Westchester Group Brings Networking Opportunities to Professional Women

The tabletop exhibit area for the first Browse & Buy Expo hosted by the Professional Women of Westchester (PWW) is at capacity.

More than 30 women-owned or women-represented businesses will showcase their goods and services from 5 until 9 p.m. at Life: The Place to Be in Ardsley on Monday, April 4. Tickets are available—for women only—to browse, mingle and conduct business.

PWW, The Professional Women of Putnam and The Professional Women of Connecticut have reeled off a dazzling series of events since the group’s founder, Mahopac resident Jamie Imperati, launched PWP in March of 2010. Imperati was in the process of growing her own business, whatandwhen4kids.com, an online calendar, but felt that the networking venues that she attended were dominated by unresponsive men.

The men “made me feel like a wallflower,” she explained, “and I’m no wallflower.”

Imperati's response was to give birth to a women-only networking organization with a dinner at The Lantern Restaurant in Mahopac that served more than 80 attendees.

Today, the organization boasts members from Bronxville, Hastings, Briarcliff Manor, White Plains, Ardsley, Mount Kisco, Eastchester, Tarrytown, Bedford, Tuckahoe, Hartsdale, Katonah, Yonkers, Elmsford, Armonk, Purchase, Rye Brook, Pound Ridge, Yorktown Heights, Mohegan Lake, Irvington, New Rochelle and North Salem, Bedford, Sleepy Hollow and Mahopac.

Rose Colonna, owner of Tasteful Treats and Treasures, a leading purveyor of gift baskets located in Bedford, had been attending PWP’s events. Colonna (now PWW’s secretary) and Linda Rey (PWW’s vice president and a Briarcliff Manor resident), owner of Rey Insurance in Sleepy Hollow, collaborated with Imperati and Lisa Kaslyn of Prosper Communications to launch the Westchester branch on Nov. 8, 2010 at Milonga’s Restaurant in White Plains.

PWW’s holiday event mixed business with community as attendees helped support Hope's Door, a Pleasantville-based non-profit organization that provides shelter and guidance for women (and their children) who have been involved in abusive relationships.

Also in December, PWW honored Nicola Briggs, a Tai-Chi instructor who earned acclaim for fending off an alleged flasher on the subway. Briggs received the first Shero award from the PWW and a specially designed peace sign pendant from a D'Errico, a Scarsdale jewelry store.

The January event at Eclisse in White Plains drew 100 attendees. Panelists Stacey Ross Cohen, president of Co Communications; Lisa Kaslyn, president of Prosper Communications; Kyle-Beth Hilfer, an advertising/marketing law specialist and Kris Ruby, founder of Ruby Media Group, dissected the many facets of social media.

And all agreed social media has had a profound effect on the growth of this sisterhood.

“The sun, the moon, and the stars were all in alignment, coinciding with the emergence of our group,” explained Kaslyn, the organization's communications director. “Jamie is a great student of effective social marketing.”

Colonna and Rey also have been at the forefront of successfully growing and increasing the visibility of their businesses, PWW, and causes that they support by leveraging exposure on Twitter and Facebook.

The members of PWW took pity on their male counterparts in February with an "I Love Networking" party atop the Ritz Carlton in White Plains at Restaurant 42.

“We love networking so much that we decided that we shouldn't limit it to just women!” explained Kaslyn.

The event, timed to precede Valentine’s Day, drew 200 attendees.

The women of this sisterhood celebrated PWP’s first anniversary and Women’s History month with a great sense of purpose. The combined group released its first survey with responses culled from its 1400 women data base. Amongst the key issues that respondents illuminated were that 66 percent said they were fulfilled professionally; 69 percent plan on investing in new products, services or technology to help run their business more efficiently and 69 percent indicated business websites and social media have helped them market their businesses and build better customer relationships. Only 10 percent indicated they do not have a website.

In positioning the Expo, Imperati said, “PWW’s role is to serve as a catalyst for business. We want to do more than host networking events. We want to get women to spend locally with other women. This event is our way of contributing to that effort.”

To learn more about PWW, become a member or purchase a ticket to the Browse & Buy Expo, see here.