I visited Chic Essentials a couple weeks ago in downtown Duvall.  I needed some fun gifts so I visited our client Monna Maddy.  Whenever I go into her cute store she always greets me at the door and usually her customers say hi too.  It’s such a warm and happy place to shop.  I of course spent more than I planned on because she is a great sales woman along with Lynnette her helper.

Everything in her store is cute, fun and very chic.   There are sunglasses, business card holders, great purses and my favorite, scarves.  Writing this makes me want to go back and try on more cute sunglasses!

Stop by her cute shop if you are in or near Duvall.  She or Lynnette will greet you at the door!

http://chicessentials.com/

I actually love everything about our business.  Ovaleye’s job is to build an online presence for each of our clients.   As our business grows I am very lucky to be able to meet small businesses from all over the country.  Not only small businesses, but organizations, associations, mommy bloggers, hobby forums and you name it.  And of course I love working closely with family and friends.

Many businesses I get to work with are owned and run by women.  I have chosen to focus Ovaleye’s attention on women in business because most of our contacts in the past are women.  They either run the business or are in charge of finding a hosting/website company.  I really enjoy being able to bring women together, connecting them business-to-business, and helping to create strong relationships.  As a hosting company serving many businesses, Ovaleye gives me the unique opportunity to see how businesses might benefit one another, and how the people who run them can benefit too.  I see it as a healthy and exciting community.

Many of the women I have met over the years are strong entrepreneurs who are motivated and happy to be in business for themselves.  Rose, my quickbook specialist started her first business in Tulsa and her daughter runs it now.  Our client Julie just bought her first house with income from her dog walking business.   Karna, our latest client is a Life Coach who helps clients with hard life choices.  These are just a few of the strong successful women I have met, I look forward to meeting many more in 2010.

Ovaleye is quite a challenge, and I’m learning new things all the time.  I like that.  In fact, I wake up every morning happy to start my day.  I wonder how many people can really say that.  I feel very fortunate.

I wrote this blog post a couple weeks ago, it helps to have a stock pile of  posts ready just in case.  Last night at our Website Launch Party showed this post to be very real and made me feel very good that I had made the right choice to join my local Chamber.  I would say 90% of our clients last night were from my local Chamber.  The 10% said they loved the community feel and wanted to join asap.  So I added this to my blog today.

My first networking event for my business, Ovaleye Web Solutions was a Duvall Chamber of Commerce general meeting. Most members are local “at home” or brick and mortar business owners. There are monthly mixers and events so you can get to know each of the businesses and their needs. This is how I started growing my business. Most of my first clients are members.

I recommend this organization to all my clients. This might not be for everyone’s business but if you own a retail or a service business you should join now. It’s a very cheap membership fee for what you get out of the experience of meeting all your local businesses in one room every month.  Your website and business are also listed on the Chamber’s website.

It’s also my “fun time” of getting out of the office. I recommend finding a Chamber near you! Here is a link to the Chamber of Commerce. http://www.uschamber.com/

This is the reason I am part owner of Ovaleye.  So I can work with my family.  My little community is part of why I also own Ovaleye.  My community makes it easy to start a business and network.  I love to get out and talk amongst my community.  I enjoy listening to their stories and visiting their businesses.  Some of my first clients are my family and part of my community.  So I am very grateful and happy I live in a small community near Seattle Washington.

Ovaleye is a family owned business.  Family meaning my husband and daughter.  Our cousin works with us and has been one of my mentors when I first started Ovaleye. I now work with community members that I call part of our Ovaleye family also. The two mix perfectly. I am a very lucky business owner/ wife/mother.