Going it alone can get challenging enough ”“ bills to pay, generating clients and being on your own can be enough to handle ”“ but having a forum to discuss the challenges can be a real life-saver for the new business owner.
Then, perhaps, an e-mail arrives that changes everything.
The e-mail Lisa Kaslyn received from a former IBM co-worker intrigued her. Kaslyn had decided her two-hour commute from Carmel to New York City each way every day was becoming a real hardship for her life and for her family. “I decided to go solo, and it wasn”™t easy,” says Kaslyn. That”™s why the e-mail about National Women”™s In Network intrigued the new marketer.
“I went to the Westchester chapter meeting,” she says. “It was its third meeting since its formation. It may sound hokey, but I went for more than business leads. I wanted to connect with women like me.”
Putnam County, says Kaslyn, doesn”™t offer many opportunities to sit down with other business owners. “I belong to The Business Council of Westchester, but I wanted to be involved with something more intimate.”
She liked what she saw and heard at the meeting: Women”™s In Network (WIN) sounded like a good fit for Kaslyn.
“The guest speaker was Gina Leonard, who had just started her Fairfield County WIN chapter. I took Laura Moritz”™ e-mail address to contact her about possibly starting a chapter of my own. Within an hour, she called me. I was so impressed that the founder and president of the organization called me so quickly. We talked about the spirit and values of the organization. I was quickly intrigued by the idea of forming a Putnam chapter for our own women”™s business community.”
(Moritz was profiled in the Feb. 18 HVB.)
Kaslyn says reaching “the magic age” ”“ a discretionary number for all ”“ caused her to reflect on where she was going with her life. “I was in communications for 15 years; I worked in the corporate arena with IBM for eight years. I decided it was ”˜now or never”™ if I was going to take that leap of faith into my own business.”
Kaslyn Communications in Carmel officially opened Aug. 1, 2007.
Now, Kaslyn has taken the next step in starting a chapter for the National Women”™s In Network. She admits to “being a bit nervous, but very enthusiastic about WIN. I hope to be up and running by the end of March. I”™m taking the steps I need to get it going. I have many women business friends who say it”™s a great idea and needed here in Putnam county.” Most of all, says Kaslyn, the mentoring she”™s receiving from Moritz and other chapter leaders has been a tremendous resource.
Call Kaslyn at 845-225-7571 or e-mail her at lisa@kashen.com to learn more about becoming a member of her new Carmel WIN chapter.
