March came and took over. Sort of like @womenofclt.
Scoop’s @womenofclt Instagram account has been hot. These ladies of Charlotte aren’t playing around. They are here. They are thriving.
And we can’t get enough of the spectacular things they are doing.
Here’s a small peek of who we profiled recently:
Julie Hurley and her Beauty Boost Charlotte community is for… us. Yep. She’s a women empowering others to feel healthy and beautiful. Julie hosts health/ wellness events, socials, workshops and retreats. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
A few of our fav things.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
As a lover of travel and exploring new places, tasting fresh cuisine & connecting with people, Julie has enjoyed stepping outside of her comfort zone. By day, Julie’s a fully focused corporate America boss helping organizations adopt and adapt change. She takes those skills with her when she signs off each day. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
A great reminder we sometimes wear multiple hats.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The Charlotte chapter of The Beauty Boost has been here for two years. With over a decade of calling the Queen City home, Julie knew she had the power to share many of the local treasures to inspire.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Eventful info: @TheBeautyBoost_charlotte
Who could use a treat right about now? Aarthi & Addy and their delicious Magpies can deliver on that. Their fully-baked savory & sweet pocket pies are the perfect antidote to it all.
The *magical* pies came about when Aarthi wanted to create something special with the time she had before Addy, now a sophomore, went to college. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Aarthi, originally from India, had Addy in Omaha before ending up in Charlotte. Wanting to share their Indian heritage in a portable, easy to eat form, they now offer unique flavors like chicken tikka & paneer tikka baked in a crust made from scratch. They also have embraced Buffalo chicken flavor. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Magpies aims to be in a food stall in a food hall soon.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Gonna happen: @enjoymagpies
Stacy McFall just opened Madison Perk Coffee Bar. For years, she and her husband always wanted a coffee shop in their neighborhood of Madison Park. Done with hoping for one, they built one.
Just like that? Well, kinda. Supply chain stress and the pandemic had them wondering if it would come to fruition.
Always a creative kid growing up, playing piano and singing in choirs, Stacey graduated with a music degree from Eastern Michigan University. After falling into a corporate job in her 20’s she discovered that she enjoyed the business side of life as well.
It’s been fun being able to mix her creative roots with her professional skillsets and she’s excited to see all that they can accomplish with Madison Perk and beyond.
We’ll take a cup: @themadperk
Rokeya (MsQueenRo) Thomas is Brand Strategist & Owner of Royal Consulting. She works with business and corporate professionals to cultivate strategy, efficiency and organization into their brand.
Royal Consulting was created for working professionals. We need a one-stop-shop. No matter if you are working a 9 to 5 with a business on the side, a full time entrepreneur, or are in need to level-up your personal brand — Royal Consulting is where to start.
Rokeya’s inspiration was to provide guidance to working professionals who understand building a brand is top-of-the-list important.
Knowing where to start can be the tricky part:
@royalconsultingbiz
Elizabeth Connor Stewart is President of The Symphony Guild of Charlotte. She leads over 100 volunteer members focused on providing financial and volunteer support to the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra to further music appreciation and education.
Very cool.
The Guild has a history of supporting youth music education and envisions a future where every child has the opportunity to experience music and music education regardless of family means. There are numerous activities and programs held by The Guild each year including Young Artists Competition and Musical Petting Zoo as well as fundraisiers such as the Heart of the Home Tour.
Elizabeth has been a member of the Symphony Guild for 10 years and has held various leadership positions before becoming President. She studied music as an undergraduate and as a post-grad with a fellowship in Austria and Germany.
Professionally, Elizabeth is a REALTOR® with Keller Williams, a retired competitive equestrian, Past President of the Smocking Arts Guild of America, member of The Opera Guild, and member of the Daughters of the American Revolution where she was recently named the Outstanding Junior for 2021. She also serves on the Advisory board of WDAV 89.9 Classical Public Radio.
We’re listening:
@symguildcharnc
Sonya Pfeiffer is owner and creative director of Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art and partner at Rudolf Widenhouse. With all of her endeavors — lawyering, podcasting, running a contemporary art gallery and being a mom, her mission is the same: to do the most good she can.
Needed reminder.
What could possibly inspire her? The work of others of course. She looks to those who use whatever position or platform they have to work towards equality, to foster understanding, and to voice truth. People like Michelle Alexander, Christiane Amanpour, and Bryan Stevenson.
Sonya is also motivated by time — she is present with the fact that she does not know how much time we have to work for good, so she treats every day like it’s her last. Sonya’s currently splitting her time between Toronto, Ontario and Charlotte teaching Trial Advocacy here and consulting on complex cases.
When she was a reporter/anchor, Sonya moved almost every 2 years over 12 years covering national and international stories, including the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords in Paris & the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv.
In 2007 Sonya produced a documentary, called Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Social Justice. It won best short at the San Francisco Documentary Film Festival. In her personal time she’s found time to run five marathons, retiring after re-qualifying at Boston in 2001.
Oh, and she meditates daily.
Truly great inspiration is found:
@Sonyapfeiffer
Eldergalleryclt.com
@Elder_gallery_clt
Rudolfwidenhouse.com
Kinsza “Serenity” Virgil owns Just Pray Apparel — a Christian Clothing Company here in CLT. As a mother of 4 she’s determined to be an example for them.
And she is.
Born in California, and fluent in Japanese, Kinsza has a pretty fun professional background — she helped shape Billion Dollar Baby, owned by DaBaby. While there she absorbed every business tool she could — taking the knowledge with her when she left.
Savvy.
Kinsza’s motto is under promise and over deliver. Her brand has grown quickly, proving determination and the right mindset change everything.
She has us watching:
@realmakid
@justpray.mustardseed
justprayapparel.com
Brand sold locally: Zeuway Fashion
We know Sarah French. As morning Anchor for Wake Up CLT @WCNCTV — our local NBC station, she wakes up at 2 a.m. every day. Sarah wouldn’t have it any other way because it allows her to be home with her kids after school.
Sarah’s friend and colleague, Alice, was killed in 2009 — the victim of domestic violence. Sarah had to cover her murder and it was one of the hardest things she’s ever had to do. She turned her pain into purpose and raised awareness on domestic violence.
After Alice’s death, Sarah focused on Alice’s inability to text 911 for help. In 2019, Sarah did a story with CMPD focusing on the inability to text 911 here in Charlotte. In 2020, “Text to 911” became available in Mecklenburg County.
Journalism at its best.
Sarah completed her master’s in journalism in December 2021. After covering the Boston marathon bombing and losing a friend and colleague to suicide, Sarah decided to focus her research on journalists who cover traumatic events.
Again, turning pain into purpose.
Sarah won an Emmy for the series called, Hope for Haiti, after she traveled to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Sarah says she’s always meeting people on the best or worst day of their lives. And if it’s the worst, Sarah always looks at how she can give them a story that helps remember and honor their loved one or make a difference in someone else’s life.
Outside of work Sarah can be found around town with her husband, a former player for the Red Sox & Cubs (they met when she was covering the Red Sox centennial) & their adorable kiddos. Or serving in the children’s ministry at church.
She’s inspiration:
@SarahSFrench
www.sarahsfrench.com
TikTok: SarahSFrench
YouTube: SarahFrenchStories
Meoshia Burgess is Charlotte Princess. She’s a young entrepreneur, student, model, & public speaker who is determined to share her message — be the change.
And for that she’s got Woman of CLT status.
Meoshia was recently Mayor’s Alliance Mentee of the Year. She speaks at schools and events on bullying, gun violence, sex trafficking, self love, healthy teen dating, entrepreneurship, the importance of voting in local elections and more. She gets youth listening. Meoshia’s clothing line follows suit and inspires young girls to wear their crown with pride.
Never let that crown slip friends:
@the_youth_messenger
Whitney Feld serves as Vice President, Philanthropic Advancement at Foundation For The Carolinas — the 6th largest community foundation in the country.
Their mission? To inspire philanthropy and empower individuals to create a better community.
In Whitney’s role, she leads their Center for Personal Philanthropy and Planned Giving. This gives her the opportunity to collaborate with individuals & families on current gifting strategies, legacy planning, and multi-generational family engagement and grantmaking. Whitney believes in community foundations as a catalyst for social good.
Same. Same.
The community foundation movement was started in 1914 as a way for individuals of all means to create local, sustainable grantmaking that could evolve to meet changing community needs. As an attorney, Whitney’s able to leverage her legal background to help generous individuals make a difference.
Collectively, funds held at FFTC distributed over $448 million last year (2021) in grants to nonprofit organizations.
Ah. Very cool:
220 North Tryon Street
wfeld@fftc.org
@fftcarolinas
Jessica Law is owner of The Dog Salon — one of the top professional dog grooming salons in Charlotte. She employs 18 with a mission nothing short of housing a creative atmosphere for hard working people to be able to earn a living wage and not dread coming to work.
How it should be.
Jessica didn’t start out with the goal of becoming a successful small business owner or entrepreneur. There was never talk of college or lucrative career paths in her home growing up. Being from a very blue collar area in the MidWest, Jessica grew up listening to her parents and others complain about hating their jobs. She made the decision to be the change. She applied to an out-of-state art school and moved across the country.
A couple of years later she was here in CLT and washing dogs at The Dog Salon. The stars began aligning in a way that was a perfect mix of dumb luck, determination, and sheer chance. The owner learned of Jessica’s passion for small business branding and offered her a job that she felt she was totally under-qualified for — completely rebrand The Dog Salon. Jessica went all in and killed the project. She surprised herself with the results and Jessica believes that was the moment her entrepreneurial spark was ignited.
A few months later, the owners were looking for an exit plan and approached Jessica with an offer to buy. She took over and has since seen The Dog Salon double in size, draw nationwide media attention (USA today, HGTV), win countless awards, survive recessions, displacement due to gentrification, and a pandemic. They still manage to book 3 weeks out.
Woman of CLT stuff.
When not at TDS, Jessica can be found at The Gym CLT or hanging out with her two young sons, Maximus & Atlas.
@jaytaylaw
@thedogsalon
Pretty amazing right? Follow along at @womenofCLT
Because we are all Women of Charlotte.
