Devoted to women of color in business

(middle and far right):  Cynthia  Ivie, president of White Space, and Adrienne Simpson,  Smooth Mooove Senior Relocation Services, Inc
- 2005 winners of the contest






Seventeen lucky women have WON! Congratulations, ladies, for participating in the Make Mine a Million contest. This contest's goal is to have one million women business owners grossing $1million in revenue by 2010. Have you signed up?

I arrived at the Westin just as the "services" panel was getting underway, and let me tell you, these women are *CREATIVE*. They've come up with an idea, done the planning, and are now executing, delivering, and taking care of customers, with the goal of making $1m in revenue in the next three years.

For example, Julia Frink started a dogwalking service www.dogwalks.com in San Francisco and is growing that into a million-dollar business! Same with Kali Evans-Raoul of The Image Studios, in Chicago, who bills a quarter of a million dollars annually on individual consultations on image, poise, wardrobe, and style.


Julie Fogg of Active Port, Robin Moorad of Imago Associates, Garnett Newcombe of Human Potential Consultants, and Pamela Tidwell of Pamela Tidwell CPA ready to give their speeches.

The groups of women (17 in the services section and 16 in the products session) had the opportunity to "pitch" the audience and panel members with a 4-minute speech on why we should vote for:

Gina Lyons of Lyons Marble & Granite, Inc.

These women rocked! They got up in front of a packed ballroom of women business owners and spoke eloquently, clearly, and forcefully about why their business is a mililon-dollar business.

For example, Filipina-American Gina Lyons of Lyons Marble and Granite, Inc., out of Santa Cruz talked about pitching her husband to start their marble and granite contracting and supply company. "I did not stop until he agreed." Lyones explained. She also noted, "I brought in $29,000 in revenue in 2002, our first year. In 2003, I brought in $197,000 in revenue. In 2004, I brought in $550,000 in gross receipts."


Lyons is one of the winners of the competition and will receive

    ▪     a year of mentoring from a team of business advisors
    ▪     up to $45,000 in financing from Count Me In
    ▪     exposure to marketing opportunities that can help increase the visibility of your business
    ▪     access to a network of successful business women on both a local and national level



Gina Lyons and Garnett Newcombe MakeMineaMillion.org winners!

Another winner was African American Garnett Newcombe, who also spoke about her business Human Potential Consultants, LLC in Carson, California, which started by offering services, training, and workshops to individuals looking for work.


Jinsoo Terry, Jinsoo Terry Enterprises, winner of the 2006 MakeMineaMillion.org contest

Korean-born Jinsoo Terry was another winner: she's a totally inspiring woman. As an immigrant and English as a Second Language speaker, she came up with the idea to train Korean businesses so they could do business in the United States with limited English. Then she decided to train US businesses to do business in Korea with limited Korean ;-).

Learn more about her at Jinsoo Terry Enterprises, and learn more about the AGC Seminars training programs, which are rapidly becoming a benchmark for language and culture training to Asia.

Finally, at the awards ceremony, the speakers and panelists all had the same message: to believe in yourself and in your business; to become bigger, stronger, more powerful, committed, and cohesive, and to ask for help when you need it.



With the right people, tools, business model, coaching, and support, then, as last year's winner Denise Houseberg summed up: "There is nothing stopping you but you." Another panelist put it this way: "There is absolutely no limit to what we can accomplish as individuals and together."


2006 Finalists, Make Mine a Million