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NAWBO®
Sacramento Chapter celebrates
a decade of excellence!
by Christina Barr
 Historically,
women have been raised to be humble rather than boast
their attributes and successes – a characteristic that
is potentially fatal in the world of business. Now,
women entrepreneurs own 31% of all privately held firms
in the Sacramento metropolitan area, employ over 57,000
people, and generate nearly $9.3 billion in sales. Watch
out! NAWBO is here for the more and more women who are
successful in business.
The national organization is headquartered in Washington,
DC, and it is the only organization that truly addresses
the challenges that women in business face. These include
obtaining accurate and up-to-date business information
and best business practices, as well as challenges specific
to women in the work force. NAWBO strives to transform
public policy and influence policy makers. It creates
change in business culture; builds strategic alliances,
coalitions and affiliations; and it promotes economic
development.
With 1,000 members in California alone and 8,000 members
nationwide, NAWBO opens networking channels for women
on local and national levels. It encompasses women in
business from sole proprietorships all the way through
multi-million dollar organizations. Located in the capitol
of California, NAWBO Sacramento has a strong political
voice for women in smaller businesses, making their
needs known. With all of NAWBO behind them, this local
chapter commands respect.
Tracy Stafford is not only President and CEO of Exceptional
Events, she is the current President of NAWBO Sacramento;
she is the first African American President in the chapter’s
history. She’s not your average woman.
Then again, what is today’s “average woman”? Long ago
a woman’s role was simply defined as a homemaker. Today,
that is one option in a galaxy of life paths, and nothing
is out of reach. Tracy’s top priority with NAWBO is
to support its members as completely and possible. She
wants to develop the, give it a face that Sacramento
can easily recognize, and increase awareness of its
benefits. In the past, NAWBO may have flown under the
radar, but that’s all about to change.
 As a
local hub of information for not only women business
owners but also women in business, NAWBO provides a
support group unlike any other. Tracy came to NAWBO
last year, two years after starting her own business,
and went straight to the board to help other business
owners plug into the group. Upon encountering NAWBO,
Tracy realized she wasn’t alone in her trepidations
over starting a business, which requires a “different
level of commitment that reaches your core and can shake
your core”. She found other women, at various points
in their careers, had the same insecurities and self-esteem
issues that she was facing while trying to be successful.
She found with NAWBO she could reprogram her mindset
to self-promote, while also learning everything she
needed to know that business schools don’t teach about
start-ups. With an invaluable resource at hand, she
was replenished by not only the knowledge but also the
emotional support she found.
NAWBO teaches about better business practices and networking,
and also provides a strong support system for women
facing a very challenging and often unbalanced working
world, particularly one in which women are working for
themselves. When it’s over something so personal, something
in which one wholly invests, stress climbs to a new
level. The emotional stress she felt during her first
few years with her company was for Tracy (like many
other entrepreneurs), akin to giving birth.
Like a sisterhood, NAWBO connects women on another level.
The members rally around each other, inspiring and advising
fledgling entrepreneurs until they are strong enough
to give back to the next in need of help. Part of the
struggle of opening a new business is the unknown, as
Tracy points out: “How do you know what you need if
you don’t know what the hidden challenges truly are
beyond basic theory? The members recognize the need
for continuous validation and education on the variables
of business practice, and they offer business street
smarts.”
Exceptional Events, Tracy’s brainchild, is “one stop
event-shopping” – an event marketing, coordination and
travel firm. Everything from initial fact-gathering
to marketing to logistics to travel arrangements are
handled by her company, which sets her apart from other
event planners. A corporate association specialist,
she focuses on event planning for corporations including
major events with destination management (in case you
want to plan a management convention in Hawaii). Essentially,
Exceptional Events is capable of handling any event
where hospitality is concerned. Tracy focuses on finding
her client’s target audience and catering to them so
that the event is as successful as it can be. She helps
raise attendance by marketing the event with greater
attention to detail. She builds the whole package keeping
the big picture in mind.
With this background, Tracy wants to bring NAWBO events
to the next level, to make the experiences special and
personable. “I want people to walk away feeling touched
– not just in a business sense but emotionally. I want
them to have a sense of togetherness and camaraderie.”
For Tracy, NAWBO is not just about business, but the
individual as well, a deeper experience than simply
business opportunities. And she must be telling the
truth, since business is booming: “Our membership has
doubled in the past year, and we expect it to double
again this year.”
For more information about NAWBO Sacramento or links
to the National NAWBO website, visit www.nawbo-sac.org.
Tracy Stafford may be reached at
tstafford@exceptional-events.com or 888-310-3060.
You may contact Christina Barr at
cbarr@connectednow.com
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