SBA Small Business Awards–Meet Our National Winner!
By Nina Kaufman, Esq.Women-owned companies that need help with small business need look no further than software engineer Laurie Simon and her Kirkland, Washington Ombrella Consulting. I had the pleasure of encountering Laurie because she beat me. 🙂 No, not literally, but figuratively in this year’s SBA Small Business Awards. As some of you may recall, I had the honor of being chosen as the SBA’s regional Women in Business Champion of the Year … and Laurie Simon was the National winner!
When I first heard that she won (and I lost), I spent about 27 seconds moping about. And then I went on to the Ombrella Consulting website, where I learned what a rock star Laurie really is (and why she is so deserving of the national award). She’s passionate about supporting women in technology and preventing the brain drain (paying 100% of the benefits she offers, even to her part-time employees), and an advocate for bringing technology to rural areas so that business there can have a presence. And that’s not even the half of it!
Listen in to our interview where we cover:
- Laurie’s personal mission to help with small business
- What’s so “fresh” about her approach to a staid industry
- Where Laurie sees the greatest potential for growth for women-owned businesses
- The biggest mistake she made (she wishes she had taken action 5 years ago!)
- Her 3 big pearls of wisdom for growing your business
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Want to learn more about Kaufman Business Law? This is the video to watch.