Published July 2002

Barbara Ashford Clark
In the late 1980s, Barbara Ashford Clark reached a turning point in her life. Her five children were grown and she had spent the past decade honing her client development skills, first for Nordstrom and then for a personnel service.

It was time, she decided, to take the next step in her professional development — running her own business.

“I wanted to see if I could do it on my own,” the Edmonds resident said. “I needed the opportunity to advance creatively and financially.”

So, in December 1989, she started a staffing company: Ashford Clark Personnel Inc., headquartered in Lynnwood.

Beginning with direct hire only, the company added temporary staffing services in 1993 and expanded its personnel specialties, which now include everything from accountants, banking and clerical support to light industrial and customer service.

“And our company has shown a profit every year we have been in business,” Ashford Clark said.

Ensuring that success meant working “more hours than anyone could imagine” and missing “some precious family time along the way,” though.

“I went to work in the ‘dark’ and went home in the ‘dark,’ ” she said of those first years.

Since then, Ashford Clark has stopped “trying to be the conductor and playing all the instruments in the band” and has learned to delegate the daily tasks of running the business, which has a staff of six.

She also has been involved with the Everett Area and South Snohomish County chambers of commerce, served on the boards of the American Red Cross and Big Brother Big Sister and spoken to Pathways for Women’s groups.

For those looking to start a business today, Ashford Clark said it’s important to consider how much of your time, your family’s time and your money you are willing to put on the line.

“I wish I could have started it younger than I was at the time, which was 51. Most people find that in itself inspiring. I found it pretty exhausting, but exhilarating,” she said.

For more information on Ashford Clark Personnel, call 425-353-8854 or visit www.ashfordclark.com on the Web.

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Kaye Phinney
“Experience is always a great instructor,” said Kaye Phinney, Community Banking Officer for Coastal Community Bank.

It’s through experience — and a number of banking classes — that she learned her way around a bank, first as a part-time teller before moving on to customer-service supervisor, personal banker and consumer lender.

Then a year ago, Coastal Community President and CEO Lee Pintar determined Phinney’s greatest strength was relating to people, and the Community Banking Officer position was created, giving Phinney the responsibilities of developing and maintaining customer and business account relationships for the three-branch bank headquartered in Everett.

“The best part of working in my field is the diverse personalities I meet every day,” said Phinney, a graduate of Cascade High School. “I enjoy learning about their interests, goals and business.”

Through Coastal Community, Phinney also has had the opportunity to strengthen her ties to the community by becoming Chairwoman of the Coastal Community Bank Employee Giving Fund.

Funded by employee donations and administered by the Greater Everett Community Foundation, Coastal Community’s program began in January and recently awarded its first round of grants to the Mount Baker Boy Scout Council; Campfire, Snohomish Council; and the YMCA of Snohomish County for its Monroe program.

Phinney said she has experienced personal satisfaction in representing Coastal Community’s “strong commitment to community involvement.”

“It’s allowed me to work with many people I may not normally meet while cooperatively supporting the enrichment of our community,” said Phinney, who also is involved with the Martin Luther King Community Celebration Organizing Committee.

Since becoming a part of the banking industry 17 years ago, Phinney said exposure to the business and financial world has helped her become a “better business person, more self-sufficient, outgoing and confident.”

And there’s a number of opportunities for women wanting to enter the banking industry, she added.

“Unlike some industries, women are recognized and promoted readily,” she said. “Many banks provide professional opportunities for working mothers that allow them the opportunity to advance in their careers while meeting their family’s needs.”

For more information about Coastal Community Bank, call Phinney at 425-257-1655 or visit the bank on the Web at www.coastalbank.com.

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Allison Raduziner
A sense of adventure and a sense of urgency — those are prerequisites to finding success in the field of business development, said Allison Raduziner.

And she should know. As Director of Business Development for Kirtley-Cole Associates Inc., Raduziner is in charge of searching out business leads, bringing in clients and watching industry trends for the Snohomish design-build company.

Keeping up on those trends is quite a task, considering Kirtley-Cole’s many areas of expertise, which include everything from new construction and tenant improvement to renovations and additions for medical and biotech buildings, commercial and manufacturing facilities as well as multifamily and assisted-living residences.

But it’s necessary “to help position our skills within the company to be ready for the next industry to grow,” said Raduziner, who worked for one of the industry “big guys” in Seattle before joining Kirtley-Cole four years ago.

Raduziner’s involvement with the Snohomish County Economic Development Council, the Economic Development Council for the city of Snohomish and various chambers of commerce has aided her in that task, keeping her informed about what’s going on — and what’s coming up — in the economy and the community.

Along with peering into the future, Raduziner’s job is one of building relationships — relationships with clients and relationships with co-workers.

“I love meeting people and working with the people at my company, creating a strategy with each person’s project as to how Kirtley-Cole can best help them,” the Granite Falls resident said.

Although she has “always been in business development and marketing positions,” Raduziner said that a woman in business development in the construction field is “extremely rare” and she advises those seeking to enter her field to “be confident and professional.”

“Talk to others who have been there,” she said. “Particularly, learn from the people you work with — these builders are so proud of their work. It is a great way to learn.”

For more information about Kirtley-Cole Associates, call Raduziner at 360-568-3175 or send e-mail to Allison@kirtley-cole.com.

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Margaret Bavasi
When Margaret Bavasi and her husband, Bob, bought the Walla Walla Blue Mountain Bears baseball club, it was with the intent to move the team to Everett and “have fun with it for a few years,” she said.

Those “few years” turned into more than a dozen, and when the Bavasis sold their team — by then called the Everett AquaSox — in 1999, “we knew we wanted to run our own business again and run it together,” said Margaret, who practiced law in San Diego before becoming an entrepreneur.

So in 2001, the Bavasis — with Bob’s father, E.J. “Buzzie” Bavasi, and brothers Peter, Chris and Bill — took their baseball experience and formed Bavasi Sports Partners LLP.

As Bavasi Sports Partners, “we consult with individuals or entities who want to buy or sell a ball club,” Margaret said. “Additionally, we provide advice to clubs concerning their operations, marketing and public relations.”

Being involved with baseball is about more than just the business aspects, though, Margaret said.

“The best part of what we’ve done is try to build a wholesome activity that connects people to people as well as people to good memories,” she said.

That philosophy of connecting to people carries over into Margaret’s personal life as well, where she is the incoming chair of her younger daughter’s school commission.

She also is on the board of directors of EverTrust Financial Group and is Chair of the EverTrust Foundation, which has given more than $2 million in grants to various organizations in the greater Snohomish County area during the past few years. Groups that have benefited from the foundation include Providence Everett Medical Center’s Pavilion for Women and Children, Marysville Little League and the Everett Public Schools Foundation, among others.

“Both positions have kept me engaged both mentally and in the community,” she said. “It has opened my eyes to the good that we in the business community can do if we embrace the notion of corporate stewardship.”

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Martha Dankers
For 23 years, Martha Dankers has been part of the Valley General Hospital family, entering the fold as a teacher of childbirth classes and growing into the Director of Community Relations.

It’s a job that includes organizing community outreach projects and publications as well as handling internal communications with her staff.

Currently, she is involved in a campaign to educate the public about the Monroe hospital’s services and its need for expansion, with a $42.5 million bond issue set to go before the voters in September.

All in all, it’s quite a shift from her first days in the health-care industry, when she was a nurse in an infant intensive-care unit in Boston.

“If someone had told me 35 years ago that I would be doing what I’m doing, I would not have believed it,” the Monroe resident said. “My college nursing degree provided me with a huge array of options in health care, and my education hasn’t stopped since.”

There are frustrations that go along with working in the health-care field, though, such as increasing costs coupled with decreasing reimbursements, which impede hospitals and clinics’ ability to provide care to the underserved, Dankers said.

But there are also “the rewards that rekindle the passion that brought you into health care to begin with,” said Dankers of the daily interaction with patients — knowing that you’ve had a hand in helping others.

Her own passion extends past the walls of Valley General Hospital to include participation in the Community Health Network, the Share the Care Project and the Latino Task Force, which looks at education and health access issues for Hispanic members of the community. She also is involved in teen dating violence prevention and youth drug and alcohol prevention programs.

For those thinking about a job in the health-care field, Dankers offers this advice:

“Not only is there a high demand for your skills, there is also a high potential of personal satisfaction that makes a health-care career more than just a job. You can see simple heroism every day in the way health-care workers care for people and impact their lives.”

For more information on VGH, visit the hospital’s Web site, www.valleygeneral.com.

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Christen Weller
For two years, Christen Weller saw her husband, Jerry, struggle to find just the right employees to help him with his computer business — he had gone through six during that time.

So she decided to take matters into her own hands.

“Either I got involved, or he went to work for someone else,” she said. “He’s an awesome technician, but management and marketing are not his gifts. I have a heart and zeal for the very things he was missing.”

So in October 2001, Christen and Jerry found a nanny to care for their three children and together started AHA Computer Solutions Inc. in Everett, which provides network support and solutions for small to midsize companies as well as software training on Microsoft products.

“When I first started, I was scared to step out, afraid of making a mistake,” said Christen, President of the company. “Since then, I have grown confident in both my position and ability and have become excited and bold with all my dealings.”

Those dealings include managing the financial affairs and purchase-order processing as well as offering customer service and marketing AHA Computer Solutions’ products and services.

To get the word out about the company, Christen joined the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce, participating in its networking events, and said she plans on becoming a chamber ambassador to meet even more of the business community.

It’s quite a change from where she was nine months ago — but maybe not so big a change: small-business owners and stay-at-home moms learn early how to juggle their many responsibilities, she said.

“But there is a balance that comes if your whole heart is in (it),” Christen said.

For more information on AHA Computer Solutions, located at 1822 N. Broadway, call 425-317-9990 or visit on the Web at www.ahacs.net.

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Donna Murphy
Donna Murphy wears many hats for the city of Sultan — Grants and Special Projects Coordinator, Economic Development Director — but above all, she is a people person focused on the city’s economic vitality.

Describing herself as a “conduit of information,” Murphy the Grants Coordinator is constantly communicating with the people who are funding the grants and the people or departments who are seeking the grants, then making sure those grants are filled out and submitted on time.

As Special Projects Coordinator, Murphy spearheads dedications, ribbon-cuttings and ground-breaking ceremonies. She gets the word out about the city’s good doings through the city newsletter and news releases.

And as Economic Development Director, Murphy works with the Planning Department to assist property owners and developers through the governmental process to get their businesses going. She also works with the Downtown Beautification Committee toward the revitalization of Sultan’s downtown.

Murphy didn’t always wear so many hats. When she started working for the city in 1979, it was as a utility clerk. Ten years later, she began writing and coordinating grants for Sultan on a part-time basis, a job that eventually became her full-time position.

In June 2001, Murphy began working as Economic Development Director and has “been doing so between grant applications since that date,” she said.

While deadlines are the bugaboo of her profession, there are many rewards to compensate for the ever-ticking clock.

“Grant writing and coordination is fun, it really is. Connecting with people funding the grants, putting the package together, networking with the various partners — all of this is fun,” she said.

And while economic development has proved to be a professional challenge, it’s one that Murphy welcomes.

“Working with the businesses and property owners in my own community, helping them build a better economic base for their property while improving the economic vitality in the city of Sultan (have been rewarding),” said Murphy, who also is involved with the Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Sultan Arts Council Theater Group, the Safe Stop Board, and a variety of local causes.

“Volunteering is very important to me because I believe in ‘good karma: what you put out in the world comes back to you tenfold,’” she said.

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Dolores Bjorback and Jenny Murphy
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going” — those are the words by which Dolores Bjorback and daughter Jenny Murphy operate their business, Sound Styles in Edmonds.

Like those first years after Murphy started the clothing boutique in 1985 and cash flow was a challenge. Instead of giving up and closing up, she and her mother held private sales in the evenings, inviting customers to come in, enjoy a glass of wine and take advantage of 30 percent off everything in the store. Then there were Pajama Party Saturdays, in which customers who came by wearing their PJs could take advantage of store savings.

Or the time when the Port of Edmonds Marina collapsed under the weight of a heavy snowfall and flooded out their shop on Fifth Avenue, destroying about 75 percent of the place. They had to refurnish everything, repaint the walls and put in new carpets.

The motto about ‘the tough get going” has served them well, Murphy said, as has their sense of humor, an essential part of owning a small business — something she hadn’t even dreamed about when a friend in real estate contacted her about “a little store that was for sale.”

At the time, Murphy was working for Nordstrom in sales and management. But she went and looked at the shop, then known as Lady Haberdasher, and decided she wanted it.

“We closed up for a couple of weeks and painted and put new wallpaper on; we didn’t really know what we were getting into,” Murphy said.

So began Sound Styles.

In the years since, Murphy and co-owner Bjorback have learned as they’ve gone, built on their strengths and hired people who could shore up their weaknesses.

One of their strengths, it turned out, was helping women plan their wardrobes for travel — and offering clothing that is travel friendly: washable, comfortable, packable and affordable.

“That just kind of evolved,” Murphy said. “We started to do that, and then we found that we were doing it, and so we decided to market that. Now it’s in everything that we do.”

For instance, there’s an “Around the World” display in the shop featuring photos taken of customers while they are on their trips wearing clothing they’ve purchased at Sound Styles. Those customers also get a gift certificate for 20 percent off their next purchase at the shop.

Other customers also benefit from the board, often going back to look at it and get wardrobe ideas for their next trip, whether it’s to Hawaii, New York or New Zealand.

“It’s been a great marketing tool,” said Murphy, who, along with Bjorback, has worked to market not only Sound Styles but also the downtown area through the Downtown Edmonds Merchants Association, a group the two played a part in founding.

Now a committee of the Greater Edmonds Chamber of Commerce, the merchants group sponsors a downtown Halloween party for children and a Christmas tree lighting, and has encouraged downtown businesses to stay open later Thursday nights.

“It’s with the goal of getting our community more oriented to shopping downtown,” Bjorback said.

Now on their 17th year in business, the two say one of the most rewarding parts of running their shop is helping women look great and have fun while they’re at it.

Sound Styles clients “want their clothes to work for them so that they look nice,” Murphy said. “It’s a practical approach — it’s our approach.”

For more information on Sound Styles, located at 100 Fifth Ave. in Edmonds, call 425-771-4111 or visit the shop on the Web at www.soundstyles.com.

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Barbara Earl
Barbara Earl enjoys helping businesses, government bodies and nonprofit groups steer a course through the public arena.

As President of BETS Associates Inc., that’s just what she does, helping clients with their marketing and positioning, branding, government relations and policy initiatives.

Of all that she does, the most challenging part of her job is remembering that she is “just the consultant,” Earl said, having to remind herself that while she is responsible for providing information and guidance, she is not responsible for a client’s decisions and actions.

Previously Vice President of Public Relations for Stevens Healthcare and Senior Product Manager for Verizon Northwest, Earl, a marketing management graduate of Antioch University, said she became an entrepreneur in 2000 “in order to gain control over my own time and flexibility to work with individuals and organizations I enjoy.”

Although she didn’t know what to expect when she started, a strong professional and social network “provided the initial opportunities — and continues to provide leads to new business.”

Now, the major objective “is to control the size of the business so there is time left for living,” Earl said.

Part of that time, a good 10 to 20 hours a week, is set aside for her volunteer responsibilities — including heading fund-raising campaigns, chairing committees and recruiting other volunteers. She has taken leadership roles in a number of community organizations, including the South Snohomish County Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club of Lynnwood, Leadership Snohomish County, and Snohomish County Citizens for Public Safety, among others.

“Volunteering is a way of life for me,” the Mill Creek resident said. “It is good for me personally, and it has helped my business become successful.”

For more information on BETS Associates, call 425-338-9667.

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