By Kaya Do-Khanh | Special to The OBSERVER
Hundreds of women dressed in black-tie apparel arrived for the 28th annual Outstanding Women Leaders (OWL) award gala for a lively night of recognition, networking and dancing.
Cassandra Walker Pye strode into the glam and glitter at the networking event hosted by the Sacramento valley chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).
Founded in 1975, NAWBO has chapters throughout the country that seek to connect, educate and elevate women business owners into greater economic, social and political spheres. The organization celebrated International Women’s Day by hosting an awards gala that joined women leaders of all ages, races and at different stages in their careers, honoring top achievers among women entrepreneurs in the Sacramento business community.
Pye, no stranger to multitasking, came from advising the newly launched women’s leadership council for the California Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors meeting to accept her OWL Wise Woman award, NAWBO’s highest honor, with a standing ovation from the audience. The award is also known as the “Business Woman of the Year Award” and is presented to a woman who is the epitome of all aspects of success.
For 35 years, Pye has been a leader in the areas of communications, government, politics and advocacy for corporate interests. She is the current president of Lucas Public Affairs.
In her acceptance speech, Pye said that she did not expect to win her award and instead attended the gala to celebrate her friend Lydia Ramirez, senior vice president for Five Star Bank, on her OWL Executive Woman Award.
“I have to say, as many rooms that I’ve been in, it was really remarkable to be in that [Chamber of Commerce] room of women leaders at the top of their game and then come here and see women either starting their game, in the middle of their game and Lydia Ramirez at the top of her game,” Pye said in her acceptance speech.
Pye said that early in her career, she learned how important it was to advocate for businesses, because she saw a correlation between a healthy business community and a strong economy, specifically the needs of individual families in disadvantaged communities. She said that focus in her work is what got her recruited to Sacramento.
“I think one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that it’s important to get comfortable with taking risks,” Pye said. “Where I’ve taken my biggest risks I’ve gotten the greatest return and most definitely the most satisfaction.”
Given her point in her career, Pye sees her membership in NAWBO as an opportunity to be a role model, share experiences, mentor and encourage other women leaders. She advises aspiring women entrepreneurs to remember self-care, and that a benefit of NAWBO is being able to be in a room full of like-minded people that can offer that support.
“Much of what I did that night, while everybody was on the dance floor, was getting a chance to chat with several of the women who were there who just wanted to get some feedback, get some advice or run some things by me,” Pye said. “I think that’s the opportunity for someone at this stage in my career to share pitfalls and best practices and try to advise, support and mentor. It’s very important, I think, for the room collectively.”
President of NAWBO for the Sacramento valley chapter Liliana Bernal said that entrepreneurship and owning a business can be lonely, but NAWBO helps to create a social and business network and allows for the celebration of women that are giving back to their community or supporting other women in business.
“There’s a lot of nominees this year. There’s a lot of Black-owned businesses that we’re recognizing, and part of the reason is maybe they haven’t been recognized in the past, so our goal is to really open up and identify people in the community that are doing good that maybe aren’t always being recognized,” Bernal said.
Danielle Smith, chief strategy officer of the full-service event management company Moxy Strategies, won the OWL Woman on the Way award, which is given to an up-and-coming woman business owner who has less than five years in business. She started her business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smith said that she has always done things related to full-service event management before she knew it was her path. In college, she would plan and throw parties and night club events in her free time without pay. She said that a piece of advice that she has for aspiring women entrepreneurs is to figure out what you would do for free and that is your passion.
“As difficult as it can be, it is so much more rewarding — the connections, at least for me, what I get back will always surpass any struggle,” Smith said. “It’s empowering, and I went into business for myself for freedom, not just financial freedom, but freedom in general. I don’t think there’s a price tag attached to that. I think it’s just having the freedom to do what I want to do when I want to do it.”
As a small business owner, Smith said that sometimes she isn’t aware of the impact of her hard work, so it is an amazing feeling to be recognized by a group of powerful women at the gala.
There were a number of Black women leaders nominated across all award categories, including Laticia “Action” Jackson, who was a nominee for the OWL Achievement Against All Odds Award for a woman who gains success despite unfavorable circumstances. Jackson is a veteran of the United States Air Force, a Fitness Olympian and chief executive officer of N-Powered Coaching Academy, a life coaching organization dedicated to providing women with resources to help them overcome barriers.
“I feel honored, and I feel that all of the healing work that I did to overcome abuse, trauma and domestic violence — It was worth all of the tears,” Jackson said. “I had suicidal thoughts, anxiety and depression, and I was in a very dark space in my life at one point in time, but to be on the other side of it now and to stand in that truth to know that I’m helping other women to overcome their adversities and their darkness to make a better life for themselves in the future, it’s multi-layered, I don’t think there’s one emotion or one thought.”
It was Jackson’s first time attending the gala, and she said that she feels a lot of support from NAWBO. At one of the organization’s meetings, she said that she was honored to have the opportunity to sit at a table and have honest and open conversations with women leaders and that she cried with some of them.
“I think what’s beautiful too is to see and honor the spaces that other women occupy in life, because women are taught to compete, but we’re so much more powerful when we’re together,” Jackson said.
Other Black women leaders that were nominated for awards include Trezana Renee, Malaika Daniju, Tiffany Martin, Nia McMeans and Shannon Scott.
List of OWL Award Winners 2024:
Achievement Against All Odds Award — Dr. Jennifer Olson
Woman Innovator Award — Christy Serrato
Woman On the Way Award — Danielle Smith
Rising Star Award — Sophia Voudouris
Executive Woman Award — Lydia Ramirez
Wise Woman Award — Cassandra Walker Pye
Vision Award — Mackenzie Wieser