Spotlight On...

Shewmaker’s Camera Shop

Rep: Lanonah Krumanocker

I was born and raised in the south – Pueblo, that is. Yes, I am a Colorado Native.

I am the oldest in a family of 3 children and come from a long line of entrepreneurs.

I married my high school sweetheart and immediately started a family. Within a few months of having my son, I started college to become a math teacher. In the 70’s teachers were in abundance and I was strongly encouraged to find another goal. So I completed a degree in Radiological Technology and landed my first job (outside the family business) at Parkview Hospital in Pueblo. That kept me entertained for a few years until my husband could finish his degree and land a good job. At which time we divorced.

I then decided that I needed to find a more challenging occupation. So after yet another gun-shot-wound weekend working at the hospital, I went down to the University first thing Monday morning and signed up for 3 courses in the new field of computer science (this was the late 70’s).

I was a single mother working full time and going to school full time. The great thing was that since the quantity of my time was limited, I thought of creative ways to spend quality time with my son. For instance he learned volumes about programming in COBOL, statistical analysis, business practices and the like at age 5. My course books were often our before dinner and evening story time reading material. Needless to say he was an excellent student!

After eight years of trial and error....several errors, my high school sweetheart and I decided that we were really meant for each other. We married for the second time in 1985.

I spent 17 wonderfully challenging and exciting years in the field of computer science with corporate giants like ITT, Honeywell and ATMEL. I went from a computer programmer to the manager of software systems. Then I had an insane moment and decided I needed to own my own business.

My husband had a niche market mail order business for several years and that was going well. In 1997 we purchased Shewmaker’s Camera Shop with 2 locations in the downtown and on the west side. That didn’t seem to be quite enough so in yet another of many crazy moments, we expanded to the north location in 1998. My husband then sold his business and joined me running Shewmaker’s.

I wanted a challenge and I got it---like they say “Be careful what you wish for........”

President's Message   Ring in the New Year with Fund Raising

It is January, the beginning of the New Year. I find January to be a slower month in my business, and thus am able to spend time planning and setting new goals for the rest of the year. My list is always longer than can possibly be accomplished, and quite often at the end of the year some items are not completed. The Ways & Means Committee is also taking time right now to plan our fund raising for 2003.

For the last couple of years our committee has planned and worked on a number of small fund raising projects for each year. The sale of flowers was very successful, and I think many of us enjoyed getting fresh flowers for our homes and offices. The apron and shirt sales were a lot of fun, as were the silent auctions.

This year our Ways & Means Committee has decided it is time to try something different. The plan for this year is to take a big step into the arena of major fund raising. They have announced that for 2003 we will host a golf tournament in September.

After talking with some of our sister chapters across the country, they learned it is possible to raise in the area of $20,000 from this one fund raising event alone. With that in mind, our Ways & Means Committee, along with the board, has decided that we will have only one fund raising project this year. The golf tournament will require all our participation to make it successful. When the committee gals call you asking you to reach out into our community to find sponsors, gifts for the ditty bag, and other needs please help. Our chapter will only be successful if we all jump in and contribute our individual time and effort.

I especially encourage our new members to participate. The fund raising activity is not only a good way to get to know the other women in EWI, but is also a great opportunity to use your skills, or to perhaps take on and learn from something you’ve never done before. Remember, part of our mission statement is to create personal development.

I forgot. The most important thing about this is that the money goes into our scholarship fund.

Announcements

Corporate EWI has selected Jane Marshall as the ASIST Scholarship Coordinator for 2003. Corporate EWI will issue 10 $1,000 ASIST scholarships which will be awarded at the Denver convention.

The EWI Regional Spring Conference for 2003 will be held May 15-17, 2003 in San Antonio, Texas.

The 2003 EWI Annual Meeting will be held in Denver, CO next Sept. 24-27! We are lucky to have this event close by so that many of our members can attend and see EWI in action at the national level.

SHARE THE NEWS!

Please send submissions for the Chapter Pulse to:

Contact: Kathy Wallace

Phone: 548-0582

E-mail: kawallace@msn.com

Next Deadline
February 17

Please email as
MSWord attachment.

Thank you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

The Fine Art of Cave-Dwellers and Bear Hunters

The EWI January meeting was held at the Antlers Hotel downtown. We had an excellent turnout for January, and everyone enjoyed Billi Lee’s no-nonsense talk on cave-dwellers and bear-hunters. Our Board treated new and renewing members to a new EWI pin representing our beloved mountains. If you have not received yours yet, make sure your 2003 dues are paid up and talk to any Board member.

Did You Know?

by Wanda Reaves

There are few like her in the category of Colorado Springs native. Her grandparents homesteaded east of Colorado Springs. She is a second generation native. She attended Wasson High School with another friend known to all of us (i.e. Ann Elrod) and graduated 35th in a class of 650 graduates. She attended Colorado State University in Ft. Collins where she fell so madly in love that she didn’t finish her last year even though she went to CSU on a good scholarship! This could happen to any of us!

She is active in the Calvary Bible Church and is program director for the Cubbies Program that is a part of the youth ministry. She enjoys very much the teaching of young kindergartners and pre-schoolers.

Growing up in Colorado Springs she was a middle child and has two brothers. Her husband is disabled which presents her with challenges that she has overcome with love and commitment. She has two adopted daughters and is the proud grandmother of four grandchildren. She spends a lot of time with her grandchildren, two girls and two boys, as they all live in Colorado Springs and they provide her happiest moments. The most tragic time of her life was when she lost her first baby. It was an event that changed her life. But with her faith and courage she and her husband moved forward and now have a happy family life surrounded by children and grandchildren.

She and her husband have traveled to Canada, the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. She looks forward to traveling with a group of women to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji Island next month, March. Their visit will be for twenty-three days. Her excitement and anticipation was obvious as we talked over lunch.

This EWI member enjoys her work. She finds great satisfaction in helping people and their families as an independent long term care specialist and broker. While the average age to purchase a long term care policy is in the late fifties it continues to drop as more and more people realize the importance of preparing themselves for the later years of their life. The younger one is the less expensive the policy is. The longer one waits to purchase a policy the less affordable it becomes.

She has served on the EWI Board and has been a member of EWI for ten years. She loves being a member and contributes her professional and personal growth to EWI.

This pleasant, strong and gentle woman always has a smile on her face. EWI has helped her to grow and we have gained from her membership. Her name is Joan Saucerman.

February
Chapter Meeting

RSVP Guests and Regrets ONLY
Jeanne Roblewsky djroblewsky@email.msn.com

RSVP by February 5th!

Date: February 12, 5:30pm :
Topic:"Women and Strokes"
Where: Penrose/St. Francis Learning Center, 1644 Medical Center Point ( NW corner of Templeton Gap and Union.)
Cost: $25.00

What:March Chapter Meeting
When: March 12, 5:30pm. Topic:"Perfecting Connecting", speaker Sara Michelle,
Where: Phantom Canyon Brewing Company, 3rd Floor.

Membership Status

Member Firms - 84
Additional reps - 16
Sustaining - 6
Life - 9
Honorary - 1
Transitional - 1

Membership Postings

Institute for Facial and Cosmetic Surgery
Reps: Tanya Sheldon and Stephanie Abeyta.
Major: Medicine,
Minor: Plastic surgery

Serene Spaces
Rep:Debra Witte
Major Classification: Interior Designs
Minor Classification: Feng Shui

Membership Changes

Add Staff has a new rep: Jayme Holligan

Aloha! Colorado Springs Chapter

I am Dawn Kaniaupio, a member of the Honolulu Chapter of Executive Women International (“EWI”). The Firm I represent is Alphamedia Corporation, a television production company in Honolulu. I have been with Alphamedia for 19 years, and I have been a member of EWI since 1996. In 1999, I served as President of the Honolulu Chapter.

I have attended annual meetings in Calgary, Los Angeles, Texas, Atlanta and Cleveland and have really enjoyed networking with representatives from across the globe. I was honored when asked late last year to serve as Membership Advisor and have enjoyed working with your chapter’s board thus far. The chapters that I service include San Diego, Spokane, Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City. Together we are sharing information and building relationships that will assist each chapter in the future.

Some of you may wonder, what are the responsibilities of a Corporate Membership Advisor? Simply stated, the Corporate Membership Advisor serves as a liaison from the Corporate Board to the Chapters and is available to advise the Chapters as they need or seek assistance. We “report” to Sharon Bennett, Corporate Membership Director, and Lois Perry, Corporate Membership Priority Director, which means the focus of the position is on developing and serving our membership.

So, I have a simple goal – to “be there” for you, the Corporate Board, and our Staff. I want to help your Chapter, the Corporate Staff, and the Corporate Board achieve their goals in the coming months.

I believe our EWI mission statement gives us the direction we need to set goals and work to achieve them. Here are some thoughts – things I’m sure you’ve heard before – but they bear repeating. EWI is about:

Promoting Member Firms: Since it is the Firm that is the member (and what makes EWI unique among organizations), and the Firms pay the bills and permit their employees to invest the necessary time to participate, it is important that the needs of the Firm are the first priority. Firm recognition may not be the primary reason for each firm joining EWI – our organization means different things to different firms – therefore, it is important to determine what our firms perceive as the greatest benefits to their membership in EWI (e.g., recognition in the community, networking, business contacts, professional growth of employees, etc.), and work to meet those needs.

Enhancing Personal and Professional Development: Providing representatives with critical skills that they can take back to their firms (e.g., communication, marketing, leadership, strategic planning, etc.), provides value to our member Firms, as well as value to the individual representative. If the representative demonstrates that she is gaining something tangible from her membership, the Firm is more likely to be a long-term member.

Encouraging Community Involvement: Something I heard at Presidents’ Caucus gave me a new understanding of this aspect of our mission statement. We involve ourselves in our communities through our EWI programs – EWISP, ASIST, and the Reading Rally. Each Chapter can reach out to their communities and touch lives that span generational boundaries. As a non-profit organization, we have limited resources. EWI could be greatly strengthened in membership numbers, dollars, recognition, and effectiveness if chapters would focus their attention on these EWI programs first and foremost.

So, in the coming months, I encourage you and your Chapter – and most importantly, your Chapter leaders – to focus on the EWI mission statement and evaluate your activities based on it. Ask yourselves: “Is what we are doing supporting EWI and reflecting its mission? If not, why are we doing it?” We should be able to relate each one of our activities to one of the three dimensions of our mission statement. In doing so, we will strengthen our individual chapters and our organization as a whole.

I look forward to working with you in the coming year (and meeting some of you), and I hope that each one of you have a wonderful and valuable year in EWI.

A hui hou,

Dawn K. Kaniaupio
EWI Membership Advisor

Minutes

Executive Women International
Colorado Springs Chapter
Minutes for the January 6, 2003

2003 President, Sally Seidlitz, called the meeting to order at 5:00pm.

Attending: Sally Seidlitz, Kelly Wood, Vickie Keeler, Lanonah Krumanocker, Kay Atwood, Janice Zerbe, Ana Golden, Lorrie Todd, Beth Alexander, Kathy Wallace, Kathleen O’Leary, Verna Severson and Nancy Stacy.

The December minutes were approved with the corrections. Omitted from the attendance list were: Shirley Stewart and Nancy Stacy.

The Treasurer reported that so far the dues renewal has accounted for 52 member firms paid for 2003.

Hospitality committee will be meeting regularly with the Membership committee to make sure that new members get a prompt orientation and are welcomed at each meeting.

The Past Presidents will form a committee to arrange the September 2003 meeting, as it is the chapter’s 20th anniversary.

Ways and Means committee, with the help of the entire chapter, will be organizing a golf tournament on Sept.15 2003 to raise money for scholarships.

Meeting was adjourned at 5:55pm

Next Board Meeting will be at Accent Photo at 4:30pm for networking and snacks with the meeting beginning at 5:00pm on Thursday, February 6, 2003.

E X E C U T I V E
W O M E N
I N T E R N A T I O N A L

Corporate Office Contact Information

515 South 700 East, Suite 2A

Salt Lake City, UT 84102-2801

Phone (801) 355-2800

Fax (801) 355-2852

Website:www.executivewomen.org

Email:ewi@executivewomen.org

P R I N C I P L E S

• To bring together key individuals from member firms of EWI to achieve world-class status as an organization through applied standards of excellence.

• Forge and cultivate mutual business and professional goals through personal association and interchange.

• Afford the opportunities and structure for leadership and professional development.

• Provide a wide scope of community, educational, and philanthropic services and contributions.

• Encourage flexibility and adaptability in a membership as diverse in its demographics as in its interest, needs, and staying power