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Women Who Lead: Lessons From Women Building Businesses and Strengthening Our Community
On August 13, we will gather at Cigar Mojo for our second annual Women & Business Mojo event.
The idea behind the evening is simple. Bring together interesting people, highlight women who are making a difference, and create opportunities for genuine connections.
In preparation for the event, I asked several women in our community to reflect on their experiences in business. I wanted to know about the challenges they have faced, the lessons they have learned, and the advice they would offer to another woman building a business or career.
Several of these women have supported our event as sponsors or partners. Others have worked alongside us on community projects, photographed our gatherings, fed our guests, or helped make local events possible.
Their answers were very different. That is what made them so interesting.
There is no single formula for leadership. Some of these women built businesses by taking chances. Some learned to ask for help. Some discovered the importance of promoting themselves. Others focused on customers, culture, community, or simply continuing to move forward.
Here is what they shared.
Julia Angelos: Keep the Customer at the Center
Julia Angelos is the owner of Rize Pizza, a local business known for its creative pizza, great food, and welcoming atmosphere.
Julia and the Rize Pizza team brought an amazing spread of food to our Women & Business Mojo event last year. It was one of the highlights of the evening and a great example of the care Julia puts into the customer experience.
Looking back on 12 years in business, Julia identified three lessons she wishes she could have shared with herself when she was getting started.
First, always keep the customer at the center.
“No matter how chaotic things get behind the scenes or in the thick of a project, never lose sight of who you are serving.”
Second, understand which customers you can serve best.
“You cannot please everyone. Put your full energy into the customers who align with your vision, and handle the rest with care and grace.”
Her third lesson is one many business owners learn too late. Secure financing before you need it.
“Capital gives you leverage. Make sure financial institutions are working for you, not the other way around.”
Julia also reflected on her early desire to do everything herself. Like many entrepreneurs, she believed that taking care of every detail personally was the best way to protect the business.
Over time, she realized it was also slowing the company’s growth.
“Real scale happens when you stop pouring time into friction points you can’t solve alone, and instead double down on what you execute best.”
Learn more about Julia and Rize Pizza at:
Samantha Wood: Believe You Are Capable
For Samantha Wood, Founder and CEO of Inzpire Agency, the hardest part of building her company was not writing the business plan or developing the services.
It was believing she was the woman capable of running it.
“The hardest part of building Inzpire Agency wasn’t the business plan. It was believing that I am the woman capable of running it.”
Samantha believes many women spend too much of their lives questioning whether they are qualified, prepared, or capable enough.
“We spend so much of our lives as women believing we’re not enough. Meanwhile, we’re birthing children, nurturing families, holding communities together, and pouring life into everyone around us every single day.”
Her advice to a woman considering starting a company is straightforward.
“You are capable of more than you think. You just have to start believing you already have what it takes.”
Sometimes the first step in starting a business is not finding financing, creating a website, or developing a marketing plan.
Sometimes the first step is giving yourself permission to begin.
Marikate Venuto: Scared Eventually Turns Into Skilled
Marikate Venuto started her photography business at 50.
That meant walking away from the security of a regular paycheck and betting on herself at an age when many people are starting to slow down.
Marikate often photographs our events, although I do not think saying she “takes pictures” really describes what she does.
Marikate does not take pictures. She waits for them.
She watches people interact. She notices the laugh, the expression, the hug, or the brief moment when someone’s personality comes through. Then she captures it.
That patience and ability to recognize a real moment is a large part of what makes her work special.
Starting her business required that same patience and courage.
“What I have learned is that growth does not come from feeling ready. It comes from showing up scared and doing the work anyway, again and again, until scared turns into skilled.”
Marikate once believed she needed permission to describe herself as a photographer or business owner.
She eventually realized that the only permission that mattered was her own.
Her advice is especially powerful for women who feel they may be starting later than they planned.
“Your timeline is not a flaw. It’s really to your advantage. You bring everything you have lived through into the work, and that is not something you can fake or rush.”
Experience is not something that needs to be overcome. It can be one of the greatest advantages a person brings to a new chapter.
Ann Angelucci: Take the Chance in Front of You
Ann K. Angelucci of PremierNow does not necessarily view the challenges she has faced as challenges caused by being a woman.
Her approach has always been to remain open to opportunities and to be willing to take a chance.
“I have always made sure I don’t hesitate to take a chance.”
Business owners rarely receive perfect opportunities at perfect times. There is usually some uncertainty, risk, or reason to wait.
Ann’s philosophy is not to wait for everything to line up.
“Success isn’t about waiting for the perfect opportunity. It’s about taking the one in front of you and running with it.”
That willingness to act can often be the difference between someone who sees an opportunity and someone who turns it into something meaningful.
Jeanine DiTomasso: Clap the Loudest for Yourself
Jeanine DiTomasso serves as Chief Philanthropy Officer for Narberth Ambulance and Executive Producer of Ardmore Rock N’ Ride.
Our CertaPro Painters team is proud to sponsor Ardmore Rock N’ Ride for the third year in a row. It is a wonderful community event that supports the essential work of Narberth Ambulance.
Jeanine works in the first responder sector, where she is often the only woman in the room.
Early in her career, she believed that if she worked hard and performed her job well, people would naturally recognize her accomplishments.
She learned that good work is not always automatically noticed.
“I was of the thought that if I just did my job to the best of my abilities, my successes would be apparent and celebrated. I found that in the fast pace of today’s business, very little is apparent.”
Her advice to women is to become more comfortable talking about their successes.
“If you want a success to be recognized, you yourself have to make it known to all. You have to celebrate the win.”
For many people, self-promotion feels uncomfortable. It can feel like bragging, particularly for women who may be quick to celebrate the accomplishments of others but hesitant to draw attention to their own.
Jeanine believes women need to get past that hesitation.
“We seem to have no problem applauding for other women, but we become quiet when the time comes to cheer for ourselves.”
Her final advice is worth remembering.
“Clap the loudest for yourself and take a bow for all to see.”
Karen Moffitt: Thankfully, I’m Not Most People
Karen Moffitt is the Owner and Founder of Little Miss Moffitt, a Philadelphia-area artisan cookie and corporate gifting brand built around baking kindness into every bite. She ships nationwide and is best known for her Hugs Disguised as Cookies™, a single cookie sent like a greeting card with a personalized note.
Karen is also supporting our Women & Business Mojo event as a sponsor for the second year in a row.
Like many entrepreneurs, Karen has spent years wearing nearly every hat in the business.
“One of the hardest parts of my entrepreneurial journey has been wearing every hat and bootstrapping my business until it grows enough to hire the right people.”
Building a business this way requires long hours, patience, and the willingness to keep moving even when growth does not happen as quickly as expected.
Karen credits two important qualities for helping her continue.
Determination and stubbornness.
When someone tells her that most people would never attempt what she is doing, or that most people would have given up, Karen always gives the same response.
“Thankfully, I’m not most people.”
It is a simple line, but it says a lot about entrepreneurship.
Businesses are often built by people who are willing to continue long after the average person would have found a reason to stop.
Michele Leff: Build Something That Creates Opportunities for Others
Michele Leff started 12th Street Catering more than 40 years ago.
At the time, she did not spend much energy thinking about the challenges of being a woman-owned business. She focused on doing the work.
“My focus was always on the work itself, taking care of clients, building a strong team, and making the business a little better every day.”
She continued moving forward, one step at a time.
Looking back, Michele wishes she had access to some of the resources available to entrepreneurs today. Business coaches, peer groups, strategic planning organizations, and formal mentorship programs were not nearly as accessible when she was getting started.
Much of what she learned came through experience.
“Much of what we built came through experience, learning as we went, and surrounding ourselves with great people.”
Those resources may have helped the business grow faster, but the process also taught Michele and her team resilience, patience, and the importance of continuous learning.
As 12th Street Catering became more successful, another challenge emerged.
More organizations began asking the company for financial support, food, sponsorships, and donations.
Michele and her team care deeply about the communities they serve, but they learned that saying yes to every request was not sustainable.
They needed to become more intentional about giving back.
The company’s partnership with the Satell Institute helped 12th Street Catering develop a more strategic approach to corporate citizenship. Rather than spreading its support too thin, the company began building deeper, long-term relationships with nonprofit organizations.
For Michele, success is about much more than the growth of the company.
“For me, success has never been measured solely by the business we’ve built, but by the opportunities we’ve created for our employees, our clients, and our community.”
“That’s a legacy I’m incredibly proud of.”
Joleen Jaworski: Leadership Is About the Impact You Make
Joleen Jaworski of BCA Philadelphia offered a slightly different perspective.
She is proud to be a woman in business, but she has never viewed her challenges primarily through the lens of gender.
“I have certainly faced the normal challenges that come with building and leading a business, earning trust, making hard decisions, protecting the culture, staying consistent, and continuing to grow.”
Joleen views those as business challenges rather than women’s challenges.
She is also careful about labels.
“I am proud to be a woman in business, but I have also never loved being labeled a ‘woman business owner.’ I am a business owner. I am a leader.”
The responsibilities are the same. A leader is responsible for people, relationships, decisions, results, and the long-term health of the organization.
For Joleen, the key has been remaining grounded in the values that guide BCA.
“At BCA, everything comes back to relationships, trust, and culture.”
Those principles affect how the organization brings people together, how decisions are made, and how the community continues to grow.
“When you lead from that place, the labels matter less than the impact you make.”
There Is More Than One Way to Lead
What I enjoyed most about these responses is that they were not all the same.
Some women proudly identify with the experience of being a woman in business. Others prefer to be viewed simply as business owners and leaders.
Some believe women need to promote themselves more boldly. Others focus on customers, culture, financing, patience, or taking the opportunity directly in front of them.
Marikate started a new business at 50.
Michele has been building hers for more than 40 years.
Karen is still wearing every hat while working to reach the next level.
Samantha had to learn to believe she was capable of leading the business she imagined.
Julia learned that growth sometimes requires letting go.
Jeanine learned that doing good work is not always enough. You also need to make sure people know about it.
Ann learned to take the chance in front of her.
Joleen learned to remain focused on relationships, trust, and culture.
Their paths are different, but each of them is building something that matters.
They are creating jobs, strengthening organizations, feeding people, preserving memories, supporting first responders, bringing communities together, and showing other women what is possible.
That is worth recognizing.
It is also exactly what our Women & Business Mojo event is intended to celebrate.
