Janine Popick, CEO VerticalResponse

Janine Popick didn’t get the memo.  The one that says women don’t start up successful tech companies.  Not that it would have mattered!

by Deborah Burstyn
SF BAWJ Feature Writer
(This article is available in the SF BAWJ magazine.)

Popick, the 42 year-old entrepreneur and CEO would still have shattered that silicon ceiling. Her company VerticalResponse helps small businesses and non-profits stand tall with affordable ways to create, send and track professional-looking email newsletters, direct mail postcards and online surveys. 

In less than a decade since she launched VerticalResponse in San Francisco, Popick has grown the company to over 75,000 customers, $18.6 million in sales and 90 employees – plus she offers 10,000 free emails per year for non-profits.   And she blogs: for Inc. Magazine and of course, for VerticalResponse.

VerticalResponse Growth and Success Soars ahead with…
Customers, Revenue and Awards!

Popick and VerticalResponse have racked up numerous awards and accolades acknowledging the growth and success of the company.  In 2009, VerticalResponse was Ranked #244 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500and #52 on the San Francisco Business Times List of  “Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies in the Bay Area”. 

The VerticalResponse Marketing Blog for Small Business was also recognized by the Web Marketing Association with the 2009 Award for Blog Standard of Excellence.  Most recently Popick was named the 2010 San Francisco SBA Small Business Person of the Year!

A Conversation with Janine Popick…the Past, Present and Future!

The SF BAWJ sat down with Popick to talk about her amazing journey, and the twists and turns that led her to where she is today!

On Early Exposure:  My dad was a tech guy at IBM. He was a lone worker bee for 35 years. He developed some cool stuff, and had a few patents.  IBM had family days and we’d all get to go in and look at main frames. I loved it.

On Work Ethic:  I was not one of those kids who went backpacking around Europe. The day after I graduated from college, I went to work at WCBS-TV in New York.  Radio and TV were my passions.

The VerticalResponse Team

On Changing Gears:   At a certain point I knew that was as far as I could go in TV. So I jumped ship and started doing ad sales for a newspaper in Brooklyn. I was going door to door. I realized it wasn’t for me when I got mugged. So I got a job in direct marketing.

On Heading West:  I had a bad relationship with a boy in New York. I came out here with a friend on a trip and decided someday I’d be back. A short time later I got a great job in direct marketing for a small ad agency on the peninsula. 

On Love and Marriage:  People who say you’re never going to meet a guy in San Francisco are wrong. I met my husband four weeks after moving here. The attraction was instant. We’ve been together for 15 years. We still always manage to tag along on each other’s business trips. We are a rare breed that really likes to hang out together.

On Inspiration:  My husband and I once found ourselves not working at the same time. So we moved to Paris. We talked about how everyone was giving out their email addresses. We’d both worked in big companies. How were small companies handling this?  They were using Outlook. There had to be a better way.

On a Typical Day:  I get up 6:30 a.m., do a half hour of email, check Tweet Deck, get on a treadmill for an hour and switch between VH1 and The Today Show. I do my sit-ups, some weights and get to work.  There I focus on what’s going on in the market, our customers and our competitors.

Between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., I walk home and grab a glass of wine with my husband to wind down.  He has an agency that has a lot of wineries and in our spare time he has a food and wine blog called VinDivine.  We have a lot fun.  One of us cooks while the other works. Then we go to the couch with our computers and watch TV. We loved Flight of the Conchords, Madmen and The Office.

On Reading:  Right now my favorite books are ReWork by Jason Fried and David Hansson and The Referral Engine by John Jantsch.

Reviewing the VerticalResponse postcard product.

On Success: The more smart people I can have around me that know things I don’t know the better.  That’s a big reason behind my company being successful.

That’s our strength as women. We understand our deficiencies. We accept that we are not going be perfect in every aspect. Women are great at leaning on other people.

On What Comes Next:  I am going to continue growing VerticalResponse. We have a great company that I am happy to come to every day.  Anything next for me is going to be in non-profit.  During the past two years I’ve set up formal company volunteering events, where we helped cleaned up the beach, read to second graders, rebuilt a playground and helped clean up the zoo. That’s a great day for me!

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Deborah Lopez

Having lived through the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake as a homeowner in San Francisco,  I often find it helpful to review with my family not only the steps to take to make sure our homes are safe, but what to do in case there is a quake.

by Deborah Lopez, SF Realtor

Resources for complete and detailed information about how to prepare your home for an earthquake and what to do in an earthquake can be found at various web sites.   The best ones I’ve found are EarthQuakeCountry.info, EarthQuake.ugs.gov, and RedCross.org.

7 Tips to Help Prepare You and Your Home for Earthquakes

The seven key recommendations below are from EarthQuakeCountry.info and are easy to remember.  If you want more information, you’ll find a detailed fact sheet on each recommendation on the website.

1.  Secure it Now – Eliminate hazards by securing heavy objects such as bookshelves, televisions, computers and especially water heaters.  California law requires the seller of any home to strap and brace the water heaters before they transfer the home to the next buyer – be sure this is done properly.   But if you’ve been in your home a long time, do it now yourself.

2.  Make a Plan – Have evacuation and reunion plans, an out-of-state contact person and a location for your emergency supplies.  Make sure everyone in your household knows what they are.  Make sure you know the plan at your child or children’s schools so you can find them fast!

3.  Make Disaster Kits – for home, car and work.  These should include water, food, flashlights, portable radios, batteries, first aid kits, cash, extra medications, a whistle and fire extinguishers.

4.  Is Your Place Safe? -  Consult a contractor or engineer knowledgeable in seismic safety to make sure you have done all the upgrades you can to strengthen your home in case of a quake.  Some of these are minor and inexpensive, others may require more extensive projects, but do whatever you can.

5.  DROP, COVER AND HOLD ON!  – Doorways are NOT the safest place in a quake – this is old information.  You are safer dropping to the floor, taking cover under a sturdy desk or table and holding on to it firmly.  Be prepared to move with the furniture until the shaking stops.  If outside, drop to the ground; if in your car, pull over and stay in your car.

6.  Check It Out – After the shaking stops, check for injuries, administer first aid, and identify safety hazards such as damaged gas, water, sewage and electrical lines.   Know how to report damage to the proper agencies and have those numbers in your disaster kit.

7.  Communicate and Recover – Listen to the most accessible radio, contact your insurance agent if your home is damaged and check for resources that will be made available from government agencies.   To locate separated family members, register on the Red Cross Safe and Well Web Site  or call 1-866-GET-INFO.  Make sure everyone in your family has that phone number.

We’ve only had small earthquakes since 1989 but being prepared will give you and your family the peace of mind to enjoy your home and know that you are ready if necessary.   If you would like laminated copies of the Red Cross Earthquake Safety Checklist or a printed copy of the Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety for your home, please e-mail me and I will send you either or both immediately.  

Be Safe!

Deborah Lopez (DLo) is a licensed broker and Certified International Property Specialist with Paragon Real Estate Group. She is an expert on the pockets within and between San Francisco neighborhoods and she knows how to negotiate to protect your interest and get you your desired outcome!

Whether you’re selling, buying or building your real estate investment portfolio, DLo will give you a head start. To lean more visit DeborahLopezSF.com.

If you enjoyed this article and want to share it with a friend or the world:) …it’s easy. Click on the Share/Save button and you can e-mail, Tweet or Bookmark it!

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Tomoko Maruyama

In every edition of the San Francisco Bay Area Women’s Journal we feature the artwork of a local artist on our cover.  Art enriches and deepens our life experience.  And here in the Bay Area, rich with creativity, we are pleased to bring you artwork each month that we hope touches you in a unique way.

Tomoko Maruyama is our featured artist for May.  Originally from Japan, Tomoko is a San Francisco based graphic designer.  She started her career in Tokyo as a sports teacher for children and seniors. 

But she soon realized her real passion and interest was in graphic design.  This took her to New York where she studied art and began to develop her unique artistic style!

Tomoko strives to create artwork that evokes feelings of happiness and peace which are a reflection of her warm heart.  With a distinctive design style that is warm, positive and soft, she is influenced by the daily experience of the cities that she has lived in including Tokyo, New York and San Francisco. 

Her illustration of the “Golden Gate” is a great example of her style!

On the May cover of the San Francisco Bay Area Women’s Journal we featured a piece of her work called appropriately enough “SF”.  You can see the cover here.

Prints, Apparel, Greeting Cards and More!

Today her work can be found on adorable baby clothes, t-shirts, greeting cards, wedding invitations and hanging on walls across the world!  A favorite illustration has to be “The Painted Ladies”.

Looking at these adorable baby clothes, it’s easy to see why people are effusive in their responses to her work…adorable, so sweet, love the soft colors, breath of fresh air, so happy… are often heard when people see her work. 

Her career switch might seem dramatic, but it’s obvious that she has found her true calling and is living her dream!

For a complete listing of retailers who carry Tomoko’s work, click here.   You can also buy Tomoko’s work from her Etsy shop and visit her website TomokoMaruyama.com to learn more.

If you enjoyed this article and want to share it with a friend or the world:) …it’s easy. Click on the Share/Save button and you can e-mail, Tweet or Bookmark it!

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Dr. Sandi Altman

She’s known around Contra Costa County as the Menopause Maven.  Now Dr. Sondra Altman, who for years has focused her gynecology practice on the health issues of older women, has a new title.

by Deborah Burstyn-Staff Writer, SF Bay Area Women’s Journal

She has been appointed to be the Medical Director of the newly opened John Muir Women’s Center for Continence and Pelvic Health in Walnut Creek!

Medical Center is Unique to the Bay Area

Presenting a mix of treatment options, including biofeedback and physical therapy, the Center is the first of its kind in the area.  

Dr. Altman, 57,  will oversee a dream team that includes urologists, colorectal surgeons, gynecologists  and nurse practitioners to offer women individualized testing and analysis.

A Conversation with “Dr. Sandi”

“Dr. Sandi” as she is fondly known to her patients recently sat down with the SF Bay Area Women’s Journal to share her thoughts and unique brand of humor regarding her new role in uro-gynocolgy, her life and calling of the past 30 years.

On Women’s Incontinence – Childbirth is not kind to the pelvic floor. Incontinence typically starts in the childbearing years then accelerates through menopause and the Medicare years.  Of the 13 million Americans with urinary incontinence, 85% are women.

Women think they’re stuck wearing Poise pads. They’re not. It’s fixable.

On Influences - I was studying to be a preschool teacher at Tufts.  Sesame Street was new and exciting. My roommate was pre-med. Whoa. I didn’t know women could be doctors.  It was Boston in the early 70s. The first “Our Bodies, Ourselves” had just been published.

A doctor was arrested at Boston University for presenting a lecture on birth control to co-eds.  The idea that women could receive health information and take control of their bodies was radical.  I had found my calling.

On Geography – At Boston University Medical School, I had to get up an hour earlier just to dig out my car after a snowstorm.  I arranged to do my internship and residency at Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Oakland and never went back.

On Life/Work Choices – When I had two kids in diapers at home, I gave up obstetrics. My former husband also was a doctor and worked long hours.  I was having to leave the house before the sitter got there because I had to go deliver babies.

Doing only gynecology was going to be short-term until my kids were older but as my patients aged, a funny thing happened.

I had to learn about menopausal issues and hormones on my own. Menopause as a field of interest did not exist. I had found a new calling.

On Hormone Replacement Therapy – All the data point to risk of cancer increasing after five years of hormone replacement therapy.   Two to three years  is usually what is helpful for women when they are going through menopause and there is no increased risk associated with that.

So you don’t have to choose between being crazy now or getting cancer later.  The publicity around this has done a great disservice to women.

On a Typical Day – Last Thursday I removed 17 fibroids from a patient’s uterus. That’s like the equivalent of three babies’ heads.  She was a lot thinner afterwards. I also do DNCs and hysterectomies.  There’s paperwork and seeing patients in my office.

I also practice what I preach and exercise every day;  a spinning  class or pilates.  I eat lunch at my desk with People magazine, my guilty pleasure.

On Patients - Most of my patients are over 40. But I also get some of the kids I delivered. They are all grown up now and in law school.

I love what I do. I have the nicest patients. I am so lucky.

On Being a Doctor – In spite of all the changes in medicine it always comes down to the doctor and the patient. That is where the passion and the joy come in.

At the end of the day that’s what you’ve got  – that you made a difference in someone’s life.

On Taking on New Responsibilities – Periodically you need to reset and refresh. I am excited about  the new field of  uro-gynecology and learning more about it.  This is my new calling.

For the many smiles that you have brought from delivering babies to making us laugh at the experience of menopause and now incontinence… (does it ever end)…we  say thank-you Dr. Sandi!

If you enjoyed this article and want to share it with a friend or the world:) …it’s easy. Click on the Share/Save button and you can e-mail, Tweet or Bookmark it!

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by Syndi Seid,
Business Protocol and Etiquette Expert

Syndi Seid

The parade is one of the Top 10 parades in the world according to the  International Fesitval and Arts Association!  And it’s one of the few reamining night illumninated parades in the US.  Filled with pagentry and music it is a wonderful way to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

I love celebrating this holiday. And there are many ways that YOU too, can celebrate the Chinese New Year.  

Here are 8* ideas for you to do in the next week:

(*Curious, do you know why I chose to provide only 8 tips?  Why not 7 or 9, or 10 tips?  Learn the answer at the end of this article.)

1.  Clean your house from top to bottom before the New Year arrives.  It’s never too late to clean house. 

2.  Decorate your home with special paper greetings, flowers, and fruits. Tie greeting cards and good luck symbols on a blooming tree you can purchase or make one yourself. By having or placing an abundance of fragrant flowers and fruits on the tree, the luckier the family will be in the New Year. 

3.  Wear new clothes on the first day of the New Year.  Although the first day has past, to me, it’s never too late for a woman to wear new cloths to help signify the beginning of a new, clean and fresh year.

4.  Learn to say Happy New Year in Chinese or Vietnamese:  Kung Hei Fat Choy (Mandarin) or Gung Hay Fat Choy (Cantonese) Chuc Mung Nam Moi (Vietnamese, celebrating Tet)

5.  Enjoy a Chinese banquet.  Ideally in multiples of ten, this is a great holiday to invite friends to enjoy a Chinese banquet together.  It is still one of the most economical ways to host or share in a great meal together.  It is a time to renew friendships and love that is intended to last the entire year. 

6.  Give children good luck money.  Everyone becomes a year older with the New Year, no matter when your birthday actually occurs. Give children red envelopes called “Lai See” or a “Hong Bow” with “good luck” money inside. This tradition is also used for many other festive occasions, in lieu of modern gift-giving practices. 

7.  Call eight friends you haven’t connected with for some time to say hello.  In the Chinese culture the number 8 signifies good luck.  I hope these eight people and I will have good luck throughout the year.

8.  Attend one of the events:  In addition to the big parade being held on Saturday, 27 February 2010, check out all the other events taking place during this two week celebration!  You will find a complete schedule of all festivities at ChineseParade.com. 

Bonus: Give chopsticks a chance. Practice manipulating the oldest eating utensils in the world.  Here’s a brief video to help you practice.

*Why 8 tips:  The number 8 is a sign of good luck in the Asian culture. 

Here’s wishing you and yours a great year, filled with much prosperity, happiness, and good health!

Syndi Seid is a recognized authority on business protocol and etiquette.  A graduate of the prestigious Protocol School of Washington, in D.C. and the Emily Post Institute, Syndi earned their highest levels of certification, including Certified International Protocol Officer and Corporate Trainer.

Syndi has appeared on several national programs including ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS Eye on America and HGTV’s Party at Home.  She is the founder of Advanced Etiquette and trains and consults with major corporations, executives and business professionals to help them achieve confidence in any social situation anywhere in the world!  To learn more, please visit her website, AdvancedEtiquette.com.

If you enjoyed this article and want to share it with a friend or the world:) …it’s easy. Click on the Share/Save button and you can e-mail, Tweet or Bookmark it!

Related posts:

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by Charlotte Manz, Staff Writer SF BAWJ

And where better to find these unique, handmade designs than at Etsy shops!  We love shopping at Etsy stores because you’re sure to find unique one of a kind items that are handmade by the artisian who owns the shop!  Here are the San Francisco Bay Area Women’s Journal’s  5 favorite Etsy stores owned by San Francisco Bay Area Jewelry Designers!

1.  Shana Astrachan

Hand Made by SF jewelry designer Shana Astrachan , this tiny gold heart on a chain is so sweet it tugged at our heart strings!  We just loved the simplicity and beauty of this necklace.

Shana’s jewelry evolves from her love of metal.  She loves to experiment with unexpected materials and unconventional ways to use them in her jewelry design process.  You can see more of her work at her estsy store ShanaAstrachan and at her website.

2. Rachael Adams

 Combining a passion for the past and present, Rachael Adams combines vintage and antique pieces to create “nouveau” jewelry  at her Nouveau Motley Etsy shop.  We fell head over heels in love with the Anastasia necklace.

This choker length necklace features a Victorian locket dating to around 1860 suspended from a 15 inch strand of hand-knotted vintage French Jet beads.

You can see all of Rachael’s jewelry at her Etsy shop, Nouveau Motley.

3. Natasha Grasso  

Love Knot…says it all!  This pendant created by Natasha Grasso represents all the twists and turns we take in our life and in our relationships with friends, family and loved ones. The result is complicated, beautiful and unique…we agree and that’s why we  love  this piece!

This simple gold-filled knot is classic, but still has a modern organic feel to it. Perfect for everyday wear.  You can find more of Nataha’s work at her Etsy shop, NatashaGrasso!

4. Alicia Bleuer

These are not Your Mother’s Pearls!  Hand made using vintage pearls; Alicia Bleuer adds beautiful satin ribbon to transform Pearl necklaces from staid and proper to Fabulous and Fun! 

It’s easy to adjust the length of the necklace from short to long…or even better…wrap it around your wrist to create an instant eye-catching bracelet!  You can find all of Alicia’s designs at her Etsy shop, Frills and Furbelows,  and see the entire Pearls collection in her “Pearls of Wisdom” section! 

5. Manette Belliveau

Are you ready for the sweet sun-filled days of Spring?  We sure are and that’s why the Ocean Tumbled Sea Glass earrings from the Etsy shop, Newsprout, stopped us in our rainy boot tracks! 

We loved the green color of these earrings even more when we learned that the natural frosted look comes from years of exposure to the salt water, sand and surf. 

Native Californian, designer Mannette creates handmade jewelry from genuine California sea glass…all that have been naturally ocean tumbled!  Each piece is hand collected along the CA Coast.  Please visit her Etsy shop, Newsprout, to see the complete collection.

Handmade and Unique!

Jewelry offers us a quick and easy way to express ourselves.  So have a little fun and add a handmade piece of jewelry to your collection.  Not only will you be expressing your unique self…but you’ll also be helping to promote a local San Francisco Bay Area Jewelry Designer!

If you enjoyed this article and want to share it with a friend or the world:) …it’s easy. Click on the Share/Save button and you can e-mail, Tweet or Bookmark it!

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by Deborah Burstyn
Staff Writer, SF Bay Area Women’s Journal

Paul Ash, Exec. Director San Francisco Food Bank

The food is delivered to over 200 food pantry sites around San Francisco to serve those living at or near the poverty line.

Ash, 55, helped develop an innovative program, Farm to Family, which partners with over 100 different growers and packers to funnel fresh and nutritious produce to those that rely on the Food Bank.  This year over 20 million pounds was distributed and 60% of the food that was fresh produce. 

The San Francisco Food Bank distributes more pounds per person in poverty than all other food banks in the nation! 

Ash spoke with the San Francisco Bay Area Women’s Journal about his life and the job he’s held for 20 years feeding the city’s hungriest residents.

On Life Exposure – Back in Oklahoma, both sets of my grandparents had farms. They were mostly subsistence farms with a couple of cash crops, alfalfa and cotton. They worked hard. Yet through no fault of their own – weather, insects – if the crops failed, things could get bad.  My grandparents got old before their time.

When I see people in line at our food pantries, I see my grandparents’ faces in their faces.

On a Typical Day – Breakfast might be followed by a visit to St. Anthony’s dining room where I interact with the clients that depend on the food provided by the Food Bank and then lunch with a CEO of a major corporation who is interested in donating.  I get to see first-hand what a range of success and tragedy we have in this country. 

There are many people who are so bright and working so hard.  Yet because of bad luck, a few bad choices or mental illness, supporting themselves is oftentimes difficult.

I try to get out to visit one of our pantries several times a week.

On Hunger – We live in the richest agricultural state in one of the richest countries in the world. We grow enough food in this country to feed everyone. And still have plenty left to export and make profits.

Yet only 50% of people who are eligible for food stamps receive them. We make it difficult for them. We have this fear of giving people something they are not entitled to.   

We prevent those who are entitled from accessing food stamps.

On Volunteering – Sundays are reserved as family days at the San Francisco Food Bank. We don’t operate the power equipment like the fork lift on Sundays which makes it a safer day for kids to be here.

We have families that come once a month to volunteer together. They make it a cornerstone for teaching values to their kids. The Food Bank is a fun and safe environment for children to learn about the importance of supporting others in need in their community.

Volunteering at the Food Bank is different than serving food in a soup kitchen.  Both tasks are challenging. Many of our projects are hands on work. For example, we buy beans in 2,000 pound bags and our volunteers repackage them into one pound bags. We’re open seven days a week and some evenings for people to volunteer.

On Crisis – We opened several new food distribution sites last summer to support the increase of people turning to the food bank. We’re seeing a lot of new folks coming to the pantries. We encourage people to come sooner rather than later. 

It is especially important for those in need with children. If a child misses meals it can impact their health and their learning ability.

We’ve seen a 20 percent increase in those requesting food from this time last year.

On Budget – Our budget is 80 percent donations, which requires a lot of fundraising.

On Decompressing – I like to get outdoors and be in nature. I enjoy bike riding. I like to ski with my children. And I like camping. Last summer we did a fantastic camping trip to the Grand Canyon.

On Reading – My favorite book is Men to Match My Mountains by Irving Stone. It is about the opening of the American West. Right now I am reading Down the Great Unknown about the discovery of the Grand Canyon.

Thanks Paul for taking the time to talk with the SF BAWJ and for your leadership in helping to end hunger in the San Francisco Bay Area!

To learn more about the San Francisco Food Bank, please visit their website.

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Alison Levine

An interview with Alison Levine… the first woman to serve as Team Captain of the first American Women’s Everest Expedition!  She is a demure dynamo powered by sheer determination who has reached the summit of both the business world and the physical world’s highest mountains!

by Deborah Burstyn,
SF BAWJ Staff Writer

Listening to Alison Levine is magic. The sparkle in her eyes and the energy in her voice inspire us to feel that we too can scale new heights! She helps everyone she comes into contact with – whether big league corporate executives or third world village women – attain their goals and connect with their dreams.

Levine, a former Wall Street investment banker and finance director for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s successful campaign for governor, now heads two businesses of her own.  She is the founder and president of DareDevil Strategies, a consulting business specializing in organizational effectiveness, leadership development, and team dynamics.

She is also the founder of the Climb High Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of women in third world countries by training them to be trekking guides in their local mountains. No mean feat as it entails empowering them to overcome the traditional stigma against competing with their men folk.

Levine climbed her first mountain at 32, in between starting graduate school and recovering from surgery for a life-threatening congenital heart condition. Although her call to the wild came relatively late, it came on strong.

In the spring of 2002, she was invited to serve as the team captain of the first American Women’s Everest Expedition.  Although she incessantly travels the world and regularly appears on shows like Oprah and NBC Today, Levine continues to call San Francisco home, making her one of us – a Bay Area Woman.

What prompted you to start climbing mountains?

After years of working in marketing, I was stymied because I couldn’t understand financial statements. At 32, after I had my second and final heart surgery, I decided to go to graduate school. I got accepted to Duke’s MBA program so I quit my job and gave myself a month to travel.

Several girlfriends were supposed to go with me to Mt. Kilimanjaro. But at the last minute they decided they’d rather go to Club Med.  I grew up in Arizona where everyone has a pool so sitting by a pool didn’t seem like a vacation.

I headed to Mt. Kilimanjaro alone. I was too naïve to be afraid. It was great. Every day on the mountain was a new adventure with new challenges. I was hooked. Luckily, I had a lot of frequent flier miles.

What inspired you to create Daredevil Strategies?

After serving as team captain for the first American Women’s Everest Expedition, I realized that many of the strategies employed in the business world are the same strategies used when climbing the worlds highest and most challenging peaks.

Foresight, focus, and flawless execution are equally important in the jet stream as in corporate America. And a good sense of humor is always essential when dealing with an ever-changing landscape!”

What advice do you have for women today?

If you don’t like what you’re doing every day, change it. We spend the majority of our waking hours in our “day jobs” – whether we are working outside the home or in the home. If you are not totally fired up about what you are doing, you need to make a change

We can all recreate ourselves as many times as we want. It’s fun. I am 43 years old and I finally found my niche in the business world. It did not come quickly nor did it come without pain, financial stress, self-doubt, and tears. But I had great friends offering encouragement all along the way.

One of the most important things you can have is a great group of girlfriends. Surround yourself with bright, caring, ambitious women, and if you do you will have the world’s most reliable safety net.

Photo of Alison Levine by Kathi O’Leary, SF BAWJ Staff Photographer!
If you enjoyed this article and want to share it with a friend or the world:) …it’s easy. Click on the Share/Save button and you can e-mail, Tweet or Bookmark it!

Related posts:

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by Debbie Josendale, Publisher

Debbie Josendale

Hunger is a Problem.  In the midst of so much abundance it might be hard to imagine that hunger is a problem.  But it is.

2009 proved to be a record-breaking year for the San Francisco Food Bank, with the amount of food distributed to the city’s hungry topping previous numbers every month.  The SF Food Bank distributed over 36.5 million pounds of food to Bay Area residents and its non-profit partners!

The impact of hunger is staggering.  Food, nourishing food is at the very core of a person’s well-being.  It impacts health, mental wellness, self-esteem, physical development, energy, emotional stability.

And in these challenging economic times, the demand is growing.

Since When did “You’ve Got Mail” Equal Food?

 Since January 1, 2010! 

This year the San Francisco Bay Area Women’s Journal is launching a “virtual” food drive!  When you subscribe to the online SF Bay Area Women’s Journal, we’ll donate a can of food to the SF Food Bank.  At the end of each month, we’ll tally up the number of new subscribers and deliver the same number of canned goods to the SF Food Bank.

So sign up right here, right now….and you’ll be helping Bay Area Families and the SF Food Bank!

And we promise not to bombard your e-mail account.  The SF Bay Area Women’s Journal is delivered twice a month to your in-box and is filled with stories and information that we hope will inspire you to live your OWN best life in the beautiful SF Bay Area!

What better way to start the New Year…or any day in fact than by lending a helping hand in the fight to end hunger!

 Bono said it best “If you want to eliminate hunger, everybody has to be involved”

Thanks in advance and we’ll keep you updated every month!

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By Deborah Burstyn
SF BAWJ Staff Writer

Sandra Phillips

Who knew this was the first fashion photo shoot to use live action instead of static posed studio shots? 

Or, that photographer Martin Munkacsi created the concept now standard fashion magazine fare?

Sandra Phillips, of course!  

As curator of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, she made sure that the traveling exhibit of Munkacsi’s work made a lengthy stop here last summer. Room after room in the museum entranced viewers with the early 20^th century photography master’s celebrity, fashion and photojournalism works.

Not content only to procure important exhibits for the SFMOMA – no easy feat in the highly competitive art world – Phillips also receives high acclaim among her peers for creating important exhibits herself.

No less a lofty publication than the New Yorker devoted several pages recently to praise “Revelations,” a retrospective of iconic photographer Diane Arbus curated by Phillips.

More than just a collection of the portraits we’ve all come to know so well, Phillips along with co-curator Elisabeth Sussman, also procured the photographer’s cameras, personal correspondence and family snapshots. The show offered the public the first real glimpse of the woman behind the famous photos as well as an opportunity to see the photos themselves in a biographical context.

“I Always Liked Musuems”

As public as her work is, Sandra Phillips is a very private person. Although her work is well known in the art world she herself flies very low under the radar. To even find her one must jostle through a warren of cubicles tucked away in the depths of the museum.  She sits behind her desk, a vision of pared down chic in a crisp white shirt and black skirt. Books and prints surround her.

“I always liked museums,” Phillips says with a modest shrug.

Growing Up in Manhattan

A girlhood on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with a father who was an architect with Robert Moses, the guy credited for designing the modern urban landscape, helped point her toward the artistic side of city life. Fresh from Manhattan’s exclusive Brearley School, Phillips headed to bohemian Bard College to learn to become a painter.

Phillips soon realized that she was better suited to becoming an art historian than an artist. After getting her master’s degree at Bryn Mawr, she married an artist and had a son. But soon she was back in school.

“We didn’t have any money and I realized that you couldn’t do anything with a masters’,” she recalls. So, Phillips decided to get a Ph.D. through the low-cost New York City community college system.

“I had to put my son in daycare and commute two and a half hours each way by train to get to school. It took me ten years to get my degree.”

Once she had it, she quickly got her first job as the curator for Vassar College’s art museum. “It was a wonderful way to learn how to be a curator, because I had to do everything, except hang the pictures on the walls.  But it quickly became just too much to do.”

The Opportunity:  Curator of Photography SFMOMA

Phillips and her husband had spent a year teaching art at Mills College. Phillips taught a course on photography and her grasp of the subject did not escape notice. When the photography curator of the SFMOMA was about to retire, he recommended her for his job – an unusually high position for a woman even in 1987. 

Phillips’ husband was uncomfortable at her prestige in the art world outshining his – “He decided he didn’t want to be married to a curator,” Phillips says. With her son returning east for school, Phillips found herself facing the challenges of her work at SFMOMA on her own. This included re-energizing the museum’s photography department when the SFMOMA opened its new building in 1995.

Instead of crumbling, Phillips was motivated to succeed.

“I was essentially alone so I thought, Well, I better really do something now. I also felt a sense of responsibility to the field here. I knew it was going to be a struggle but I knew I wanted to have exhibits and publications that were original for the Museum. From almost the time I started I was doing a major show every year and a half with a big publication.”

Phillips faces a daunting task of trying to please both the eclectic arts community as well as the public looking for accessible fare. She fuses the disparate art audiences by exhibiting photography, old and new, that illustrates the real world but in a way that stimulates further thought.

Her current interests include an approach to the way land in the West has been exploited and developed.  The opposite of the way Ansel Adams saw the American Western landscape, as well as, photography associated with voyeurism and surveillance.

She explains, “There is a long tradition of taking photos of people who did not know they were being photographed; the candid camera idea has a long and important history, one that has some uncomfortable ramifications in our present society.”

San Francisco Offers Diversity

Looking back, Phillips has no regrets about leaving New York, an epi-center of the art world.

“Manhattan has gotten homogenized and less interesting,” she observes. “Plus it is so competitive with everyone chasing after the same money. Here, in San Francisco, there is more diversity.  It has a vibrant arts community, but is small enough for me to do what I want. I have a garden, friends, and I get to do a lot traveling.”

As much as Phillips enjoys her work, she firmly believes that there will come a time for her to step aside to make room for a new generation. She cites the example of Walter Pach.  A minor artist, Pach had the good fortune to speak French and lived in Paris in the early 1900s, and helped  introduce the French Post- Impressionists and early Modern artists to America.

“He knew Matisse, he knew all the cubist painters. He understood that generation and brought the work of those people here and defended it. But then when different things happened, like surrealism, he didn’t get it. He hated it.  He lost his voice.”

She gazes at the photos around her office and her voice takes on a firm note. “I don’t want that to happen to me.”

Photo of Sandra Phillips by Kathi O’Leary, SF BAWJ Staff Photographer!

If you enjoyed this article and want to share it with a friend or the world:) …it’s easy. Click on the Share/Save button and you can e-mail, Tweet or Bookmark it!

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