SUCCESS STORIES

“The Forum has unique and unusual nuances in how it proceeds and the impact it has on participants in their transformation as entrepreneurs. It's a hard thing to really get. It's the sayings, the poetry, the evaluations, the contracts. It's hard to get the flavor and the power of it without really being in a meeting.”
- Enid Weishaus, Coach

Featured Success Story
A recent Forum graduate finds strength in numbers...


LISA F., a fine arts and portraiture photographer, found through her Forum experience that, after five years in business, she needed to reignite her focus on what she loves. For Lisa, the Forum Builders facilitator was “amazing at drawing out each participant’s feelings, needs and direction to focus on.” Lisa has found truth in the old adage “Follow your heart and the money will come!”

More Success Stories
Additional Forum participants speak their minds...

JUDY STADT first came to Forum-Builders following the end of a twenty year run as a successful entrepreneur in retail. Though she loved that environment, she had grown tired of the long hours and chronic uncertainties borne of traffic and weather. 
 
With guidance and support from Forum-Builders, Judy brought together her additional talents as an actress and playwright to form Boomer Productions. Judy led a talented troupe of actors, producing over 100 shows for senior citizens who came from all over the New York tri-state area to enjoy Judy’s unique “Dinner Theatre in the Afternoon.”

After several years, Judy realized that this endeavor, while wildly successful, was all-consuming.  Again, Judy consulted Forum-Builders to help her through her next transition.  Judy is now happily ensconced in her new career in Real Estate, which brings together her sales and people skills, raising the bar to a new and more profitable level, while providing an infrastructure so she doesn’t have to “do it all” single handedly.   Judy credits Forum-Builders with easing her transition:  “These people really saved my life.  Before I discovered Forum-Builders I felt I was flailing around with no focus or direction.  Now I am confident that through each transition I create better and more exciting work for myself.”

KAREN SEEMAN joined the RBA Women’s Forum to expand her networking contacts, but she found so much more! Karen became an active and enthusiastic participant, encouraging other women in their endeavors as she grew in her own. Though not expert as a public speaker, Karen agreed to facilitate a Woman’s Forum program, and she became so interested in speaking as a result that she went on to take leadership positions in two local Toastmasters groups. Says Karen: “Woman’s Forum was an important step for me…my confidence and ambition only continue to grow with its support!”

KURT G., a father of two young boys, is one of many talented graphic designers who have been hurt by the downturn in that industry. Kurt learned how to network to develop business through the Business Development Forums -- “…and now I’m happy to say I’m beginning to put money back into my savings!”

GRETA G. spent decades in the travel business but found it more and more difficult to make a living in the increasingly competitive environment. Her Forum experience led to a strategy to develop luxury travel programs, along with creative and effective marketing approaches to capture the high end market… “The hardest thing is to get a fresh look at what I’m doing but this has helped me do just that.”

DEBORAH C. is a young mother with a dream to build her own administrative services company. Deborah participated in two back-to-back Business Development Forums, each of six weeks’ duration. From this support she has learned – among other things - to prune her client list to those who are most profitable and easy to work with. “A lot of the women I work with are Moms who are home from regular jobs. They know bookkeeping and that’s what my repeat customers want. It all started with your classes, learning how to use the resources around me.”

MADELINE M. is a single mother who was downsized from an executive position in Human Resources. She had always dreamed of building her own business, but in her first entrepreneurial initiative found herself entangled in an unproductive partnership. She found the courage and wherewithal to sever that relationship, and is now busy building her thriving recruiting practice….”I was able to realize that I could do it on my own.”

TIM G. spent years developing a web design and hosting company, but felt stuck at a plateau. He learned to develop the staff who would help his business grow into its next stage. “This is really it, this program is really concrete. You make changes that really matter in your business, and in a short time.”

LEE V. is a talented, creative woman who launched a Floral Design company, targeting weddings and corporate events. The Forum-Builders Entrepreneur’s Business Development Program helped Lee focus in on her key competitive strengths in order to create powerful marketing materials. Her comments about her facilitator? “Fabulous. Inspiring. Helps me nail down what’s really important.”

CHRIS M. suffered down sizing at a major corporation, and with a daughter about to enter College, Chris felt the financial pressures mount. Through concerted effort in a Networking Forum, Chris found a rewarding new career in the Homeland Security sector. He learned how to migrate old skills to new markets through his alliances within the Forum, and he continues to seek counsel in Forums as his new initiative unfolds.