Category Archives: Women In Business

By Ann Donnelly

Wendy Waldron’s journey is far from conventional. “I’m actually just a grown-up Girl Scout,” she begins, a statement that encapsulates her approach to business: strategic, collaborative, and driven by a desire to “win the game.” Even as a young girl, she understood the power of understanding the rules and working together. 

“I sold the cookies, and I sold those cookies by the case because it was easier. And so I won all the prizes. Then, the next year, I taught all my little Girl Scout friends to sell them by the case whenever they could. And then we all won the prizes.” 

This early lesson, honed through record-breaking cookie sales, laid the foundation for her current success as CEO of her own company, WaldronWorks. “We just have to make sure we understand what the rules of the game are,” advises Waldron. “And then stick together and find a way to go win the game. And so, in a way, I’ve pretty much been doing that ever since.”

Her path wasn’t a straight line. After graduating from Colgate University on a scholarship, where she took on an unexpectedly demanding role managing student housing, she ventured to Mozambique, Africa, for a year of volunteer work. This transformative experience broadened her perspective and instilled a deep appreciation for opportunity.

Upon returning, a chance encounter with her future husband at a wedding led her to rural Pennsylvania and a temp job at a healthcare facility. “I was at the front desk with a day and a half training, trying to figure out if I pressed F11 or F9,” she recalls. Despite the initial chaos, she quickly rose through the ranks, eventually managing Cardiovascular Services at the Guthrie Clinic.

By Ann Donnelly

In a move sparking excitement among local artists, Light & Lens Studio, opening on Broad Street in Glens Falls later this month, offers a unique space for digital and traditional film photography enthusiasts. Unlike other studios, Light & Lens Studio, founded by the passionate photographer Jess Keller, is not just a rental space but a community hub for creatives.

Keller’s journey to opening this studio is a testament to her love for photography and entrepreneurial spirit. A self-described “hobby photographer,” Keller’s interest in the art form began in her teenage years. “I’ve been interested in photography since I was a teenager,” Keller explains. Her passion deepened during her time at Hofstra University, where she worked in the photo lab, eventually managing it and learning the intricacies of film development in a darkroom.

The inspiration for Light & Lens Studio stemmed from a desire to create a space that offered more than just a studio rental. “I knew I always wanted to start a business, preferably in the art world,” Keller said. “And when it comes to the darkroom and studio, there weren’t places where people could go and rent the space – or even just artistic hangout spaces.” This realization fueled her desire to create a space that was both accessible and inspiring.

“The equipment is expensive, setting up a darkroom is… you gotta get the chemicals, you gotta get everything,” Keller noted. She wanted to make these resources more accessible, fostering a community where photographers could share knowledge and inspiration. The studio offers a fully equipped darkroom and a modern studio space with lighting, catering to both film and digital photographers.

By Jill Nagy

April Weygand was at loose ends. Shortly after finishing college, she was back home living with her parents, working part-time jobs and generally miserable. 

“I needed something different to do,” she recalled. 

So, on little more than a whim, she decided to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail, approximately 2,100 miles of some of the country’s most difficult hiking, from Georgia to Maine.

At the time, she had hiked a bit as a Girl Scout and camped out one night in the Catskills. 

“I was not considered a hiker by any stretch of the imagination but I loved the outdoors,” she said. 

She read everything she could find about the trail, including a two-volume, 2,000-page book about the first 50 people who thru-hiked the trail soon after it opened in the 1940s. She made a pilgrimage to a large outdoor store in New Jersey and spent about $1,500 on gear for the expedition. And, she was ready to go.

It took two tries, but she did complete the hike and, 20 years later, she wrote a book about it. The book also required two attempts. The first version was over 1,000 pages, unwieldy to put it mildly. After many months of workshopping and editing help, she produced a lively, sometimes funny, 230-page paperback called Trail Gimp. The book is available, in paperback or as an e-book, at Northshire Books in  Saratoga Springs and  Manchester, Vt., And Weygand is ready to start marketing it further afield.    

By Ann Donnelly

Artistry of Face, a medical aesthetics practice operating in the Capital District since 2016, opened offices at 481 Glen Street, Glens Falls, in November 2023.

 Owner Kelly Heffernan NP saw the potential to restore the Victorian-era home that previous owners had cut into apartments to its original beauty and make a comfortable and luxurious environment for her clients in the area. Heffernan reached out to the family that first owned the property and got access to pictures of how the home looked. She has carefully decorated with furniture and accessories from that era or fit the style.

Heffernan and her staff provide minimally invasive treatments to enhance their clients’ appearance and assist those who have suffered from disease-driven facial asymmetry, such as Cleft Palate, Bell’s Palsy, and severe burns. The latter is a particular passion for Heffernan, who has been a medical professional for 20 years.

After receiving a four-year nursing degree and attending night school to qualify as a Nurse Practitioner, Heffernan moved into medical aesthetics in 2005. She has worked as a Nurse Practitioner, Senior Clinical Specialist, and most recently as Senior Medical Science Liaison for Nestlé Skin Health, traveling the country and teaching doctors, NPs, PAs, and RNs the art of injections. Her experience has allowed her to work and learn alongside the top thought leaders in the dermatology and plastic surgery fields, both in the country and internationally.

She then decided to open her own “med spa.” “It’s a big leap. Very scary and easy to come up with a million reasons not to, but I felt I had to,” she said. 

By Ann Donnelly

Since Falcons Brewhouse Bistro and Tavern opened in Hudson Falls on January 3, “business has been steady,” according to co-owner Kim Bender. 

“We’ve got a lot of community support, and most people coming are local, but we are also getting many people from Glens Falls and South Glens Falls. Word of mouth has been great. We have had a wonderful response from people who have come in.”

Bender and her co-owner and cousin, Alice Huntington, are Hudson Falls natives and have many relatives there. While neither has been in the restaurant or bar business before, they have established a successful menu. 

“We did our research, talked to food distributors, attended food shows out of state, and reviewed many recipes,” says Bender, a licensed real estate salesperson. “I’m a project manager, and as a project manager, you are supposed to be able to do everything.”

By Jill Nagy

Tricia Rogers, the President and CEO of the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce (ARCC), grew up in the Glens Falls area and, except for her college years, never left. 

“I love this area,” she said, and enjoys working with people she has known “forever.”

Rogers came to work at the ARCC as membership manager almost eight years ago. When her predecessor as President and CEO announced plans to retire, she applied for the position and was hired. She came on as head of a thriving organization with a new strategic plan in place.

Among other projects, the strategic plan aims to encourage member businesses to look outside traditional ways of hiring employees. A recent alternative workforce hiring panel, moderated by Rogers, focused on ways to reach groups such as the formerly incarcerated, veterans, disabled people, refugees, and other sometimes marginalized populations. There are plans to expand on this conversation in the future.

Meanwhile, 2023 was a busy year for the ARCC: 42 ribbon-cuttings in 2023, 143 new members bringing total chamber membership to 824, and 60 events attended by some 2,900 people. She attributes much of that growth to “increased engagement and support in the community.” 

With the warmer skies and spring temperatures on the way, the Battenkill Conservancy (“BkC”), a not-for-profit land trust that works within New York and Vermont’s Battenkill watershed, has announced some exciting hellos and some bittersweet goodbyes.  

In January, the organization lost its long time BkC Board Chair, Stuart Bartow, who passed away after a relatively brief battle with cancer.  His dedication to BkC’s mission coupled with his talents as a writer, poet and avid fly fisherman helped guide the organization’s work for over 18 years. A memorial tree planting and a scholarship announcement will take place later this spring. 

Simultaneously the BkC Board in conjunction with Lorraine Merghart Ballard, its first Executive Director, was working to secure her replacement. In 2016 with assistance from the NYS Conservation Partnership Program, Ballard  was appointed BkC’s first Executive Director.  During her tenure, she helped revitalize the organization with popular river related events, increased the public’s river access through the Battenkill Corridor Connections Project and used a simple “Picky Bugs Exhibit” containing macroinvertebrates to demonstrate the importance of cold, clean water and a healthy watershed.  She promoted the Battenkill as one of the area’s most important recreational, cultural, historical and environmental assets.  Advocating for “Clean Water & Open Space for All” became the organization’s motto during her tenure. She will continue to stay involved and act as Board Chair to help with the transition. 

By Christine Graf

After giving birth to her first child in 2015, Hudson Falls native Carly Trerise was especially grateful to the friends and family members who delivered home cooked meals to her house. It was out of that gratitude that the idea for a business was born. 

With the help of her father, Jim Quinlan, she came up with the idea for Dinner and Flowers (previously known as Send A Meal Today), a business that delivers pre-cooked refrigerated meals that can be reheated in the microwave or oven. 

The meals make perfect gifts for new parents, people who have just had surgery, or those who have suffered the loss of a loved one. In addition to entrees, a variety of homemade desserts are also available.

After a lot of time spent brainstorming with her father, Trerise enlisted Tamberlyn Dickinson to provide meals and baked goods for the business. Dickinson and her husband, Jon, are the owners of Dickerson’s Delight, an eatery in Glens Falls. They also sell their baked goods at the Glens Falls Farmer’s Market.

“After that, I started putting the word out that my dad and I had an idea that we were working on and that we were in the beginning stages and wanted to do test orders,” said Trerise. “I would use social media, including Facebook, to get orders.”

They accepted test orders for an entire year before officially launching the business in 2017. Trerise hired Kate Austin, owner of Advokate, a Glens Falls PR and marketing company, to help her as she worked to get the business off the ground.  

“Kate helped us iron out all of the little details. She also helped us to really get our business name out there into the community,” she said.

By Jill Nagy

When a company needs a controller, a staff accountant, a chief financial officer (CFO), or similar staff member, but not on a full-time basis, CEFO Advisors can step in. 

The Saratoga company provides a variety of professional staff members on a part-time basis.

Amy Roman has owned the company for 10 years. For the first five years, however, Roman was the only employee. Eventually, she realized that clients “needed more than just me,” and for the past five years, she has been hiring staff members and placing them with clients. 

In the early days, one of her clients described her as ”the bridge between CFO and CEO.”   That is the origin of the company name, CEFO.

Roman has 18 employees including managers, accountants, bookkeepers, controllers, CFOs, and staff training specialists, that she matches with companies needing their skills and expertise. Many are part-timers, working parents, or semi-retired people ready for a second career. They work flexible hours, including working at home, but must be available when the client company needs them on site, Roman said.

Typically, the CEFO specialist will remain with a company for year or more, coming and going as needed.

Company offices are at 125 High Rock Ave., Suite 103, in Saratoga Springs. 

Roman creates a team for each client company and she hires people for specific companies.

By Paul Post

Patrina Leland wasted no time making believers out of skeptical co-workers and customers in the male-dominated world of tire sales.

In 2021, she was named RNR Tire Express Rookie Manager of the Year for her success with a brand new store at 708 Upper Glen St.  in Queensbury.

Now plans are in the works for a second shop on State Street in Schenectady, with a long-range goal of opening one or two more between Albany and Troy.

“Sometimes people are a little surprised that a woman in this business knows about the tire, the wheel, the bolt pattern, what you can and can’t put on it,” Leland said. “I can run all the machines out back, set up the alignment rack, do the tire balances.”

Her can-do spirit comes from 30 years of work at her husband Jeff’s long-time, family-owned business, Leland Paper Co., which became part of W.B. Mason in 2019. 

“I really believe all my years there set me up for this position because I’ve done all of it—accounting, receivables, payables, sales. I ran the warehouse, loaded trucks and drove trucks,” said Leland, who holds an accounting degree from Russell Sage College.