It’s all about the neighborhood
An amazing evening with a phenomenal bunch of entrepreneurs and a crowd of great people — that’s a long but accurate description of the event on March 8th celebrating the woman business owners along the Upshur Street corridor. See a large photo gallery!
Read MoreWith years of experience managing restaurants and music venues, Christine Lilyea realized what started out as just a job became a career. When she took over Slash Run in 2018 after managing it for two years, she knew she found her dream job. She manages both the kitchen and the front of the house, it’s lot work.
"But I'm up for it," she says. "I didn't know this was going to be as difficult as it is, but I just don't stop. I keep going. As long as I keep pushing, it works."
Read More“There are so many challenges to being a woman in the culinary industry,” Anna said. “You don’t know how many times we go to events and set up tasting stations, and my sous chef is a guy, and they come up and say, "‘Hey chef,” talking to him. You’re automatically, as a woman, not given the same respect and the same recognition.”
Anna appreciates where she is now and what the future holds. She believes in helping others, like younger female entrepreneurs. “You have to reach back,” she said. “Whether she’s an immigrant or she’s not. The next generation of women that are coming up behind us, it’s our job as women, that they’re better than we are. That they surpass anything that we’ve done. We reach back and we help them.”
Read MoreRaised to focus on hard work by self-described hippie parents, home schooled, with a large extended family, Hannah was taught the benefit of the do-it-yourself mantra and being immersed in being busy. Self-determination and "anything is possible if you work hard enough" mixes with a strong inner (and outwardly focused) passion.
“I can make something out of nothing,” she laughs. “You give me a hot glue gun… we’re going to have a store.”
Read MoreIt had been six days since the blockbuster opening of her flower shop, She Loves Me, and Holley Simmons was freaking out a little. The Upshur block felt sleepy that Friday under a coat of fresh snow, and Simmons had decided to let her employees stay home. Then, suddenly, the delivery and Valentines Day flower orders started pouring in.
“Shit.”
Read MoreI walked into Lulabelle’s Sweet Shop on a sunny Friday afternoon to interview owner Julie Wineinger about what it’s like to be a woman business owner. Before I could even sit down, the scene before me spoke volumes: there was Julie, one hand on her laptop, fielding questions from her staff behind the counter while discreetly nursing her five-week-old son inside a cloth carrier.
It was the epitome of the juggling act that every working mom performs, and is even more acute when that new mom is a business owner.
Read MoreNow that she’s broken through, Dani Moreira gets a sense of satisfaction working alongside other immigrants and showing them that there is a way up the ladder.
“I enjoy seeing all these women next to me and showing them there is a future,” Moreira says. “As an immigrant, showing other immigrants that they don’t have to be stuck washing dishes.”
Read MoreWhat appears to drive Ouley Beye as a business owner is greater than just being profitable. She loves to empower others to fulfill their dreams. “It’s still going to be a dream until you make it happen,” she said.
Ouley proudly states, “If I can make it, anyone can.”
Read MoreFia Thomas runs her successful vintage and used clothing shop, Fia’s Fabulous Finds, while working a full-time government job and raising two daughters. But she says the hard work is worth it.
“I’m really a business owner who has it all,” she says. “I’m married with kids, and I have a passion that I’m pursuing.”
Read MoreOf the women I interviewed for these series, Steiner is the most outspoken and unapologetic feminist. Her wines are female, her staff is free to kick sleazy men out of the restaurant at will, and she doesn’t care if you don’t like it.
“You can be hospitable and still stand up for yourself,” she says.
Read MoreThe story of Annie’s Ace Hardware is the classic tale of “build it and they will come.” Stom noticed that more and more people are moving to the neighborhood, most of the houses need renovation, and there’s no hardware store nearby.
So, Stom decided to open one.
Read MoreThe last two years have brought a flurry of openings to Upshur Street. As the Petworth News team covered these openings, we noticed a pattern. We did a back-of-the-envelope count and there are upwards of 11 female-owned businesses on Upshur Street alone! That’s the vast majority of the street’s retail and restaurants.
To celebrate this awesome fact, and because March is International Women’s Month, we’ll be profiling each of these boss ladies in a series of articles, starting March 1st, and hosting a free community discussion and party on March 8th!
Read MorePetworth News, a neighborhood blog on local news, information & events about the Petworth area in Washington DC.
Petworth News is a news site about Petworth area neighborhoods in Washington DC, written by Drew Schneider and other amazing contributing writers. It features facts and objective reporting, as well as an occasional subjective point of view and opinion.
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