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Category Archives: Women In Business

Theresa Skaine Helps Small Businesses In The Area Develop, Grow And Continue On Prosperous Path

Posted onMarch 9, 2018March 9, 2018
Theresa Skaine owns and operates Skaine & Associates LLC, a law practice serving clients in the corporate arena, commercial real estate and the nonprofit sector.
©2018 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Susan E. Campbell

Three years ago this month Theresa Skaine opened Skaine & Associates LLC, a law practice serving clients in the corporate arena, commercial real estate and the nonprofit sector.

Skaine had been in practice for more than 20 years and a partner with Lemery Greisler LLC when she decided that at this time in her life, flexibility was a stronger objective than the security of a medium-sized firm.

With a daughter in high school and a son in college, Skaine wanted to be more flexible with her schedule to be more present with her children, she said.

“My biggest challenge has been depending on myself for everything. It can be a struggle to figure things out without my support staff,” said Skaine. “The issues I face are not about being a woman in business, but more about the firm being small.”

These first years on her own have helped Skaine gain an appreciation for what she will have in the future as she builds up her associates and grows the practice, she said.

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Lisa Tracy Moves From Teacher To Construction Company And Now Into Real Estate

Posted onMarch 9, 2018March 9, 2018
Lisa Tracy started Terra Firm in 2007 and focuses mainly on residential transactions. However, she also owns and manages commercial properties.
©2018 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Maureen Werther

After running her own renovation and construction business for 25 years, Lisa Tracy, owner of West Branch Inc., is shifting her focus exclusively to her other business, Terra Firm Realty.

Tracy began her career as a kindergarten teacher and her husband, Warren Tracy, is a licensed architectural engineer. He started West Branch Architectural Engineering and Consulting PLLC and has done many projects for New York state as well as in the private sector. When the couple had children, Lisa decided to stay home with them and take over the ownership and all daily operations of the company.

“He handled all the design and construction and I handled all the back-end business,” she said. In the course of the next 25 years, she said she learned everything there was to know about the construction business, as well as real estate development, property management, and buying and selling properties.

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Architect Susan Davis Of SD Atelier Says Technology Will Play Bigger Role In Her Field

Posted onMarch 9, 2018March 9, 2018
Susan Davis founded the architecture company at SD Atelier of Saratoga Springs in 1992. Her clients typically request custom-made homes, especially in an Adirondack-style theme.
©2018 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Liz Witbeck

Susan Davis founded the architecture company at SD Atelier of Saratoga Springs in 1992.

In 1996, her husband Don joined the firm, and the two have been working together ever since.

Davis, originally from the Boston area, went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she received her degree in architecture studies.

“From a young age, even in high school, I always enjoyed working on projects,” she said. “I liked to come up with solutions for things. I liked architecture because it was a combination of using technical skills and creativity.”

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Donna Mock Gives Classic Looks To Walls And Ceilings With Her Distinct Brand Of Artistry

Posted onMarch 3, 2017March 3, 2017

By Jill Nagy

When the renovated Adelphi Hotel on Broadway in Saratoga Springs reopens, its new look will include ornate ceilings decorated by Donna Mock whose company, Classic Design Finishes, has been bringing new life to area walls and ceilings for nearly 20 years.

The ceilings in the Adelphi’s rooms and hallways will be finished with a silver metallic glaze, Mock said. She has completed work on the rooms and she expects to have the hallways finished in three or four weeks.

The project at the Adelphi is fairly simple, she said. Often, she produces murals, trompe d’oeil effects and other artistic details. “I can make walls look like wallpaper, plaster, whatever the client wants, but I am best known for my plaster work,” she said.

Another project, the lobby of the Saranac Hotel at Saranac Lake, is more complicated.

That work is “coming along” and should be finished in May. For that project, she is working on 30-foot-long ceiling beams first installed in 1924. There is water damage and much of the design on the beams has faded so that they have to be completely redone.

Mock’s work is part of the historic restoration of the hotel.

These relatively large commercial projects are a change from Mock’s usual work. Most of the time she works on people’s homes, both new construction and existing buildings.

“Every job is different,” she said, “And I love what I do. It’s very creative, it’s fun, and it’s great to work with clients.”

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Woman Heads Local Company That Provides Testing For Heating, Ventilation, AC Industries

Posted onMarch 3, 2017
Eileen Venn is CEO of Mechanical Testing Inc. on Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs, an independent, certified test and balance (TAB) contractor.
©2017 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Jennifer Farnsworth

Duct work testing, air testing, and fume hood testing are not career areas associated with  females.

Eileen Venn saw things very differently when she and her husband, Brian, took over Mechanical Testing Inc. in 2008.  As the CEO of the company, Venn is making her mark in the industry.

MTI, located at 70 Lake Ave., Saratoga Springs, is an independent, certified test and balance (TAB) contractor. It provides clients with reliable and repeatable TAB services for the heating, ventilating and air conditioning industry. It was established in 1967.

“It can be very intimidating, women in construction. You need to be confident and it helps to have  a strong support group, which I have,” said Venn.

Venn is a graduate of SUNY Albany with a degree in business. She said her background helped her fight through any doubts.

“I came in with experience in the alcohol and beverage business,” said Venn.

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Saratoga Women In Business Group Rolls Into Its Third Year Of Making Local Connections

Posted onMarch 3, 2017March 14, 2017
Dorothy Rogers-Bullis, left, Rachel Spensieri, center, and Heidi Ives are the founders of Saratoga Women in Business, a group that a networking group for area business women.
Courtesy Saratoga Women In Business

It has been two years since Heidi Ives, Dorothy Rogers-Bullis, and Rachel Spensieri first began discussing the need for a women’s networking group in Saratoga Springs.

While each of these women comes from differing professional backgrounds and industries, they pooled their collective talents, and from those early conversations, the Saratoga Women in Business (SWIB) was established.

SWIB targets female professionals in the greater Saratoga Springs area and offers free bi-monthly fellowship opportunities, hosted and sponsored by various local businesses. Wine and light snacks, donated by the host business, are provided at each gathering, and door prizes, provided by SWIB members, also are awarded.

“I often point out that men do their professional networking on the golf course, and women often have a tough time finding a comfortable venue that serves that same purpose,” said cofounder Heidi Ives, a manager and mortgage loan originator with HomeBridge Financial.

“One of my primary goals for the SWIB gatherings was to provide a casual, unintimidating atmosphere for professional women to enjoy a glass of wine and network with each other,” she said. “Our unofficial motto for SWIB is ‘Make friends first, and the business will follow,’ and time and time again, this is exactly how new business relationships are formed.”

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Townley And Wheeler Funeral Home Is Both A Business And ‘A Calling,’ Says Its Owner

Posted onMarch 3, 2017
Kathleen Lowes Sanvidge is the owner of Townley and Wheeler Funeral Home.
Maureen Werther

By Maureen Werther

Some people may wonder why a person would choose mortuary science as a profession, and others might even consider it to be depressing. For Kathleen Lowes Sanvidge, being a funeral home director is the fulfilment of what she terms a God-given gift.

Lowes Sanvidge is the owner of Townley and Wheeler Funeral Home at 21 Midline Road in Ballston Lake, which she purchased four years ago after working as a funeral director in the Clifton Park area for 20 years. Owning her own business has meant being able to do the work she feels she was meant to be doing, while offering the compassionate care to her clients and their departed loved ones.

Lowes Sanvidge first became interested in the profession as a Shenendehowa senior. She had an internship at Ellis Hospital, where she met people who worked in the funeral home industry. She said she realized they were a special kind of people with whom she related on a spiritual level. After graduating from Shenendehowa, Lowes Sanvidge went on to obtain a degree in mortuary science from Hudson Valley Community College.

Over 25 years later, Lowes Sanvidge is more invested in her work than ever. 

“This is not a morbid business,” she said. “Doing this work fills me with a sense of grace and purpose that I realize not everyone is fortunate enough to feel.”

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Woman To Open 'Cosmetic Laser Therapy' Business This November In Saratoga Springs

Posted onOctober 7, 2016November 8, 2017
cosmetic laser - erin vc.jpg
Erin Schreiner will open Cosmetic Laser Therapy in Saratoga Springs in November.

Courtesy Cosmic Laser Therapy

Erin Schreiner has been in the business of helping people feel more comfortable in their own skin for over 30 years.

“I was obsessed with skin care since I was a teenager,” she said. “I sold Jafra products, then Mary Kay product, then was an electrologist for many years. In the 90s, I was trained by a plastic surgeon in laser therapy. I got my certifications, started my business in Manchester [Vermont] and now am excited to expand my business in Saratoga.”

Cosmetic Laser Therapy will open in mid-November at 377 Church St. in Saratoga Springs, with introductory hours on Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Schreiner is a certified laser professional, license esthetician and registered electrologist (CLP LE RE). Her specialty is in skin tightening.

Schreiner will be introducing her clients to the Pellevé skin tightening machine. She said it is a state-of-the-art machine recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“Pellevé provides the most effective laser treatment in the industry today,” she said. “The process eliminates down time and has no contradications for being in the sun afterwards.” The machine is manufactured by Ellman International.

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Maria Billis Says Inspiration and Motivation Are Keys To Her Success As A Businesswoman

Posted onOctober 7, 2016November 8, 2017
maria billis-vc-logo.jpg
Maria Billis is an independent consultant for Young Living Essential Oils.

©2016 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Jennifer Farnsworth

Maria Billis just might have the key to success. She lives the mantra that if you believe in what you are doing, and love doing it, then success will follow.

This Saratoga business woman was once the owner of a popular restaurant before she made a career change, which has led her to being a powerful entrepreneur.

Billis works as an independent consultant for Young Living Essential Oils, a wellness company that focuses on both the aspects of physical and emotional healthy living through everyday products. The company is centered around nature’s living energy, while allowing its consultants to enjoy a financial rewards program by selling its products.

Billis said she became involved with the company through a trusted friend.

“A close friend of mine gave me the Young Living Wellness products as a gift and I fell in love with them. Wellness has always been an integral part of my life and after sharing both the products and business opportunity, I knew this was would be both amazing and exciting and that I would be very successful at it,” said Billis.

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Jesse Elwert Peters Uses Native Species To Create Beautiful Landscapes And Gardens

Posted onOctober 7, 2016November 8, 2017
jesse elwert-vc-logo.jpg
Jesse Elwert Peters starting her landscape design and installation on a part-time basis.

©2016 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Maureen Werther

Like many entrepreneurs, Jesse Elwert Peters’ path to start Jessecology and become Saratoga County’s only grower of all native plants and designer of all native gardens has been a circuitous one. But, like most winding paths, it has taught her a great deal about who and what she wanted to be.

She grew up surrounded by family members who were avid gardeners, farmers and proponents of ecologically-friendly forestation and sustainability. One aunt has a master’s degree in ecological forestry, and another has a working farm in Vermont. But the aunt who made the greatest impact on Elwert Peters growing up lives in Brooklyn and has had an elaborate roof garden for years. It was there, ironically, on a rooftop in the world’s busiest city, that she first became interested in gardening.

“She helped me plant my first garden and we also went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens together. It was there that I got my creative inspiration,” she said.

After high school, she wasn’t ready to go on to four years of study. Instead, she travelled west, ultimately landing in Yosemite, where worked for four years in the Yosemite National Park.

When Elwert Peters made the decision to return home, she earned an undergraduate degree in horticulture, ecology and botany She has spent the past 11 years cultivating her greenhouse of indigenous plants and educating consumers on the benefits of using all-native plants in residential as well as commercial gardens and landscapes.

Starting out doing landscape design and installation on a part-time basis while paying off her school loans, she was able to turn her business into a full-time career six years ago and, by the end of that first year, her business was self-sustaining.

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