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Rebecca Thomley named one of Enterprising Women’s “Top 20 in 2020 (8/12/2020)
RALEIGH, N.C. January 27, 2020 – Monica Smiley, publisher and CEO of Enterprising Women magazine, announced the winners of the Enterprising Women of the Year Award. Headwaters Relief Organization is proud to announce that Rebecca Thomley is among these twenty enterprising women. The award is in honor of the magazine’s 20th anniversary. In addition, twenty previous winners are being recognized for substantial business growth since the year they won, as well as the remarkable legacy they have built for themselves and their companies, and their engagement and support of the Enterprising Women community.

“All of these honorees have at least doubled the size of their companies since they were first recognized by Enterprising Women, and many have experienced explosive growth. Each woman stands out for her leadership and give-back, and many have also been leaders within our Enterprising Women community in freely sharing their best practices and expertise through the pages of Enterprising Women magazine or in supporting our sister nonprofit, the Enterprising Women Foundation’s Young Enterprising Women Mentoring Forum Program with a leadership role,” Smiley says.

Our “Top 20 in 2020 Award” honorees include:

    • Marti Hedge, Edge Solutions & Consulting, Westlake Village, California
    • Shelly Sun, Bright Star Care & Bright Star Group, Gurnee, Illinois
    • Nathalie Doobin, Harvard Services Group, Miami, Florida
    • Dr. Rebecca Thomley, Orion Associates, Golden Valley, Minnesota
    • Margery Kraus, APCO Worldwide, Washington, DC
    • Patricia Miller, SpaceBound, Inc., Lagrange, Ohio
    • Patti Massey, MYCA Material Handling Solutions & Myca Multimedia & Training Solutions, Cary, North Carolina
    • Merrilee Kick, BuzzBallz/Southern Champion, Carrollton, Texas
    • Phyllis Newhouse, Xtreme Solutions, Atlanta, Georgia
    • Jeanette Hernandez Prenger, ECCO Select, North Kansas City, Missouri
    • Lili Hall, KNOCK, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota
    • Karen Cripe, Label Logic, Inc., Elkhart, Indiana
    • Carol Curran, Phoenix Data Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana
    • Laurie DeJong, LDJ Productions, New York, New York
    • Victoria Vasques, Tribal Tech LLC, Alexandria, Virginia
    • Lucie Voves, Church Hill Classics, Monroe, Connecticut
    • Susan McGlory Michel, Glen Eagle, Princeton, New Jersey
    • Kathie Okun, The Okun Financial Group, Lutherville, Maryland
    • Caryn Kopp, Kopp Consulting, LLC, Bedminster, New Jersey
    • Sharon Reynolds, DevMar Products, LLC, Nashville, Tennessee

“Top 20 in 2020 Award” honorees will be recognized in a virtual even scheduled for October 19 and 20, 2020. A live celebration is scheduled for May 23 – 25, 2021.

Partner organizations represented on the Enterprising Women Advisory Board and supporting the 2020 event include:

      • The Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO)
      • National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO)
      • Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)
      • Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP)
      • Women Business Collaborative
      • ATHENA
      • National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC)
      • Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW)
      • The Global Initiative for Women’s Entrepreneurship Research
      • Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC)
      • Quantum Leaps
      • Springboard Enterprise
      • Women in the Housing & Real Estate Ecosystem
      • Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBEC)/Women Entrepreneurs Inc. (WE)
      • Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global
      • Women’s Leadership Exchange
      • The International Alliance for Women (TIAW)
      • Asian Women in Business (AWIB)
      • eWomenNetwork (EWN)
      • Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC)

For more information or to register to attend the 2020 Enterprising Women of the Year Awards Celebration and Conference, visit http://enterprisingwomen.com

Dress for Success (5/20/2019)

Dress for Success Drive was a huge success!

Our employees donated over 250 items including professional wear, shoes and accessories.
These items were dropped of Monday May 13, 2019 and received a great response of appreciation from their team. The mission of Dress for Success is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. They offer high touch, high impact career and workplace skills development programs for low income women to help them achieve career advancement, career stability and economic sustainability.

For more information on what Dress for Success Twin Cities, please visit their website at https://twincities.dressforsuccess.org/

Employee Engagement Spotlight 2: (5/13/2019)

On May 12th, Team Orion Associates participated in the 27th Annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure!  Thousands of people gathered at Southdale Center to raise funds, bring awareness, celebrate cancer survivorship and honor those who have lost their battle to the disease.  The route took place around beautiful Lake Cornelia in Edina.  Thank you to all who particpated!

May is Pet Month (5/8/2019)

May is National Pet Month.  We at Orion Associates, Meridian Services and Zenith Services love pets.  One of the benefits of working at the company is that you can bring your pet to work.  Here are some fun facts about animals and tips to keep your pet healthy.

Here are some fun facts about pets!

  • 60% of American households have 1 or more pet
  • Dogs do not have an appendix
  • Cats do not have collarbones or move their jaws from side to side
  • The 1st pet insurance in America was purchased for the dog who played “Lassie
  • Each cat and dog has a unique nose print; no two nose prints are the same
  • Saluki is the oldest dog breed, which originated in Egypt
  • A bird’s heart beats 400x per minute when they are not actively moving
  • Goldfish can live up to 30 years in captivity with proper care

Here are some tips for a healthy pet!

  • Keeping your pet’s nails trimmed, so they don’t get an ingrown nail that causes them pain
  • Discard old worn out toys, old toys can be choking hazards and have sharp edges that harm pets
  • Obesity can shorten your animal life span, so keeping them lean is important
  • Socializing your pet with others at an early age helps reduce detrimental behavioral effects
  • Take your animal to the vet regularly.  Taking them often help reduce the risk of serious health problems
  • A good diet will strengthen your animal’s immune system
  • Keep your animal’s mouth clean by brushing their teeth.  A clean mouth decreases dental pain for the pet
  • Ensure your pet has a collar with an updated address and contact info.  Microchipping your pet can help if your pet gets lost

Here are more fun facts about animals!

  • Doctors recommend Emotional Support Animals for PTSD, anxiety, depression, stress, and social shyness
  • Individuals who suffer from a mental disability show vast improvements with an Emotional Support Animal
  • Pets help humans reduce stress better than other human companions
  • When sea otters sleep, they hold hands to stop from drifting apart
  • Having a pet can increase opportunities to socialize with others
  • A male puppy will usually let a female puppy win while playing
  • Pets aid in the recovery from heart attacks
  • Having a pet helps increase your daily exercise
Employee Engagement Spotlight: (5/7/2019)

Adopt-A-Pond

Last week, the Environmental Committee worked with the City of Golden Valley’s Parks Department for the 4th year to host a clean-up event.  Volunteers helped to keep the DeCola ponds clean and free of debris by picking up trash and removing buckthorn.  Together they managed to fill 6 large garbage bags of trash during the clean-up event!

Seven Ways to Promote Well-being This Spring (4/16/2019)

Get a Jump on Your Summer Garden!  Growing your own produce is not just good for your pocketbook, its good for your health too!  Gardening burns approximately 250 to 350 calories an hour.  For optimal health benefits, garden three times a week for an hour at a time.  Remember, anything that makes you sweat…mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, hauling mulch…qualifies as exercise.

Use the Spring Months to get Ready for Summer Safety! Sign up your kids for swimming lessons.  Drowning is the leading cause of accidents and deaths in children.  According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, kids aren’t ready for formal swim instruction until they’re 4 years old.  As always, talk with your child’s pediatrician when making a decision.  Until then, never allow babies or toddlers near a pool unsupervised, even for a minute.  Most drownings occur in kids under 2 years old.

Spring Clean Your Makeup Drawer!  Like most products, cosmetics expire.  Most between 3 months to 2 years.  Makeup can carry bacteria and other critters you don’t want to put on your skin.  This spring, while you’re cleaning out your medicine cabinet, toss out that tube of mascara, powders, and any other makeup that has expired.

Consider Becoming an Early Bird! Studies have shown that people who wake up earlier are healthier than those night owls who snooze the morning way.  Taking advantage of the morning light, enjoy some quiet time before starting your day.  Waking early also gives you a chance to get out and exercise-giving a good dose of needed vitamin D!

Take a Walk During Your Lunch Hour!  Not only will it give you a chance to stop and smell the daffodils; a walk will also get you from your desk and provide the moderate exercise the doctors keep recommending.  If you take advantage of our pet-friendly policies here, this is a great way to get your pet some exercise as well add some fun into your day!

Trade Your Flip-Flops for Foot Friendly Kicks! Wearing flip-flops makes wearers more susceptible to injuries like stubbed toes, rolled or sprained ankles, tendinitis, blistering, arch pain, and stress fractures.  If you are providing direct support, remember, close-toed shoes are a required part of the dress code.

Get Dirty!  And let your kids get dirty, too! Getting dirty isn’t just fun, it created an opportunity for exposure to common bacteria.  When common bacteria routinely inhabit our bodies, they can produce vitamins and proteins we need and help make our immune and gastrointestinal system work.

Volunteer Highlight: Crystal Winklman (4/15/2019)

Tell me about the kind of volunteering you choose to do.

I have volunteered with Headwaters Relief as well as All Hands and Hearts, both are disaster Relief organizations.  I have volunteered with Headwaters in Haiti, Texas and Arkansas. I volunteered in Puerto Rico and will soon with be going to the U.S. Virgin Islands to help with Hurricane Maria relief.

What is your “why” for volunteering? 

I think volunteering can make a lasting impact on the individual you are helping, the community, as well as yourself. It gives you the ability to gain new experiences, develop skills, and meet new people while giving back. If I can make a difference in one person’s life, then I am happy.

What values and/or lessons would you pass along to someone? 

Be flexible. It’s said before every trip but it’s so true! You have to be open to all kinds of experiences because you never know what is going to happen during the day. One day you can be mucking and gutting a house that is filled with cockroaches and the next day you could spend the afternoon talking with a homeowner about their experience and trauma.

What do you do to avoid burnout? 

Travelling definitely helps me avoid burnout. I try to do an international trip at least once a year.  I also try to run a few times a week, especially in the summer. Also, have you tried having a cat? They’re Pretty great.

Rebecca Thomley named one of Enterprising Women’s “Top 20 in 2020

Dress for Success

Employee Engagement Spotlight 2:

May is Pet Month

Employee Engagement Spotlight:

Seven Ways to Promote Well-being This Spring

Volunteer Highlight: Crystal Winklman

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