BUSINESSWOMEN
AT THE TOP OF
THEIR FORM
They share their success stories
By MICHELLE ONODA
Photography KIT WILLIAMS
Just what does it take to be ranked in the top 25 women owned businesses? What qualities do you need to possess? How does one consistently stay at the top? These are the questions DENVER WOMAN wanted to explore.
We have highlighted four Denver businesswomen from varied industries. We wanted to know what their journey to the top was like, what challenges they encountered and, once successful, how they chose to use their success and resources.
Cathey Finlon, McClain Finlon Advertising
If success is truly about the journey and not the destination, then it can be said that the last 25 years for chairman and CEO Cathey Finlon of McClain Finlon Advertising have been marked by focused vision, ever-increasing success and contribution.
Ranked by Advertising Age as the 61st-largest agency in the United States and one of the largest in Denver, McClain Finlon is celebrating its 25th anniversary and is poised and on target as it approaches the next 25 years.
Being client-focused and using creative, cutting-edge ideas, McClain Finlon Advertising delivers advertising that drives businesses that make an impact. The impressive client roster includes locals such as the Denver Zoo and Breckenridge Ski Resort and Rocky Mountain Clothing Company plus major corporations such as Qwest Communications, Johns Mansville and Western Union, to name a few.
Though it is an established agency, Finlon says that it is currently in a growth stage. Its impressive accomplishments have translated into billings of over $225 million with a staff of slightly more than 200 highly talented individuals.
Finlon talks of the now-meteoric rise of the agency as having its humble beginnings in 1982 in a little yellow house in Boulder. Armed with only $250 in capital, a Remington typewriter and a few art pads, Finlon did not envision the success that is currently being enjoyed. Quickly she learned that more was needed than a strong belief in oneself: “I realized more money needed to come in than go out.”
She admits that when she started, the economy of the ‘80s proved to be a challenge. This was also during a time when some companies preferred not to do business with a woman-owned agency. She won them over with consistency, a strong work ethic and her uncompromising values.
Today the agency is headquartered in a 45,000-square-foot brick building in Denver’s historic Ballpark Neighborhood. The décor of this creative playground includes skylights, bridge walkways and brightly colored walls, with splashes of their signature logo colors of green, orange, red and white. As you tour the building, you can’t help noticing the eclectic collections of photographs, chairs, umbrellas and shoes.
Just how does McClain Finlon Advertising consistently produce quality for clients? Finlon answers, “We hire the right people. They must share our values of collaboration, innovation, respect, creativity, integrity and passion. If they share our values, then we let them play in our sandbox.”
Known for her community and philanthropic endeavors, Finlon encourages her staff through a program established by the agency’s management team called the McClain Finlon Global Do- Good Grant Award. Staff members with at least one year’s tenure can submit proposals for a philanthropic project anywhere in the world, to include detailed logistics, cost, benefit to humanity and inspiration. Upon return from this paid excursion, the recipient must present an in-depth trip report to the entire agency. One of the goals of this project, Finlon says, is that “we want to empower them beyond their work here at the agency and provide a global perspective. The grant allows the recipient to make a major difference somewhere in the world while inspiring others right here at the office.”
A true leader leads by example, embodying the vision, values and a strategic plan and then charting the course for others. Cathey Finlon has set the vision, the course and the example for the next 25 years, where the outlook is bright and the opportunities are without limit.
Brenda J. Rivers, Andavo Travel
When your business and your staff experience a crisis for which you could not have planned, your values and faith are tested. That was the experience of Brenda J. Rivers, president and CEO of Andavo Travel on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Rivers recalls that morning there were clients stranded in different parts of the country, some outside of the United States. “Our first goal was to take care of our customers,” she says.
Working day and night, Rivers and her team changed reservations, exchanging and refunding more tickets than they sold. Her accountant dutifully pointed out this fact, and Rivers replied, “It’s the right thing to do.”
Once the initial crisis had subsided, the worst was not over. Many thought the travel industry would not recover,
that people no longer wanted to travel. Again Rivers was faced with decisions. Some agencies were letting go of their staff, some were cutting benefits as a reaction to no work, and still others were closing their doors.
Feeling that the financial storm could possibly be weathered because of a secured line of credit from her bank, and knowing that a significant piece of new business was coming in January, Rivers kept moving forward. What she did not anticipate was that after 10 years the bank did not renew her secured line of credit. “I became the bank, using my own assets — investing not in my business but my people,” Rivers says.
She needed her team, and she needed solutions. A meeting was called in the company’s kitchen to talk about the current state. Rivers, a firm believer in running a business with transparency and authenticity, addressed her staff. The team’s solution was that they agreed to fewer work hours, pay cuts and a rotating work schedule. Interestingly, they viewed their fewer hours at work as an opportunity to spend quality time with their families. For Andavo Travel, it took three years to dig out.
Today, Andavo Travel is the largest independent travel management firm in Colorado. The business specializes in travel management, meeting events and incentive planning, with sales that exceed $100 million.
Just a few of their clients include Time Warner Telecom, Adelphia, Corporate Express, Restoration Hardware, AON Warranty, Pixar Animation Studios, Frito- Lay, PepsiCo and divisions of Coors.
It has been almost 20 years since Rivers acquired Andavo Travel. During that time she has seen drastic changes in the travel industry. Each time she has seen these dramatic changes as an opportunity to grow.
Rivers admits to loving a challenge. Trained and educated as an attorney, she became an accidental entrepreneur. Her entrepreneurial background no doubt came from her family, who instilled in her good values and principles and a lifelong love of learning and continuous improvement.
Rivers is a firm believer in giving back to the community. Her contributions include serving as a board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters, Race for the Cure, AIDS Walk, American Research for Down Syndrome and others. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, she is a leader with a strong sense of vision, core values and one who has overcome many obstacles to reach the top.
Ding-Wen Hsu, Pacific Western Technologies Ltd.
Adapting business styles and cultures is something that Ding-Wen Hsu knows well. Born in China, she moved to the United States in 1976. Her success comes from her exposure to Eastern and Western cultures and the effective adaptation of both.
Ding-Wen Hsu is co-founder and majority shareholder of Pacific Western Technologies Ltd. PWT is a company specializing in information technology, program management and environmental/ facility management services. Founded in 1987 by Hsu and her husband, Dr. Tai- Dan Hsu, the business has flourished because of the strengths that each brings to the enterprise.
In describing their strengths, Hsu says that her husband is outgoing, optimistic and a born leader who sets the
vision and the strategy, but she is the one who executes the strategy. Today the Hsus are running one of the fastest-growing businesses in the state of Colorado.
The company has received numerous awards and honors, including the Small Business Administration’s Administrator’s Award of Excellence and the Ernst & Young award as one of the best entrepreneurial companies.
In talking about the skills and elements that have made PWT prosper, Hsu focuses on “finding the right people, people you trust. Once we find these individuals, they are given the authority to make decisions.” She further says, ”We identify their strengths and weaknesses and work to support them.”
She credits the positive experience of her executive MBA program at the University of Colorado through faculty and classmate discussions as a valuable learning piece. Hsu further attributes her leadership style to the empowering experience she enjoyed by being selected as a national fellow of Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute. It is this knowledge and her years of MIS experience, coupled with her ability to lead and manage people, that make her such an outstanding leader, one filled with passion and integrity.
Since its beginnings in 1987, Pacific Western Technologies has grown to include three locations with over 150 employees. Through focused vision, teamwork, attention to details, hard work and trusted employees, the company has enjoyed financial success.
Today Ding-Wen Hsu spends much of her time in community and cultural endeavors. She is one of the founders of the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. Held at Sloan’s Lake Park, the festival was designed to build bridges of awareness, knowledge and understanding between the diverse Asian Pacific communities. This two-day event allows the public an opportunity to enjoy a unique experience through visual, culinary and performing arts, crafts, cultural education programming and athletic competition.
Hsu sees that it is an opportunity to showcase the many contributions of the Asian community and to foster a sense of pride among young persons.
Another one of Hsu’s passions is the International Multi-Cultural Institute operated and funded by her family foundation. The IMCI is a nonprofit private foundation, with purposes both charitable and educational. Its goal is to promote harmony, eliminate prejudice and discrimination, combat community deterioration and defend human and civil rights. Making contributions to organizations that promote cultural diversity, funding research projects, sponsoring educational seminars and establishing multicultural community centers accomplish the goals of the foundation.
Ding-Wen Hsu is a leader who has made a difference not only in business but also through her family foundation in making an impact on the world.
Lisa Negri, LT Environmental Inc.
Many successful businesses spring from an idea on how to make something better. For Lisa Negri, that was the case. After eight years of environmental consulting, beginning right out of college, she decided to quit. Tired of working 60-hour workweeks, she took a year off to form her company.
LT Environmental Inc. was established in 1992. It is in the business of bringing a multidisciplinary approach to solving environmental problems involving soil, groundwater, wastewater, air and structures. As Negri says, “We clean up contaminated areas and take away the liability.” With her closure-based philosophy, linear thinking and ability to see the big picture, Negri set about developing a company that could complete a project faster, cheaper and on time.
As she describes herself, “I’m not your typical engineer. Engineers must go through each and every step of the way to solve the problem. I see the big picture and just go from here to there.”
Negri teamed up with Tom Murphy, now her business partner. She says the partnership is a good match: “Murphy sets the vision beyond what I could have ever imagined, and I implement his vision. It is this type of collaboration that made LT Environmental flourish.”
Over the last two years LT Environmental has experienced explosive growth. I could not help asking how it happened. According to Negri, LT changed its business model. She explains that 2004 was a difficult year; it was also the year that her mother died of Alzheimer’s.
For Negri it was a time of reflection and re-evaluation, not only in business but in life. Realizing that she had previously taken a strictly business, bottomline approach to life, she sought out a business coach. What she did not anticipate was the dramatic change that this decision would make.
From that one decision, everything changed. Her coach not only shared with her information geared at understanding the current stage of her business but also opened her up to the people side of business. Negri explains, “It was a heartopening experience. I became more empathic and compassionate, more connected to my people.”
Murphy at first was not sure that this change would translate positively. But quickly he was on board. The result: LTE began to flourish, profits started to soar, and productivity has increased. In fact, the company has just trademarked a precision remediation and closure process named Terra Cert.
Today Negri sees her role more in the line of personnel and administration. Her leadership style has changed. She is very people-focused. Her collaborative style and people/client focus is noticeable in all areas of her business, right down to the company’s organization chart.
In explaining LT Environmental, Negri explains that it is a client-centered organization. Each client is assigned an LTE manager that sits at company meetings so that there is a representative at the table who speaks for the client’s interests. Has this approach worked? According to Negri, ”We don’t lose clients.” It is this same freedom of expression that allows employees to regularly have breakfast or lunch with the two principals and ask any question about the business.
When Negri set about creating a company that makes things better, she created something more than she could have imagined.
So what does it take to be a top-ranking businesswoman? Each woman profiled has had a different journey and varied challenges, yet all demonstrated courage, persistence and determination. Once successful, they gave back in various forms.
