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by Rachel Simon

Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia with Laurie MacNamara

(June 17, 2019) Catherine Read speaks with Laurie MacNamara, the first female President of the Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia. (DemBiz).  Their wide-ranging discussion covers everything from the purpose of the council, to the programming and policy components of the organization.

MacNamara is the first female to head the DemBiz Council in its sixteen years of existence. Senator Scott Surovell, Laurie Blackburn and Kevin Cook founded the organization in 2003, when they recognized that the business owners with Democratic values were under-represented.  Their goal was to bring together business executives who wanted to advance issues that their workforce cared about, such as education, healthcare and affordable housing.

DemBiz provides opportunities for Democrats, like-minded independents and others to meet and network with other professionals, as well as with local, state and federal elected officials and candidates. Through a wide range of programming, from breakfasts to after work networking events, the Council aims to serve all who are interested in participating.

As MacNamara notes, in a local economy with essentially zero unemployment, it becomes a competitive environment to keep employees happy.  Employers are looking to do all they can to retain their staff. By collaborating with organizations like Equality Virginia , they are working to advance policies to make the workplace more inclusive. DemBiz aims to advance policies that workers are yearning for, such as paid family leave and inclusive LGBT workplaces.

The DemBiz Council is best known for its monthly breakfast meetings that are held at the Tower Club in Tysons Corner. Under McNamara’s leadership, however, she has sought to broaden the programming options.  She has also encouraged the Council to hold events around the region and during various times of the day – branching out to both Arlington and Loudoun Counties. Notable recent speakers include Michael Bloomberg and Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Additionally, the council has hosted candidate forums in the recent elections. In 2018 they put on a robust candidate forum focused specifically on business issues for the 10th Congressional Seat (which was eventually won by Rep. Jennifer Wexton). The following year, in 2019, they hosted a forum for all who were running for the Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. The panels were informative, and they plan to continue these events in the future.

Other upcoming events include a discussion about Women in Politics, to be held at 1776 in Crystal City on June 20th. On July 17,  Nobel Prize winning economist Dr. Joseph Stiglitz will join the Council for a talk about the impact of economics on elections.  In September, former Governor Terry McAuliffe will be the keynote speaker who will discuss his experience of stumping for candidates throughout the state during the summer months.

MacNamara is proud of the work she has done in her two-year tenure to help move the organization forward. As the business community in Washington evolves, she aims to keep up with the trends. Her personal background is in Government Contracting, and while there are still many of these businesses in the area, the region has worked hard to attract new industries.

One of her new programming ideas is to have a DemBiz Annual Awards Banquet.  This would give the council an opportunity to recognize employers in the region who are promoting family friendly policies, like paid family leave, early childhood education and inclusive workplaces.

From the Amazon and Nestle headquarters in Arlington, to Hilton putting down roots in Tysons Corner, and Volkswagen landing in Herndon, area officials have worked hard to diversify the business base. Other employers such as INOVA and George Mason University are expanding and hiring more workers. Additionally, players like Virginia Tech, who are setting up their new innovation campus in Alexandria, are helping to fuel the growth of the region. Small businesses are emerging, and many of them are minority, women and veteran-owned enterprises.

All of these businesses have policy objectives that will help attract and retain their employees, and continue to make Northern Virginia thrive. The DemBiz Council has an entire arm of the organization dedicated to advancing policy initiatives on things like education, transportation and healthcare, just to name a few. McNamara encourages all of the members to get involved and add their voice in establishing policy objectives. She welcomes all who are interested to the table. www.DemBiz.org

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Inside Scoop, TV Shows, Virginia Tagged With: 1776, Amazon, DemBiz, DemBiz Awards, DemBiz Council, Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia, Dr. Joseph Stiglitz, Equality Virginia, Governor Terry McAuliffe, Hilton, INOVA, Jennifer Wexton, Lori MacNamara, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Michael Bloomberg, Nestle, Rep. Jennifer Wexton, Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, Volkswagen

by Catherine Read

Non Obvious 2018 – Rohit Bhargava

(March 2018) A trend is a unique curated observation of the accelerating present.

The future belongs to those who can learn to use their powers of observation to see the connections between industries, ideas, and behaviors and curate them into a deeper understanding of the world around us.

Preparing for the future starts with filtering out the noise and getting better at understanding today . . . as it alway has.

Rohit Bhargava – Trend Curator, Storyteller, Innovater – has been writing about Non Obvious Trends for a decade. They were first published on his blog, then as a visual presentation on Slideshare, followed by an e-book through Amazon, and eventually as a published book starting in 2011.

I have no idea how this was not on my radar before now. I picked up this book at the popup bookstore operated by Book People at the SXSWEdu in Austin, TX, earlier this month. This is precisely why it’s important to have a well curated selection of books to browse. Books are put before us through excellent curation that we would otherwise miss.

Bhargava sets about collecting ideas throughout the year, marking the hardcopy pages with the salient idea that caught his attention, then he sets them aside in a folder. These are articles from magazines, websites and other resources. He makes it a point to pick up magazines that are wildly disparate in their themes and target audiences – like model train enthusiasts.

Curiosity is key here. And having a wide range of interests is also important. We tend to gravitate to the things we enjoy, or impact our business and career, or validate our existing beliefs. Being open to a broad mix of topics helps to elevate trends away from the the specific subject to the behaviors that might be associated across that broad spectrum.

I like the way this book is put together. Having never read any of his previous Non Obvious books, it was all quite fresh to me in how he explained his process. He talked about his team and how they went about sorting, grouping and naming emerging trends. And his final trends all have well crafted names – another factor that he sees as very important to helping people understand the trend and what it means. At the back of the book, there is a section where he goes back and lists all of his Non Obvious Trends going back to 2011 and rates how well he predicted their impact. That is very interesting.

Some of Non Obvious Trends have been brought forward from earlier years as the concept have evolved, taken shape and grown in their impact. Some of the more interesting ones out of the 15 he identifies for this year are:

Ungendered
Brand Stand
Manipulated Outrage
Data Pollution
Approachable Luxury

Each of the 15 trends have their own section where he talks about how he came to identify the trend and wonderful examples of where they can be seen – using varied examples across multiple industries. I was fascinated by Approachable Luxury and some of the examples he used there. I had no idea they are producing quality diamonds in labs now.

I highly recommend this book. It’s a very interesting and engaging read. I am of a most curious mindset and I enjoy reading the works of writers who are as well.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Good Books Tagged With: Approachable Luxury, Brand Stand, Curation, Curiosity, Data Pollution, ideas, Manipulated Outrage, Non Obvious 2018, Rohit Bhargava, Trend Prediction, Trends, Ungendered

by Rachel Simon

Empowered Women International

(Feb. 28, 2018) Catherine Read interviews Sarah Bodley, Associate Director of Empowered Women International to talk about their organization that helps minority women in the United States start and grow their own businesses. Founded 16 years ago by an immigrant woman, they empower women in the Greater DC Metro area facing economic and social challenges, including immigrants, refugees, and Americans with low income, to become economically mobile, financially stable and socially engaged.

EWI helps immigrant, refuge and low-income women turn their creative or cultural assets, artistic abilities and skills into successful businesses. Many women lack the understanding of how to start and run a business of their own. Perhaps they don’t speak the language, or are not familiar with how to keep the accounting books, or handle their taxes. Empowered Women International has developed training programs, including mentorship opportunities, to help these women succeed beyond their wildest dreams.

In this first segment, Catherine interviews Zenib Cherkaoui, Zineb ZenaArta Morrocan woman who immigrated to the United States in 2010 with her children, and spoke no English. She is a talented artist and thought about selling her artwork, but had no idea how to market or sell her products. She met a woman connected with EWI at her local mosque, became a student at EWI’s Entrepreneurship Training for Success program, and is now happily selling her artwork in galleries. This program gave her the skills she needed to have confidence and grow her business. Her company, ZenaArt based in Falls Church, is now thriving. EWI has established many successful relationships with  community partners over the past 16 years. This network of businesses and organizations provide resources to help sustain the programming, teach classes and provide mentor opportunities to women.

In the second segment Catherine speaks with Maribel Rodriguez, owner of Marble Arch Gardens. Maribel’s business sells a variety of herbal remedies. Her story is unique because she started her business after retiring from the Army. She was always fascinated with her Grandmother’s knowledge of herbs and carried memories and stories from her youth in her heart and mind. She obtained her master’s degree in Nutrition and Integrative Health, with a Certificate in Herbal Studies, but had no practical knowledge of how to start or run a business. After completing the Entrepreneurship program, she will now graduate to the next class called Grow My Business, which provides more of a strategic focus.

EWI is excited to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th. They will be running special programming to help support the women owned businesses that they are helping to develop.

On March 7th from 6-8pm, EWI will be sponsoring a special panel discussion and networking event, including lessons and inspirations from female business leaders.   The event is titled Pathways to #HerStory, and it will take place at WeWork in Crystal City. Click here for registration information.

On March 8th they will be hosting a marketplace on the George Washington University campus from 12-6pm where people can purchase products produced by the women-owned businesses that are part of the Empowered Women International network.

You can follow Empowered Women International in the following ways:

Website: www.ewint.org

Twitter: @EmpowerWomenInt

Facebook: www.facebook.com/EmpoweredWomenInternational

Instagram: www.instagram.com/EmpoweredWomenIntl

Filed Under: Blogging, Entrepreneurship, TV Shows, Women, Your Need to Know Tagged With: Empowered Women International, George Washington University, Grow Your Business, immigrants, International Women's Day, Marble Arch Gardens, Maribel Rodriguez, Pathways to #HerStory, Sarah Bodley, Training for Success, WeWork, women-owned business, ZenaArt, Zenib Cherkaoui

by Catherine Read

OAR Fairfax Breaking the Cycle of Crime – Inside Scoop

(March 20, 2017) Catherine Read talks with Derwin Overton of OAR Fairfax. OAR was founded in 1971 as a national organization which later became more localized with smaller non-profits embedded into communities across the country to better serve those who are released from incarceration. Opportunities, Alternatives and Resources is the core value of this organization which started out as Offender Aid and Restoration.

Derwin Overton OAR FairfaxDerwin Overton has been with OAR for fourteen years, with 10 of those years as Executive Director. OAR Fairfax serves Fairfax, Prince William and Loudoun Counties with some of their funding coming from the national organization, some from Fairfax County and the rest a cobbled together mix of grants and individual donors. They have the support of the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office which runs the Fairfax County jail and works to facilitate the work they do with inmates prior to their release. OAR also works with the local judiciary on alternative sentencing for first offenders, using community service hours as a more appropriate form of restorative justice.

Classes are taught inside the jail on basic skills like financial management, interpersonal skills, parenting, resume writing and job interviews. Upon release, program participants are provided with basic needs like a set of clothes, toiletries, tokens for transportation and snacks. In the third segment, volunteer services coordinator Peggy Krusell talks about what brought her to the program as a volunteer and why she is so passionate in her mission to help these returning citizens to write a better chapter in their life story.

John Chapman Inside ScoopJohn Chapman joins Catherine in the second segment to talk about his experience with OAR prior to his release from jail and how he was inspired by his own difficulty in finding a job to create a jobs training program. John founded the non-profit Johnny Apple Seed Association, Inc. to train those formerly incarcerated to be electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians. He acquired and converted an old party bus into a mobile training center. With the financial support and backing of the Home Depot in South Riding, that first training effort took off. There is now a training center in Seven Corners and John is looking to scale and expand these training efforts to other locations around Virginia. They have had great early success in their training efforts and are providing local communities with the skilled and licensed tradesman that are in short supply.

OAR continues to build awareness of the services they provide both inside local detention centers and to the formerly incarcerated individuals upon their release. There is a constant search for funding, volunteers, instructors, donated supplies and training programs to serve this population like Johnny Apple Seed.

OAR is hosting an event on June 7, 2017 at Bull Run Winery to raise money and awareness for the services they provide here in Northern Virginia. The public is invited and encouraged to attend to find out more about how this organization is helping those who have been incarcerated to successfully return to their families and communities.

Filed Under: Blogging, Entrepreneurship, Inside Scoop, TV Shows, Virginia Tagged With: Derwin Overton, Fairfax County, Felons, Formerly Incarcerated, Jobs Training, John Chapman, Johnny Apple Seed, OAR, OAR Fairfax

by Catherine Read

Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future

Rise of the Robots- Martin Ford(Feb. 2017) I will never hear the phrase “jobs and the economy” again without thinking of this book. The steady advancement of technology into every aspect of our lives is slowly replacing much of our current labor force. There is no politician, no public policy, no regulatory voodoo or tax magic that is going “bring back jobs.” We need to stop believing that just because someone stands up and speaks those words that somehow they will be true.

Here’s the truth: In a free market economy where technology continues to replace human labor, we cannot add jobs fast enough for the ones being eliminated. We continue to add people to the workforce but the jobs are literally disappearing.

Technology can perform routine tasks faster, more reliably and at less expense than human labor. The recession revealed this painful fact when huge numbers of white collar workers were laid off and never rehired. In the aftermath of the recession, companies have bounced back with greater earnings than before and with a SMALLER WORKFORCE. The job growth in communities across the country has been mostly in low wage service sectors.

Martin Ford puts together the data in a compelling and very readable format.

The bottom line is that, despite all the rhetoric about “job creators,” rational business owners do not want to hire more workers: they hire people only because they have to. The progression toward ever more automation is not an artifact of “design philosophy” or the personal preferences of engineers: it is fundamentally driven by capitalism. The “rise of ‘technology-centered automation'” that Carr worries about took place at least two hundred years ago and the Luddites were unhappy about it. The only difference today is that exponential progress is now pushing us toward the endgame. For any rational business, the adoption of labor-saving technology will almost invariably prove to be irresistible. Changing that would require far more than an appeal to engineers and designers: it would require modifying the basic incentives built into the market economy.

Continuing to replace people with technology produces a whole host of related issues. Goods and services might end up being cheaper to produce, but who will buy them? Creating communities of people barely able to subsist will not feed a huge American economy that depends on consumer spending.

And what about our current system of taxation based on individual income? . . . we ought to transition to a form of taxation that asks more from those businesses that rely heavily on technology and employ relatively few workers. We eventually will have to move away from the idea that workers support retirees and pay for social programs, and instead adopt the premise that our overall economy supports these things. Economic growth, after all, has significantly outpaced the rate at which new jobs have been created and wages have been rising.Read More

Filed Under: Blogging, Entrepreneurship, Good Books, New Ideas, Political Tagged With: Artificial Intelligence, Automation, job creation, Martin Ford, Technology, US economy

by Catherine Read

Originals – Adam Grant

Originals“Originals embrace the uphill battle, striving to make the world what it could be. Becoming original is not the easiest path in the pursuit of happiness, but leaves us perfectly poised for the happiness of pursuit.” Amen to THAT!

An another amazing book by Adam Grant, author of Give and Take. What I love best about books like this is how they give us a vocabulary to talk about concepts with which we are familiar but which are not easily condensed into shorthand terms we recognize.

“Pioneers & Settlers” contrasts the benefits of being first with being better. “Being original doesn’t require being first. It just means being different and better.”

“Young Geniuses & Old Masters” contrasts conceptual thinkers who may peak early with experimental thinks who may bloom late. There is no formula for being original.

There is also a fair amount of time spent on procrastination. And it’s not all bad! “Procrastination may be the enemy of productivity, but it can be a resource for creativity.” He goes on to outline examples of those who have used procrastination effectively, including Leonardo Da Vinci (the Mona Lisa and Last Supper) and Martin Luther King, Jr. as it relates to his “I Have a Dream” speech. “Procrastination turns out to be a common habit of creative thinkers and great problem solvers.

One of the most remarkable sections of this book is titled “The Narcissism of Small Differences” and went into a deep dive about the Suffragist Movement from 1855 to 1918. Grant examined the hurdles faced by the early pioneers – Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. They were together, then splintered, aligning themselves with other advocates and movements. It was a tumultuous period and a history we need to understand. Such “small differences” are felt within groups – not nearly so strongly between disparate groups. Coalitions, collaborations and alliances are critical to movements and seismic change and we have to recognize how to align interests and groups to be more effective.Read More

Filed Under: Blogging, Entrepreneurship, Good Books, New Ideas, Women Tagged With: Adam Grant, Give and Take, Non-Conformists, Originals, Warby Parker, Wharton School

by Catherine Read

Triggers – Marshall Goldsmith

TriggersI’m a Marshall Goldmsith fan. I loved his book “What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There” and have recommended it to many people. This book is useful only if you are focused on wanting to get more out of your life. It’s one of those instances where the student needs to be ready in order for the teacher to appear. Those who read it with no intention of actually changing anything about how they think or structure their days will quite likely miss the point of this book. While Goldsmith is indeed a very successful “Executive Coach” we are all the executives of our own lives. So move past the title to the material.

It’s not that this work is groundbreaking or provides some secret formula, it’s designed to help us organize, prioritize and identify what matters to us. His questions focus on what gives our life meaning and value and how we can structure our days to support those things we have identified as priorities.

It’s simple, but not easy. True of so many things in life. I found it helpful. I’m at a “sorting out” place in my life where I want more structure, more meaning and a better defined purpose. There are lots of moving parts to actually figuring that out.

Here are six questions he suggests we ask ourselves everyday to stay on track in meeting our own self defined priorities:

1. Did I do my best to set clear goals today?
2. Did I do my best to make progress toward my goals today?
3. Did I do my best to find meaning today?
4. Did I do my best to be happy today?
5. Did I do my best to build positive relationships today?
6. Did I do my best to be fully engaged today?

Notice it’s about measuring effort over outcome. It makes sense that consistent effort produces the outcomes we want. We don’t just leapfrog over the process to meeting our goals and arrive at success.

I definitely walked away with ideas for habits and routines I would like to cultivate. To that end, this book was well worth the time invested.

Filed Under: Blogging, Entrepreneurship, Good Books, New Ideas, Women Tagged With: Effort Management, Executive Coaching, Marshall Goldsmith, Search for Meaning

by Catherine Read

A More Beautiful Question – Warren Berger

A More Beautiful Question“Organizations gravitate toward the questions they ask.” And that applies to countries, communities, families and individuals. We all live in the world our questions create. This is according to David Cooperrider, PhD, a professor of Social Entrepreneurship at Case Western Reserve University.

I loved every aspect of this book. Author Warren Berger has done deep research that is inclusive of so many thought leaders from the academic research world, the business world, educators, marketing gurus . . . people from every walk of life who recognize the value of questioning and who pick apart our cultural bias against it.

Berger’s subjective definition of a “beautiful question” is “an ambitious yet actionable question that can begin to shift the way we perceive or think about something, and that might serve as a catalyst to bring about change.” The title of the book comes from an e.e. cummings poem: “Always the beautiful answer, who asks a more beautiful question.” I saw similar themes explored in Ed Catmull’s “Creativity Inc” and in Brian Grazer’s “A Curious Mind.”

There is a great deal of questioning about how we educate young people. Preschoolers come into the classroom asking hundreds of questions a day and by middle school they ask practically none. The rush to standardize teaching before kindergarten and the continued focus on students memorizing facts comes under serious scrutiny here. The author and a number of education researchers make the case for “continued neoteny” into adulthood. Our ability to learn through questioning should not cease as we get older, it should be the foundation and approach to meeting a world that now has a “glut of knowledge.” Neuroscientist Dr. Stuart Firestein points out that “glut of knowledge makes us more ignorant. The amount an individual knows as relative to the growing body of knowledge is getting smaller.” (Look for his TED Talk)Read More

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Good Books, New Ideas Tagged With: Culture, Curiosity, Questions

by Catherine Read

Give and Take – Adam Grant

Screen Shot 2014-10-08 at 4.21.49 PMAn excellent book that reinforces much of what I believe about the value of giving. The pivotal idea in this particular book is that there is more than one way of being a “Giver.” Author Adam Grant, the youngest tenured professor at the Wharton School, presents compelling research on the nature of human interactions relative to professional success. He identifies three main personality types: Givers, Takers and Matchers. He opens the book by sharing research that shows some of the least successful people in businesses are Givers. He follows that up with the secondary revelation that so are some of the mostsuccessful people.

The book hinges on a distinction Grant makes between “selfless” giving and “otherish” giving. It’s the difference between being a burned out disaffected doormat for others and creating a way of helping others that assesses more clearly an investment strategy that moves everyone forward. His case studies and profiles are really interesting. The real people he introduces us to (some agreed to use their real names and some use pseudonyms) find their way toward this “otherish” style of giving through a variety of means.

One young Teach for America teacher ended up starting a nonprofit to coach promising disadvantaged students interested in continuing their education in addition to her overwhelming day job as a high school teacher in a tough Philadelphia school. Doing something that was impactful and meaningful energized her and motivated her beyond the discouraging daily routine she had in the classroom. Ultimately, it affected her classroom environment in a positive way and she ended up creating an informal mentoring program among her fellow teachers.
Read More

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Good Books Tagged With: Altruism, business, Career Success, Givers, Mentoring, Reciprocity, Takers, Wharton School

by Catherine Read

Factory Man – Beth Macy

Screen Shot 2014-10-08 at 4.12.28 PM“He may be an asshole, but when he’s your asshole, that’s a very good thing.” Garet Bosiger. A wonderful book that is about the past, the present and the possibilities of the future. It’s a reality check for the global economic theories of the 21st century that look good on paper, and even make sense intellectually, but don’t really factor in the consequences on real people living in communities built on a single manufacturing industry.

As a lifelong Virginian, born in Galax and raised in Southwest Virginia, I savored every detail that author Beth Macy brought to this story. It is a portrait of a strong man, John D. Bassett III, who inherited both the privilege and the responsibility of a family owned furniture business. His analogy of being the only girl left on a deserted island with 12 men crops up several times in the book and illustrates his focus on making certain that Vaughan-Bassett was the furniture manufacturer left standing at the end of the day.

I can’t say enough about the skilled research and writing that went into this book. Beth Macy comes from a manufacturing community in Ohio where her mother worked in a factory making lights for airplanes. She made her home, geographically and journalistically, in Roanoke, Virginia, working for the Roanoke Times. The book grew out of a series of articles she did for the Roanoke Times on the plant closings throughout Southwest Virginia – which was once the economic engine of the Commonwealth in the early to mid 20th century. She credits the photos of freelance photographer Jared Soares for inspiring that series of articles. It was his images of Martinsville and the people living there that made Beth Macy go searching for the answers to what happened there and why.
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Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Good Books, Virginia Tagged With: Beth Macy, business, Factory Life, Galax VA, John D Bassett III, Manufacturing, Off Shoring, Vaughan-Bassett, Virginia

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Catherine S. Read
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