This issue’s focus is on successful and influential North Bay women, and we found so many more than we were able to include in our features. This further sampling of women having an impact on their North Bay communities asked the questions:
• What advice do you have for someone who wants to follow in your professional footsteps?
• What would you like your professional legacy to be?
Managing Partner
The Personnel Perspective, Santa Rosa
Advice: My father was a successful local business owner, and I grew up watching the successes and challenges he faced every day. While it was always my dream to be part of his businesses, it wasn’t meant to be. But he inspired me to take my passion for my profession (human resources) and focus my efforts to create a new opportunity for myself. My advice: Don’t be deterred when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Never give up on your dream; even if you have to make adjustments, follow your passion.
Legacy: I’d like my professional legacy to be a positive and lasting impact on every single business I worked with—that I helped business owners succeed and reach their goals by applying my knowledge and passion for the HR profession. I’d also like to serve as a role model and mentor for other single mothers who want to be successful in business. Owning and running a small business presents challenges. It requires vision, perseverance and many long hours, but a balance can be struck between personal and work life, and the rewards are many.
Malia Anderson
CEO/Lead Wardrobe Stylist
Style By Malia, Santa Rosa
Advice: Know that the shopping is the fun part, but it’s the business of running the business that will take your hobby and turn it into your career
Legacy: I’d like for people to see Style by Malia as a part of the business landscape of the county. I’d like to see my business continue to thrive and to help shape the small business community.
Sam Anker
Founder
Sam’s For Play Cafe and Catering, Santa Rosa
Advice: To anyone considering the restaurant business as a career, I’d say, if it’s your passion, follow it. After 31 years in business and 3 Sonoma County locations, I’m thrilled to say that the best part of the restaurant business is working with the public. When Sam’s first opened, parents brought their children. Now all these years later, those children are bringing their children to Sam’s.
Legacy: I’d like my legacy to be that I did what I loved, and loved what I did.
CEO
Bertolli’s Auto Body Shop, Inc., San Rafael
Advice : The auto industry is a tough business with lots of competition, so you’ll need to work hard and have thick skin. Be sure you enjoy working around cars—the dust, dirt, noise and smells. Since cars are such an important part of our culture, be ready to be the coolest person in your friend group!
Legacy : The ultimate compliment after I’m gone would be that people miss my commitment to excellence, my community involvement and my leadership. Secondarily, I’d like to be a positive example to young women—that they can follow their ambitions in any field they find interesting.
Founder/CEO
A. Bright Idea Advertising and Public Relations, Sonoma and Bel Air, Md.
Advice : Good manners are good strategic planning. Treat every interaction as if it were the most important in your journey. Each instance along the way—every meeting and happenstance—could become the critical moment of opportunity to let you shine and show your worth.
Legacy :I’d like my professional legacy to be that I built a creative business that sustained my family and helped develop the next generation of PR professionals. Also that I mentored new entrepreneurs and assisted other small businesses through brand awareness and loyalty. It’s my hope that my professional legacy is reflected in the successes of those with whom I’ve had the opportunity to work as a mentor and share my passion.
Director of Administration and Communication
Marin Economic Forum, San Rafael
Advice: It’s important to first understand the wants and needs of your market, then help find solutions that will provide opportunities for growth and success across the community. Every day, take advantage of the learning moments through listening and observation. An invaluable mantra is: “Be passionate about the betterment of an entire community.”
Legacy: I’d like my professional legacy to be that I was a valuable asset to my community through hard work, honesty and loyalty.
Partner, Wealth Advisor, Chief Compliance Officer
Willow Creek Wealth Management, Sebastopol
Advice: If you have an interest in finance, enjoy helping people and finding creative solutions—and if it means something to make a difference in people’s lives—I’d highly recommend researching a (fiduciary) investment advisory career.
Legacy: I’d like my legacy to include the fact that I genuinely cared about the success and well being of my clients, that I worked with them to help them reach their most important goals and that I made a difference in their lives.
Alexandra Cock
Owner
Wealth Plus Inc., San Rafael
Advice: Think independently, be committed to continuing to learn and learn how to listen.
Legacy: Having more people committed to making social good impact investments.
Executive Director
Wine Road-Northern Sonoma County, Healdsburg
Advice: Get into a tasting room or cellar and learn the wine business from the ground up. Walk a mile in their shoes before you suggest how wineries manage events or market their business.
Legacy: I’m proud that I’ve been able to connect Wine Road with so many nonprofits to help fund their needs. My goal has always been to create an equal playing field for all our members, the 400-case wineries as well as the 400,000-case wineries.
Co-Founders
G3: Gather, Grow and Go! Sonoma
Advice: Surround yourself with people that support you, take good care of yourself, live in action and manage your fear. Don’t let it get in the way of living your heart’s desire.
Legacy: That we helped women and girls reach their highest potential and created a space where females feel accepted and inspired.
Partner
Filice Insurance Agency, San Rafael
Advice: Always put your clients’ interest first and be a great advocate for them.
Legacy: I’d like my professional legacy to be that I always focused on giving back to my community and supporting my clients.
Sheri Hebbeln
CFO
WineDirect, Napa
Advice: Experiment and learn to say yes. If you’re always learning, then the journey is that much more satisfying.
Legacy: I hope people will remember me for my kindness and for generosity in sharing what I’ve learned along the way.
Principal
Get Noticed PR/J Kaplan Communications, Santa Rosa
Advice: Find yourself an internship. Not only will you learn which aspects of PR you want to focus on, but you’ll meet incredible connections to last throughout your career. If you can find a mentor, the benefits will blow you away. I was lucky enough to work with a PR guru who generously shared her knowledge and advice and supported me as I came up in the ranks. It made me the fearless PR advocate I am today. Seek out positions where you can fully familiarize yourself with the many facets of the world of PR. There are so many different ways to shine in this industry—it’s highly valuable to see exactly which pieces fit your special talents. I’d say dream big and go for your perfect life’s work. Staying true to yourself and your passions truly does equal a successful business life.
Legacy: My job is about putting others in the spotlight, so it’s not about me. My success is measured in the fame and fortune I make possible for my clients, so I guess you could say I want my legacy to be one of great success stories about great people. Beyond that, I’d like to shift the public perception of PR from that of “spin doctor” to one of “great storyteller,” because that’s what we really do.
Tracy Lamb
Executive Director
Napa Emergency Women’s Services (NEWS)
Advice: Listen to the people you are working to help. They know more about what they need and how to get to where they want to be, than we do. We’re just there to help them find the pathway and offer the support. It takes a community. Build your relationships and your partnerships.
Legacy: I’d like to have been a significant part of changing the culture in ways that reduce violence. I hope to have helped to create more options for people to find pathways to freedom and safety in their lives.
Director of Business Development
The Dutra Group, San Rafael
Advice: There are a lot of opportunities for women in construction. Here are five simple things I live by: Find something you’re passion about doing, do what you say you will do, share your ideas, never give up and learn from your mistakes.
Legacy: I’d like my professional legacy to be that my commitment to my obligations and the importance I put on my relationships—both business and personal—were the most important things. I grew up with the belief that hard work and the never ending will to deliver outstanding projects to our customers are what made our family company what it is today. My professional legacy would be that I didn’t forget where I came from and to continue to grow the family business.
Kim Mazzuca
President/CEO
10,000 Degrees (serving Marin and Sonoma counties)
Advice: This work needs people who are willing to stay in it for the long haul. It requires an unwavering commitment to equity and justice, and a relentless pursuit of opportunity for others. You’re setting the tone for those who come after you, so you must never give up.
Legacy: That every student—regardless of what family or zip code they’re from—has the same educational opportunity and the same chance to direct the course of his or her life.
Renee Mengali, CPA
President
Mengali Accountancy, Healdsburg
Advice: Know your values and stick to them, always live up to your word and don’t be afraid to work hard—it’s rewarding!
Legacy: I’d like my professional legacy to be that I helped educate women on finances and helped them become economically independent.
Renee Mengali, CPA
President
Mengali Accountancy, Healdsburg
Advice: Know your values and stick to them, always live up to your word and don’t be afraid to work hard—it’s rewarding!
Legacy: I’d like my professional legacy to be that I helped educate women on finances and helped them become economically independent.
