Mojo Women’s Advisory Circle Provides New Twist on Advisory Boards

Raleigh/Durham, NC, February 23, 2007 – The first Mojo Women’s Advisory Circle has been formed to create a new venue for the exchange of information, support, and goodwill among women entrepreneurs and community organizers in the Triangle area of North Carolina. The Advisory Circle is an initiative of the Mojo Center for Women’s Leadership, founded by Amy Tiemann, whose mission is to promote the utilization of the full range of each woman’s talents across her entire life span.

The goal of the Circle is to have members serve in an advisory board role to one another, allowing them to provide valuable feedback and support in an environment that acknowledges the complicated coexistence of a “professional self,” “personal self,” and “community self.” Members of the group have opportunities to spotlight their own projects and issues, gathering advice and perspective from other members. The group meets for a two-hour session once a month, rotating facilitation responsibilities for each meeting.

In August of 2006, the Small Business Administration ranked North Carolina fifth in the nation among states for the growth of women-owned businesses. With this explosive growth, an Advisory Circle provides a valuable resource for emerging entrepreneurs.

Says Tiemann, “The Mojo Advisory Circle grew naturally from my work as the founder of MojoMom.com, a website that brings women together. After serving on many committees and boards for other organizations, I longed for my own ‘board of advisors.’ By using the model of a women’s circle, instead of asking 10 women to work solely on my behalf, we could all collaborate to help each other. I wanted to create a forum that would support small businesses and allow for big picture, community-based ideas to take root and grow.” Tiemann says the book The Millionth Circle, by Joan Shinoda Bolen, also inspired her.

Betsy Polk, Circle member and founder of Mulberry Tree Consulting, says, “As a business owner, the advisory circle has been a great way to tap the experiences, skills and strengths of a talented group of professional women. I’ve not only gained valuable information on some of the tactical aspects of running a business, but I’ve also been inspired by the successes of other circle members.”

To form the group, Tiemann tapped her own network to bring together women whom she believed would enrich each other with their differences, yet find common ground with shared goals and values. In addition to Tiemann, the group includes Maggie Ellis Chotas and Betsy Polk, founders of Mulberry Tree Consulting (www.mulberrytreeconsulting.com), a practice specializing in leadership development, team building and strategic planning; Maryanne Perrin and Kella Hatcher, founders of Balancing Professionals (www.balancingprofessionals.com), a firm that connects employers to experienced professionals in part-time and job-share arrangements; Sheryl Grant, Web Editor for CarolinaParent.com (www.carolinaparent.com); Tami Schwerin and Melissa Frey, community organizers and founders of Chatham Marketplace Co-op Grocery (www.chathammarketplace.coop); Perri Kersh, owner of Neat Freak, professional organizing (www.neat-freak.com); and Meghan Gosk and Anna Millar, who, as Associate Directors of the Kenan-Flagler MBA Program (www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu), were the first employees to “job-share” within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Contacts:

Amy Tiemann
Mojo Center for Women’s Leadership
amy at mojomom dot com
(919) 942-2299

Michelle Tennant
Wasabi Publicity, Inc.
michelle at tennant dot org
(828) 749-3200