This series of 12 PBN articles, focusing on the backgrounds, challenges and successes of some of the area’s most influential and interesting business women, began Sept. 12.
Business Women 1: “Two friends set out to save an R.I. original,” Sept. 12, by PBN staff writer Natalie Myers. When friends and partners Kim Silva and Amanda Simoneau purchased the failing Porino’s Gourmet Foods, it was their first venture into the food-service industry. They began by trimming the product line – and hiring the original cook, who knows the recipes for the firm’s beloved sauces.
Business Women 2: “Cable TV exec never envisioned herself at the helm,” Sept. 24, by PBN staff writer William Hamilton. Linda Jane Maaia was a college professor and retired public-school teacher when her father’s sudden death launched her in new direction.
Business Women 3: “Taking a Women’s Summit to the top of the charts,” Oct. 8, by PBN staff writer Justin Sayles. Kati Machtley has used her role as wife of Bryant University President Ronald K. Machtley to help blaze trails for the women of southern New England, especially in the workplace.
Business Women 4: “Spreading the quality gospel across R.I., the nation,” Oct. 22, by PBN managing editor Marion Davis. Laura Adams was a nurse before she ever learned about policy and business, and her experience with patients always has fueled her passion and clarified her vision. As president and CEO of the Rhode Island Quality Institute, she spends much of her time both highlighting the dangers of medical errors and explaining how systems, not individuals, cause most such problems.
Business Women 5: “Banking on the potential of women, minorities,” by PBN staff writer Justin Sayles. Denise Barge has never owned a business, and openly admits that she probably never will. But Barge, a former banking executive who now heads two key minority financing nonprofits, has a good idea of what a successful business looks like.
Business Women 6: “Realtor plays national role with a local perspective,” by PBN staff writer David Ortiz. As the owner of a successful real estate agency catering to high-end homeowners and an advocate for her industry on the local and national levels, Sharon Steele brings a long-term perspective to the cyclical real estate industry.
Business Women 7: “Zimmerman’s instincts, ear help propel FarSounder,” by PBN staff writer Natalie Myers. Listening to customers – really listening – has helped Cheryl Zimmerman open new markets for FarSounder Inc. and turn the sonar technology startup into a profitable operation. After six years, “We’re really exploding,” the CEO says.
Business Women 8: “Spa Vuré owner spreads love to clients and staff,” by PBN staff writer Natalie Myers. Details are the key to the spa business, says Vuré Kpea, 25, who recently took over the reins of her family’s four-location luxury medical spa company. “Really, each person is responsible for the lives they change and touch,” she told PBN. “It’s my job to encourage everybody.”
Business Women 9: “Sewing from experience generates a business for RN,” by PBN staff writer Emily Sutton. Some people cook to relax, some read, some nap, but Margaret Howard sews, and the Kent Hospital registered nurse has taken that hobby from her basement at home to a new 3,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and storefront in Warwick.
Business Women 10: “From intern to CEO, passion fueled Parrillo’s rise,” by PBN staff writer Denise Perreault. “I know that not everyone finds insurance as fascinating as I do,” says Sandra Glaser Parrillo, the only female chief executive in Providence Mutual’s 200-plus-year history. But she has found “tremendous satisfaction,” and success, “in pursuing a career in insurance.”
Business Women 11: “No challenge too big for Hope Global
President and CEO Merchant,” by PBN staff writer Denise Perreault. Cheryl Merchant rose through the auto industry, starting in Detroit and going on to supervise plants in Mexico, Canada, England, Poland, Germany and elsewhere. “I’m the only woman you’ll meet who can live out of a carry-on for three weeks,” she says, “because I hate lost luggage.” But the biggest challenge she’s faced was the flooding that followed a 2005 storm.
Business Women 12: “Patchwork of experiences led her to Thundermist,” by PBN staff writer Denise Perreault. Maria Montanaro had run health centers in Cranston and Connecticut before taking over the ailing health center in Woonsocket. She stemmed “the financial bleeding,” to end her first full fiscal year with a surplus of $250,000, as big as the deficit the center was facing when she arrived. And she did it while battling a crisis of her own: a diagnosis of breast cancer just four months after she started at Thundermist.
