Sherlyn Powell, President of the NAPW Stafford Local Chapter, welcomed the women to a professional networking meeting on November 19th. The chapter conducted brief introductions among members and allotted plenty of time for casual conversation and fun so that members could start to forge both professional and social relationships.

Sherlyn Powell, Chapter President opened the meet and greet by welcoming the other members and she presented each member with a gift from the NAPW. She spoke briefly about the NAPW and why she started the Stafford Chapter. She pointed out the four words on the NAPW banner, connect, learn, grow and inspire, and she pointed out how the Stafford chapter took their first step to connect and together they would learn, grow and inspire. She encouraged members to connect with other NAPW members. She mentioned the 2011 conference and informed them there would be another conference in 2012. She also suggested that they may, in time, connect with other nearby chapters. She asked for someone to take the minutes and then she opened the floor asking each member to introduce themselves.

Members in attendance included Heather Rutherford, Sabrina Priest, Tatiana Burn, Tanika Alexander, Cynthia Harper, TC Cooksley and Chapter President Sherlyn Powell.

Heather Rutherford is an Accounting Manager of the National Geographic Society located in Washington, DC. She works in the Cash Management branch of the agency. She has been an Accountant for 20 years. Her spouse is in the military and they have 5 children.

Sabrina Priest is a work at home mom with her own business, Bellisima Baby Bags. Her designer diaper bag business is focused on helping parents find a diaper bag that fits their personal fashion style while functional enough to carry the baby’s stuff. Her web boutique has holiday promotions going on for those looking for a new diaper bag and baby gifts at http://www.bellisimababybags.com.

Tatiana Burn works for IBM in their Marketing department. She is focused on helping small businesses with their marketing efforts. She and her husband have two small children. She is originally from Columbia, South America. She has lived in various cities in Virginia for 19 years.

Tanika Alexander is a Social Worker and has been in the field for 13 years. She currently works on the Quantico Marine Base helping military families. She has her own clinical supervision & consultation business, Soulstice: Opportunities Un-Limited. She and her husband have 2 children.

Cynthia Harper is the Vice President of Federal Acquisition Management Solutions, her government contracting consultant business. She works with Small Businesses in procuring federal contracts for their businesses. She recently closed a contracting deal worth $50 million dollars. She owns two other cleaning businesses.

TC Cooksley is a local Realtor with 1st Choice realty company that has been working with area banks in Stafford and Spotsylvania Counties in Virginia for about four years to help struggling homeowners stay in their homes. Her expertise is in short sales and foreclosures. She is a cancer survivor and has been in remission for eight months. She is also a published novelist.

Sherlyn Powell is an author with three books under her belt. She has written two romance novels and recently her personal memoir, A Gift Called Mother. She is also starting her own publishing company, Books My Way Publishing, LLC, to support other authors in publishing their writings. She has worked many types of jobs but finds writing to be her passion. Visit Sherlyn’s site at http://www.sherlynpowell.com and visit her publishing company website at http://www.books-myway.com.

"I believe we got off to a great start," Sherlyn said. "We can learn and grow. It's a wonderful opportunity for all of us."

"Each of the women who attend these meetings will walk away with a better and more satisfying personal and business relationship," Cynthia added.

For additional information regarding the NAPW Stafford Local Chapter and/or NAPW please visit http://www.napw.com.

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