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| Tina Loza, NAWBO-IE President |
I was working on this little speech in the Ronald Reagan Airport in Virginia after having spent a week in our nation’s capital for the NAWBO National Conference. The message during the conference was clear and coming at us from all sources; Nancy Pelosi, Valerie Jarrett, and Karen Mills all had one clear, unwavering message: Economic recovery will be powered by small businesses. Period. We are the answer to this economic crisis. You are the answer to this economic turmoil.
And although I was surrounded by influential, interesting, and smart women all week, frankly, I have to say that I was most energized by actually being in D.C. I had never been to D.C. before and I feel that the city was so magical, empowering, and energizing and that most of all has helped me solidify what I want for our group this year. I want you to feel that you are knowledgeable and informed so that you can run your business instead of your business running you. I want you to feel empowered and energized.
As most of you know, I am an attorney and started my practice with not even one client in May, five years ago. I came to my first NAWBO meeting that summer five years ago and have been coming ever since (except for a small absence while on hospital bed rest that brought me my wonderful twin boys). I came to my first NAWBO meeting with my business cards printed on my home printer on Avery card stock. I was very busy pretending to busy, wondering how and why my husband convinced me that starting a practice, on my own, would be a good idea.
I waited by the phone hoping it would ring. I went to event after event, shaking hands, exchanging cards, taking a mournful, deep breath every time I entered a room filled with people that I did not know. I took and momentarily entertained calls from people who told me that James Cameron stole the plot of the Titanic from them. I swore at Quickbooks. I wondered whether I needed a business license, a CPA, or disability insurance. Not to be boastful in any way, but I am proud that today, I have six other attorneys working with me and we have two assistants. We have approximately 300 active clients. We made it the first five years, we survived, we grew, we made mistakes, we learned, and the bottom line is NAWBO had something to do with that.
Now, in case you did not know after laughing at lawyer jokes all your life, attorneys work on the concept of the billable hour – so, for example, when I am sitting in a waiting room at a doctor’s office, I literally look at my clock and calculate how much money I am not making. I have often considered sending the doctor a bill for my wasted time because usually there is no return on my investment of time at the doctor’s office – they say my flu/cold/etc. is viral, they can’t do anything, and send me on my not so merry, feverish way.
What I want this year, is that each one of you will not leave here wanting to send NAWBO a bill for your time. My aim is to give you a return on your investment of time. That is what I will strive for at each and every meeting and the Board has been and will be tasked to help make this happen.
With that said, this is not a one way street, I encourage and urge you to come here and be active. If you are not on the Board or a Committee, you should consider it. You should attend NAWBO-U and come to our mixers. Hurriedly sitting at a table, avoiding eye contact, and running out the door is not the way to make NAWBO work for you. The value of NAWBO is in these women, your peers. Their knowledge, advice, and business are part of the return on your investment.
Because I often look at each hour as a potential billable hour, I do not want my time to be wasted. Wasted time is time that I could have been investing in work or I could have been spending with kids, my husband, or reading a People magazine while catching up on back episodes of The Good Wife. Is there anyone here uninterested in being profitable and getting a return on your investment of your time? Please raise your hand. OK. Good. We are on the same page.
With that said, we have a theme that will run through every meeting and program this year. This year will be aimed directly at taking you and your business to the next level by giving you the knowledge you need to avoid risk, make good decisions, and operate with intelligence so that you are a profitable and productive person. Every single program will be aimed at you walking out the door with information that you can use.
The breakdown of businesses in this room is essentially (1) emerging business owners, (2) growing business owners, and (3) established business owners. My intention is that each meeting will be tailored this year to the "growing business owner." Emerging business owners will be infused with information on how to step up their game and will be placed in a position of learning what they will need to know to be a success. Growing business owners will be armed with the knowledge to ensure that they will not fail because they did not know any better. Established business owners will gain as they review, re-assess, mentor, aid, and learn as they polish their businesses and perhaps grow new areas of their businesses that have yet to be explored. You will get a return on your investment merely by listening and if you do not, then I will have considered my term a failure. If you are not getting what you need here, tell me. I work for you. For one year, you get an attorney, free of charge.
I also encourage you to attend NAWBO-U. At meetings, we can only provide a short snippet of things you need to grow. NAWBO-U is the charitable, 501(c)(3) arm of NAWBO-IE. NAWBO-U is there to provide you with intensive, longer programs designed to educate and guide you. There is so much power in learning. Even when it’s hard to tear yourself away from your many obligations; it is worth it.
In closing, I am so happy that you have attended this meeting today. I am really excited to be starting this term with a Board that I have been calling the “Dream Team” since the moment Hilda Kennedy signed on as President-Elect. I am humbled by this opportunity and hope to make your membership dues worth every penny. We are looking forward to meeting you all, working with you, helping you, laughing with you, and empowering you so that you can take your business to the next level. Enjoy this beautiful day and remember, you’re the boss. Run your business, don’t let it run you.
Tina Loza is an attorney based in the Inland Empire. Tina and her husband have their own legal practice specializing in intellectual property law (patents, trademarks, copyrights, domain name disputes, etc.). She also has three kids under the age of 3 and lives in Pomona, CA. For more info, go to http://www.lozaip.com/.
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