Last month, we introduced a new "Ask the Experts" series, featuring women entrepreneurs in Rhode Island. This month we learn about the marketing challenges of some of our local artists and their businesses.

We are pleased to interview Gail Ahlers from Ahlers Designs. Gail founded Ahlers Designs (www.ahlersgifts.com) in 1989 and is a RISD graduate. She has a collection of 1500 designs, and has had success growing her business through gift shows and relationships with stores, galleries and boutiques. Her company is located in the Hope Artiste Village in Pawtucket.

Gail is also President of the Foundry Artists Association and is busy with their upcoming Holiday Show, which features 65 local artists (www.foundryshow.com), December 6th - 16th. (This is a great opportunity to do some holiday shopping, and support local small businesses!)

Hear our interview with Gail now.

On Saturday, January 5, Jen Huntley-Corbin, the famous foodie and talk show host of “Jen’s Dish”( http://jensdish.blogspot.com) cooked, interviewed and celebrated with Jarvis Green of the New England Patriots. Jen is a member of The Sassy Ladies Coaching Group and we were all so proud of this big event.  I went to help out with filming--and to watch Jen in action!

Jarvis Green is an amazing man. Of course he is an incredible football player on a team with a perfect record—heading towards the Super Bowl! But—he is kind, gentle, smart, curious and quite an entrepreneur himself! Jarvis is opening his own restaurant in Louisiana and has spent time at Prime and The Oyster Bar on Atwells Ave in Providence learning about the business.

He is also a man of action. Jarvis has set up his own foundation, the Jarvis Green Foundation, a non-for-profit 501(c)3 organization. His mission is to provide support to single working mothers in disadvantaged, low-income areas. Please check out his website www.jarvisgreen.com/foundation.asp and buy one of those T Shirts to wear during the game! There will be at least ONE SASSY LADY with that shirt on, besides Jen! Please s ...

“Women’s Business: Speaking Frankly with MaryAnn and... Wendy?!”

We were recently delighted to accept an invitation from our good friend, Mary Ann Shallcross Smith to appear on her local cable TV show, Women's Business.  We are hoping to put a copy of the video on the site soon, but it is currently running on Wednesday afternoons at 12:30pm on RI Cox channels 13 or 18 (depending on where you live).

After the show, an interesting conversation took place in which Mary Ann shared that she was looking for a new co-host for the show, and - what do you know - Wendy is going to be a TV star!  We're so excited for this opportunity to work closely with Mary Ann in her efforts to educate young women about business matters.  Stay tuned for more news, and here's more on the show:

About the Show
Mary Ann Shallcross Smith has a doctorate in education and is the owner of Child Care Connection, Kids Klub and Comprehensive Child Care Services Network of RI. She also is the President of the Rhode Island Foster Parent Association Board and a CASA volunteer. Wendy Hanson is a Business Coach, co-founder of The Sassy Ladies (www.thesassyladies.com) and President of Corley Hanson Associates (www.corleyhanson.com ), an executive coaching and consulting organization.

Our combined experiences have taught us that our c ...

Writing Down Your Goals: Our Winter Solstice Celebration
Last summer, Miriam shared a book with Wendy and I called “Write It Down, Make It Happen”, by Henriette Anne Klauser. She felt that it offered great stories and ideas to help you ritualize and realize your goals. Miriam read it first, then Wendy and at a lunch discussion soon after, I couldn’t help but share their enthusiasm toward one chapter in particular. Of course, I skipped right to this chapter when it was my turn to read the book!

The author shared the story about a woman who adapted an old Indian ritual, which took place during the winter solstice, in which they declared what they wanted to usher out of their lives and what they wanted to usher into their lives. I couldn’t wait to do this with “my sassy sistahs”, but suggested we wait for the symbolic Winter Solstice on December 21^st. We agreed to calendarize it, and worry about the details later.

If you read the book, you will see the elaborate details of the author’s ceremony with her daughters and friends. Let’s just say it included rising before dawn, hiking to highlands and lowlands, and burning stuff outside in the cold of winter. We laughed at the way we chose to simplify, yet honor this ancient tradition. We did what any Sassy Lady would do – we took ourselves to dinner.

While we feasted on sushi, sake, and seaweed salad, we shared our wishes that we’d written on slips of paper. Some were things we wanted to “say goodbye to” from 2007 and beyond. Many more were things we wanted to “say hello to” in 2008 an ...

Many thanks to Kathleen Burns Kingsbury of KBK Connections for selecting Sassy Wendy as her “Leading Lady of the Month” for her December newsletter. If you hear Wendy calling herself “Ms. December,”—that’s what she is referring to, although she doesn’t mind if you think something else!

Kathleen Burns Kingsbury is a CTI trained coach, licensed mental health counselor, national speaker and an internationally published co-author of the book Weight Wisdom.

Check out the leadership interview below, and visit Kathleen's website, www.kbkconnections.com.  And, watch our podcast for an interview with Kathleen on a variety of topics including money issues for women and tooting your own horn!

Leading Lady of the Month: Wendy Hanson