Please join the Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) in honoring these six inspiring women entrepreneurs who have reached the summit by courageously embracing risk.   You can meet each of these women at the NAWBO Annual Luncheon June 10, 2002.  To register, go to www.nawbotx.org.
 
Dr. Linda Atwill
Professional Speaker, Corporate Consulting and Private Practice
Atwill-Ross Institute
 
Dr. Linda Atwill is an author, professional speaker and founder of the Atwill-Ross Institute.  She specializes in ethical and quality-of-life issues related to helping people be the best they can be, helping them to path-find their way through life’s greatest challenges. 
 
Positively surviving cancer three times, with 22 surgeries, is only one of the life-altering changes that thread through the tapestry of Linda's life.  Whether in her private practice of consulting with corporations and individuals…in her recently released book, Compassion’s Thread, a true story about the triumph and resiliency of the human spirit…or taking clients on adventurous journeys floating down rivers and exploring deserts on Institute trips, she helps people realize the significance of their choices and their lives and to know why they get up every morning to go and do what they do.
 
 
Paula Douglass
Paula Douglass State Farm Insurance
 
Working as a secretary for a State Farm agent in Abilene, Paula Douglass got the opportunity of a lifetime – to open her own agency in Irving.  When she came to Irving in 1983, she faced three challenges:  not knowing anyone in the Metroplex, starting the first woman-owned State Farm agency in Irving, and doing this at age 40.  Armed with a courageous spirit, she set about building her business one relationship at a time, and grew it by providing outstanding personal service.
 
In the 80s, women were not expected to succeed in the property and casualty insurance business.  However,  succeed Paula did, and today she services more than 1650 families, including three generations of the same families, and consistently has the highest retention rate of all the agents in her district.  
 
Lois Melbourne
President and CEO
TimeVision, Inc.
  
Starting a software company when you have never even worked for a software company is pretty gutsy. Growing that company 2,000 percent in five years to an annual revenue of $4.6 million, and managing that growth, is extraordinary.
 
Lois originally formed TimeVision as a software training company. While managing the company successfully, she began exploring how to help companies manage the burdensome task of creating, updating and distributing organizational charts. Lois partnered with a technical and market visionary, who happened to be her husband Ross; the result was OrgPublisher for Intranets, a Microsoft Windows-based software application that ties into existing human resources-related data and automatically generates charts within minutes.
 
Lois and Ross started the business in their home, with Ross handling the technology and programming side and Lois handling the marketing and sales. Lois says it was very risky to put all their eggs in one basket, but they both enthusiastically believed in what they were doing. Today, the business they started out of their home has offices in Williams Square and employs 29 people; their software, OrgPublisher and OrgBuilder, is used by some 1500 clients in Fortune 500 companies in more than 50 countries.
 
Karen Thompson
President
Accent Transportation, Inc.
 
Nine years ago, Karen Thompson purchased the trucking company where she had worked as office manager.  Renaming the company Accent Transportation, Inc., she put the accent on providing complete customer satisfaction.  Today, Accent’s fleet of 2002 tractors, supported with the latest model of dry and refrigerated vans with bobtails, ranks among the newest and safest in Texas.  Her staff is highly regarded in the industry and Accent enjoys an average revenue increase of 10 to 12 percent annually.
 
Karen says her business is like many other businesses in many ways, but it can also be dirty, sweaty work and very labor-intensive.  For instance, when someone doesn’t show up in the warehouse for the late shift and shipments need to go out, Karen can be found in the warehouse at 2 a.m., driving the forklift and loading and unloading trucks.
 
Karen considers it a blessing to be president of a woman-owned trucking company that provides great service as well as being a wonderful place to work.  Accent's success has allowed Karen to donate time and money to organizations devoted to assisting women and children.
 
Melinda Trigg
Owner
Chuchoter Boutique

The softness of silk and satin against the skin are familiar sensations to Melinda "Mindy" Trigg.  Last year, Mindy purchased a Flower Mound boutique called Chuchoter (French for "whispers") that sells high-end, elegant lingerie.  She says the boutique gives women,  who often expend so much of their time and resources on others, a chance to pamper themselves.  Mind does the window displays and all of the buying for the boutique.
 
Owning and operating a retail store is risky enough, but what makes it even more extraordinary is that Mindy is totally blind, having lost her sight in a car accident when she was 20.  After losing her sight, she went on to college and earned a bachelors degree in psychology and a masters degree in Family Therapy.  Mindy is also employed full time with the Lewisville ISD as a special education counselor at two schools.  And, she also finds time to be Mom to two young children.
 
 
Trisha Wilson
President
Wilson and Associates, Inc.
 
Internationally acclaimed hotel designer Trisha Wilson has built her global empire designing hotels, restaurants, clubs, casinos and luxurious residences. From five-star luxury resorts catering to every whim of the well traveled elite, to the charming whimsy of childhood dreams at Disney World, Trisha's signature can be seen at every stop.
 
Trisha’s Dallas-based Wilson & Associates, incorporated in 1978, has grown from a one-woman interior-design business to a firm that ranks first worldwide in the hospitality design industry.  She employs more than 150 design professionals in five full-service offices in Dallas, Singapore, New York, Los Angeles and Johannesburg, South Africa. Literally hundreds of projects can be credited to her firm.