinder future for the next generation. tkckindness.org

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K I M B E R LY S T R E N K

PRINCIPAL AND FOUNDER OF FIVE T WO SQ

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imberly Strenk, founder and principal of public-relations consulting firm Five Two SQ, is a natural storyteller with an ability to see beyond the surface and uncover the less obvious and oftentimes more compelling narrative.

With a PR career that has spanned two decades, she has represented some of the most innovative and respected brands in the retail space, including Nordstrom and Williams Sonoma. As an insider charged with growing established brands and reshaping those in need of a refresh, she has been described by many as a consummate builder. Strenk enjoys giving back and has put her storytelling skills to work as a board member with the Leander Independent School District Educational Excellence Foundation. Most recently, she was asked to join one of Central Texas’ most respected and longest-serving community nonprofits, YWCA Greater Austin. This West Coast native and San Francisco transplant, along with her husband and three daughters, proudly call Austin home. fivetwosq.com

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L E S L I E C H U N TA

OWNER AND PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT OF THE LAB COLLECTIVE

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fter 10 years in business-to-business tech marketing at high-growth companies like SailPoint and EMC, Leslie Chunta saw the need for enabling organizations to extend their digital-marketing teams with seniorlevel talent without the overhead that comes with hiring a larger firm. As owner and principal consultant of The Lab Collective, Chunta is the driving force behind creating dynamic marketing programs that generate demand and build brands for startups, as well as mature enterprise organizations. Her marketing services include lead-generation campaigns, content development, public relations and branding, and her growing client list includes progressive companies such as ReachForce, Ballogy, The Regis Company and Personify.

When she’s not launching companies and campaigns, this Texas Tech University graduate volunteers as an advisor for local Zeta Tau Alpha chapters and builds masterful Lego creations with her 3-year-old son, Barrett. thelabcollective.org

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SARA SANTOLIQUIDO

PROGR AM MANAGER AT CISCO SYSTEMS nergized, creative and organized, Sara Santoliquido works toward making the world, and especially Austin, a better place. At Cisco Systems, she leads the development and global adoption of a new, innovative application.

Santoliquido and her service animal, Tustin, are popular in the office and greatly involved. She is a vital part of Cisco’s Civic Council, co-leads Connected Women ATX, is a board member of Girls in Tech Austin and gets it all done with the utmost passion and tenacity. For this and her undying ability to make things happen, her colleagues have deemed Santoliquido a “magical unicorn.” Producing the Girls for Progress conference, planning the Girl Scouts of Central Texas Women of Distinction luncheon, volunteering at the Austin Diaper Bank and using her graphic-design skills for numerous Austin nonprofits are just a few of her many accomplishments. It’s her faith, family and fur babies that keep her motivated and determined. ciscosystems.com

50 | AUSTIN SPECIAL WOMAN PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM | MAY 2018

Photo by Alex Petrus.

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JESSICA LOVE

P R I N C I PA L AT U R B A N E D E S I G N

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essica Love is the principal and lead interior designer at Urbane Design, an established awardwinning interior-design firm in Austin. Urbane Design is a full-service interior-design firm offering distinctive design solutions for new home construction, remodels, furniture specification and light commercial. With more than 14 years of design experience and as a practicing member of the American Society of Interior Designers, Love manages design projects statewide. Never one to settle for the status quo, she is always looking to expand her business and take on new work. For Love, design is not simply a career choice but a life choice she takes very seriously. She believes good design builds a close connection between herself and her clients, as well as the community, and she is passionate about giving back, committing herself to a multitude of philanthropic and leadership roles. urbanedesignstudios.com

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D R. C H R I S T I N A S A L A Z A R

GYNECOLOGIST AT UT HE ALTH AUSTIN WOMEN’S HE ALTH INSTITUTE

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r. Christina Salazar is a gynecologist at UT Health Austin Women’s Health Institute who specializes in the management of complex conditions, including endometriosis, chronic pelvic pain, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, Asherman syndrome and infertility. Salazar is a fellowship-trained laparoscopic surgeon with expertise in minimally invasive surgery, advanced hysteroscopy and operative office hysteroscopy. She is dedicated to providing an innovative, team-based, multidisciplinary, whole-person approach for patients suffering from chronic pelvic pain. Salazar was inspired to serve others through medicine by her father, who is a general surgeon and family practitioner serving patients in South Central Texas. She has always had a special interest in women’s health and is committed to using that passion to bridge the gaps in care for women with painful pelvic conditions. She is a strong patient advocate and cares deeply about improving each individual woman’s quality of life. uthealthaustin.org

52 SPECIAL PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM 52 | | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

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MELISSA M. WILLIAMS DIVORCE AT TORNE Y

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ative Texan Melissa M. Williams is a board-certified family-law attorney with more than 20 years of experience. She graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1995, and immediately opened her own law practice devoted exclusively to family law. Williams practices both traditional litigation and collaborative divorce. She understands divorce is a very difficult process, treating her clients with compassion, dignity and professionalism. She focuses on creating customized solutions for her clients and minimizing conflict. In 2004 and 2005, Williams was selected as a Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star. Outside the courthouse, Williams loves traveling with her daughter, who is currently a student at Texas A&M University, and enjoys hiking and reading. melissamwilliams.com

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L I Z M AT T H E W S

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL BR AND AND CRE ATIVE FOR DELL

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iz Matthews is the senior vice president of global brand and creative for Dell, where she is responsible for building and running the new Dell Technologies brand and its family of seven brands. This encompasses driving the brand and purpose globally through advertising, digital, social, creative, corporate narrative, voice and visual identity while also igniting its purpose for team members. Previously, she held multiple executive roles in Dell’s consumer and small and medium businesses, helping manage and develop global marketing communications for all business-to-consumer products. With a background in technology marketing, she has worked for both global brands and startups, including Sun Microsystems, where she ran end-to-end integrated marketing for the software division. Matthews sits on the board of directors for the Ad Council and is a Legacy Circle member of Lifeworks, a nonprofit dedicated to advocating for and empowering homeless youth and families. dell.com

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TA N YA B O Y D

PRESIDENT OF TANYA BOYD & ASSOCIATES

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fter 17 years working for others in the employee-benefits field, native Texan Tanya Boyd gained a wealth of knowledge and a true passion for helping employers and individuals navigate the complex health-care system. In fall 2006, she took a leap of faith and launched her own business, Tanya Boyd & Associates. Her independent, majority-female insurance agency specializing in health insurance for individuals and companies opened its doors with zero debt and doubled its business within the first year. It all came from Boyd’s drive to help people through cost-effective solutions. Honored by industry publication Employee Benefit Adviser as one of the most influential women in benefit advising in 2014, 2015 and 2017, Boyd is among a select few leading female brokers recognized as thought leaders and is passionate about elevating the status of all women in the industry. tanyaboydassociates.com

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MARIA AGUIRRE

OW N E R A N D M A N AG E R O F B E N O L D’S J E W E L E R S

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aria Aguirre was thrilled when she became the owner of Benold’s Jewelers in June 2017. For 88 years, Benold’s has been a part of the Austin community, and family-run for most of its history. When Aguirre took over, it was an honor and an affirmation of her dedication. She’s been with the store for 18 years, moving from sales to buying to managing, and feels her success can be attributed to her commitment to customer service, like texting pictures of jewelry options to customers, and meticulous organization. Aguirre credits Benold’s longevity to its ability to adapt, acknowledgement of its experienced staff, focus on growing customer relationships and selection of jewelry for every occasion and budget. Today, Aguirre is exploring different ways to introduce a new group of Austinites to Benold’s Jewelers, which includes partnering with local charities. benolds.com

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MISTY POE

SUPERINTENDENT OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOR THE DIOCESE OF AUSTIN

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isty Poe, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Austin, has been on a mission to promote education for the last 21 years and has served as a teacher and administrator in various Catholic elementary and middle schools throughout Central Texas. Poe’s third-grade teacher, Mrs. Brooks, not only inspired her to become a great teacher, but also a kindhearted one and gave her special attention. Poe came to find out all the additional, caring assistance was actually intervention for dyslexia. She knew then and there that compassion in education was a driving force behind any teacher’s success in the classroom. Although she never imagined leaving the classroom as a teacher, her then principal, first lady of Texas Cecilia Abbott, encouraged her to consider administration. In addition to her role as superintendent, Poe is the founder of the Diocesan Leadership Academy for aspiring teachers, a venture inspired by her mentors and her belief in the importance of strong leaders. csdatx.org

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S TA C Y S C H M I T T

DIRECTOR OF MARKE TING AND COMMUNICATIONS AT TE X AS DISPOSAL SYSTEMS

texasdisposal.com

58 SPECIAL WOMAN PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM 58 | AUSTIN | MAY 2018

Photo by Caitlin Candelari.

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tacy Schmitt exemplifies the definition of a woman of influence. Beginning her career in public relations, Schmitt now serves as the director of marketing and communications for Texas Disposal Systems, and is responsible for making management and company decisions. She also helped TDS develop an educational program, Eco Academy (ecoacademy.org), from the ground up, designed to educate K-12 students about the importance of minimizing waste in order to preserve natural resources and the environment for future generations. Schmitt protects her company’s brand as fiercely as she does her personal brand, believing integrity is imperative to any great brand. Along with her incredible career, Schmitt has served as a mentor to young women for more than 15 years and is involved in numerous community, education and nonprofit organizations.

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CRISTINA WILLIAMS

DIRECTOR OF WOMEN’S INTIMATE HE ALTH AND WELLNESS AT AUSTIN PL ASTIC SURGERY INSTITUTE

Photo by Christina Feddersen.

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s the director of women’s intimate health and wellness at Austin Plastic Surgery Institute, Cristina Williams understands firsthand the importance of delivering incredible results for her patients every day.

Empowered by the doctors at APSI, she has brought the group to the forefront of women’s health by being one of the few health groups in Austin to offer Diva vaginal rejuvenation, a highly sought-after treatment, as well as other innovative options, such as the O-Shot, BioTe hormone therapy and the Ideal Protein Weight Loss Protocol. Williams also created a best-in-class skin-care clinic with a robust online store through which patients can easily prepurchase their treatments. APSI is dedicated to providing fantastic noninvasive twreatments using state-of-the-art technology to help patients obtain the youthful glow they deserve. As a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgery Professionals, the Westlake Chamber of Commerce, Austin Rowing Club and more, Williams is committed to improving the lives of women throughout the Austin area. austinpsi.com

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DR. ZARMEENA VENDAL OWNER OF WESTL AKE E YE SPECIALISTS

r. Zarmeena Vendal is a board-certified ophthalmologist and owner of Westlake Eye Specialists. Throughout the years, Westlake Eye has developed a stellar reputation for its dedication to patients and for providing individualized state-of-the-art treatments, such as cataract surgery, minimally invasive glaucoma surgery and Prelex refractive surgery. In January 2018, Vendal will celebrate her 10th year as owner of Westlake Eye, and attributes her practice’s success to the high level of personal care her patients receive due to the teamwork and dedication of her whole staff.

An avid philanthropist, Vendal is drawn to the advancement of girls so they can achieve similar success. She sits on the board of directors of Connecther, a local nonprofit that has made it a mission to empower women throughout the world. In 2013, Vendal was named a top doctor by Austin Monthly, and continues to make a name for herself as one of Austin’s finest doctors. westlakeeyes.com

60 | AUSTIN SPECIAL WOMAN PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM | MAY 2018

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LAURIE J. LOGUE

E XECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AT BROADWAY BANK

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aurie J. Logue has cultivated a consummate level of expertise in finance and real-estate lending during her more than 30-year career and is well-known for her extensive guidance and nimble responsiveness to clients. This finance veteran came to Broadway Bank in 2013, following an already storied and lauded executive-lending career. Logue’s experience, professionalism and dedication to service separate her from the competition and have created a loyal following at Broadway Bank. This same dedication has shaped Logue into a strong yet compassionate market leader and a sought-after advisor for boards and industry forums alike. As the Austin market executive for Broadway Bank, she strongly believes in empowering and supporting others to be successful. Additionally, she treats everyone she banks with as a private client, building long-lasting relationships and adding value to the business. broadway.bank

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DR. ANGELA MEYER, DR. KIRAN MECHINENI, DR. WENDY CUTLER, DR. STEPHANIE MCNELIS, DR. YVETTE GUTIERREZ-SCHIEFFER AND DR. ALLISON DEVINE OBSTETRICIAN-GYNECOLOGISTS AT ADC OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY

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he OB-GYNs of ADC Obstetrics and Gynecology enjoy practicing together and taking care of other women.

This talented group specializes in obstetrics, from preconception and pregnancy to genetic testing and family planning. Additionally, they practice gynecology for all ages, from adolescents to postmenopausal women, and have experience with incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, menopause, contraceptive counseling, robotic surgery and minimally invasive hysterectomies. Dr. Wendy Cutler hails from China and is happy to now call Austin home, while Dr. Allison Devine is originally from Virginia and Dr. Kiran Mechineni is from India. Dr. Yvette Gutierrez-Schieffer, Dr. Angela Meyer and Dr. Stephanie McNelis are all native Texans. For those looking for a new doctor, ADC Obstetrics and Gynecology has immediate appointments for pregnancy and gynecologic care, as well as annual checkups. adclinic.com

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PHYLLIS SNODGRASS

CEO OF AUSTIN HABITAT FOR HUMANIT Y

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hyllis Snodgrass has been a leader in business and community engagement for more than three decades, spending 10 years as a certified public accountant specializing in real-estate accounting then transitioning into a 17-year career in chamber-of-commerce management. After four years as the chief operating officer of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, she took on the role of CEO of Austin Habitat for Humanity in November 2015. Phyllis feels honored to serve in a faith-based nonprofit that deals with one of the most critical issues in the Austin region: affordable housing. Austin Habitat for Humanity recently expanded by merging with the San Marcos, Texas, affiliate and has helped more than 450 Central Texas residents become homeowners. Outside her professional career, she has served on a variety of state and national boards in the areas of education, community development and nonprofit leadership, and has mentored young women in business and nonprofit management. austinhabitat.org

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JANET MCCULLAR

DIVORCE AT TORNEY AT THE L AW OFFICE OF JANET MCCULL AR

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anet McCullar is a nationally respected trial attorney known for her skill and success in the courtroom. She has represented clients in hundreds of complex divorce and custody cases. Although she represents clients during trying times, her cases are routinely resolved amicably to save the client the time, cost and pain involved in litigation. McCullar is board-certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She was also selected as a fellow in the prestigious American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, an organization that consists of the nation’s top divorce attorneys. jmccullarlaw.com

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A M B E R C A R D E N , P R I VAT E C L I E N T A D V I S O R AT U. S . T R U S T R AC H E L I R V I N , P R I VAT E C L I E N T A D V I S O R AT U. S . T R U S T R A C H A E L W YAT T, P R I VAT E C L I E N T M A N A G E R AT U . S . T R U S T L I S A T H O M A S , W E A LT H - M A N A G E M E N T A D V I S O R AT M E R R I L L LY N C H

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ank of America is focused on connecting clients and customers to solutions that improve their financial lives. Bank of America teams work together to bring the full capabilities of the company to individuals, companies and institutions.

Through global-wealth and investment management, including U.S. Trust and Merrill Lynch, Bank of America offers a dedicated relationship with an experienced advisor and a team of professionals that addresses the unique needs of business owners, including retirement solutions, strategies for business growth and transition and wealth transfer.

Bank of America is especially proud to offer this expertise in Austin. bankofamerica.com | ustrust.com | ml.com

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E M I LY R E A G A N

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER AT MCCOMBS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

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mily Reagan recently joined the McCombs School of Business as the school’s first chief marketing officer, and is charged with integrating marketing strategy and resources and ensuring the marketing systems, talent and goals are fully aligned with the school’s new brand position, human-centered and future-focused. A McCombs alumna, Reagan previously worked at Bazaarvoice, beginning in February 2012, most recently serving as senior vice president of integrated marketing. She also held senior-level positions at Wunderman DC, Radio Shack Corporation and TXU Energy. She is a proven leader in building brands, driving marketing strategies and creating positive customer experiences for both consumer and business-to-business companies. mccombs.utexas.edu

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CAROL DE CARDENAS

FOUNDER OF AUSTIN SCHOOL FOR THE PERFORMING AND VISUAL ARTS

Photo by Caitlin Candelari.

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arol de Cardenas is the founder of the Austin School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and works as executive director. With a passion for education and giving back, de Cardenas has served the Austin community for 29 years through teaching and administrative experience in elementary and secondary education, undergraduate and graduate studies. She has been married to her high-school sweetheart for 31 years, and together, they have raised two children who are creative and artistically inclined and now have successful careers with their passion for the arts. In May, she was awarded an Austin Woman Woman’s Way award for Woman-led Business of the Year. theaustinschool.org

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BRE NDA BARNES M A N AG I N G P R I N C I PA L AT B 2 M A N AG E M E N T A N D C O N S U LT I N G

C

ertified public accountant Brenda Barnes has spent the last 30 years getting to know the intricacies of the business of law. When the opportunity knocked in 2008, she started B2 Legal Management to provide outsourced financial management and office administration to smalland medium-sized law firms. Through her leadership, B2 was named one of the Best Places to Work by the Austin Business Journal, Best in Back Office Outsourcing by Texas Lawyer, and Barnes was nominated numerous times for the Austin Business Journal’s Profiles in Power and Women of Influence in Central Texas awards. Her mission is for B2 to become the go-to resource for attorneys nationwide. b2-mgmt.com

S A M A N T H A B R AY FO U N D E R O F B R AY C O U N S E L I N G

S

amantha Bray, a licensed clinical social worker and board-approved supervisor, is the founder of Bray Counseling, an expanding practice of highly skilled mental-health professionals located in West Lake Hills, Texas. Bray Counseling is dedicated to offering compassionate and evidence-based treatment for adults, teens and families working through anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsiverelated disorders. Bray Counseling provides a modern, therapeutic space with committed specialists who provide individual and group therapy to help their clientele gather the skills, courage and grit to face their fears, embrace uncertainties and navigate life challenges. braycounseling.com

TINA DOBIE SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF C U S TO M E R E X P E R I E N C E AT W P E N G I N E

T

ina Dobie is the senior vice president of customer experience at WP Engine, the WordPress digital-experience platform. With more than 25 years of experience in the technology, enterprise-software and management-consulting industries, she has built and led global service teams focused on delivering client value while optimizing operations for high growth and scalability. Dobie holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas and a master’s degree from the UT McCombs School of Business, and was a fellow for the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management.

Alongside her husband and two teenage daughters, she is actively involved in the community through the National Charity League. wpengine.com

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ATX

WOMEN to WATCH

PAM F R I E D MAN PARTNER AT SILICON HILLS WEALTH MANAGEMENT

P

am Friedman is a woman to watch in financial planning and investment management. She is an owner of Silicon Hills Wealth Management and the founder of Divorce Planning of Austin. As a certified financial planner, Friedman is passionate about educating her clients and helping them develop their own financial way forward through life’s transitions. As a former lecturer at the University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business, she is on a mission to educate women about how to handle the money in their relationships. Her book, I Now Pronounce You Financially Fit: How to Protect Your Money in Marriage and Divorce, is a must-read whether women are getting married, living with a partner or ending a relationship. siliconhillswealth.com

with a partner

BECKY ODÉ D I R EC TO R O F B U S I N E S S T R AV E L AT T H E L I N E AT X H OT E L

B

ecky Odé recently joined the team at The Line ATX Hotel as the director of business travel. Born and raised in Austin, she was drawn to the company’s commitment to embracing the unique community of her hometown. She’s spent the last 10 years working with downtown Austin hotels and will now work with The Line ATX Hotel to oversee all corporate business travel. thelinehotel.com/austin

REBECCA POWERS FO U N D E R O F I M PAC T AU S T I N

R

ebecca Powers is well-known in the Austin community for her philanthropic passion and empowering people to help others. In 2003, Powers founded Impact Austin, a collective giving organization with a concept that is simple and inspirational, bringing women and their financial resources together to make a profound impact in Central Texas. Now in its 15th year, Impact Austin is developing a blueprint for its future that will create a larger footprint in the community to ensure its permanence.

At Impact Austin, every woman is welcome. To learn more, email Powers at rebecca.powers54@gmail.com. impactaustin.org

SPECIAL PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM |

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WOMEN to WATCH

K ARYN SCOTT FO U N D E R O F C A R E 2 R O C K

K

aryn Scott worked as a prosecutor for five years, seeing the plight of those in foster care firsthand. Noticing a lack of community resources, she founded the nonprofit Kids in a New Groove, which allows undeserved youths to connect with musicians and take lessons. Finding success, she desired to grow her impact.

Her latest venture, Care2Rock, offers live, one-on-one online music lessons with triple-vetted teachers to students of any age throughout the country, while the site also connects teachers with youth in foster care for free lessons. care2rock.com

M A G DA L E N A S I LVA FO U N D E R O F FA S H I O N R E LOV E D L LC

W

hen Magdalena Silva left her position as a system-integration engineer at IBM five years ago, she was looking to fall in love with her next adventure. She found just that in Fashion Reloved. Silva’s passion for couture and commitment to sustainability spawned the Austin-based luxury-fashion consignment business, which helps the world recycle high-end goods. Silva finds joy in helping clients declutter their closets because in doing so, she is making unique fashion pieces accessible to others while promoting eco-friendly habits. Furthermore, her engineering skills came into play when building her website, through which she sells her consigned pieces. fashionreloved.com

MAURA NEVEL THOMAS FO U N D E R O F R EG A I N YO U R T I M E

M

aura Nevel Thomas is an award-winning international speaker and trainer on individual and corporate productivity and work/life balance, and the most widely cited authority on attention management. She is a TEDx speaker, founder of Regain Your Time and the author of Personal Productivity Secrets and Work Without Walls.

She was recently named a top leadership speaker for 2018 in Inc. magazine, and she’s a frequent expert and regular contributor to major business outlets such as Fast Company, Huffington Post and Harvard Business Review. Follow her on Twitter at @mnthomas. maurathomas.com

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ATXWOMAN.COM

ATX

WOMEN to

D I R EC TO RY

WOMAN-OWNED AND WOMAN-LED BUSINESSES IN AUSTIN

ATTORNEYS/LEGAL LAW OFFICE OF JANET MCCULLAR Legal representation of individuals in complex divorce and child-custody matters 512.342.9933 jmccullarlaw.com

LAW OFFICE OF MELISSA M. WILLIAMS Divorce attorney 512.477.5448 melissamwilliams.com

LEGAL CONSENSUS PLLC

Forensic evaluations, forensic consultation, professional writer 512.791.4800 legalconsensus.com

THE AUSTIN SCHOOL FOR THE PERFORMING AND VISUAL ARTS Nationally accredited college-preparatory, pre-conservatory program for grades six through 13 512.522.7782 theaustinschool.org

CARE2ROCK

Connects music teachers with students on a customized online video platform 512.431.5376 care2rock.com

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS, DIOCESE OF AUSTIN

AUTO DEALERSHIPS

The Office of Catholic Schools serves 22 schools providing Catholic education 512.949.2439 csdatx.org

ROGER BEASLEY MAZDA

THE GIRLS’ SCHOOL OF AUSTIN

Award-winning Mazda dealer with four Central Texas locations 512.459.4111 rogerbeasleymazda.com

BEAUTY ELEVÉ COSMETICS

Elevé Cosmetics is a line designed to enhance natural beauty 512.294.2888 elevecosmetics.com

JANET ST. PAUL

A downtown Austin luxury hair-andbeauty salon 512.474.5000 janetstpaul.com

STUDIO BELLA PERMANENT MAKEUP AND SPA

Master permanent makeup and peri-medical tattooing and spa 512.502.0002 studiobellaspa.com

STUDIO420 BROWS

Eyebrow microblading: It’s a semipermanent makeup tattoo 512.705.7061 studio420brows.com

URBAN BETTY

A hair salon located in the heart of Austin 512.371.7663 urbanbetty.com

THE WOODHOUSE DAY SPA-AUSTIN Luxury day spa offering massage, facials and natural nail services 512.306.1100 austin.woodhousespas.com

THE WOODHOUSE DAY SPA– CEDAR PARK Luxury day spa offering massage, facials and natural nail services 512.217.7662 cedarpark.woodhousespas.com

EDUCATION AUSTIN JUNIOR VOLLEYBALL (SAND) Nonprofit indoor and sand volleyball club for youth development 512.433.5134 austinsportscenter.com/sand

A private school for girls in kindergarten through eighth grade 512.478.7827 thegirlsschool.org

IMAGINE COLLEGE COACHING

Helping teens, families and young adults through the college-admissions process 512.221.8106 imaginecollegecoaching.com

MCCOMBS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS One of the nation’s top business programs, right here in Austin 512.471.4112 mccombs.utexas.edu

EYE CARE/OPHTHALMOLOGY WESTLAKE EYE SPECIALISTS Specializing in glaucoma treatment/ surgery, laser-assisted cataract surgery with multifocal IOLs, oculoplastic, neuro, dry-eye and routine exams 512.472.4011 westlakeeyes.com

FOOD AND BEVERAGE THE CULINARY ROOM

Gourmet and specialty-food retail shop 512.289.1282 theculinaryroom.com

KITCHUN GRAINFREE FOOD CO. Kitchun is a grain-free snack-food company based out of Austin 512.351.9510 thekitchun.com

SHACK 512

Offering American Southern cuisine in a relaxed Lake Travis setting 512.547.7610 shack512.com

SKULL & CAKEBONES

Austin’s first locally sourced, plant-based craft bakery 512.348.8346 skullandcakebones.com

WATCH

TEXAS PIE COMPANY

A wholesale/retail bakery serving Central Texas for 30 years 512.268.5885 texaspiecompany.com

TWIN LIQUORS

Texas-family-owned since 1937, with 80-plus neighborhood locations throughout Texas 512.222.0700 twinliquors.com

FINANCIAL/BANKING BROADWAY BANK

Family-owned independent bank offering a full range of sophisticated financial services 512.465.6589 broadway.bank

SILICON HILLS WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Personalized wealth management tailored to what clients care about most 512.774.5340 siliconhillswealth.com

U.S. TRUST AND MERRILL LYNCH WEALTH MANAGEMENT Connecting clients to solutions that improve their financial lives 512.397.2415 ml.com | ustrust.com

HEALTH AND WELLNESS ARRANGECARE PC

Elder care and special-needs consultation, assessment and case management 512.814.3228 arrangecare.com

BRAY COUNSELING

Compassionate mental-health clinicians specializing in anxiety, depression and OCD 512.636.0104 braycounseling.com

NUTRITIONAL WISDOM

Nutrition-coaching private practice focusing on permanent health changes 512.243.7473 nutritionalwisdom.com

P3 PURE LLC/PRIMAL PIT PASTE Natural body care that actually works 813.504.3160 primalpitpaste.com

PRAOS HEALTH

On-demand nurse-staffing platform for health-care organizations 855.877.7267 praoshealth.com

SULLIVAN PHYSICAL THERAPY

Women’s health clinic specializing in incontinence, constipation and pelvic pain 512.335.9300 sullivanphysicaltherapy.com

UT HEALTH AUSTIN

An interdisciplinary, team-based clinical practice focused on whole-person care 1.833.UT.CARES uthealthaustin.org SPECIAL PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM |

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WATCH

WOMAN-OWNED AND WOMAN-LED BUSINESSES IN AUSTIN

HEALTH INSURANCE TANYA BOYD & ASSOCIATES LLC Employee-benefits and health-insurance specialist for businesses, individuals and families 972.203.8180 tanyaboydassociates.com

HOME/DESIGN CG&S DESIGNS

CG&S is a high-end residential-remodeling firm specializing in design, construction and interior spaces 512.444.1580 cgsdb.com

CRESCENT HOUSE FURNITURE Unique furniture store in Austin 512.331.9100 crescenthouseinc.com

HIGH COTTON HOME & DESIGN

GREATER AUSTIN HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Serves as the leading resource and advocate for the Hispanic business community 512.476.7502 gahcc.org

A digital-marketing consultancy specializing in content development and lead generation 512.640.9866 thelabcollective.org

THE KINDNESS CAMPAIGN

REGAIN YOUR TIME

The Kindness Campaign is on a mission to inspire a new generation of leaders 512.660.4968 tkckindness.org

Helping professionals discover attention management as the new path to productivity 424.226.2872 maurathomas.com

GYNECOLOGY

Leadership and culture enhancement for modern business 866.413.8889 werqpeople.com

AUSTIN DIAGNOSTIC CLINIC OB-GYN

JAIMIE ANAND INTERIORS

DR. LISA M. JUKES

Luxury design for both residential and commercial spaces 512.573.2484 jaimieanand.com

Dr. Jukes is a board-certified gynecologist who focuses on all gynecological services 512.301.6767 lisamjukesmd.com

KATIE KIME

PLASTIC SURGERY

Woman-owned remodeling firm where details are simply perfected 512.693.9340 simply-sold.net

URBANE DESIGN

Innovative design tailored to suit individual dreams and lifestyles, since 2004 512.522.6035 urbanedesignstudios.com

HOSPITALITY The Line Austin is a distinctive hotel experience deeply rooted in Austin 512.473.1534 thelinehotel.com/austin

Austin’s premier plastic surgery, women’s health and skin-care institute 512.732.3000 austinpsi.com

SAXON MD FACIAL PLASTIC SURGERY

We offer nonsurgical options, cosmetic and reconstructive facial plastic surgery 512.537.4191 saxonmd.com

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Woman-owned and -operated residential and commercial plumbing-services company 512.766.1519 austinplumbery.com

B2 MANAGEMENT & CONSULTING

NONPROFIT AUSTIN ANGELS

Provides community support to foster children and their caretakers 512.312.4500 austinangels.com

AUSTIN HABITAT FOR HUMANITY Austin Habitat provides affordable homeownership opportunities in Central Texas 512.472.8788 austinhabitat.org

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AUSTIN PLASTIC SURGERY INSTITUTE AND SKIN CARE CLINIC

AUSTIN PLUMBERY

THE LINE AUSTIN

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THE LAB COLLECTIVE

Women’s collective-giving and grantmaking organization 512.335.5540 impactaustin.org

A general OB-GYN practice with interest in all aspects of women’s care 512.901.4013 adclinic.com

SIMPLY SOLD

Lifestyle PR specializing in brand building for retail, health/beauty and professional services 415.515.9414 fivetwosq.com

IMPACT AUSTIN

Boutique style furniture store and design center 512.296.2423 highcottonhomedesign.com

Lifestyle brand of fashion, furniture and accessories 512.358.4478 katiekime.com

FIVE TWO SQ INTEGRATED PR

Outsourced back-office-management solution for law firms and businesses 512.381.1500 b2-mgmt.com

BEST PRACTICE MEDIA

A social-media marketing agency that produces Social Media Week Austin 512.537.3509 bestpracticemedia.com/smwatx.com

WERQ LEADERSHIP SERVICES

RETAIL/FASHION BENOLD’S JEWELERS

Local jewelry store: Austin’s one and only for more than 85 years 512.452.6491 benolds.com

ESTILO

Estilo is a contemporary women’s clothing boutique in the heart of Austin 512.236.0488 estiloboutique.com

FASHION RELOVED LLC

Luxury fashion consignment for women and men 512.627.2102 fashionreloved.com

KENDRA SCOTT LLC

Kendra Scott is an international fashionand-lifestyle brand kendrascott.com

TECHNOLOGY CISCO SYSTEMS

Cisco is the worldwide leader in networking for the internet 1.800.553.6387 cisco.com

DELL

Create technologies that drive human progress 512.338.4400 dell.com

WP ENGINE

WP Engine is the world’s leading WordPress digital-experience platform 512.406.1374 wpengine.com

MANAGEMENT TEXAS DISPOSAL SYSTEMS

TDS helps customers manage and divert waste to beneficial use 800.375.8375 texasdisposal.com

ATX

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to

WANT TO BE A

WATCH

WOMAN TO

WATCH?

Receive the recognition YOU deserve as one of Austin’s success stories.

ATX

WOMA to N WATCH

Each month, Austin Woman features 10 ATX Women to Watch in a beautiful special promotional section.

Included in the package is: r Full-page profile in the magazine r Custom photoshoot in your choice of location (and you keep the photo for personal use!) r Feature email blasts and social media posts r Invitation to a private Facebook networking group r Invitation to three exclusive ATX Woman to Watch connection events

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and “w yn rg ne” with uson created he she crea bold an r names te d ake bran d to em which is d a brand to insp meaningful de po signs. Tr ev ire joy an ue to he wer women to in the co ident from her d celebrat dr r positiv social m mmunity ion in th e and pl eam, dare edia an parties th e ro m ug om ay d compa h her ph and spec ny cultu ents between th ful nature, ilanthrop ial even kellywyn re ts e ic . mom Fe fo pa r local no rg rtnershi ne.com ps by ho uson makes an ents, nprofits like Helpi st impact ng Hand ing her Dare to D Home fo r Childre onate n.

SPEC 38 | IA ALUPR STO IN MO WTIOOMNA N |

Show our readers the WOMAN |ATSE XW PT OEM MAN B.C ER O

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512.328.2421 | sales@awmediainc.com | atxwoman.com

S

TYLE

SPLURGE OR STEAL

POOL COOL

Throw some shade at all your fun summer events.

PHOTOS BY ANNIE RAY STYLED AND MODELED BY ASHLEY HARGROVE SHOT ON LOCATION AT SOUTH CONGRESS HOTEL

SPLURGE L Space off-the-shoulder one-piece bathing suit, $180 Joe's Jeans dark-wash cutoff shorts, $120 Eric Javits fringed Squishee packable floppy hat, $375 Salvatore Ferragamo Maratea Sella Vitello sandals, $660 Linda Farrow mirrored sunglasses, $895 Chanel canvas tote, $2,700 Bathing suit, hat and sunglasses available at Nordstrom, 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., 512.691.3500, nordstrom.com.

Shorts available at revolve.com.

Sandals available at zappos.com.

Tote available at Neiman Marcus, 3400 Palm Way, 512.719.1200, neimanmarcus.com.

$4,930

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SOUTH CONGRESS HOTEL South Congress Hotel is a boutique hotel located in the heart of Austin's iconic South Congress shopping, dining and entertainment district. South Congress Hotel features 71 guest rooms, 10 suites, two premier suites, three restaurants, a coffee shop, a pool and lobby bar, retail shops, a parking garage and valet service.

1603 S. Congress Ave., 512.920.6405 southcongresshotel.com

STEAL One-piece flounce swimsuit, $28 Dark-wash cutoff shorts, $55 Raw Edge floppy straw hat, $25 Steve Madden Belma wedge sandals, $100 Peach sunglasses, $8 Tommy Bahama Paradise Island canvas tote, $128 Hat, sandals and tote available at Nordstrom, 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., 512.691.3500, nordstrom.com.

Shorts available at Express, 1010 Domain Drive, 512.832.8837, express.com.

Swimsuit and sunglasses available at Forever 21, 3409 Esperanza Crossing, 512.719.3988, forever21.com.

$344

ATXWOMAN.COM |  75

H

OME

ENTERTAINING

DERBY DE MAYO

Create an inviting fiesta that’s fit for the winner’s circle.

WRITTEN AND STYLED BY RHODA BRIMBERRY AND ANNA CRELIA, FOUNDERS OF LOOT RENTALS PHOTOS BY NATALIE PARAMORE

During the month of May, it sometimes feels like we are living life at racehorse speed. Between graduations, Memorial Day, Mother’s Day and the start of summer, it’s a lot to keep up with. But just because you’re short on time doesn’t mean you should miss a beat when it comes to gathering with friends and family.

To make the most of this month, we decided to mash some events together.

Enter our Derby de Mayo celebration. At first glance, Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby seem like an unlikely combo.

One celebrates Mexico’s victory against French forces and the other is a day devoted to horse racing and tradition. What they have in common, though, is their synonymy for color, fun and celebration.

For a Derby de Mayo party, simply combine color, fun drinks, great food and distinctive outfits. Off to the races we go!

ATTIRE Simplified: We recommend picking either derby attire or fiesta clothing. Or why not mix them together?

Think smart straw hats and traditional outdoor cocktail wear or traditional Mexican dresses and guayabera shirts.

We enjoyed picking colorful frocks for the party while the gentlemen went a different direction with their upscale, buttoned-up outfits. It all paired together nicely.

Next level: Hatbox: A Modern Haberdashery in Austin specializes in beautiful head attire for the most distinguished tastes. What better occasion than derby day to purchase a stunning and unique hat from the No. 1 haberdashery in Austin? The bigger and more colorful, the better! We enjoyed trying on the many options the store has and deciding which ones worked best for each of us.

76 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

FOOD Simplified: If you’re looking for an affordable yet tasty appetizer, mini chicken and waffles can be accomplished by toasting frozen mini waffles and topping them with ready-to-eat nuggets and a drizzle of honey. Yum! For the main course, grilling is always an easy and fun option for a backyard get-together. Throwing some burgers, hot dogs or fajitas on the grill will get the job done and keep your guests happy.

Next level: Ordering catering for gatherings of this kind allows you to put more attention into hosting. Everyone loves the opportunity to mingle, and this gives you the freedom to move about more freely without being chained to the kitchen or grill. We always love a spread from Fresa’s Chicken al Carbon in Austin. We ordered the mouthwatering La Fresa Taco Bar package, which features anchiote chicken.

The chicken is delicious and the bar touts more taco toppings than you’ll know what do to with. Pro tip: Make sure to order a side of Fresa’s savory Brussels sprouts.

DRINKS Simplified: You always want to have cool drinks on hand for any summer party. The cooler should be stocked with some good Mexican beers if you want to stick with the Derby de Mayo theme. Always include some solid nonalcoholic drink selections too, like Topo Chico or San Pellegrino.

Next level: Take your theme to the next level by bringing the horse element into your backyard. The miniature horses from Takota’s Ponies, a stable based in Georgetown, Texas, joined us for our celebration. While these aren’t horses of the racing kind, they’re a fun addition, especially for the kids to hop on and walk around the yard. Takota’s also fashioned a lovely bar-cart display for us on a pony’s saddle, allowing us to serve beers in style! At the bar, we combined the two themes together to create a Derby de Mayo tequila julep.

DERBY DE MAYO TEQUILA JULEP Ingredients 6 fresh mint leaves 1/2 ounce agave syrup 1 cup ice, crushed 2 ounces tequila añejo 1 mint sprig, for garnish Directions 1. M uddle the mint leaves with the agave syrup in the bottom of a copper mule cup.

2. Add crushed ice to cups.

3. P our tequila añejo over the ice and stir lightly to mix.

4. Garnish with a mint sprig, serve and enjoy.

CINCO DE MAYO PARTY CHECKLIST oF resa’s Chicken al Carbon for the taco-bar spread, fresaschicken.com oH atbox: A Modern Haberdashery for derby hats, hatbox.com oT akota’s Ponies for ponies, takotasponies.com oL oot Rentals for furniture and décor, lootrentals.com

Lastly, improve your handicap and enhance the party theme by using multicolored decorations and pillows to create an inviting fiesta fit for a champion. Olé!

ATXWOMAN.COM | 77

78 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

DEAL WITH IT To her team, she’s known as the closer. As the chief operating officer of World Class Holdings, a private real-estate-focused investment firm headquartered in Austin, Sheena Paul is the woman whose company had already accrued a reported $1 billion in assets by the time she was 30. To her brother, Nate Paul, CEO of the company, she’s his older sister, the goal setter and the guiding reins to his gas-pedal-like personality. To the competition, she’s the woman who puts coffee in her oatmeal and eats them for breakfast.

BY JOHN T. DAVIS | PHOTOS BY RUDY AROCHA HAIR AND MAKEUP BY LAURA MARTINEZ | STYLED BY NIKI JONES

While she’s sitting at a picnic table, Sheena Paul’s eyes drift every now and again to the waters of Barton Springs. It’s an early spring day and although the pecan trees have not yet begun to leaf out, the new greenery of the oaks surrounding the beloved swimming hole is making a brave show. A few weekday swimmers cut languid paths through the cool, blue-green water.

The warm sun is making short work of some early morning clouds. One might wonder fleetingly whether Paul keeps a swimsuit and beach towel in the trunk of her car and if so, whether she isn’t tempted to say the hell with it, play hooky from the workplace grind for a day and jump into the bracing water as though she were still a young coed at the University of Texas.

The impulse, if Paul even entertains it, is doubtless quickly tamped down. No one gets to manage a billion dollars and change worth of real-estate assets in 17 states at one of the city’s premier private-equity firms by sneaking off to the swimming hole.

Paul, 33, is the chief operating officer of World Class Holdings, formerly World Class Capital Group. Along with her younger brother, Nate Paul, who founded the privately held company and serves as its CEO, Sheena Paul helps oversee a portfolio that, according to a 2017 Forbes profile, “includes 120 properties in 17 states” and “10 million square feet of commercial real estate that ranges from office space to retail to self-storage.”

The daughter of Indian immigrants, Sheena Paul is one in an elite group of women who operate in the C-suite of the private-real-estate-investment industry.

The most prominent is probably Mary Ann Tighe, CEO of the New York Tri-state Region of real-estate giant CBRE. Sheena Paul’s life, to hear her tell it, has been one of ceaseless upward trajectory, beginning with her parents instilling their three children (Her other brother, Sean Paul, is an Austin plastic surgeon.) with an abiding curiosity and a ferocious work ethic.

“I was really lucky,” Sheena Paul says. “My parents never differentiated me as ‘the girl,’ as far as my career ambitions, or what I was capable of. They said, ‘The three of you are talented and we expect the same from all of you.’ It’s like you were born onto the varsity team; no one wanted to be the weakest link!”

To get to the bottom of her Texas roots is to rewind to the year 1979. Her father, a physician, had arrived in Chicago from New Delhi to finish his residency. “[He was] in a T-shirt on Jan. 6 [in] the coldest place he’d ever been,” Sheena Paul explains. “A couple of months later, he and my mom learned there was a need for doctors in this town called Victoria. They’d never heard of Texas, and definitely not Victoria, but the weather was really great and they were tired of being cold, so they said OK.”

ATXWOMAN.COM | 79

Small Texas towns are not always the most welcoming venues to minorities, especially relatively unfamiliar minorities like Sheena Paul’s was. But Sheena Paul dug her heels in, playing sports and studying dance at school. She made a home for herself.

“You definitely knew you were different,” she recalls of life in Victoria. “There was an Indian-American community in Victoria, maybe 20 to 30 families, a lot of doctors and a mix of other things. I wrote my [University of Texas] Plan II admissions essay on knowing that you were different, but knowing that it works.”

She adds she analogized barbecue-chicken pizza to help illustrate her point.

Sheena Paul and her family moved to Austin in 2002, and she enrolled at UT, where her brother Nate Paul was already studying. In addition to her Plan II liberal-arts major, she entered the business honors program before moving on to attend law school at Duke University in 2007. Throughout her years at school, she spent her summers traveling to work and study in Brazil and Puerto Rico. During her time spent in these countries, she became intrigued with the mechanics in developing underserved markets. It was this spark that led her, after graduation from Duke, to the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, where she worked in the firm’s international-project-finance and corporaterestructuring divisions.

There was, needless to say, no college gap year for her, something she says she would perhaps rethink, given a handy time-travel machine.

“That is one thing, as far as advice, that I’d give to young people: Take your time. Enjoy your youth,” Sheena Paul says. “One of my favorite professors at Duke told me, ‘Life, God willing, is very long. You don’t have to do everything at the same time.’ ” In 2007, her brother Nate Paul founded World Class Capital Group in a basement office, with the understanding that Sheena Paul would eventually join forces with him.

“It was Nate’s idea for the company, but we were both here,” she explains, recalling how she made supply runs to Home Depot on some of their earliest projects.

The guy on a fast track to being a billionaire started a host of nickel-and-dime small enterprises as a kid before studying business at UT and dipping his toe into the local real-estate market.

“Nate came into the world as a business person,” Sheena Paul says. “When he was 4 or 5 years old, he wouldn’t carry around trucks or G.I. Joes; he carried around a yellow note pad. And he still does, writing down ideas. It’s almost like a security blanket.”

Today, a little more than a decade after its basement genesis, World Class Holdings looks down over its hometown empire from an imposing suite of offices on the top floor of the Frost Bank Tower. The Pauls have put the WCH brand on downtown properties at every point of the compass, from a choice lot on Cesar Chavez Street across from the Austin Convention Center to the former Dell’s Children’s Museum

80 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

and the one-time tortilla factory that once house beloved nightclub La Zona Rosa to sites in East Austin, red-hot Rainey Street and beyond.

Sheena Paul is most excited about one of the company’s recent acquisitions, the 156-acre 3M campus in Northwest Austin. The property includes protected green space and is dedicated as a natural habitat for the endangered goldencheeked warbler.

“It’s fun to talk about because it’s a really special piece of property, [but] we feel a huge responsibility because of the history and the location. It’s a huge property—1.3 million square feet. What do you do with it?” Sheena Paul asks rhetorically. “We want to create an ecosystem for the workplace of the future. We want it to become another destination in Austin, not only a place to work, but a place that people can come and enjoy.”

There is a staff of about 40 employees on-site at the WCH downtown office, plus another eight or nine employees based out of the company’s New York City office, which Sheena Paul runs. She spends most of her time bouncing between Austin and Manhattan, N.Y. Joined by blood and temperament, she and her brother are the ultimate dealmaking arbiters.

“If you look at our paths and trajectories,” she says, “I’m a little bit more of a beaten-path person—went to law school, got involved in all these organizations—and he’s all about being an entrepreneur. You need both of us for the company to run; one person is the gas, the other is the reins and we balance each other out.”

“We have very complementary skill sets,” Nate Paul adds.

“She sets the bar for me because I look up to her as my sister.

She has the ability to hone in, set a goal and achieve it. She doesn’t regard that as optional. And at the end of the day, we have each other’s backs.”

Sheena Paul expounds on her brother’s sentiments.

“We respect each other so much that if one of us has an issue, the other is willing to hear it out,” she says. “Maybe not immediately because we’re both really strong-willed, [but] we’re in this together to do the right thing.”

It’s no secret that in the business world, the hierarchy skews male, especially the higher up the corporate ladder one looks. For every marquis name like Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg or Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors Company, there are untold numbers of male executives who populate the top-tier universe. This means when it comes time to finalize a deal, Sheena Paul is often the only woman in the room.

“My role is the closer,” she says. “Nate can put the deal together, but once everything has been agreed to, he’ll say, ‘OK, I’m turning this over to Sheena to get this done.’ And since the room is all male, the initial reaction is, ‘Who is this?

Why is she doing this?’ My approach is to be so good that it’s obvious why [I’m] in this position.”

Like the rest of the population, Sheena Paul is living in the #MeToo moment. She doesn’t have any horror stories to share, but she agrees the conversation is long overdue.

“AS FAR AS WE KNOW, WE ONLY HAVE ONE LIFE TO LIVE, AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH IT? ARE YOU GOING TO SPEND YOUR WHOLE LIFE DOING REAL-ESTATE DEALS? I’M NOT GOING TO. I WANT TO EXPERIENCE EVERYTHING THERE IS TO EXPERIENCE ON THIS EARTH WITH THE TIME I HAVE ON IT.” —SHEENA PAUL

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Bracelet, necklace and shoes, model’s own.

This page: Herve Leger tricolor sleeveless halterneck bandage cocktail dress, $1,790; Kendra Scott Tra geometric drop earrings, $120, available at Neiman Marcus, 3400 Palm Way, 512.719.1200, neimanmarcus.com.

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SHEENA PAUL DEFINES “FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT” AS “BEING ABLE TO MAKE DECISIONS AND CONDUCT YOUR LIFE WITH CONFIDENCE AND STRENGTH AS THE RESULT OF ONE’S RELATIONSHIP TO FINANCIAL RESOURCES.” Joie chambray blazer, $348; Joie chambray shorts, $168; Alice + Olivia Julianna puffsleeve, button-front, tie-cuff shirt, $265; Manolo Blahnik Trova cap-toe leather anklewrap pumps, $815, available at Neiman Marcus, 3400 Palm Way, 512.719.1200, neimanmarcus.com.

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Photo by Allison O’Brien/AOB Photo.

SHEENA PAUL’S DICTIONARY

HOW SHEENA PAUL STAYS PRODUCTIVE “I’ve been lucky,” she says. “But certainly, I’ve been in situations where it was very clear that this person is a man who perceives you as a woman, and there’s a dynamic that is very uncomfortable and wouldn’t be experienced if I were a man.”

One way she arms herself against gender bias is to cultivate an ongoing cadre of women on her team.

“They’re interdisciplinary, so they’re not doing what I’m doing, but they are strong, independent and multidimensional,” she says.

Multidimensional might describe Sheena Paul as well.

Despite, or perhaps because of, her turbo-charged professional life, she strives to pay attention to and cultivate the nonwork-related aspects of her life. During the Easter weekend, she traveled to Long Island, N.Y., to attend the traditional Indian wedding of a friend of her father. She paints, she’s a big Longhorn booster and she donates her time to organizations, principally Global Wildlife Conservation. She begins her day with Pilates and, according to one magazine profile, makes her oatmeal with coffee instead of water. She dreams about one day dropping the whole shebang and going off to help tend baby elephants in Kenya. She has the luxury of options.

But her biggest luxury might be the luxury of achieving anonymity, of being a speck of humanity in a far-off land.

“When I’m traveling in another culture, I feel like I’ve jumped into a portal,” she muses, “and can really get lost in myself.”

With her dark hair and olive complexion and the sort of indefinable cosmopolitan good looks that help her blend in anywhere, from Bangkok to Barcelona, Spain, Sheena Paul strives to be a citizen of the world.

“When I feel anonymous in another part of the world, when no one has any idea of what I’m doing in Austin, Texas, or what I’m doing in New York, and I’m just immersed in their lives, I think it helps you keep things in perspective,” she says. “As far as we know, we only have one life to live, and what are you going to do with it? Are you going to spend your whole life doing real-estate deals? I’m not going to. I want to experience everything there is to experience on this earth with the time I have on it.”

But for now, there’s still the next deal.

When asked how she and Nate Paul celebrated a big year-defining deal like their acquisition of the 3M campus, Sheena Paul appears stumped. Did they spring for big Wagyu rib-eye steaks all around, perhaps? Or maybe they popped open a few bottles of Dom Perignon? Not according to Sheena Paul.

“Nate and I go home. It’s a funny thing. Nine times out of 10, we talk to Mom and Dad,” she says. “Maybe we’ll get a little bit better at celebrating as we grow up a little more.”

And then, the next day, if you’re Sheena Paul, you get up, dump some coffee in your oatmeal and do it all again.

“You’re in the trenches,” she says. “You do the deal and then you go, ‘What do I do now?’ There’s that little itch. You start the next thing.”

“To make these tips easier, remember I organized them in a helpful acronym: ENERGY,” Sheena Paul says. “Productivity all comes down to harnessing your energy at its best. Here are some helpful ways I have found to do so.”

• Evenings and Sundays. “At the end of each day, I make a priority list for what I need to do the next day, and each Sunday, for what I need to do that week. This allows me to wake up in the morning and already have a jump-start on the world by knowing what I need to accomplish. Super critical to the success of this tip, however, is ensuring that your list is realistic. I usually organize my list into things that must be done, that I would like to get done and that should get done but likely won’t. Then, and this is most important, I block out the time on my calendar that it takes to actually do each of those things. Only those that fit in the hours of the day end up on the final list.”

• No email or phone notifications. “Ding! Ding! Ding! No wonder we can’t get anything done! We live in a world of instant notifications of, well, basically everything. By turning off all notifications on your phone, and only checking your phone when you are ready to pay attention to the information in it, you can dramatically improve productivity by giving yourself the opportunity to focus. Contrary to popular belief, single-tasking is much more productive than multitasking and leads to better work product. Imagine trying to have a conversation with 10 friends at the same time—impossible!

We are doing the same thing to ourselves at work.”

• Early and often. “Human beings love the feeling of accomplishment. Productivity leads to more productivity, so get yourself in the habit of accomplishing early and often.

This begins when you wake up. Accomplish something right away. Make the bed? Yes! Complete a 30-minute workout? Awesome! Take the dog for a walk? Killing it!

Then, throughout the day, make sure that in addition to your long-term projects, you are also celebrating and marking the short-term items as wins too. A great tip for keeping yourself going when you’re working on a big overwhelming project is breaking it down into smaller milestones, the completion of which will keep you going until the big finish.”

• Really hard stuff first. “We’ve all been there: There’s that thing you need to do that is just hanging over and casting a shadow over your entire day. It’s killing your productivity because it’s all you can think about when you’re working on other things. Do that thing first. This is also known as ‘eat the frog.’ ” • Get in the zone. “For each and every one of us, there is something we can do or experience that puts us in the happy place of ‘flow’ where you feel strong and can really be your best. Even if that thing seems like a waste of time, taking the time out to do it will give you the energy you need for the rest of the day and pay for itself through what you achieve in the zone. Figure out what gets you into your zone, take the time out to do it and watch your productivity soar.”

• Yield. “Sometimes when you are trying so hard to be productive, the thing you need most is a break. It can be a quick walk around the block, a FaceTime to a friend or switching gears entirely for the rest of the day. When you’re stuck or spinning your wheels, stopping and stepping away may be just what you need to keep going. I’ve often found that when I can’t push anymore, a good night’s sleep brings all the answers.”

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Grow your market.

Make your mark.

Around the world and in our hometown of Austin, we’re committed to providing the guidance, solutions and opportunities for women to build their big ideas, accelerate business growth and turn today’s startups into tomorrow’s success stories.

To learn more about Dell’s commitment to women-led entrepreneurship, visit Dell.com/DWEN

The

Gatekeepers G

rowing up, sisters Kelly Gasink and Jill Burns spent summers on their grandparents’ farm. Every day at 5:30 p.m. sharp, their grandfather would drop whatever farming work he was doing for his afternoon ritual of cocktail time. This treasured tradition inspired a lifelong appreciation for cocktails in the sisters, who eventually started a business together, Austin Cocktails, to disrupt the craft-bottled cocktail space with their organic, highquality product.

BY SHELLEY SEALE PHOTOS BY ANNIE RAY

When it comes to female-founded startups receiving funding, these three angel investors in Austin are out to convince the world women business owners have nowhere to go but up.

The venture was very capital-intensive; such a company cannot make it without investment. Gasink and Burns initially put up their own cash to formulate their first two drinks and prove the concept. Next, they sought angel investment to begin producing higher volume and expand sales throughout the country. By 2016, they had raised $1 million through Central Texas Angel Network and another $1 million through venture-capital firm Enhanced Capital. In 2018, Austin Cocktails will be in 14 states and hundreds of venues, including Madison Square Garden, with the sisters giving all they’ve got to scale their idea.

Many may wonder what exactly angel investing is. The short answer: Financial backers, or “angels,” invest in early stage or startup companies in exchange for an equity ownership interest in the company a la TV show Shark Tank.

Throughout the past two decades, the practice of angel investing has become more common in startup culture. Facebook and Uber are just a couple of the highprofile startup success stories that got a boost early on from angel investments.

HOW IT WORKS When an entrepreneur starts a business, he or she is typically expected to fund the first $25,000 in seed money. From that level to $150,000 in funding, there are several options from which an entrepreneur can pull funds: investments or loans from friends and family, personal loans, home equity or credit cards.

Angel investors generally come in at the $150,000 to $1.5 million level. Typically, a number of individual angel investors contribute to generate the capital desired. In this form of investment, the individual invests directly in the startup. Companies looking for funding beyond the $1.5 million mark then move on to venture-capital firms, which raise multimillion-dollar funds and control the investment and continued relationship.

The Central Texas Angel Network is a group of angel investors comprised of about 185 members who have invested more than $90 million in 150-plus companies since 2006. It’s one of the most active angel-investing groups in the nation. In 2016, according to the Alliance of Texas Angel Network, 73 percent of the deals in the Central Texas region were funded by CTAN, meaning just shy of three-quarters of Texas-based startups did not have to leave the state to find investors. Austin Woman spoke with three highly successful angel investors to learn what they look for in an investment and how women-owned startups are faring in Austin.

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Stephanie Breedlove Co-founder of Care.com HomePay and author of All In: How Women Entrepreneurs Can Think Bigger, Build Sustainable Businesses, and Change the World

Entrepreneurs generate 80 percent of new jobs each

has the power to help move the needle and to reap the rewards that will follow. Access to capital, the ability to year, not to mention they are the creators of new products, compete successfully for capital and the expertise to put services and new wealth. capital to work effectively is instrumental to changing “Strength of economic growth is dependent on growth this picture.” in startups and in transformational entrepreneurs,” says Breedlove prefers to engage in efforts that are the Stephanie Breedlove, an investor in Austin Cocktails. building blocks of systemic change, the types of efforts “Access to capital is a key factor for spurring increased that require long-term commitment but have the entrepreneurial activity and for enhancing the ability to scale.” opportunity to effect large-scale change.

Unfortunately, entrepreneurship in the U.S. has been “I believe that change does occur one person, one shrinking for the past 30 years, and the percentage of conversation, one action at a time,” she says. “Our singular working adults who choose efforts matter at epic proportions.” to start a new business What does Breedlove look for in “...every person involved each year has been slowly an angel investment? She employs has the power to help move a preliminary high-level litmus declining. The number of transformational test of sorts using a set of business the needle and to reap the entrepreneurs— criteria: the size of the investment entrepreneurs who start rewards that will follow.” opportunity, how well the product companies to pursue growth or service seizes opportunity and —Stephanie Breedlove rather than for flexibility or size of marketplace. If an idea lifestyle—is also shrinking. At the same time, according to passes the litmus test, she then proceeds to her list of five the Kauffman Foundation Startup Activity Index, Austin things she must see in an opportunity to invest: is ranked the No. 1 city in the country for startup activity.

1. A core component of the founders’ passion must be And women are a big part of that. rooted in the desire to serve before being served. This Data shows women own more than one-third of new means placing a priority on industry, company, clients businesses and are starting them at two and a half times and team before the founders themselves as a strategy for the national average. success.

“This is impressive,” Breedlove says of the stat. “But for startups in Austin to defy the statistic of a 90 percent failure rate in the first 10 years of business, the funding ecosystem must be stronger. … I believe that growth and strength of angel investment is pivotal for enabling the transition from startup to scale, the process that generates transformational entrepreneurs.”

Yet women do not seek or receive funding at the same rate as men, nor do they seek as much funding as men, despite the fact that women-led companies have proven they deliver higher returns, according to True Wealth Ventures, a female-founded venture-capital firm in Austin that invests in women-led, primarily Texas-based companies focused on health, wellness and sustainable consumer industries. Women also do not engage in investment activities at the same rate as men. But, Breedlove says, women have nowhere to go but up.

“We are early in the evolution of women in entrepreneurship, and [we have] great reason to celebrate progress to date,” she says. “Yet we must recognize that the barriers are still sizeable, and every person involved

86 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

2. Founders must have an intense willingness to do whatever it takes. They must be willing to be the CEO, the janitor and everything in between. Proof of this is typically exemplified in the early stages by having personal financial investment in the company.

3. Founders must display a desire for mitigating risk rather than taking risk. Good entrepreneurs are problem-solvers and they usually love it. Successful business development depends on effective problemsolving for mitigating risk.

4. Founders must innately prioritize continuous learning. This is a core trait of every successful entrepreneur.

5. Founders should demonstrate an understanding that all facets of a business must be prioritized for creating sustained value: finance, operations, efficiency methods, culture, client service, product quality, valueadd sales and marketing, etc. The unsexy facets of business are where the magic is made.

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88 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

Q&A WITH CLAIRE ENGLAND, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CTAN

Kelsey August Investor and board member at Central Texas Angel Network

A

s one of the female investors with CTAN who’s been long involved, Kelsey August has invested in many womenowned and -run businesses throughout the years. With the founding of her first startup two decades ago, she also brings a unique perspective to the table in the form of personal experience starting and running a business.

“I know how to help women with my shared experiences from both my entrepreneurial background and investment knowledge,” August says. “If we want more women to succeed in business, then we need to help them obtain the necessary funds to grow their companies.”

“Startups The impact of angel flourish in investors is huge to Austin’s entrepreneurial Austin because community, funding more than 80 percent our angel of all seed money. community “Angels move the needle for all entrepreneurs. is active.”

Startups flourish in —Kelsey August Austin because our angel community is active,” August says, noting that in addition to making monetary investments, angels also contribute as mentors through organizations like CTAN and Capital Factory.

Getting guidance from an angel investor is priceless for a small-business owner.

“Most entrepreneurs are running and growing their companies,” August says. “Fundraising is a necessity.

However, most do not know their way around a term sheet.

Angels spend time with their potential investments and educate them from the big picture down to the step-by-step process.”

What does August look for in an angel investment? The answer: a confident, coachable entrepreneur, she says, who has an innovative and defensible business model.

Financially, she needs a reasonable valuation or convertible note with a rational cap.

“As an early stage investor, I am going to get diluted as more monies are invested, perhaps severely if the learning curve is steep for the entrepreneur,” she says. “If I start investing in overvalued companies, then there is typically little financial upside at exit for an angel.”

August believes, quite simply, that more accredited investors should add angel investing into their portfolio mix. As a CTAN board member, she personally extends an invitation to any accredited investor to attend one of the CTAN meetings as her guest.

Austin Woman: How can angel investors help financially empower women and their businesses in Austin?

Claire England: The essential goal for angel investors is to maximize return for their portfolios while minimizing risk. A basic rule: diversification helps mitigate risk. One of the ways to increase diversification is literal diversity. By that, I mean not just the types of companies and industries, but the types of leaders of the startups. At Central Texas Angel Network, we’ve doubled the number of women-founded companies in which members invested from late 2014 through 2017. These aren’t massive numbers so far, but we’ve started moving the needle and change is happening.

AW: Why is it important for more women to become angel investors?

CE: It’s helpful for entrepreneurs to see people like themselves in the room when they’re pitching investors. It makes it easier to build connections and makes founders feel more welcome. We’ve gone from 4 percent of our angel investors being women to 30 percent in roughly the same time frame as we’ve doubled funding in women-founded companies. I’m hopeful increasing the number of women investors creates some self-reinforcing response going forward.

AW: How can other women help increase angel-investing efforts for women-owned businesses?

CE: Angel investors will invest in the companies they think will provide the highest return on their investment. When we try to set aside our unconscious biases—and every one of us has them—we can ask the questions in pitch sessions and [give] due diligence that will help us make better decisions. At the same time, it’s important when entrepreneurs are pitching that they’ve done the work to anticipate the hard questions and identify solid answers. Better mentorship can help with this. So, the more people with business experience can get involved, not just as investors, but as mentors, the better everyone does. There are many ways to get involved in the startup community beyond money. Mentoring entrepreneurs is an important one. Share your lessons, your successes and your failures too. We can all learn from each other.

AW: How do you plan to continue growing the field of female investors in Austin?

CE: Since being named executive director of CTAN in December 2014, I’ve worked hard to increase our diversity across all aspects: sector, age, gender and ethnicity. As we’ve increased the ratio of women investors by more than fivefold, we’ve also [grown] from 10 to 15 percent ethnic minorities and from 30 to 50 percent under the age of 50. … I don’t plan to stop that effort.

So, specifically to attract women investors, I’ll continue doing what has worked: • inviting female accredited investors to learn about angel investing by attending our pitch events and by joining CTAN, or any angel group, as a member • encouraging new-member applicants, whether male or female, to consider getting active in angel investing as a couple, if married • suggesting that [families] introduce the younger generation to angel investing, including their daughters and sisters

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Kristin Spindler Director of IncubatorCTX at Concordia University Texas

A

s the top U.S. city for startups, Austin has a strong network of collaborative angel investors to provide business advice and financial support to innovative early stage companies, Kristin Spindler says.

When Spindler was studying for her Master of Business Administration degree at the University of Texas, she was president of the Graduate Business Women’s Network. Today, she is the director of IncubatorCTX at Concordia University Texas, a CTAN investor and a limited partner in True Wealth Ventures.

Spindler is a strong advocate of supporting women in business and, in her words, puts her money where her mouth is.

“I volunteer time mentoring entrepreneurs and invest in exceptional female-led startups,” she says. “I encourage not just women, but all entrepreneurs, men and women, of diverse backgrounds and a range of ages.”

Angel investors financially empower Austin women and their businesses through organizations like CTAN, which has a female executive director, Claire England. Two of the seven board members at CTAN are also women “...successful Austin businessand approximately 30 percent of CTAN’s investors women have the opportunity are women.

Although True Wealth to lead the way for others.”

Ventures has found that —Kristin Spindler women-led companies perform better financially than male-led companies, these businesses remain an untapped market for investors.

A mere 2 percent of venture-capital dollars go to women-led startups, and only 15 percent to those with a woman on the leadership team.

“As more women are part of organizations that invest—angels, venture-capital firms, banks, private equity—they and others will invest more capital in women-led companies,” Spindler says. “This is a growing trend, and Austin is a good place to be part of it.”

Spindler looks for several key factors when assessing her investments: the management team, profitability prospects of the company, and its scalability and valuation.

“Most important to me are experience, persistence and the management team’s willingness to be coached,” she says. “I take a portfolio approach to angel investing, knowing that the average company will take about seven to eight years to pay out, and that out of 10 investments, two may generate outsize returns, several may return one to two times and the rest fail.”

In fact, one of an angel investor’s main roles is to have an impact on the company’s direction through mentoring, advising or being on the company’s board.

Entrepreneurs who strategically and carefully select their angel investors have a leg up, Spindler says.

“They have investors who know their industry, are invested in the entrepreneur’s success and can help advise the entrepreneur and connect him or her to the right people to grow their business profitably,” she says.

Taking a 30,000-foot view, Spindler thinks women are incredibly fortunate to be living in Austin, and in the U.S. as a whole.

“Women in many parts of the world don’t have the same rights as men—at home, at work or under the law. For them, economic empowerment through access to capital and accumulation of wealth is critical,” she says. “To the extent that female entrepreneurs in Austin have access to a gold mine of entrepreneurial programming, incubators, accelerators and funding, successful Austin businesswomen have the opportunity to lead the way for others.”

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MOVING FORWARD Stephanie Breedlove shares her two cents about how entrepreneurs and investors can help each other.

For entrepreneurs: • Do your homework.

• Close your skill gaps.

• Grow your financial skills and knowledge. In short, understand the different forms of capital intimately and why one may be a better solution for you than another.

• Know your current financials inside and out: your projections, marketplace, competitors, potential execution strategies, strengths and weaknesses.

• Be better than your competition.

For investors: • G et educated. Grow your investment knowledge and skill.

• Recognize the opportunities in angel investing. The number of female angel investors has nearly tripled in the past few years, while the number of women in decision-making roles at venture-capital firms has remained constant. There are far fewer barriers at the angel-investment level while the venture-capital industry catches up.

• Soak up everything you can.

Read, engage in nuts-andbolts seminars, take a friend with investing experience to dinner. You don’t need to be an expert to engage successfully, and experience will grow your confidence.

• See yourself as an empowered investor. Angel investing is an opportunity to diversify and grow your investment portfolio while also strengthening women in entrepreneurship and economic growth.

Women investing in women is the ultimate form of empowerment.

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STORIES THAT

BY LAUREN JONES PHOTO BY JARRAH BOREMAN

STICK

FORMER AUSTIN WOMAN COVER WOMEN SHARE THEIR VISION FOR AUSTIN’S FUTURE.

Austin is the city for the serial entrepreneur, the creative, the trendsetter and the digital influencer. It’s a city pulsing with an undeniable energy, a city with open-minded people seeking genuine connection and opportunities to collaborate. As the only women-centric publication in Austin, Austin Woman has cultivated a unique tribe of powerful and impactful leaders who have left a mark on every aspect of Central Texas’ growth, culture and business development.

In Austin Woman’s nearly 16-year run, the magazine has told the stories of nearly 200 cover women and thousands of other women throughout its pages, continuing to spread a message of hope, empowerment and strength to its readers, all while normalizing the amazing things women are capable of accomplishing.

With the magazine’s sweet 16 birthday right around the corner, AW caught up with a cadre of former cover women. Here, they share their unique paths to success and what they imagine lies ahead.

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“THERE IS A DISTINCT HISTORY IN TEXAS OF BADASS TEXAS WOMEN. THEY ARE POLITE, WELL-DRESSED AND POWERFUL.” —KERRY RUPP STRONG WOMEN WELCOME December 2017 cover woman Darbie Angell believes there is no place like Austin. Angell is the founder of Cru Dinnerware, a company she built while on bed rest with her first child. For Angell, being on the cover opened her up to a whole new network of entrepreneurial women. Already a well-known voice in the industry, she found doors that had previously been closed to her opened up. She has received national media attention and plans to expand her fine-china business beyond the U.S. market.

AN EMPOWERED FUTURE Texas is ranked as the No. 2 state in the U.S. for the fastest growth in the number of women-owned businesses, and Austin has quickly become the best place to start a company as a woman. Women are no longer waiting for a seat the table; they are making their own.

Sara Brand and Kerry Rupp, co-founders of True Wealth Ventures and May 2017 cover women, are rebranding the traditionally maledominated venture-capital industry. In January, less than a year after their feature in AW, Rupp and Brand closed on a $19.1 million fund to invest in women-led startups. This opens an incredible growth opportunity for all female entrepreneurs and founders, especially considering that in 2017, women-led companies received just 2.2 percent of all venture-capital funding.

“There is a distinct history in Texas of badass Texas women.

They are polite, well-dressed and powerful,” Rupp says.

SOLIDARITY, SISTER In light of the recent #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, there has been an uptick in solidarity among women everywhere. Now is the time to stand up, stand together and continue to raise the next generation of strong women.

Christy Pipkin, co-founder of the Nobelity Project, believes education is the key to a brighter future and, as women, we must continue to lift one another up. A child of the 1960s born to a progressive labor organizer and antiracism activist, Pipkin grew up attending picket lines, experiences that continue to influence her as she looks to other women who stand up for what they believe in.

There has always been a legacy among Austin women of “seeing women that can make their own way, even if it’s against what has been done,” Pipkin says, adding, “We’re all in this together.”

Much like Pipkin, June 2016 cover woman Katie Fang, chief executive officer of education-technology startup SchooLinks,

envisions a future of continued success, not just for women in Austin, but for the city as a whole. Recently, U.S. World and News Report named Austin the best place to live in the U.S. “Austin will continue to grow. More technology companies will call Austin home. Diversity and growth will continue,” Fang says. “But at the same time, I hope Austin can keep its open-mindedness and still keep it weird.”

There’s no denying Austin is a special city.

WP Engine CEO Heather Brunner is one of many women proud to call Austin home.

“The mentality is that when one of us wins in Austin, we all win,” Brunner says. “I truly believe that. Yes, we are competing, but at the same time, we are all rooting for each other. … Collectively, there is a sense of pride.”

So, what lies ahead for Austin women?

It’s time to advocate for one another in the face of exciting and changing times. Sharon Mays, April 2009 cover woman and the chief executive officer of Baby Greens, puts it best.

“After following the corporate path in the music industry and feeling like the opportunities were not coming my way, I decided to start my own business,” Mays says. “I was done waiting for others to pick me. I picked me.”

Throughout the years, Austin Woman has been at the epicenter of the continuous fight for equality, shedding light on important issues, starting conversations in its pages and changing the way women in positions of power are viewed, providing relatable role models and an ever-growing community of strong, influential women.

For September 2015 cover woman Andra Liemandt, founder of the all-female rock band The Mrs and nonprofit The Kindness Campaign, being on the cover meant letting women everywhere know they can accomplish their dreams.

“AW has allowed us to see each other and know that we each exist,” she says. “That is everything.”

Left to right: Katie Fang, Gigi Bryant, Melinda Garvey, Mellie Price, Christy Pipkin, Olga Campos Benz, Sharon Mays, Lisa Copeland, Sara Brand, MP Mueller

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G

OURMET

RECIPE REVEAL

SAY CHEESE

Enhance a childhood favorite with this delicious twist on macaroni and cheese from Salt Traders Coastal Cooking.

BY SABA GHAFFARI

BACON MAC Ingredients

Directions

1 cup butter

1. Boil and strain the pasta of your choice and set aside.

1 cup flour

2. To make a roux, melt the butter in a saucepan. Once it is heated, add the flour and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly. Let the mixture cook for approximately five minutes.

4 cups chicken stock 4 cups whole milk 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon 4 cups Gruyere cheese 4 cups cheddar cheese 1/2 cup blue cheese 1 tablespoon chipotle puree 3 tablespoons bacon, cooked and chopped Salt and pepper to taste

4. In a saucepan, add the three cheeses a little at a time. Then add the chipotle puree, salt and pepper.

5. Once all the cheese is added, turn the heat to medium so the sauce doesn’t burn and let it cook for as long as 10 minutes. If the sauce is too thick, add a bit of water. If it is too thin, add more cheese. Lastly, fold in the chopped bacon.

6. P our the cheesy sauce over the pasta and finish with more cheese and breadcrumbs.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes. Finish the dish a la Salt Traders Coastal Cooking with blue lump crab.

Photo courtesy of Resplendent Hospitality.

Blue lump crab (optional)

3. I n a separate pot, heat the chicken stock, milk and chicken bouillon until it reaches a boil. Pour it over the butter-and-flour mixture and let everything cook for five minutes.

94 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

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TOP CONCERNS FOR WOMEN DURING DIVORCE Divorce attorney Janet McCullar answers your questions.

BY JANET MCCULLAR

During the 25 years I’ve been a divorce attorney, I’ve represented hundreds of women in divorce or custody cases. Below are some of the top concerns women have expressed to me through the years.

1. Will I lose custody of my kids?

Almost every woman I work with has heard of some story in which a mom lost custody of her children in a divorce, and they are scared it could happen to them. In my experience, moms don’t lose custody unless they are a threat to their child’s safety, such as if they have been arrested for driving drunk with the child in the car. Even in that scenario, there are precautionary measures that can be put in place, such as using a Breathalyzer. Some fathers, in an attempt to gain advantage in a property division, will threaten to go for custody. Don’t believe it. Consulting with a custody lawyer, like myself, often alleviates this concern. And if there is some merit to the threat, I can help my client minimize the risk.

5. My husband owns a business and says I won’t get any part of it. Is that true?

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I love nothing more than helping women free themselves of these sort of worries in my initial consultation. Remember, consulting with a divorce lawyer doesn’t necessarily mean you will get a divorce, and it could bring more peace of mind if you do need to divorce.

2. My husband is a really good liar.

I tell my female clients if I put a black hash mark on the wall in my conference room each time I heard this statement, my walls would be solid black. Most often, the husband is a bully who is used to intimidating his wife. Bullying tactics don’t work. If I’m asking your husband a question in court, he may try to not answer it, but as a seasoned professional, I will ask until the question is answered.

3. I don’t know how much money we have.

Some couples have assigned roles in their marriage, with one being the breadwinner and the other being the homemaker. Who wouldn’t trust her husband to take good care of the finances and invest their money properly? But I don’t need to know at the time of the initial consultation how much money you have. That is part of the divorce process. I help my clients identify what property they own, find out what it is worth and put it all in a spreadsheet for property-division purposes.

4. My husband has offered me a lump sum of money and says I’ll get less if I fight him.

Should I accept?

My answer: absolutely not. I want all my clients to make a well-informed decision, and that usually means talking with a lawyer about whether the offer is a good one. As lawyers, we often find what the spouse is really owed is more than what has been offered. Don’t take the chance. Seek professional advice before you make a deal.

Janet McCullar is a nationally respected trial attorney known for her skill and success in the courtroom. She has represented clients in hundreds of complex divorce and custody cases. Although she represents clients during trying times, her cases are routinely resolved amicably to save the client the time, cost and pain involved in litigation. McCullar is board-certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She was also selected as a fellow in the prestigious American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, an organization that consists of the nation’s top divorce attorneys.

Law Office of Janet McCullar, P.C. | 3200 Steck Ave Ste 300, Austin, TX 78757 | 512.342.9933 | jmccullarlaw.com

G

OURMET

FOOD NEWS

A BREW WITH A VIEW

Pull up a seat at Vista Brewing, the newest destination pub in Driftwood, Texas.

STORY AND PHOTO BY NICHOLAS BARANCYK Balmy Sundays and strolls along the River Thames: These are just a couple fond memories engineer turned marketer Karen Killough treasures from her years spent living in England.

But her most vivid recollections are of the destination brewpubs. These allday outings to rural pubs required a tromp through buttercups and green grasses to be treated with home-style fare and fresh, crisp beer.

It’s this idyll that Killough and her husband, Ken, wanted to replicate with Vista Brewing, an experience that’s as much about the atmosphere as it is about the brew, a place where families and friends can gather and enjoy the outdoors.

When the couple returned to Austin in 2014, they saw the development of wineries and the untapped potential of burgeoning tourism.

“We wanted to create a place that fits into that wine-road ecosystem, but centered around beer,” Karen Killough says.

A CLOSER LOOK

The Killoughs didn’t want to just fit in. They wanted to form a symbiotic relationship with their neighbors and natural surroundings.

“We wanted the buildings to feel like they just appeared,” Karen Killough says.

This mentality is highlighted in the construction of the buildings, for which only 14 of the more than 600 live oaks and elms living on the property were removed.

When combined with the rustic yet modern finishings in the pub itself, this gives the impression of an age that betrays Vista Brewing’s one-year build time.

From the sliding glass wall in the tasting room to the outdoor eatery, this space is all about connecting the inside with the out.

A one-beer walking path beckons visitors across the property, with benches aplenty to sit, sip and enjoy the view. There’s even a playground and wooden swings scattered about for family outings.

BY THE PINT

This philosophy of integrating the surrounding nature with the pub is epitomized in Vista Brewing’s suds. The Killoughs use pristine water from the Middle Trinity Aquifer for all their beers, employ wine barrels from surrounding vineyards to age it and even incorporate on-property flora into their recipes. Agarita berries, wood sorrel and honey 96 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

from their own beehives will soon make their way into the brewery’s vats.

The beers at Vista Brewing are light, clean, beer-garden brews: kolsch, pilsners and lagers.

However, the barrel program also opens Vista Brewing up to the world of more wine-like beers like lambics and aged ales.

Gather your family and friends and join the Killoughs for their pub’s grand opening Mother’s Day weekend.

To learn more about Vista Brewing, visit vistabrewingtx.com.

To learn more about Vista Brewing, visit vistabrewingtx.com.

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ELLNESS

WAITING ROOM

DOWN TO THE BONE

Here’s how to know whether you may get osteoporosis.

BY LAURYN LAX Osteoporosis is not just an “old-lady disease.”

While osteoporosis is a disease most often associated with women older than age 50 due to the decline in estrogen, the bone-building hormone, younger women are not immune to the disease, particularly thinner females.

Our bones are in a constant state of renewal. New bone is made and old bone is broken down. When we’re kids and teens, our bodies make new bone faster than they break down old bone, and our bone mass increases a la the beauty that is growing pains.

Most people reach their peak bone mass by their early 20s and, as people age, bone mass is lost faster than it’s created.

In regard to osteoporosis, this presentation is exaggerated as bone mass breaks down and density decreases. Osteoporosis is a condition that affects approximately one in two women. Moreover, 50 percent of these women will suffer from an osteoporosisrelated fracture at some point in their lifetime, and another one in two women will experience decreased bone mass, known as osteopenia, before reaching osteoporosis.

As osteoporosis affects 80 percent more women than men, here’s how to know whether you’re being affected.

DIAGNOSIS

Osteopenia is a precursor to osteoporosis, and both are diagnosed using bone-mineral-density scanning using a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, or DEXA, machine.

RISK FACTORS

Women are at an increased risk for osteoporosis related to estrogen levels if they: r have had their ovaries removed r are going through menopause r are of Caucasian ethnicity r had their first period at a later age during puberty r e xperience irregular periods or amenorrhea (an abnormal absence of menstruation) r have a lower body weight r keep a highly active lifestyle or exercise excessively r have a history of disordered eating r have an overactive thyroid, known as hyperthyroidism r have a health diagnosis of arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, low vitamin D status, autoimmune condition, gastroesophageal reflux disease or irritable bowel syndrome r keep a vegetarian or vegan diet rh ave low fat intake, particularly low intake of saturated fats and fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K 98 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

COMMON SYMPTOMS

Unlike a runny nose during a cold or experiencing joint pain with arthritis, osteoporosis symptoms are silent and often fly under the radar until a more serious injury, like a fracture or stress fracture, occurs.

Common symptoms to look out for that may suggest your likelihood of having the disease include: r easily getting stress fractures, especially in the feet or hips r shin splints r back pain caused by an undiagnosed collapsed vertebra or fracture r loss of height r a stooped posture r digestive distress (chronic bloating, constipation, IBS or GERD)

Sponsored Content

TEN WAYS TO PREP FOR YOUR NEXT ROAD TRIP

BY CHELSEA BANCROFT

Summer is almost here and that means it’s road-trip season. Road trips are a great vacation option. Typically cheaper than flying, road trips allow you to make your own schedule, and you get to see a whole lot more of the in-between land that you’d miss on a flight. Here’s how to prep for your next road-trip adventure.

1. Make sure your car’s maintenance is up to date.

Most cars need an oil change every 5,000 miles. (Check your owner’s manual for exact recommendations.) If you’re getting close, it’s a good idea to go ahead and get one before embarking on a long driving trip. Have the mechanic check your air filters too. Old, dirty air filters decrease fuel efficiency, and that can make a big difference when traveling long distances by car. Also have the mechanic top off your brake and windshield fluids.

2. Take a cellphone and car charger.

I’m stating the obvious here, but you definitely don’t want to forget these items.

3. Check the tires.

Make sure your car’s tires are properly inflated and that the tread is not too worn. You can do the penny test to check the tread: Place a penny between the treads on the tire with the head side pointing down. If you can see the entirety of Abraham Lincoln’s head, it may be time to replace the tires, especially if you’re going to travel long distances. It’s also a good idea to check that the spare-tire kit is in working order, just in case you have to use it.

4. Check the lights.

Making sure your car’s signal and brake lights and headlights are in working order is very important for safety while driving, especially in unfamiliar places.

Also, you could get a ticket for driving without properly working lights.

5. Have an emergency kit.

I like to keep an emergency kit in my vehicle at all times, but it’s especially important to have one when going on a long driving trip.

Be sure to include in your emergency kit a flashlight, duct tape, basic medical supplies, water bottles, jumper cables and a portable jump-starter, batteries, a blanket, a tool kit, granola bars, a car-escape tool, hand sanitizer or towelettes, bug spray, etc. I also like to keep an umbrella or poncho in my car during road trips, just in case.

6. Check your car’s windshield wipers and fluids.

Two words: bug guts. A bug-splattered windshield is an inevitable part of a road trip. Make sure you’re able to keep your windshield clear by replacing old wipers and topping off the wiper fluid.

7. Be sure to have a GPS and/or maps.

You’ll likely drive through areas that have little to no cell service during a road trip, so having an old-school paper map in your car is a smart idea. Google Maps also allows you to download sections of a map for use when you’re offline or don’t have service. Even taking a screen shot of your route beforehand can help in a case of no signal.

8. Don’t forget the snacks.

No one likes you when you’re hangry. Stock up on car-friendly snacks.

That means leaving food that might melt or needs to be refrigerated at home. Chocolate plus a hot car never ends well. If you do want to keep snacks extra fresh, bringing a small cooler isn’t a bad idea.

9. Consider entertainment.

You’ve got to have some entertainment to help pass the time on a road trip. Consider downloading your favorite Spotify or Apple Music playlists for the times when you’re going through an area with little to no cell service. Audio books are another great way to pass the time on a long drive. Do you have kids? There are tons of games designed specifically for playing in the car. Check out Amazon for that.

10. Grab the camera.

Photo by Matt Littlefield.

Some of my favorite trips as a travel blogger have been road trips. I recommend having a camera with you. (Smartphone cameras work great too.) You never know what you might stumble across, which is one of the things I love most about road trips.

Chelsea Bancroft is the strategic-partnerships and social-media manager at Roger Beasley Mazda and a blogger at onechelofanadventure.com.

W

ELLNESS

DRINK THIS, NOT THAT

WINE NOT?

For health-focused oenophiles, drinking red wine might be for the best.

BY KAT BARCLAY

Drink this: red wine Not that: white wine or rosé Says who: Molly Austad, certified sommelier at Jeffrey’s of Austin, a fine-dining restaurant that specializes in French-American cuisine and features an extensive wine menu.

Why: The skins from red grapes contain both tannins and a number of antioxidants, including resveratrol, which may help prevent damage to blood vessels. In the spirit of full disclosure, though, Austad adds while this health benefit is a popular belief, “there is not enough evidence to state this as a fact.”

What are tannins? Tannins come from the skin of grapes and can add bitterness and astringency, or acidity, to the taste of a wine.

The thicker the skin of the grape, the more tannin a wine has.

“Wines with higher tannin, like cabernet sauvignon and nebbiolo are perceivably more dry than lower-tannin wines like zinfandel and pinot noir,” Austad says. “Have you ever had a sip of wine that turned your mouth into a cotton ball? That is tannin.”

Could you have an allergy to wine?

While there is no evidence that proves one can have an allergy to red wine, some people can experience a minor reaction to the amines, or naturally occurring chemicals, found in the grape skins. “If you have a hard time digesting nutrients and are sensitive to coffee and chocolate, red wine might not be for you,” Austad says.

Kendall Dinwiddie and Molly Austad

SPEAK LIKE A SOMM Also a certified sommelier at Jeffrey’s, Kendall Dinwiddie defines some key wine terms every amateur sommelier should know.

Acidity: The puckering sensation of tart, sour, bright, lively, fresh, racy, crisp and youthful fruit qualities that leave your mouth reacting with salvation.

Aeration: The introduction of oxygen to enhance the aromatic bouquet, or volatile compounds, in the wine.

Think of it as a way to let the wine stretch it legs and warm up so you can better enjoy it.

Brut: A French term meaning dry. It’s usually associated with Champagne and sparkling wines.

Blend: A blanket term, as it can be applied to many elements in the winemaking process. This includes a blend of grapes, vineyards and vintages.

Blush: The English word for rosé. It was penned by Sutter Home, which was originally a red wine and white wine blended together.

Chaptalization: The addition of cane or beet sugar to wine before or during fermentation that can increase a wine’s alcohol level, body and balance. This is not considered a common practice in quality winemaking.

Dry: A term typically used when there is no perceivable sweetness in a wine.

100 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

Kendall Dinwiddie and Molly Austad photo by Gabi Phi.

What does certified organic mean? Organic wine means the grapes were farmed organically. American wines with a “certified organic” label have no added sulfites, although Austad points out this isn’t necessarily better because wine with no added sulfites can go bad by the next day. “Many people hear the word ‘sulfites’ and think, ‘Yikes! I don’t want to be consuming that.’ The truth is a very small percent of the population experiences any reaction to sulfites, and those people have severe cases of asthma,” Austad says.

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ELLNESS

HER ROUTINE

DANCING DIVA

Hip-hop artist Symonne Hornaday lights up the dance floor.

STORY AND PHOTO BY GRETCHEN M. SANDERS

warmup and end with a cooldown, and every dance we learn includes cardio. Low poses strengthen our leg and core muscles, and snappy upper-body moves work our arms.

Every routine is a full-body workout that makes me sweat. When I’m not dancing, I lift free weights at home and do a daily 30-minute walk near my job downtown.”

Who knew Symonne Hornaday could get down like that?

Every Tuesday night at Balance Dance Studios in South Austin, the 25-year-old busts moves that would make Beyoncé jealous. Hornaday, who has always loved to swivel her hips, signed up for DivaDance not long after she moved to Austin from Tucson, Ariz., last summer. She wanted a way to meet likeminded people, have fun and get a great workout.

DivaDance classes are taught at six Central Texas locations and promise a sweaty, sexy, stress-free hip-hop dance experience.

“We learn moves that allow me to tell an emotional story through dance,” says Hornaday, who has been a ballet student since age 5.

Growing up, Hornaday also took jazz, tap, hip-hop and lyrical-dance classes, performed in The Nutcracker every year and captained her high school’s pom line. Today, DivaDance lets her childhood passion live on.

“I like the sassy choreography we do so much that I’m training to become an instructor,” Hornaday says.

When she’s not dancing, Hornaday fits in a full workday at Skills Fund, a student-financing and quality-assurance platform for higher education.

But it’s when Hornaday practices with DivaDance’s Performance Squad—a group of 20 dancers who learn three routines during a period of 10 weeks, culminating in a recital—that she really lets loose.

At a recent session, Hornaday sported a Tshirt reading “Slaying is my cardio.” Twirling her body like a corkscrew, she whipped her hair back and forth and snapped her fingers like a drill sergeant. High-energy, calorie-burning steps set to Grace’s You Don’t Own Me and Lady Gaga’s Telephone left her breathless—and thirsty.

“Dancing lets me be the confident woman I aspire to be. I leave practice feeling empowered,” Hornaday says. “I leave feeling like the boss.”

Here’s how this soul sister keeps kicking to the beat.

THE A.M.:

“The first thing I do is hit the snooze button. I get up by 7:45 a.m., shower and pick out my work clothes. Then I make a smoothie with banana, coconut milk and protein before I go. I’m usually running late.”

THE WORKOUT:

“I do three hour-long DivaDance classes per week, plus 90 minutes of Performance Squad every Tuesday night. We always begin with a

102 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

THE DIET:

“I’m trying not to like mac and cheese—my downfall. I love it, and I’m very specific about how it’s prepared. EastSide Tavern does it well. I joined Weight Watchers recently, which has forced me to cook more and cook better. I’ve enjoyed looking up recipes and preparing meals at home. I love baked veggie dishes with Brussels sprouts, zucchini, carrots and bell peppers. Because of all the dancing I do, I carry a huge Hydro Flask and fill it with water several times a day.”

THE GEAR:

“I dance in black boots, but any supportive shoes with a good heel will work. I like to wear sassy leggings with mesh on the side from RunGirlRun, an activewear company I found on Instagram, plus a loose cropped top over a good sports bra. I also tie a flannel shirt around my waist to hold up my leggings. I keep my hair down because I flip it to the music and it makes me feel sexy.

There’s a lot of ‘hair-ography’ at DivaDance.

Some of our choreography includes props too. We hold landline phones when we perform Telephone.”

HER PLAYLIST

THE MOTIVATION:

“Respect” by Aretha Franklin

“My pure love for dance motivates me to do it, but I really like the feeling I have after class. I’m happier, healthier and more confident. It’s a great workout.”

“No Scrubs” by TLC

THE MINDSET:

“Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé

“Skin” by Rihanna

“I want to give 100 percent. Even when dancing gets hard, even when I feel discouraged, I must push myself to do my best. It’s not always easy. I try to keep an open mind to all that I’m learning.”

“Stars” by The xx

THE P.M.:

“Dirty Diana” by Michael Jackson “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5

“Best I Ever Had” by Drake “Cocoa Butter Kisses” by Chance the Rapper “The Boy Is Mine” by Monica and Brandy

“Dance practice doesn’t end until 10 p.m. on some nights, so I get home pretty late. I need time after that to slow down. I’ll have a snack, watch Will & Grace and fall asleep around 12:30 or 1 a.m.”

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OINT OF VIEW

I AM AUSTIN WOMAN

THE MOTHERHOOD MOVEMENT

My Tribe was born, in 2016. Some 800 women came to practice I always wanted to be a mom. When I found out I was self-care with me at studios throughout Austin. It was a magical expregnant, I knew I was going to love motherhood; there perience for so many of us. Personally, I made new friends, I gained was no other option. It was going to be a breeze because I a support system and I learned so much. love babies and had dreamed about this day my entire life.

Most importantly, I learned that we mothers need and deserve Most of this didn’t happen. Quickly, I became lonely, anxmore—more community, information, tools, opportunities and ious, angry, confused, exhausted and felt misunderstood understanding. And if we as a new mother. don’t get this care and supAnd then came the Alex Winkelman Zeplain, second from left port, not only will we suffer, frustration that this but our children, families was my motherhood and communities can be experience. Mothernegatively impacted. hood was not what As fun as the studio I expected and I was classes were, they were not drowning. How could sustainable. I then experithis be? enced a new set of stresses, I set out to answer all of which seeped into my that very question. I life as a mother and wife. I spent hours and hours wasn’t fully living out the reading about mothervery mission I proclaimed— hood, learning about to be a healthy and happy postpartum mood mother—so change needed disorders, coming up to happen. I also knew I empty-handed when it wanted to have an impact came to resources and on as many women and tools for women and mothers as possible. being totally shocked This year, Hello My Tribe at the state of maternal pivoted into a digital plathealth in our country. I form and community for women and mothers, talked with every new mom I could find to I made new friends, I encouraging all to practice self-love and selflearn about their experiences. Was I crazy? gained a support system care for the benefit of self, family and society.

Was I the only one who felt this way?

Our partners, members, contributors and Three big lessons I learned: and I learned so much. ambassadors play such an important role 1. No, I was not alone in my feelings and for our platform and community. Together, experiences with motherhood. we continue to learn what mothers want and need. Together, 2. There was so much out there about taking care of babies, but we are creating a safe space for mothers to share their struggles there was a total lack of attention and resources for mothers. and challenges.

3. The issues facing women in this country in regards to maternal Together, we are making it possible for women to be inspired to health are huge and a lot bigger than I personally experienced. live healthy and happy lives as mothers.

What was I going to do? I had to come up with a solution not I am going to make a bold statement: I think together, we lit a fire only for myself, but for other women and their families as well. and it’s the beginning of a movement. I’m not the one who did this.

Thankfully, my OB-GYN prescribed postpartum self-care tips to We did it. me. This is not the story you often hear when a frazzled mom goes Our community is coming together this month in two big to see her doctor. It’s often an experience met with total disregard ways: The Healthy Lady, Happy Baby challenge and campaign and a response like, “This is normal. You’re a new mom, so deal is an invitation for women to share their honest motherhood with it,” or, “This prescription for an antidepressant will do the stories and self-care tips. We are also launching our Mothertrick.” I’m a lucky one. hood Wellness Guide, an in-depth resource covering topics The postpartum self-care tips had a positive impact on my life. I from fertility to postpartum. More details can be found on still practice them. And I knew they would help other women too, hellomytribe.com. so I started inviting others to practice with me. This is when Hello

Austin Woman features a reader-submitted essay every month in the I Am Austin Woman column.

To be considered for August’s I Am Austin Woman, email a 500-word submission on a topic of your choice by June 1 to submissions@awmediainc.com with the subject line “I Am Austin Woman.”

104 | AUSTIN WOMAN | MAY 2018

Photo by Angela Doran.

With Hello My Tribe, Alex Winkelman Zeplain is creating a safe space for mothers to share their struggles and challenges, all while leading healthy and happy lives.

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2018 SUV of Texas as voted by the Texas Auto Writers Association

If it were any more responsive, it would read your mind.

The 2018 Volvo XC60 has customizable Drive Modes to go precisely where you want. And safety features like Blind Spot Information System that helps you avoid going where you don’t. All to enhance your drive.

Experience it for yourself at Volvo Cars of Austin and Georgetown.

VOLVO CARS OF AUSTIN | MOVING THIS MONTH TO 7216 N. IH-35 • 512-402-5554 • VOLVOAUSTIN.COM VOLVO CARS OF GEORGETOWN | 7501 S IH-35 (EXIT 257) • 855-255-5788 • VOLVOGEORGETOWN.COM ©2018 Volvo Cars of North America, LLC. The Iron Mark is a registered trademark of Volvo.

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IF ONLY EVERYTHING BENT TO YOUR WILL SO EASILY