Since 1997, the number of businesses owned by women has gone up by 43 percent in Washington state. The Seattle urban area alone has seen an increase of 20,000 businesses with women at the helm since 2004.
Five of those women were honored on Oct. 6 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle, by Women Business Owners, a Puget Sound organization of female entrepreneurs in the region, with nominations for the prestigious Nellie Cashman Award for Business Owner of the Year. KOMO 4’s Connie Thompson served as master of ceremonies for the event.
This year, two of the finalists for the award were Issaquah entrepreneurs, with Sari Davidson of Booginhead, LLC and Dr. Terry Jacobson of TLJ Aesthetics, MD both nominated for receipt of the 35th annual Nellie Cashman Award.
Nellie Cashman was a pioneer who broke through the restrictions for 19th century women and became a miner, prospector and successful owner of several boarding houses, restaurants, grocery stores and mining supply stores. Immigrating from Ireland in the mid-1800s, she traveled far for her career, from Arizona to the Klondike. Helping others was important to Cashman; she was a philanthropist of the Sisters of Saint Ann in Victoria, B.C. and she even rescued a group of stranded miners in the Cassiar Mountains in northern B.C.
In the spirit of its namesake, the Nellie Cashman Award is presented to women who possess a sharp business acumen as well as a deep sense of caring for their community. To be eligible for the award, female business owners must demonstrate “entrepreneurial spirit, ethics and community spirit, financial management skill and the difficulty and risk they have endured to achieve their success,” according to WBO.
BooginHead began when Davidson found herself dealing with a problem common to mothers around the nation — a child throwing sippy cups on the floor for fun. Tired of constantly picking up the cups and unable to find a solution in stores, Davidson got out her sewing machine and invented the “Sippigrip,” a strap that attaches a baby’s cup to a high chair.
“It honestly never even occured to me not to do it myself,” Davidson said in a speech at the gala. She later added to the Reporter that she has “always thought big” and intended from day one to market her innovative creation.
Nearly a decade after the Sippigrip was first launched, BooginHead is a booming $3.5 million company selling a variety of baby products to retailers including Babies “R” Us, Walmart and Amazon, and Davidson has made the list of Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs.
Davidson credits her parents, also entrepreneurs, with instilling within her a hard work ethic. Her mother, a bookstore owner, worked every day of the week to make her business succeed.
“I saw the power of what you can do for yourself if you work hard,” Davidson said. And it’s a lesson Davidson is passing on to her two sons as well, whom she calls her “motivation to succeed.”
“It’s really important that my sons understand the value of a good work ethic,” Davidson said.
Jacobson has been in practice for 18 years, providing both internal and aesthetic medicine to her patients. Between 2007 and 2011, Jacobson made the decision to switch her clinic to the concierge model so as to provide “easier access” and “longer appointment times” for her patients. The move required her to limit her patient load to about 10 percent the number other clinics have, but these patients have access to her 24/7.
“I remember back in the day having to limit patients to one or two problems [per appointment]. That doesn’t feel good,” she said. “I thought, something has to change … That’s not why I went into medicine.”
Jacobson said that many people have tried to tell her how to run her practice, but she has learned to follow her heart and instincts.
“At the end of the day, there will be lots of voices and lots of advice … but you must trust your vision for your business,” she said.
Jacobson added aesthetic services in 2003 after receiving multiple requests from patients. She loves being able to change the lives of others through her practice.
“One patient said, ‘I actually recognize myself in the mirror now,'” she recalled. “That’s what it’s all about, making people feel confident and happy.”
The busy doctor does not rest on her laurels, however. In addition to running her practice, Jacobson has also co-founded a medical billing service and co-developed the building that her practice calls home. She is passionate about giving back to the community, throwing her support behind the Ben Towne foundation for childhood cancer research, Stitch in Time, Eastside Academy for at risk youth and the Mary McClinton House, which aids women in recovery.
The 2016 Nellie Cashman Award went to Andrea Duffield of MOSAIC Rehabilitation, Inc. Duffield runs four children’s therapy clinics in the Puget Sound, located in Seattle, Mountlake Terrace, Bellevue and Issaquah.
