What kinds of women business owners join the WPO?  Smart, successful ones!  Here's a coast-to-coast sampling.

Sepideh Asefnia,
SEPI Engineering Group, Inc.

Sepi Asefnia, President of SEPI Engineering Group, Inc., http://www.sepiengineering.com/ a full-service civil engineering firm, was named 2006 North Carolina Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Like many of her peers in the WPO, Sepi has blazed new trails on her road to success.

Born in Tehran, Iran, Sepi went to the U.S. with her two siblings to obtain an education. When the shah was deposed and Khomeini took power, Sepi and her siblings were unable to return to Iran to see their mother again until many years later. Keeping her mind on her goals, Sepi finished her degree in Biological and Agricultural Engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and went to work for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).

Sepi’s career choice was not exactly a conventional one for a woman, but she went into engineering because she had an interest and talent in the field. While working at NCDOT, Sepi gained experience in traffic engineering and highway design, which she enjoyed so much that she returned to NCSU, earned her civil engineering degree and became a licensed Professional Engineer. Running her own business had always been her dream, so with much encouragement from her family and friends, Sepi opened SEPI Engineering Group in May, 2001.

Sepi has faced some challenges operating a woman-owned firm in the engineering industry, because it is non-traditional work for women. Sepi says she has to work harder and produce a better product than most male engineers. She has had to prove that she can do the work and that SEPI Engineering Group can be successful. “Women do not have the same networking and established relationships that men have in this field,” Sepi says. “In engineering, men are the decision-makers, so it continues to be a challenge to overcome this gap.”

With a focus on creating an outstanding work environment where individuals can reach their full potential, Sepi believes that if she possesses the vision and the leadership skills, hires the best people, and trains them, SEPI Engineering Group will be successful and profitable. When employees love their work environment and their work, there is no limit to a company’s success.

Jaki Baskow,
Baskow & Associates

Dubbed the “Queen of Las Vegas” by Discovery Channel’s Casino Diaries 2, Jaki Baskow’s path to entrepreneurial success has been riddled with bumps and bullets – literally! I'd like to suggest that Jaki Baskow, a member of WPO, would make a great success story. Let me tell you a little about Jaki.

After breaking a monopoly and dodging bullets, Baskow has been creating entertainment careers for the past 30 years in the Entertainment Capital while rubbing elbows with celebrities like Kevin Costner to Presidents of Countries. A powerhouse personality and risk-taker Baskow was recently awarded the contract to breathe life back into the Las Vegas Monorail.

Beginning with a one-woman talent agency in 1976, Baskow and Associates has grown into an award-winning total event and meeting management company with 28 full time employees and 14 divisions -- including an entertainment division. Named as one of the Top 10 Celebrity Star Brokers in America and the recipient of multiple charity honors, Baskow is a member of WPO (Women President's Organization) and the epitome of the woman entrepreneur – passionate, spirited, and giving and the perfect example of a WPO success story.

As a freelance writer and friend of Jaki Baskow, I'd like to offer to write her success story, presenting WPO members a glimpse into Jaki’s adventurous journey as16 year-old Jersey girl with $300 dollars in her pocket to realizing her dream as a top Vegas entertainment broker, meeting and event destination management company, and champion of charities. (If you'd like samples of my articles, please let me know.)

If your preference is to cover success stories in-house, then please consider Jaki Baskow, a woman on the move, making waves in her industry while continually giving back to her community.

I look forward to hearing from you about the opportunity to present Enterprising Women readers with an inside look at the Queen of Las Vegas, Jaki Baskow, one of America’s top 10 Celebrity Star Brokers.

Marion Lewis, CEO, Tachyonsolutions
Pittsburgh WPO Member

Marion Lewis knew the first time she saw the Internet that it would fundamentally alter the way that business is done. So she left a successful career as a Financial Planner and Investment Analyst for American Express Financial Services to focus on helping companies harness the power of this and other technologies to reach and serve their customers more effectively. And in 1991, Tachyon Solutions was born. What started with little capital and no clients has quickly become one of the most successful providers of custom technology solutions that increase the quality and lower the cost of efforts to serve customers. The Pittsburgh-based firm serves many of the world’s leading and largest corporations, including Merck, Intuit, Staples and others. Unlike many technology firms, Tachyon not only survived the dotcom bust in 2000, but has grown its revenues by more than 25 percent annually. In 2005, Lewis and Tachyon co-founder Jeanette Thomas were named among the Best 50 Womens in Business in Pennsylvania.

Collette Liantonio, President, Concepts T.V. Productions
Morris County New Jersey WPO Member

In 1983, Collette Liantonio founded Concepts T.V. Productions, one of the premiere creative boutiques specializing in direct response commercials and infomercials. Concepts is known for producing some of the highest grossing infomercials and advertising legends such as Topsy Tail, Ambervision sunglasses, Contour Pillow, Smart Mop, Finishing Touch Hair Remover, and The George Foreman Grill. Collette, given the distinction of “one of the 25 most influential people in DRTV” has also served on the Board of Directors of The Electronic Retailing Association, The Advisory Boards for “Response TV Magazine” and “Electronic Retailer” and was the first chairperson of the DMA’s Electronic Media and TV Marketing Council. Concepts’ headquarter is in Boonton, New Jersey and they maintain a satellite office in Los Angeles.

Shelly Sun, President, BrightStar Healthcare
Downtown Chicago WPO Member

Shelly Sun is the President of BrightStar Healthcare with offices in Chicago and Gurnee Illinois. BrightStar provides supplemental healthcare staff to corporate clients such as hospitals and to private clients within their homes. Shelly was chosen as the Athena Powerlink 2005 Honoree and the Entrepreneur of the Month by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. BrightStar has experienced phenomenal growth and is now franchising. If you or someone you know is interested in achieving financial freedom while helping other people, then you are ready to learn more about BrightStar Healthcare. Connect with us and find out what kind of people we are, what we have achieved, and what we can bring to your life!

Donna Vandiver, Owner and CEO, The Vandiver Group, Inc.
St. Louis WPO Member

Donna Vandiver, Owner and CEO of The Vandiver Group, Inc. (TVG), founded the public relations and strategic communications firm in 1993. Today the company employs staff in four cities, including the St. Louis headquarters, Los Angeles, Calif., Kansas City, Mo., and Nashville, Tenn. TVG specializes in helping clients strategize, visualize, articulate and navigate communications issues by providing strategic counsel, market research, public relations, graphic/web design, and executive/employee training. The company also incorporates cutting edge practices such as word-of-mouth marketing into its product mix. TVG is the largest independently-owned PR firm in St. Louis and in 2005 was named a “Best Place to Work in St. Louis,” by St. Louis magazine. The company received this honor three years running from the St. Louis Business Journal. The company also has been named one of the Top 50 Diversity Owned businesses in the country.

Cynthia Wilson, Founder and President of Wilsonwest, Inc.
San Francisco WPO Member

Cynthia Wilson is Founder and President of Wilsonwest, Inc., a premier events strategy and management firm. Like many working women expecting her first child, Cindy wanted to continue her career - both for her own satisfaction and the income. After her son was born in 1992, she figured “I had two choices: return to my corporate job planning meetings and events – or go out on my own.”

Wilson calculated that managing her own company would provide more flexibility while caring for a small child. Thirteen years later, San Francisco-based Wilsonwest, Inc. is a world-class boutique Special Event and Conference Planning Company with nine employees.

Growth came slowly at first. One potential customer backed out when he heard the voices of children in the background, thinking Cindy was running a day-care center on the side. “Ironically, it was the children at a school near our house out on recess," said Cindy. "But it's instant death if you have a baby crying in the background."

Others though, sensed her professionalism and signed her on. To help manage the rapid growth, her husband David Wilson left his job in 1997 to join Wilsonwest as CFO. “This is what work and family life should be, a partnership where priorities are jointly set and the family is most important," says David.

Today operations are no longer run out of the Wilson home, and the variety of work is astonishing, comprised of high-level corporate board events, arranging heads-of-states as speakers, and securing exclusive venues such as the Statue of Liberty and hilltop ranches in Aspen. Not surprisingly, referrals now account for almost 90% of Wilsonwest's business.

Undeterred after thirteen years, two children, and the dot-com bust, Wilsonwest has carved out a unique left-coast space in the niche world of event marketing and management, with their role summed up in the motto:

"Driving Relationships through High-Touch Events"