What Do Mickey and Minnie Mouse Have in Common with Wildly Successful Business Women? Walt Disney World!

Walt Disney World’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa served as host to hundreds of successful women business owners recently. It was the 2008 Enterprising Women Magazine's annual Enterprising Women of the Year Awards, and it was a blast. Mickey and Minnie stopped by for our welcome reception and graciously posed for a picture with many of us.

This is the sixth year the magazine has recognized outstanding women entrepreneurs from North America. My good friend Monica Smiley, is the publisher and CEO of the magazine and she said she had an unprecedented number of women who were nominated for the prestigious award this year.

"Award recipients must demonstrate that they have fast-growth businesses, they mentor or actively support other women and girls involved in entrepreneurship, and they stand out as leaders in their communities. Many of these women are also leaders in the key organizations that support the growth of women's entrepreneurship. We have the privilege of bringing together the nation's finest women business owners to recognize and celebrate their accomplishments," Monica explaind.

The celebration and awards ceremony attracts women from a cross-section of industries, with revenues ranging from $400,000 in annual sales to more than $140 million. Award winners are recognized in five categories related to their annual sales volume:

*more than $25 million;
*more than $10 million and up to $25 million;
*more than $5 million and up to $10 million;
*more than $1 million and up to $5 million; and
up to $1 million.

One of the awards I was asked to present in the $1-5 million category went to Diana Richards who believe it or not, is only the second woman ever inducted into the Vacuum Cleaner Hall of Fame. She founded her Cleveland, Ohio based company, Vacuum Systems International in 1995 to manage national chain stores’ floor care equipment. What started out as a single client wanting a resource for store associates to call and troubleshoot vacuum repair issues has grown into North America’s largest vacuum cleaner remanufacturing facility. Today Diana’s company assists nearly 70,000 facilities in five countries to manage their floor care equipment.

The reason I mention Diana’s company is because of the irony of me being the one to present her award. When I was on stage I joked that the only thing I thought a vacuum cleaner was good for was to hang clothing on. My husband swears I don’t even know how to turn one on and off. You know, I think I’ll let him keep believing that.

It truly is an inspiring experience to be around such wildly successful women business owners. These winner aren’t afraid to dream the big dreams and it makes you realize anything is possible.

By the way, many of the recipients of this year's award as well as previous winners are featured in my book The Girls' Guide to Building a Million Dollar Business. Check it out if you'd like to know more about how they built their multi-million dollar enterprises. It's available in all bookstores as well as from the SBTV.com web site.

Here’s to your small business success.