Over the last several decades, the number of woman-owned businesses, particularly small businesses, has grown dramatically. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, about 30 percent of all small businesses in the United States are owned by women, compared with 5 percent in 1970.
These days, statistics show that women are starting their own businesses at a rate much higher than men.
With October being National Women's Small Business Month, we wanted to shine the spotlight our women entrepreneurs. The best way to achieve this was to present a selection of stories from some of the woman-owned businesses that are part of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce.
Susan Roll
Carlsbad Golf Center
Founded: 2003
Susan Roll started working as a golf professional in 1990. In 2003, she purchased the Carlsbad Golf Center, her goal being to create a golf pro shop she would patronize, one that would offer the largest range of name-brand equipment under one roof.
"We just have a lot of brands," Roll said. "There are very few (golf shops) that offer that many options."
It was a concept that caught on quickly, she said, and said the business has grown every year. It has also received many awards for its merchandising and for its club-fitting service.
What does she love most about being a business owner? Freedom.
"You're in charge of your own destiny," Roll said. "I never had fear of failure, I just keep doing the best I can every day.”
Sue Loftin
The Loftin Group
Founded: 1982
Sue Loftin started as a partner in a private practice before deciding to go out on her own. Her primary reason for starting her own business was that she was a single parent with two small children.
"It was a combination of things," Loftin said. "Being able to participate in my childrens' lives, being able to pick what I wanted to do and what kind of clients I wanted, and being able to say no … it has all given me a great sense of freedom."
Loftin said in law school she never envisioned starting her own business, and admits it was tough venturing on her own, particularly since being a business owner required her to take on responsibilities law school did not prepare her for, such as the day-to-day tasks of running an office.
"The scary part was adjusting to never knowing how much money you'll be bringing in and then creating a budget based on that," Loftin said. "I had no idea how the business side of it was going to run."
She made up for that by taking classes to help her with her bookkeeping, and soon became comfortable running her business.
Loftin said that though some preconceptions still persist, women have progressed much in the law profession during her career.
"People now accept that women can do a lot of these things as well as men," she said. "Its been very exciting to live through all the changes from the late '60s to now in terms of our culture."
Ofie Escobedo
Lola's 7-Up Market & Deli
Founded:1943
Lola's had already been a historic, thriving store when Ofie Escobedo and her sisters, Connie Trejo and Frances Moreno, took the store over in 1985 and turned into the thriving community hub it is today. The store that had once belonged to their parents, which traced its history back to the World War II era, had fallen into a state of disrepair after their parents had trusted it to someone else.
Escobedo had put in 22 years at McDonnell Douglas, the now defunct aerospace company. She had moved up the corporate ladder, going from a typist to a contract negotiator.
She then decided to return to Carlsbad and take on the family business, turning what was once primarily a corner market for the families living in the Carlsbad Barrio to a delicatessen serving up the fast, inexpensive and much-celebrated food that has earned Lola's its sterling reputation and legions of adoring fans.
More than anything, Escobedo says, Lola's is her way of giving back to the community, of offering a place for young kids, the deli is teeming with high school students from nearby Carlsbad High School at lunchtime, to feel safe.
"This is like the Carlsbad version of 'Cheers,'" she said. "Everybody knows your name."
Cindy Cesena
La Costa Valley Preschool and Kindergarten
Founded: 1990
Cesena comes from a long family tradition of business ownership. Growing up in Encinitas and La Costa, her grandparents owned both the La Paloma Theater in La Costa and the Solana Theater and her mother was in banking and was also president of the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce.
As she was growing up, Cesena worked at the theater and also spent her youth attending chamber functions and meeting different people.
Those activities, she said, prepared her to one day become a business owner.
"One of the greatest gifts I ever received is that I got to have first-hand experience being in those businesses," Cesena said.
Her parents always used business to give back to the community, said Cesena, adding that the philosophy led her to start her business.
"South La Costa really needed to have an additional preschool and kindergarten program," she said. "I thought I could bring the school to the area and meet a need in the community and also give back."
Deb Beddoe
Your Ops Manager
Founded: 2010
Deb Beddoe spent her entire career focused on becoming a "c-level" executive and when she got to be CFO of a payment company with contracts with MasterCard and Visa, she realized it wasn't what she thought it would be.
"I realized that c-level executives don't make the decisions," she says, adding that they implement the decision for a board of directors. When she realized she would be personally liable if the company she worked for were to go bankrupt based on the direction the board was pursuing, Beddoe tendered her resignation.
Beddoe realized she didn't want to be a c-level executive any longer, and realized it would be difficult for her to be hired at a lower level position.
"At that point I decided that if I was going to take responsibility for someone's decisions, I was going to take responsibility for my own decisions," she said.
She knew that there were outsourcing companies out there, but none that were all-encompassing and geared primarily toward the small business owner. The result was Your Ops manager, an operations management company that allows small companies to outsource activities such as human resources activities, accounting, payroll, compliance, events, benefits administration and long-term planning to let business owners concentrate on their core business.
"I did not just decide to start a business similar to something that already existed, or buy a franchise, or spin off from a competitor," said Beddoe. "I wanted to start something that never existed before with the full intention that competitors would one day try to follow in my footsteps, as opposed to my following in someone else's footsteps."
Grace Judson
Svaha Concepts
Founded: 2004
Grace Judson spent 25 years as a software designer in the corporate world and then worked as a consultant. When the company she was working for lost its contract to Hewlett Packard and she was laid off, Judson realized she would either look for another job or go to work for herself, she decided to start her own company, Svaha Concepts. She writes content for clients, but also works with them better define their company. She interviews businesses and also their clients, she calls it a "deep dive" that starts off with some nonverbal evaluations, to not only understand what the clients do, but also who their customers are.
"So many people out there start with external marketing," she said. "A lot of people can figure out what you have to offer and then teach you how (to market your business) but that's starting half way through. They leave out the understanding of who you really are as a business person and what it is you're trying to transmit."
These days, statistics show that women are starting their own businesses at a rate much higher than men.
With October being National Women's Small Business Month, we wanted to shine the spotlight our women entrepreneurs. The best way to achieve this was to present a selection of stories from some of the woman-owned businesses that are part of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce.
Susan Roll
Carlsbad Golf Center
Founded: 2003
Susan Roll started working as a golf professional in 1990. In 2003, she purchased the Carlsbad Golf Center, her goal being to create a golf pro shop she would patronize, one that would offer the largest range of name-brand equipment under one roof.
"We just have a lot of brands," Roll said. "There are very few (golf shops) that offer that many options."
It was a concept that caught on quickly, she said, and said the business has grown every year. It has also received many awards for its merchandising and for its club-fitting service.
What does she love most about being a business owner? Freedom.
"You're in charge of your own destiny," Roll said. "I never had fear of failure, I just keep doing the best I can every day.”
Sue Loftin
The Loftin Group
Founded: 1982
Sue Loftin started as a partner in a private practice before deciding to go out on her own. Her primary reason for starting her own business was that she was a single parent with two small children.
"It was a combination of things," Loftin said. "Being able to participate in my childrens' lives, being able to pick what I wanted to do and what kind of clients I wanted, and being able to say no … it has all given me a great sense of freedom."
Loftin said in law school she never envisioned starting her own business, and admits it was tough venturing on her own, particularly since being a business owner required her to take on responsibilities law school did not prepare her for, such as the day-to-day tasks of running an office.
"The scary part was adjusting to never knowing how much money you'll be bringing in and then creating a budget based on that," Loftin said. "I had no idea how the business side of it was going to run."
She made up for that by taking classes to help her with her bookkeeping, and soon became comfortable running her business.
Loftin said that though some preconceptions still persist, women have progressed much in the law profession during her career.
"People now accept that women can do a lot of these things as well as men," she said. "Its been very exciting to live through all the changes from the late '60s to now in terms of our culture."
Ofie Escobedo
Lola's 7-Up Market & Deli
Founded:1943
Lola's had already been a historic, thriving store when Ofie Escobedo and her sisters, Connie Trejo and Frances Moreno, took the store over in 1985 and turned into the thriving community hub it is today. The store that had once belonged to their parents, which traced its history back to the World War II era, had fallen into a state of disrepair after their parents had trusted it to someone else.
Escobedo had put in 22 years at McDonnell Douglas, the now defunct aerospace company. She had moved up the corporate ladder, going from a typist to a contract negotiator.
She then decided to return to Carlsbad and take on the family business, turning what was once primarily a corner market for the families living in the Carlsbad Barrio to a delicatessen serving up the fast, inexpensive and much-celebrated food that has earned Lola's its sterling reputation and legions of adoring fans.
More than anything, Escobedo says, Lola's is her way of giving back to the community, of offering a place for young kids, the deli is teeming with high school students from nearby Carlsbad High School at lunchtime, to feel safe.
"This is like the Carlsbad version of 'Cheers,'" she said. "Everybody knows your name."
Cindy Cesena
La Costa Valley Preschool and Kindergarten
Founded: 1990
Cesena comes from a long family tradition of business ownership. Growing up in Encinitas and La Costa, her grandparents owned both the La Paloma Theater in La Costa and the Solana Theater and her mother was in banking and was also president of the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce.
As she was growing up, Cesena worked at the theater and also spent her youth attending chamber functions and meeting different people.
Those activities, she said, prepared her to one day become a business owner.
"One of the greatest gifts I ever received is that I got to have first-hand experience being in those businesses," Cesena said.
Her parents always used business to give back to the community, said Cesena, adding that the philosophy led her to start her business.
"South La Costa really needed to have an additional preschool and kindergarten program," she said. "I thought I could bring the school to the area and meet a need in the community and also give back."
Deb Beddoe
Your Ops Manager
Founded: 2010
Deb Beddoe spent her entire career focused on becoming a "c-level" executive and when she got to be CFO of a payment company with contracts with MasterCard and Visa, she realized it wasn't what she thought it would be.
"I realized that c-level executives don't make the decisions," she says, adding that they implement the decision for a board of directors. When she realized she would be personally liable if the company she worked for were to go bankrupt based on the direction the board was pursuing, Beddoe tendered her resignation.
Beddoe realized she didn't want to be a c-level executive any longer, and realized it would be difficult for her to be hired at a lower level position.
"At that point I decided that if I was going to take responsibility for someone's decisions, I was going to take responsibility for my own decisions," she said.
She knew that there were outsourcing companies out there, but none that were all-encompassing and geared primarily toward the small business owner. The result was Your Ops manager, an operations management company that allows small companies to outsource activities such as human resources activities, accounting, payroll, compliance, events, benefits administration and long-term planning to let business owners concentrate on their core business.
"I did not just decide to start a business similar to something that already existed, or buy a franchise, or spin off from a competitor," said Beddoe. "I wanted to start something that never existed before with the full intention that competitors would one day try to follow in my footsteps, as opposed to my following in someone else's footsteps."
Grace Judson
Svaha Concepts
Founded: 2004
Grace Judson spent 25 years as a software designer in the corporate world and then worked as a consultant. When the company she was working for lost its contract to Hewlett Packard and she was laid off, Judson realized she would either look for another job or go to work for herself, she decided to start her own company, Svaha Concepts. She writes content for clients, but also works with them better define their company. She interviews businesses and also their clients, she calls it a "deep dive" that starts off with some nonverbal evaluations, to not only understand what the clients do, but also who their customers are.
"So many people out there start with external marketing," she said. "A lot of people can figure out what you have to offer and then teach you how (to market your business) but that's starting half way through. They leave out the understanding of who you really are as a business person and what it is you're trying to transmit."