Cooperation rules over competition
DELMAR– From commercial floor care to clothing retail, walk into a Bethlehem business and a woman may be running it. Bethlehem’s women owned businesses are increasing, expanding and succeeding. In March, several were awarded 2024 Capital Region Living Magazine “Bestie Awards” or recognized finalists.
Collected Boutique, formerly known as the Closet Shop, this February moved into an expanded location at 257 Delaware Avenue, Delmar. Selling high end “pre-loved” clothes, shoes, accessories and vintage items, owner Susan Eyer, reported that the shop, which was a finalist three years in a row, just won the “Bestie Award” for number one consignment shop. Eyer combines her eye for a curated collection with sustainable shopping.
Free Movement Pilates, a 2024 Bestie winner for pilates studio, is also woman owned. Owner Karly Merrill, a licensed physical therapist, said the opportunity to open a pilates studio “fell in her lap” 10 years ago, when the former owner moved to Ireland. “I had 30 days to get equipment and set up an LLC,” she said, but she could not pass on the chance to “blend my passion for physical therapy and pilates.” She had to learn the business side quickly and tripled her business in a few short years. “I learned a lot,” she said.
Their success is repeated throughout Bethlehem. “Women owned businesses are a driving force in Bethlehem. We can stand on the street corner and look up and down and see many women owned businesses, “ Eyer said. While they achieve success, they still face unique challenges and personal rewards.
Brianne Conner, owns Millicare, a franchise specializing in commercial floor and surface care, including carpet and textile cleaning. Working in a “male dominated space”, Conner said she engages with building owners, managers, and facilities owners and sometimes feels some are more open to interacting with her than others. Before being a franchise owner, Conner worked in New Mexico in disabilities services, and witnesses “a huge discrepancy” in the way men and women are treated in that field. By owning her own business, “I can be the decision maker and engage people and build a work culture that doesn’t have that,” she said.
Guin Gorman, owner of Grace Roofing, Inc., said she experiences surprise more than discrimination from customers. Recently, she had a prospective customer ask three times, “So it’s not your husband’s business, it’s your business?”
“Historically, this is a male dominated industry… It’s confusing sometimes for a customer to see a woman climbing on their roof. It’s like they are in shock when they find out I know how to climb a roof,” Gorman said. She has no problem fixing their confusion by showing the customer “I know what I’m doing the minute I’m done talking. After that I have never had anyone question whether we are a valid option to replace their roof.”
Gorman said sometimes being a woman helps her because some customers intentionally seek out a woman owned roofing business. She has been told by elderly men that they are excited to tell their daughters about Gorman. “That’s an honor for me.”
Judy Gabler, owner of Gabler Realty at 321 Delaware Avenue, also works in a traditionally male dominated industry and one that has recently been the subject of sex discrimination exposes. Gabler, however, said she has not personally experienced discrimination. For her, being a working mother has added value because many of her clients are also working mothers. “I live that. I am that so I have empathy and understanding that a man may not have.” She said through her life experience she better anticipates her women homebuyer’s needs, like having a space remote enough to “sneak off to” for a business call, but still close enough to monitor young children.
Add to that, these businesses sell more than products and services. They build communities and cultures. Kathy Agneta, owner of Merriman & Pfister Marketplace at the Four Corners, sells gifts, but if you ask her, more importantly ‘provides a safe entry for artisans and vendors selling their things.” She explained that because women have faced discrimination, “maybe we try to bring other people up.” Merrill spoke about giving more than pilates to her clients. “I’m running a business and trying to be like a mom. I support people in their healing and movement journey. It’s a nurturing effect.”
Kim Kaufmann, owner of Art Stars! Studio in the Four Corners at 397 Kenwood Avenue, did not set out to be a business owner. Her passion is for teaching art and her business – a child centered art studio – grew out of an after school enrichment program at the Bethlehem Schools. Opening in November 2021, this is the third year her studio classes are full. Kaufman calls her studio a “community space” where “art is for everybody.” “We have kids who grow with the studio and we want them to feel this is theirs too.”
Many also involve their businesses in charitable work. Gabler describes herself on her website as a “philanthropist’. Eyer provides clothing to people in need. Gorman runs Redemption Dance Institute, a not-for-profit that provides dance lessons and provides grants to students who could not otherwise afford those lessons. Gorman, herself a dancer, said “I just try not to dance on a roof.”
“It’s important to take care of the community that takes care of us,” Gabler said.
The biggest challenge these women business owners experience is, as leaders, finding work/life balance. “When women are at work, we are expected to function like we don’t have a family and when with our family, we are expected to function like we don’t have a job,” said Eyer.
Gabler virtually repeated that sentiment. ‘It’s hard because we are torn in two different directions. When we are working, we feel guilty we are not with our kids and when we are with our kids, we feel guilty we are not at work.” Gabler said, ‘When you’re a leader you have to lead by example and it’s important I show up for my agents, staff and clients. It’s hard to balance all that.”
Merrill agreed. “Once I hit motherhood, it’s so hard to balance because women struggle with our own self criticism and feel guilty about every little thing.”
They all described Bethlehem as a great place to find the support they need to achieve that work/life balance as women business owners. “Bethlehem is an incredibly welcoming, embracing and supportive place for women business owners and new businesses owners,” said Conner.
Gorman said Bethlehem is a “community willing to stand with someone other than a stereotypical business owner and that presents a path to success.”
They all agreed about the importance of women business networks – formal and informal – to their success. Last year, Bethlehem’s Chamber of Commerce began a monthly women’s networking group that also sponsors speakers and visits to women owned businesses to “showcase them” to each other. 55 of 391 Chamber members are women owned businesses. Chamber president Theresa Egan said, “women are very supportive of other women” and the events are very well attended. “While I would like to think we are not living in a sexist world anymore, I don’t know that we can say that. We’re here to help one another and look at how we can do that,” Egan said.
Gorman, who now sits on the Chamber’s board, said the women’s networking group provides an opportunity to meet women owned business owners in different industries. “I connect to people in banking, finance, marketing and always find people I can reach out to for help. I also met friends through the group.”
Outside the chamber, other support trumps competition. “Other women business owners welcomed me,” said Conner. Conner said that is important because “I can identify with others who have the same challenges, barriers and joys. It’s a lot better to have someone who actually understands.” Merrill, who also relies on support from other women business owners, said they ”understand the need to be passionate about your work and your family.”
Eyer said, “When I think about what small businesses I will support, I think about a woman at the helm and how I can support that and how we support ourselves as a network of women. It’s a really important conversation to continue to have.”
Others talked about mentoring. Schupack learned how to run her business from another woman, who supported her when she opened Art Stars, even giving her materials, a paper cutter and sending clients to her. “All along my journey, every person I interacted with is part of a long line of women doing similar things who created spaces for themselves and have been happy to welcome me into them,” Schupack said.
Kaufmann similarly said she looks to other women owned studios for inspiration. “All along my journey, I have interacted with a long line of women who created similar spaces for themselves and have been happy to welcome me into them.”
Asked what advice they would give a woman entrepreneur starting a business in Bethlehem, Conner said, “just do it. Women shortchange themselves and think I can’t – it’s too hard to balance things or people won’t be receptive to me. I say tell people your story and get out there and meet people in the community.”
Others reflected on the importance they feel for women supporting women in business. Agneta counseled women to connect with women organizations and to find a mentor. “We women have to support each other in moving forward,”she said. “There is strength in numbers and networking.”
Eyer stressed the importance of women helping each other. “We have a high number of women owned businesses in the Town of Bethlehem and they are existing and thriving. We are supporting each other by showing the community businesses that are led by women are about cooperation over competition.”
“It’s lonely at the top. No one will understand it unless they’re doing it too,” Gabler said. “Find other women business owners to support you and get support at home too, even professional housekeepers.”
