Category Archives: Entrepreneurial Women

By Christine Graf

Before owning her own company, Rose Miller worked in human resources for companies of all sizes. Around 2005, she began to seriously consider the idea of opening her own human resources consulting business.

“You have to do a scout model. Always be prepared and get as many facts as you can,” she said.

Her research revealed that the number-one failure point for HR professionals who went out on their own was loneliness and isolation. A self-described people person, Miller found that concerning.

“I saw myself quickly becoming dissatisfied with working out of my house,” she said. “I also knew that one of my strengths is building great teams. I knew I didn’t want to work all by myself. I wanted to build a company.”

Her first step was to create a business plan. According to Miller, it is essential for anyone who is thinking about starting their own business.

“So many entrepreneurs don’t write a business plan, but you really need to sit down and go through a professional business plan because it makes you formulize things and delve into areas that you may not be strong at. To put it in writing is an amazing exercise.”

By Christine Graf

While still a student at Galway High School Kylie (Curtis) Holland started working at the front counter at Curtis Lumber in Ballston Spa. Today, the sixth-generation member of the Curtis family is preparing for the day when she will take the helm of the family business.

Her father, Jay Curtis, currently serves as CEO and president of the 131-year old company that has 23 locations and approximately 700 employees. He took over in 1991, the same year that Holland was born.

During the four years that Holland attended college at SUNY Cortland, she made a five-hour round trip each weekend in order to continue working at Curtis Lumber. After graduating with a degree in criminal justice in 2012, she considered attending law school.

“I was faced with a choice of either you go to law school or you work (at Curtis Lumber),” she said.  “Because of the intensity of law school, I knew I couldn’t do both. That was kind of my moment where I had to choose. I just couldn’t imagine what it would look like to walk away from Curtis Lumber.  I loved it, and I loved the people. That’s when I decided this was the path for me after all.”

Although her older brother, Christopher, also works for Curtis Lumber, he is not interested in taking over when their father retires.

By Susan Elise Campbell

Ever since she could remember, Danielle Kresge wanted to run a hair salon and spa.

Half her dream was realized when she started Elle Salon three years ago in South Glens Falls. Now in her new location at 113 Saratoga Ave., Kresge has the room to add staff and services to give clients the full spa experience.

“At the other location, I had a good starting point to get my feet wet,” she said. “I’m actually surprised at how quickly we grew, and proud of it.”

Once she determined to move and expand, Kresge knew she would put her clients first. The location she found on Facebook was a brand new building in which she could picture clients “relaxing and enjoying themselves,” she said.

“The space is like an open canvas with white walls and high ceilings,” she said. “It has a clean, breezy, airy feeling.”

Since the move the first week of August, there have been a few new hires, bringing the staff to 12.

Elle Salon and Spa now has four rooms for spa services, including facials, body waxing, eyelash extension, hand-tied hair extensions, brow lamination and make-up. There is also a dedicated room for full body massage.

By Lisa Balschunat
Six years ago, Cristina Hanchett took a chance on a small South Street storefront to open her business, the Juicin’ Jar.
The menu was packed with healthy blender and juice drinks, wraps, salad and what has become the establishment’s famous waffles.
“When we opened in Glens Falls we also had a place in Lake George,” Hanchett said. “Things were happening downtown and we wanted to be a part of it.”
In 2016, the Juicin’ Jar moved into the small café space within Milk and Honey, 16 Exchange St., and most recently absorbed the inventory and first floor of the previous gift shop that closed.
“We will continue to offer some items that Milk and Honey carried, like the local honey, teas, bath soaps, lotions and greeting cards,” she said.

By Christine Graf
Lake George native Leah Stein worked in the area as a park ranger and environmental educator. She then shifted gears and worked at a bakery in the area. In 2013, she decided to go out on her own.
“I grew up in a tourist town with tons of entrepreneurs around me,” she said. “A lot of people had their own businesses, and it was always something that was in the back of mind as an attainable goal.”
She opened Leah’s Cakery, located in the historic West Side General Store building at 3 Curry Street in Round Lake, in 2013.
When Stein made the decision to change professions, she enrolled in the culinary program at Schenectady County Community College (SCCC). She comes from what she describes as a “culinary inspired” family, and she fell in love with baking as a young girl. It was while making custom cakes as a side job while working in environmental science that she decided to pursue baking full time.
While still in culinary school, Stein worked part-time making custom cakes at the former Queen of Tarts bakery in Guilderland. After graduating from SCCC 2008, she taught baking courses at the college for six years.

By Christine Graf
It’s been more than 40 years since Marj DeVit and her husband, Marty, opened their heating and air conditioning business. The Glens Falls company, Thermal Associates, was a pioneer in air source heat pump technology during the energy crisis in the 1970s and 1980s.
During the 1980s, Thermal Associates was one of the first companies to introduce geothermal heat pump technology to the region.
Geothermal heat pumps can heat, cool, and supply hot water to a home by transferring heat to or from the ground. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the use of geothermal technology can reduce energy bills by up to 65 percent compared to traditional HVAC units. Because geothermal heat pumps require no fossil fuels to operate, they emit significantly less CO2 than traditional units. Approximately 40 percent of U.S. CO2 emissions result from the demand for heating, cooling, and hot water.
In the early years of the business, DeVit worked from home handling phone calls, scheduling service calls, and performing accounting tasks.

by Andrea Palmer
Prior to opening Fresh ADK, a restaurant at 11 South St. in Glens Falls, Melissa Brennan owned and operated daycare centers for 21 years. In 2015, she became sick and gained weight.
It led to starting a business that pays attention to healthy eating.
“My body started to shut down, and I didn’t know why. So I left the daycare business. I literally thought I was dying,” said Brennan.
“I found out it was all food-related. I took time to figure out myself what was wrong, because there wasn’t a doctor who could tell me. I’d always wanted to try something new, and I knew there were other people like me who had food-related sickness. So I opened the restaurant,” she said.
Brennan chose to operate the business almost entirely by herself.

By Rachel Phillips
In a digital world of iPhones and social media, one local woman started a business to help people connect “the old-fashioned way.”
Briana Lyons started The Yellow Note in 2013 as a small Etsy shop that sold stationery and custom address stamps. Though rewarding, her career in social work had left her lacking a creative outlet, inspiring her to open her store.
As a means of promoting her products, she created an Instagram account where she shared photos of her family and lifestyle along with her products. To her surprise, her photography became popular, and The Yellow Note, located out of Lyons’ home in Glens Falls, has since evolved into a multi-faceted business and studio.