Twenty women who lost their federal jobs and contracts are now starting their own businesses thanks to the help of the Maryland Women’s Business Center.
The women are graduates of the first Founders Rising cohort. Standing before their classmates, they gave one-minute elevator pitches with confidence some said they never dreamed they would have when they first lost their jobs.
Garine Isassi completed the eight-week program that was designed with Worksource Montgomery to help aspiring entrepreneurs launch sustainable businesses. Isassi had been a contractor for the National Science Foundation before being “one of the first laid off,” she said.
Unsure where to turn, Isassi, who had written a book and been active in the local writing community prior to losing her federal job, thought about all the years she has volunteered with the Gaithersburg Book Festival.
“Why is Barnes & Noble the only store within a half-hour drive,” she wondered, with her hometown book festival in mind.
She decided to open a bookstore that would also be a gathering place with lots of free events for all ages and applied to enroll in the program. She was one of 50 applicants who applied. Her next step is to raise about $300,000 and find a great location.
“The best part of the classes were the experts they brought in that we could ask questions to,” Isassi said. She praised her classmates and how they helped each other.
Mia Bailey spent 17 years with the federal government when she took a deferred resignation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Now, she has a consulting firm for non-profits, foundations and corporate leaders to guide them on the importance of helping others and social responsibility. It is called So Respond.
Erika Lessey already had an acupuncture business as a side job while she worked with the Food and Drug Administration. She was let go as part of a reduction in force effort about a year ago and decided to pursue acupuncture full-time after the RIF.
“There was so much give and take” said Lessey about the classes. She said the best part was how everyone was able to move past their self-doubt.
Other graduates, who proudly displayed their certificates to family and friends in attendance at the graduation ceremony, are working in such fields as after-school programs, health and wellness, custom-made handbags, food service and sustainability, among a variety of other unique trades.
Rockville City Councilmember Kate Fulton praised the graduates during the ceremony, which took place at the Rockville Library.
“It takes such courage and such commitment to step into entrepreneurship,” Fulton said.
Fulton also shared with the group that she has been working for the federal government for 20 years.
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