Celebrating their strengths: Women in business network at luncheon

More than 75 women gathered together Tuesday to celebrate their strengths in running a business.

Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Department of Development, was the keynote speaker at the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce’s fourth Women in Business luncheon.

Also sharing advice on operating a successful business were Kathy Wilhelm with Hagemeyer Fine Photography and Sheri Gentry with Gentry Wellness LLC.

“There are so many amazing women in our community,” said Mary Hinkelman, executive director for the chamber.

Mihalik spent four years as mayor of Findlay before being tapped by Gov. Mike DeWine to lead the Ohio Department of Development.

“We are all about supporting small businesses,” she said. “It is what we do, it is our bread and butter.”

Mihalik talked about her journey, starting with studying political science at the University of Findlay. She was offered a job with that city right out of college.

“I had no real interest in it,” Mihalik said about government work. “I jumped in and did an internship with community and economic development and I loved it.”

She soon joined the Hancock County Regional Planning Commission and netted more than $18 million in grants for the county.

“I learned very quickly that collaboration … is very powerful and it can get a lot of things done,” Mihalik said.

She was successful in her first bid for mayor and ran for a second term unopposed. In 2019, one year into that second term, DeWine approached her.

Mihalik said it is important to have local perspective in Columbus and although she enjoyed being mayor, she thought she could affect change in the state’s capital.

“What’s rewarding about my position has to do with the diversity of the things we do every day,” Mihalik said.

Her office consults, invests in blighted areas and infrastructure, and helps individuals pay their utility bills, she said.

More than 90% of businesses in Ohio are small businesses and more than half who seek her office’s support are small businesses owned by women.

Wilhelm and Gentry also shared how they have succeeded with their small business.

Wilhelm and her sister Cheryl have operated their photography business for 35 years and have watched the evolution in the industry, from film to digital.

Their business principle is that when they make a decision, it is the best one for the client and each other, Wilhelm said.

“It has never been about me first,” she said.

Wilhelm explained the seven Ps that the sisters follow in their business.

Be passionate about the job every day because it is contagious.

Connect with the people, and take care of people in the business. Network inside and outside the industry.

Plan by having a mission statement because it’s the north star. Look at it all the time and live with it every day.

Process by doing things the best way, the same way, every time.

Persevere by looking at the future and don’t stop until the goal is accomplished in an ethical way.

Pivot, and be ready to change and adapt and pay attention.

By using the first six Ps, expect to prosper as a person and financially, Wilhelm said.

Gentry said that getting from point A to point B isn’t always a straight line.

“There is the messy middle,” she said.

Gentry said she was responsible for family care at an early age, and a hospital stay planted the seed of helping people.

She studied to become a physician assistant in college with the goal of showing patients the fear of medicine is not something to be worried about.

Over the years, Gentry’s also worked in women’s health and as a midwife. But at a certain point, she decided all the knowledge she had gained shouldn’t stop with her.

She started teaching at the University of Toledo and University of Findlay, and it was her students who pointed out that her health could be better.

“As health care providers, we should live what we teach,” Gentry said.

That epiphany led her to helping others get their health to a place where they can reach their dreams, she said.

Progress is all about embracing the messy middles in life; don’t try to keep making a better past and always grow and be willing to learn.

The event was held to celebrate National Women’s Small Business Month.