She Rules

New York City feted women in business tonight with the 6^th annual Stevie Awards. This year's awards attracted 1,100 entries, a handful fewer than last year's record total, and more than 300 women across the globe descended on the Mariott Marquis in Time Square to find out if they'd won.

Michael Gallagher, president of the awards, said the idea to focus on women (the Stevies organize three other business competitions) came at the behest of Avanta, a first-year sponsor.

And while Avanta has since bowed out, Gallagher and the judges liked the idea of looking at small and startup business for inspiration. “Holding these awards confirms what I already know about women,” Gallagher said. “They never, ever give up.” He recalls a winner from the first year who started a company with her husband. When she accepted her honor, she told the audience how she learned the hard way that the revenue she expected within the first 12 months didn't come until 10 years later.

Besides their tenaciousness, Gallagher is in it for the stories. “When men accept awards, they say 'thank you', tell a joke and they're gone. When women win, they tell you their whole life story in 30 seconds,” he explained.

This ceremony was certainly no exception. Three-time nominee, and winner for Best Entrepreneur, up to 100 employees in the services industries, Ann Kaplan, founder of Medicard Finance Inc., in Toronto, Canada, thanked her first—not current—husband for inspiring her. “If he hadn't left me with two children and a mortgage, I would never have pushed myself so hard to make it,” she said, choking up. Not bad for a company that in a recession managed to post $150 million in business and $26 million in revenue.

But it's not just difficult experiences that inspired these women to do what they do. Blog of the Year nominee Wednesdays With Susan, Susan Schneider—who also serves as President of 75-employee Plus Relocation Services, Inc., in Minneapolis, Minnesota, started blogging because writing was her passion. And she found herself too caught up in the balance sheet every day. “I think what makes women different is that they find a way to incorporate what they love into their job, even if the duties don't call for it,” she said. While her blog initially was an internal way for her to connect with her staff, it quickly expanded and is now read across the nation and abroad. “I'm not afraid to touch on the emotional side,” she said. Talking about one of the ways women set themselves apart from their male counterparts is their propensity to empathize with others. “Men in my field tend to talk about a lot of the technical issues associated with relocation,” Schneider explains. “But I tell people what I read about and what's on my iPod.”

Another benefit of her blog? It helps her bring in new business. “It's a great way to connect with prospects. They get to know me on a more personal level and it makes them trust me because they feel like they get to know a part of me before we start working together,” she adds. And her husband doesn't seem to mind that she occasionally writes about life with him and her two kids. “It's what makes her happy at the end of the day,” he beamed.

Job satisfaction and making big strides was the theme of the night. Special presenter Carolyn Kepcher, who worked with Donald Trump for years and helped him assess talents on multiple seasons of The Apprentice, said that what she learned of starting her own firm, Carolyn & Co., was that the experience was very rewarding. “After years of working for Donald Trump it was great to just put in all the hard work and do it for myself,” she said.

So do women make for better honchos then men? “I wouldn't say we're better,” Kepcher said. “But we do bring different attributes to the table.”

Mistress of Ceremonies Cheryl Casone, anchor at Fox Business Network summed it up by saying “we have so many talented, creative, driven women here. And we have a few children in between running these companies. I don't think men can actually say that.”