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A new decade of ‘48 Women’ honored

BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer

Nearly three months after learning of their nomination and selection for a book titled “48 Women, A New Decade | 48 Women Arizona’s Most Intriguing Women,” the women congregated for a grandiose luncheon at the Biltmore Resort on April 29.

After promenading into a ballroom reserved for the event, the attending women graced the stage in front of a room packed with nearly 400 attendees – all of whom stood for over a minute applauding the women for their efforts that earned them the recognition in the upcoming 140-page coffee table book.

“To all of the honorees, they not only inspire girls and young professionals to continue to challenge gender stereotypes and biases but they also transform the way men think about the roles and abilities of women,” said Tempe Mayor Corey Woods. “They make us better.”

After spending the dog days of summer scouring the state for intriguing women to feature in her second book since the inaugural book in 2012, Connie Robinson, the chair of the 48 Women steering committee, admits it was a tough decision to whittle through the pack of applicants and select 48 women to define the next decade.

“They should know that they were selected after an extremely rigorous process and it was not easy to narrow down to the select group that we have honored today,” Robinson said.

However, Robinson did have the help of colleagues who nominated their bosses, friends, former classmates or people they attended church with.

“What has helped us was the commitment and the connectivity of all honorees and what each of them has demonstrated,” Robinson said.

“They are each deeply committed to the pursuit of excellence in their chosen field and the pursuit of excellence has been enhanced by the connections they have chosen to make. The connections

The women whose stories appear in “48 Women A New Decade | 48 Women Arizona’s Most Intriguing Women,” gathered for a luncheon April 69. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

E Squared Marketing founder and owner poses with her daughter Ellie as she works from home like the rest of her 27 employees nation-wide. (Special to the Progress)

see48 WOMEN page 20

Ashley Richards finds work-from-home success

BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer

Not long after giving birth to her first child in 2015, Ashley Richards spent much of her maternity leave torn between what she would do after her leave expired.

She knew she wanted to return to work but was unsure of how she would balance being a full-time employee and a mom.

“I felt like I had to pick one because that’s what society told us to do. You’re either a stay-at-home mom or you’re a working mom, there’s no middle lane,” Richards said. “I felt like I created a middle lane a little bit more confidently.”

Because of this, she made the bold decision to quit her job and start her own company, E Squared Marketing – named after her two children, whose names both start with the letter E.

As the business began to grow and clients kept rolling in, Richards reached out to some mom organizations she was a part of and found moms looking for the same type of work environment she was looking for.

“I found some other moms who left their careers to become stay-at-home moms who wanted the same thing I wanted,” she said. “They wanted to work from home and have flexibility while still being present moms.”

Fast forward nearly seven years and a worldwide pandemic later, Richards now has 27 employees who aid 50 clients across the nation with their digital and non-digital marketing needs.

With a large staff and a healthy number

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | MAY 8, 2022

City water official earns big award

PROGRESS NEWS STAFF

Water, water everywhere and ….well, it’s pretty much the be all and end all of Kevin Rose’s life work.

And because he has addressed water issues so well as Scottsdale’s water resources administrator. Rose was named Operations Leader of the Year by the Arizona Water Association at its annual Arizona Water Conference in April. The Scottsdale Water Division took home multiple safety awards for each of its facilities at the same meeting.

“Rose was nominated after distinguishing himself as a respected leader within the division and city since starting at Scottsdale in 2017,” the city said in a release. “Overseeing 180 employees and 80% of the division’s operating budget, Rose directs all utility operating departments including water, wastewater and recycled water operations which encompasses supervisory control and data acquisition systems and instrumentation controls.”

But while stating he is “humbled and honored to receive such praise, especially from the peers I work with and employees I serve,” Rose was quick to deflect some of that praise to his staff. “It’s really my employees who make the difference and at Scottsdale Water, we have some of the most knowledgeable and dedicated staff who I’ve ever had the privilege to work with,” he said.

Rose – who with his wife of 20 years, Maya, have three children – holds a B.S. in chemistry and a master’s degree in environmental management from Arizona State University.

He started with Scottsdale in 2017 as the collections manager over the sewer system after leaving the employ of the City of Phoenix, where he was deputy water services director for over eight years.

“I went to Scottsdale for the great reputation in the water industry and hearing from Scottsdale employees say how much they enjoy working there,” he explained.

His interest in water and utilities

Kevin Rose, Scottsdale’s water resources administrator, was named Operations Leader of the Year by the Arizona Water

Association. (City of Scottsdale)

evolved from his work as a power plant operator, explaining he “enjoyed how the utility industries bring the

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The Arizona Water Association also praised Scottsdale’s water facilities, including the CAP Water Treatment Plant. (City of Scottsdale)

science, engineering and skilled trades together to provide essential needs to the community.”

And for an essential community need like water, Rose maintains a can-do attitude.

Asked about the challenges in his career, he didn’t single out one and in-

seeWATER page 20

have been family, personal, collegial, communal, spiritual or all of these but what they’ve done is made their commitment more impactful.” Once a list was finalized in January, 48 women whose faces and stories would fill the pages of “48 Women A New Decade | 48 Women Arizona’s Most Intriguing Women,” it was clear they shared similar characteristics though they hail from various cities and corners of the state.

“All of these women are passionate and dedicated leaders. Those three attributes: passion, dedication and leadership were most mentioned by those who nominated them,” said former Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs.

“Descriptive words also used by the nominators include kind, loving and compassionate hearts, visionary, brilliant, excellence, persistence, empower, collaboration, mentor and entrepreneur.”

There was yet another commonality between the women honored in the book and honored inside the dimly lit luncheon.

“A common thread in the nominations was that these women have been advocates in the purest sense of the word by offering independent support to vulnerable members of our society and they have helped develop actionable solutions to protect and improve the quality of life for challenged people of all ages,” Scruggs said.

The women all had a similar reaction when they were called by Robinson or 48 Women steering committee co-chair Joy Johnson to be informed of their inauguration into the upcoming book. “Each of these women when Joy or I called them to congratulate them, the first words out of their mouths were ‘who me?’ ‘why me?’ or ‘I’m just doing what I love,’” Robinson said.

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | MAY 8, 2022

Because of this, most of the women felt humbled by the opportunity to have the spotlight cast on them as their accomplishments were read out during the luncheon before being immortalized by letters on pages of a book that will hit shelves later this month.

“Ladies, you have been seen, heard, admired and recognized,” Scruggs told the honorees.

“You are here now because of that, 48 of Arizona’s most intriguing women and we could not be happier to have you join us as we move forward in finding ways to further empower and enrich the lives of women and young girls throughout ourselves.”

Although Robinson felt honored to have the opportunity to tell 48 remarkable stories of perseverance, she hopes that the book allows the women to be bonded by more than a cover.

“Having learned more about these stories and purposes, I look forward to seeing the honorees connect and those that came before them,” Robinson said. “There are so many purposes among them that seem to have symbiotic relationships that it would be a missed opportunity not only for them but those who would benefit from the enhancement of the services they provide.” Robinson also hopes that the book exposes readers to the next generation of inspirational women who call Arizona home. “In order to truly appreciate who these women are and what has motivated them to pursue their passions, which is why we have produced the book 48 Women, A new Decade: Arizona’s Most Intriguing Women,” Robinson said. “I hope everyone will use the book to help understand this current generation.”

Information: 48women.org

WATER ���� page 19

stead replied, “Finding enough time to accomplish all the goals and projects – which I thoroughly enjoy.”

Naturally, Arizona’s unending drought and climate change are at the forefront of his mind.

“The drought has made the planning more important and working with the water team in Scottsdale is a great help,” he said. “Growing up in Arizona, I learned how critical water is in a desert climate and I knew I would be heavily involved in managing this precious resource.”

His interest and concern about water even is reflected at home, saying his kids ask him about water “all the time.”

“They are always interested in how water impacts everything else,” he said.

Rose also has a few words of advice for Scottsdale residents who also may share his concern about this essential resource: “Continue adopting the desert lifestyle and continue conserving water.”

Rose also can indirectly bathe in the eight different safety performance awards that the city received from the Arizona Water Association.

The award of honor for safe operation of the facility with zero lost days during the year and a minimum of one man-year worked (2,080 hours) was awarded to: Wastewater Collection, Scottsdale Water Reclamation Plant, Central Groundwater Treatment Facility, CAP Treatment Plant, Advance Water Treatment Plant and the Gainey Ranch Treatment Plant.

Awards of Merit were also given to the Chaparral Treatment Facility and Scottsdale Water Production/Distribution group for safe operation of the facility with less than the maximum number of lost days.

RICHARDS ���� page 18

of clients, perhaps the most intriguing part of Richards’ business model is that all of her employees are mothers and they all work from home.

Additionally, she works various hours and so do her employees.

Make no mistake about it, even though Richards does not make employees report to an office to spend 40 hours at a desk, she prides herself on having a routine and making designated times for employees to meet.

“I’m driven on routines and I waste no time,” she said. “I am very type-A and I am very intentional about every moment of every day even if that includes relaxing or being with my family.”

Given that she relies heavily on a routine, a typical day for Richards begins at 6 a.m., when she gets her kids ready for school by making their lunches and ensuring they’re dressed.

Once her kids are dropped off at school, Richards comes home to a steaming cup of coffee which she sips while sifting through her emails and creating a to-do list for the day before sitting in meetings or talking with clients.

She continues her workday until it is time for her to pick her kids up from school where she takes an extended break from her day job to return to her duties as a mother.

Once her kids go to bed, Richards clocks back in for her “fourth shift” which she describes as her “golden hours” – usually between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. –- where she dives into projects, programs or strategies.

She admits a routine has been easier to maintain once her kids reached an age at which they could attend school. When they were younger, Richards would often take advantage of hours when her kids were taking naps or when her husband would come home from work to get tasks done.

As is the case for her employees that have younger children.

“I have several people on my team who have you ng kids and that’s typically what works well for them,” said Richards.

Because her employees work different hours of the day and live in different time zones, she jokes that her business is a 24hour operation.

“I feel our clients get responses quicker and things get done faster because we’re not so defined by that 8 to 5,” she said.

She also feels that having set hours can be constricting and felt startled by a study she heard about while attending a remote working conference years ago.

“I went to a remote working conference a couple of years ago and there was a poll done where the number one reason why business owners didn’t want their employees to work from home was that they felt they could not control and see what their employees were doing throughout the day,” she said.

Because of this, she feels the future of successful businesses is shifting to becoming a balancing act between work and life.

“I really encourage business owners to evolve their business to be more accommodating to the work/life balance,” Richards said. “It’s going to create much more happy and satisfied team members and if you can help employees feel fulfilled in business and fulfilled at home, you are hitting a goldmine of talent that is available.”

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Celebrating the two students’ achievement are, from left, Notre Dame Prep Assistant Principal Tracey Heisler, valedictorian Radia Wong, salutatorian Keira Ryan and Principal Gene Sweeney, Ph.D. (Courtesy of Notre Dame Prep)

Notre Dame names its Class of ’22 leaders

PROGRESS NEWS STAFF

Being called to the principal’s office isn’t something to which Notre Dame Prep seniors Radia Wong and Keira Ryan are accustomed. But then, neither is getting flowers when that happens to any student who gets the call.

That’s what happened as Radia and Keira learned from Principal Dr. Eugene Sweeney and Assistant Principal Tracey Heisler they were graduating at the top of their class.

For that achievement, Radia will be valedictorian and Keira salutatorian for the Notre Dame Prep Class of 2022. “The stress of AP tests and finals can be very overwhelming, so hearing this news rejuvenates me and motivates me to finish strong,” said Keira, who was also part of the NDP state championship volleyball team.

Sweeney says a major highlight of his job is getting to announce special accomplishments as he did to the two girls. “NDP has an extraordinarily robust and rigorous curriculum. If you become valedictorian or salutatorian here, you are at the top of the top,” Sweeney said. “These young women really exemplify the best, and they have incredibly bright futures ahead of them.”

Radia will study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Keira will study computer science at Chapman University in Orange, California, next year.

“It feels good to know that my hard work has paid off and has been recognized,” Radia said.

She hopes to follow in the steps of her role model Professor Nancy Kanwisher, who has made many discoveries in neuroscience and cognitive science.

“I admire her dedication to research and my current aspiration is to research and enhance our understanding of the brain in relation to our cognitive function,” she added.

Sweeney believes there is much in store for the two seniors, saying they “are prepared to not only succeed at the next level, but they are prepared as outstanding young women of faith. We are extremely proud of their accomplishments.”