Women Entrepreneurs

Revelle Academy

Growing up in Norway, Evelyn Squires had a passion for ballet from an early age.  Upon settling in Sarasota, Florida she founded Revelle Academy to bring dance to the next generation. The academy has a strong underpinning of ballet but has responded to market demands by offering tap, jazz, flamenco, modern, lyrical and hip-hop dance instruction.  Evelyn says, “Our goal is to teach our students to work together, to believe in themselves, to appreciate the arts and music and to take a chance.  The training they get here, they can use for the rest of their lives.”

www.RevelleAcademy.com

Owner/Founder
Evelyn Squires
My Location
Sarasota FL
United States
Employees
10
Year Company Formed
2007
My Successes

Two years into the business, Revelle has 10 part-time employees in an 8,200 square foot facility catering to 175 students.

SCORE mentor Charlie Sax commented on Revelle’s success saying, “In a very bad economy, they grew their business dramatically.  She has a real passion for what she is doing.”

In 2009, Revelle Academy was named Manasota SCORE Small Business of the Year.  The business was recently chosen by Sam’s Club Holiday Cheer for Small Business program to receive a $1,000 gift card and funding to attend a 2-day SCORE “High Speed Growth Seminar” in Dallas, TX.  The award was given in recognition of the business’s growth and Evelyn’s commitment to ongoing learning.

How SCORE Helped

Evelyn’s mother-in-law, Heather, encouraged her to contact SCORE to fill in the gaps of her business knowledge.  SCORE mentors Charles Sax and Richard Radt taught Evelyn how to develop a business plan and then reviewed the plan with her.  The two mentors also brought in a banking specialist to advise on obtaining a loan.  When presented with an offer to buy out a competitor, her SCORE mentors helped Evelyn evaluate the possibility.

“They made me think about a lot of things I hadn’t thought of before, how to develop a mission statement, where was my money coming from,” she said.  “I would have made a lot more mistakes if they (SCORE) hadn’t helped.”

Square One Rental Kitchen Serves Restaurants, Cooking Buffs - Paul Flessland

Date
Wed, 2013-01-16 09:24

Casey Steele once rented space in a commercial kitchen to bake cakes for weddings and special occasions.  She opened Square One Rental Kitchen & Event Center last week to provide cooking enthusiasts and organizations with the equipment they require to meet their cooking needs.

Steele turned her business dream into a reality with the help of Jim Stenerson, a mentor from SCORE.

 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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New Boutique Born of Shopaholic's Dissatisfaction - Ragan Robinson

Date
Mon, 2013-01-14 09:58

Barbara Bailey was frustrated with the skimpy local pickings for plus-sized women’s clothing.  So she took her savings, teamed up with Lekesha Bell, and did something to add to the boutique scene.

They sought help with business planning from the Small Business Center at Gaston College and Charlotte SCORE.

 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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Yo Ho Ho and a Barrel of Rum: North Hampton Startup Making Drink the Old-Fashioned Way - Katie Fiegenbaum

Date
Tue, 2013-01-08 10:36

Yo Ho Ho and a Barrel of Rum: North Hampton Startup Making Drink the Old-Fashioned Way

Starting a business brewing artisan rum in an industrial park in North Hampton with little previous experience may sound like a crazy idea. However, Heather Hughes started her own microdistillery, Sea Hagg Distillery, in North Hampton a little over six months ago and business is still going strong.

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Pizza-flavored Healthy Candy Invented by Doctor Being Made in Philadelphia - Kelly Roncace

Date
Fri, 2013-01-04 09:25

Approximately two years ago, Dr. Rita DiCarlo, now of Palm Desert, Calif., who has a doctorate degree in chiropractic medicine and is also an RN, was inspired to create something that’s fun to eat for those who have a restricted diet.  “I was sitting there thinking about all the patients who want to eat pizza and can’t,” she said. “I thought, there has to be a substitute or a way to make something.”

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Footloose: Entrepreneur dances to success

Date
Thu, 2012-12-27 16:07

When Evelyn Squires launched her dance studio five years ago in partnership with her mother-in-law, Heather Squires, she made one crucial, yet common, misstep.  She focused too much on the passion, and not enough on the business basics. “I was a dancer,” Evelyn Squires tells Coffee Talk. “I thought as long as I offered dance lessons, the studio would thrive.”

But the studio, after five years of trial and error, in addition to significant assistance from nonprofit business counseling service Manasota SCORE, is now flourishing.

 

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Tails Wag at Indoor Doggie Park - Kim Kalunian

Date
Fri, 2012-12-21 09:13

Bow Chika Wow Town, which inhabits an 8,700-square foot former factory and garage on Pavilion Avenue, was the brainchild of Alisa Paykos-Theurer.  Paykos-Theurer moved back to the States from Japan in 2010 with her husband, Mark, who’s in the Navy. It was then that she began wondering why she couldn’t find an indoor facility to take her dogs and let them play; everywhere she went required enrollment in some sort of obedience or agility class.  So, after searching and coming up empty, Paykos-Theurer decided to take matters into her own hands.

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Beyond Made in America

Date
Thu, 2012-12-20 09:21

This holiday season ABC World News has been encouraging viewers to have a Made in America Christmas. That if all of us spent even just a small portion of our gift budget on American-made, we could create thousands of jobs across the country. That goes for here at home too.

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Gardens 4 Education

Every year we all shell out exorbitant amounts of money for unnecessary items like cookie dough, candy and giftwrap in an attempt to support our local schools.  But most of that money ends up going to the fundraising company instead!  One parent, Jeannie Williams, had had enough.  She decided to turn this grievance into a business opportunity and utilize her organic farming skills all at the same time.  Soon, Gardens 4 Educations, an ingenious fundraising program that both fosters healthy habits and results in more profits for schools, was born.

www.gardens4education.com

Owner/Founder
Jeannie Williams
My Location
Hanford CA
United States
Year Company Formed
2011
My Successes

The Gardens 4 Education fundraiser started as an easy to use garden kit in a disposable six-pack carrier. Jeannie first tested out the practical use of her concept in her daughter’s classroom during the Spring of 2011. The fundraiser was a hit. That Fall, she sought the help of SCORE and her mentor, Harley Roberts, helped her work through many of the questions and issues she faced as a new business owner. Harley connected Jeannie with ABLE Industries, an assembler and distributor committed to improving the lives of people with disabilities by creating opportunities to maximize their independence.

The garden kits have now evolved into a four-pack of large plants in a reusable garden tote with advertising space sold on the side. This advertising opportunity increases even further the significant profit potential of the fundraiser for schools; while most fundraising programs offer 20-40% of profits to the school, Gardens 4 Education offers 50% plus the advertising potential.

In 2013 the Gardens 4 Education fundraiser will be available to all schools in the Kings and Tulare counties of California.

What's Great About My Mentor?

Jeannie reflects on her mentor’s influence saying, “I feel very fortunate to have Harley Roberts as my SCORE mentor.  He has helped me realize opportunities that I didn’t even know existed.  His suggestion to contract assembly and shipping through Able Industries ultimately changed the direction of my distribution model to one that can grow and reach more schools.  I don’t think he realizes just how instrumental he has been in helping me develop Gardens 4 Education into a viable business.”

How SCORE Helped

Jeannie plans to continue working with SCORE as Gardens 4 Education continues to grow.  She say, “We have come a long way but there’s still a long way to go.  It gives me confidence to know that I have a resource where I can get help from people who have been there.”

Small Biz Success Story: Luludi Living Frames and SCORE - AnnMarie McIlwain

Date
Fri, 2012-12-14 11:26

Liza Fiorentinos had been going to SCORE for years with ideas, but Living Frames was the one that really got them excited. Thanks to her primary SCORE mentor, Seth Rogovin, Living Frames launched a little over a year ago and is generating revenue. Liza is hopeful that profits are not far behind, based on the business plan she crafted with Seth.

"This is not something I would have undertaken without SCORE." - Liza Fiorentinos

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