Schmoozing with their hair down

Businesswomen do a little female bonding in a forum more likely to be bawdy than boring.

By MELIA BOWIE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 4, 2002

PEBBLE CREEK -- No wallflowers allowed.

That's the first thing the women tell you as they pull up to the Pebble Creek Country Club in an eclectic assortment of sleek Mercedes and mud-spattered minivans.

Leave any inhibitions and expectations at the door.

It's Thursday night. The second one of the month. For members of the North East Tampa Business and Professional Women's Club, "girls' night out" is here.

For nearly two years, 40 women from New Tampa, Lutz and Pasco County have gathered beneath the country club's twinkling lights for dinner, discussion and camaraderie.

They include inventors and entrepreneurs, sex therapists and college professors, boutique owners, secretaries, jewelers and homemakers from their mid 20s to the 70s.

"They're fascinating women," said club president Arleen Doran, a financial analyst with Robert W. Baird in Tampa. "They're not cliquish and they welcome new people."

Each meeting features discussion topics by members or guests. Generally, they're doozies.

Past ones include a poignant slide show on the plight of South African women and an audio tour of the nation's music (at least three members lived in the country before moving to New Tampa).

A program debunking old myths about women's sexuality had members alternately howling with laughter and jotting down notes as they passed around sex toys, took quizzes and learned historical health care practices. Health sessions on "Pelvic Power" and motivational ones on "Improving Your Schmoozability" have graced the schedule.

The group's name is the stodgiest thing about it, the women say.

"Nobody would think, "I want to join that,"' laughed Kathryn Reed, a charter member who with her father owns Anderson Transportation Services Inc., a national freight trucking company based in Temple Terrace.

Now preparing for a membership drive, the women say there are no prerequisites for those interested in joining the club.

You don't need to own a power suit or have a profession. Some come simply to socialize. Others have joined, networked and landed new postions within weeks.

"I just hired one of the members," said Betty Wilson of Cross Creek, a club member and an executive sales director with Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Wilson, 61, led a discussion last year on her efforts to set up a Mary Kay cosmetics division in South Korea. She forged several contacts at the club before traveling overseas. "I've got 600 consultants there now," she said.

Her new assistant, referred by another member, starts Tuesday.

Many women show up simply for the group support.

They discuss hard times at home or the office and endure career changes, illnesses or deaths in the family with the help of peers.

"For me, it's more of a social and psychological support group," said Reed, 31, a single mother of two who lives in Pebble Creek. "It's kind of like a safe haven for women. There's really no pretense."

When the club was chartered last fall, there were about 30 members, said Doran, 57, of Tampa Palms. "We have about 45 now."

The group was born after Doran and other former members of the Carrollwood Business and Professional Women's Club tired of the commute to meetings and decided to add a branch to the organization.

On a national level, Business and Professional Women's clubs offer financial support for women attending school. At the state level, money is being raised to build housing for University of South Florida students in either Tampa or St. Petersburg, said Doran.

At the local level the theme is women helping women.

"We try to be all things to all people in terms of programs," Doran said. But the goal at the monthly gatherings is not to tackle legislative issues. Card swapping is a perk, not a priority. Building relationships is the theme.

"Sometimes clubs get their mission and their focus and kind of bang away at it. That turns people off," she said.

"We (fulfill) other needs and the women who come realize that. A lot of friendships are formed."

For information

To know more about the North East Tampa Business and Professional Women's Club, call (813) 273-8218. Meetings are held at 6:30 p.m. the second Thursday of each month at Pebble Creek Country Club, 10550 Regents Park Drive.

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