Women’s Business Summit success for new business owners

In a woman’s world, everyone has to fight for their spot at the table. It’s even harder for female entrepreneurs. 

On September 19, not a man was in sight at the REI Women’s Business Summit at Great Plains Technology Center’s Worley Center. That day was for the ladies climbing the corporate ladder and smashing the glass ceiling.

Attendees had the opportunity to build their businesses by gaining advice from bankers, accountants, insurance agents and lawyers, while asking questions during each panel. Opportunities to network, visit vendors and meet up with the speakers arose after each panel. Attendees had the chance to win door prizes and meet hard-working women from all walks of life. At the end of the day, everyone even had the chance to pet beautiful doggos from Paws With Love in the lobby.

The keynote speaker for the event was award-winning leader, founder and Executive Director of Seasons of Change Inc. (SOC), Tavian Harris. SOC is a grassroots organization in Arlington, Texas, established in 2001 and incorporated in 2010. Under Harris’ leadership, SOC was awarded $28 million from 2010-2024 to support its mission of collaborating with community partners to implement evidence-based programs. The programs provide youth and families with the skills and resources needed to make healthy choices and be sufficient leaders.

Harris loves helping people and is passionate about what she does and recounted an instance that blossomed into a mission, meeting a young girl named Sasha.

“Sasha was a five-year-old girl who got off the bus,” Harris said. “She had on one flip flop and one tennis shoe. Her uniform was dirty, her skirt was dirty and my heart broke. I wanted to make a difference, I wanted to do something. I went to try to buy her some clothes, but then I found there were other young people in the community that didn’t have anything. A good friend of mine at the time worked for World Vision and they were able to give us clothing and I was able to take it over to Sasha.

“Because there were so many other kids in that apartment complex that really needed help, I decided to open up a small clothing bank to help,” Harris said. “From there, we’re where we’re at now and that was all based off of Sasha.”

Harris’s organization works with the most marginalized in the community, including homeless or runaway youth.

“We work with single moms that have no other place to go,” Harris said. “We work with families in crisis. Some families may have gotten burned out of their homes or evicted. We help find placement, not just with young people, but with seniors as well.”

Harris hopes the lessons she learned will benefit others, including the fact that, if she could start her nonprofit from scratch again, she would get an attorney.

“I wouldn’t have had to learn so much of the (legalities) that go with running a business,” Harris said. 

Two powerful female figures in Harris’ life are her mother and grandmother.

“My grandmother used to take old clothes and make quilts out of them,” Harris said. “She would collect clothes from the neighbors and they thought she needed the clothes, but she was actually cutting them into quilt squares. She would take the squares, make quilts and give them away. My mother was my grandmother’s caregiver and was also inspirational in showing me how to care about people. If you meet her, you’d think that she’s sunshine, that she’s gonna treat you like you’re her daughter. That’s just her personality.” 

Harris has an undergraduate and Master’s degree in Biblical Studies and is working on her MBA at the University of East London

Laura Vazquez, owner of The Grappler’s Cove, said she started her business a month ago because of her husband, who’s in the Army. 

“We own a martial arts studio where we teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo and Wrestling,” Vazquez said. “My husband’s been training since 2014, he started training in Korea and it was something he just fell in love with. My whole family pretty much does it, my kids they also train. My oldest has been training for almost five years.”

Originally from the Dominican Republic, Vazquez has traveled the country and found herself in Lawton.

Overall, the summit was a great learning experience for her.

“I have learned so much about things that I didn’t even know I was going to learn here,” Vazquez said. “The finance aspect, the insurance, just the experience of networking with people.”

Vazquez will use the tools learned to track their bank account more regularly and use more of the tools learned. Her favorite part was networking. 

“It was a wonderful experience,” Vazquez said.