Honored female members ... Polo position ... Smile for the camera ... Fashion sense.
Edited by Louis Marroquin
PHILADELPHIA’S WOMEN OF DISTINCTION
Each year, the Philadelphia Business Journal names its Women of Distinction, an eight-year tradition that honors 25 outstanding women in the business community. This year, that prestigious list included seven members of the Pyramid Club: Dr. Vijay Rao, chair of the radiology department at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital; Terry D’Alessandro, market CEO of the Metro Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey Regions for Sovereign Bank; Elva L. Bankins, senior vice president/general manager of Lee Hecht Harrison; Regina M. Lowrie, president and founder of Gateway Funding Diversified Mortgage Services, LP; Elaine Rinaldi, senior member at Cozen O’Connor; Jane Leslie Dalton, partner in Duane Morris LLP; and Molly Dickinson Shepard, founder and CEO of The Leader’s Edge. The women agree that it’s no coincidence that nearly one-third of the latest honorees are Pyramid Club members, citing the club’s high-profile networking opportunities and pro-business environment. “Many of the winners of this award often use the Pyramid Club to participate in local organizational meetings,” Bankins says. “The Pyramid Club is the quintessential place where many business professionals gather.” Rinaldi says that the results show that the club functions as much more than a social outlet. “I think the numbers clearly prove that the Pyramid Club is a business club — one where business men and women can network, entertain their clients, and build future business relationships.” All of the women honored by the weekly business newspaper have achieved significant accomplishments in their careers. A high-profile panel of judges from the business community selected the honorees. “Being selected to receive this award is a wonderful acknowledgement from [our] peers in the Philadelphia community,” Bankins says. The paper profiled each of the award recipients, providing an overview of what they have accomplished so far in their careers. Despite the different details in each story, the women all share common traits of leadership, vision, and determination. Given the achievements of the other women only makes the honor seem more significant, Dalton says. “It really is a great honor to be included in a group of women whose achievements are so outstanding,” she says. — Paula Felps
– Photography by Bob Krist
POLO CLUB
To understand why William R. Coke has a passion for the sport of polo, all one has to do is hear his voice pause from emotion while he recalls his favorite polo horse, now retired. “I called [her] my Pete Rose horse. She would never quit,” says Coke, a founding board member of the University of Massachusetts Club in Boston. “She was ... a very, very powerful, quick, and agile horse, and one of the easiest riding horses I had.” Coke, a managing director for the securities firm Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., was relatively late in becoming serious about the sport. In his late 20s, he played two seasons of entry-level, indoor polo and became consumed with the sport only when he picked it up again nearly 10 years later, playing outdoors at the tournament level. The highly competitive level requires Coke to own nine horses and employ a full-time groom. Now 50, Coke practices during the week and plays on weekends, sometimes traveling to tournaments in South Carolina and Florida. Since the sport is so consuming, he is delighted his two young sons have begun riding and hopes they will come to understand his fascination with polo. “It’s really the dynamic beauty and abilities of the horses that make this sport so incredible,” he says. — Steve Wilson
– Photography by David Lominska
TRIAL SMILE
Dr. Vincent Dolce can create a patient’s perfect smile before ever doing the dental work. Through his free “trial smile” program, the Florida dentist takes an impression of a prospective patient’s mouth and creates an acrylic version of the ideal smile that mirrors the appearance of actual veneers. The patient can then take his “trial smile” home and wear it before deciding whether to have actual veneers put in. “We create a new smile, place it in your mouth after we prepare the teeth, and we reshape it,” says Dolce, a member of the Governors Club in West Palm Beach, who’s been in private practice since 1985. “There are no surprises.” Unlike dentists who simply place veneers over teeth, Dolce says he rejuvenates each tooth by restoring its function and length. With celebrity clients that include singer Amy Grant, Dolce estimates about 95 percent of the people who try the “trial smile” return for the real thing. When he’s not creating beautiful smiles, Dolce hosts a local radio program called “Open Wide,” which features testimonials and discussions on makeovers. “I enjoy so much what I do,” he says. “We are not making smiles. We are changing lives.” — Janet Mefferd
– Photography by Michael Price
MAKING A CASE FOR STYLE
Craig Ashton likes to joke about being the best-dressed attorney in Sacramento, California, but that isn’t because he argues cases in tailored suits. Rather, he has his pick of stylish shirts and jackets as the president and founder of the Ashton Price line of golf apparel. Ashton says he and his law partner, Christopher Price, launched the clothing line in early 2005 with the goal of “bringing a bit of panache back into the golf experience.” Sold currently at spas, golf clubs, and resorts, the line of men’s and women’s clothing encompasses short- and long-sleeved shirts, light jackets, and mock turtlenecks. “You can wear our clothing to play golf, to work, and you can wear any of our clothes with a pair of slacks or jeans and go to dinner or a nightclub,” explains Ashton, a member of Granite Bay Golf Club. Being well-dressed in any setting has long appealed to Ashton, which is one reason he started the company. And while he has been pleased with the public’s reception of his line, sales numbers have not been his greatest reward. “What I do for a living is very confrontational, so to be able to be more creative and bring smiles, rather than the opposite, certainly makes life much less stressful and more rewarding.” — Steve Wilson
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS
Business owners need a place to network, with no pressure and no selling. That’s the idea behind the CEO to CEO Business Forum Series at the Columbia Tower Club in Seattle. “I had my [stock brokerage] business for many years and was feeling like I needed to be around other business owners in a forum where we could just chat,” says Candy Lee, chairwoman of the club’s Business Forum committee, which devised the idea for the series. Started in 2002, the series welcomes CEOs who have at least one employee and at least $1 million in sales to a bimonthly breakfast. They are assigned seats near CEOs with similar-sized businesses. Guest speakers — who have included the chairman of Costco and Washington’s former governor — help facilitate discussions. Between 50 and 60 CEOs attend each breakfast, Lee says, and many of them attend regularly. “The CEO or president tends to be the person who sets the tone, so they like working with other business owners,” she says. “They like to hear what other CEOs are doing.” — Janet Mefferd
– Photography by Thomas Barwick
IN PRAISE OF OLDER WOMEN
Over dinner one evening, Kathleen Fitzgerald and her 50-something aged girlfriends began questioning the future and fretting about getting older. Talk turned to women they admired and why. “I mentioned it would be wonderful to see a book that celebrated the extraordinary older woman,” says Fitzgerald, a member of the Piedmont Club in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Last year, Fitzgerald published Divas, Dames & Dolls: A Celebration of the Female Spirit. A photographic work, it captures 60 women ages 60 to 106 — from a 60-year-old, second-career forest ranger to a 95-year-old private investigator. “I asked everyone I met to suggest women who were either wonderful characters or who possessed tremendous character,” explains Fitzgerald about her sources. The book sold out in four months. “None of these women wanted anyone else’s life lessons,” she points out. “Overcoming hard times seemed to be badges of honor.” If there was a mantra, Fitzgerald says it was: “If you don’t like something about your life, change it. If you still don’t like it, change it again.” Quips the author: “I loved this project and didn’t want it to end. I probably would still be doing it except that I didn’t want to be old enough to be in my own book!” — Mary Sue Lawrence
FISHING EXPEDITION
While fishing guide Todd Kersey might look the part, wearing sunglasses and a ball cap, and sporting a deep tan, at heart he is a driven entrepreneur. Kersey had run several different businesses until about 10 years ago when he chanced upon his current endeavor. “I had sold a business and didn’t have any idea what I was going to do next,” recalls Kersey, a lifelong fisherman and a member of the Tower Club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “I looked into the fishing guide industry and realized nobody had put it together as a business. I put my business background to it, and away we went.” Kersey hasn’t slowed down since. His company, Bass Online Inc., employs nearly 40 guides and serves freshwater lakes and rivers in Florida from Orlando south to the Keys. Kersey, 41, also speaks regularly to groups, hosts a weekly radio show, and films fishing programs for television networks such as ESPN and Outdoor Life Network. Despite his hectic schedule, he has never lost sight of his love of the sport. “Fishing is one of the last great American things where it doesn’t matter whether you’re 1 or 100 years old, whether you’re black, green, white, or blue. Everyone has the same opportunity. That’s the beauty of it.” — Steve Wilson
SHAPING UP
In 2002, new mother Debbie Lestitian was so overweight that she says she couldn’t even climb the stairs in her house. Always a yo-yo dieter, she tipped the scales at 220 pounds and knew her life had to radically change. “I had gestational diabetes [during pregnancy], which really put the fear of God into me,” she says. “After the baby was born, I just thought, ‘I have to get my weight down.’” She lost 40 pounds through diet and some exercise, but it wasn’t until she hired John O’Day, a trainer at the Rivers Club in Pittsburgh, that her confidence took off. In 2004, she ran in the 10K City of Pittsburgh Great Race. “The only place I ever ran before that was to the front of the buffet line,” she jokes. Lestitian then entered a bodybuilding competition, where she held her own against women in their 20s. Next up: the Rachel Carson Trail Challenge, a 34-mile rugged hike she’ll do with a Rivers Club team. Now 135 pounds, the tax attorney continues her daily workouts. “People say, ‘You must love to work out.’ No, I really don’t,” Lestitian says. “But I really love going to the club. It’s a great support system.” — Janet Mefferd
– Photography by Michael Ray
OFFICE TO GO
Kenny Johnson’s nine-year quest to invent a desk that travels with you is a lesson in persistence. The idea was actually the suggestion of Johnson’s wife, Melissa, who grew tired of propping a yellow legal pad on her lap, while waiting to testify outside the courtroom as an expert witness. What he lacked in engineering expertise, Johnson made up for in entrepreneurial vision. The result is the sturdy CartDesk, which transports standard business laptop cases and pops open to serve as a desk for mobile professionals. “I can’t fix anything, but I can see and know what I want to do,” says Johnson, a member of Brookhaven Country Club near Dallas. Johnson ignored early naysayers and embraced the positive feedback from hundreds of airport travelers he spoke with to refine the patented desk. The CartDesk, which retails for $129 and recently received the Travel Goods Association Product Innovation Award, includes travelers suggestions that it be small enough to roll down airplane aisles and include a cup holder. Brookhaven even played a role in this entrepreneurial adventure. A casual round of golf last fall at the club — just when Johnson needed additional funding — resulted in an introduction to club member Richard Bell, who signed on as a joint venture partner. “You always hear of this sort of thing, where you go play golf and someone funds your project, but we never imagined that would happen to us,” Johnson says. “It happened so casually and it’s not why we play golf or belong to the club, but it benefited us.” — Helen Bond
– Photography by Danny Hurley
BENEATH THE SURFACE
On the surface, Gordon Davis is a good tennis player. Make that on any surface — indoor, hard court, clay, and grass. Given that the 70-year-old member of Braemar Country Club in Tarzana, California, won U.S. senior championships for his age group in 2005 on all four surfaces, you’d have to say Davis is a great tennis player. “There’s a big difference between those surfaces, especially grass and clay, though not as much a difference when you’re 30 years old,” says Davis, who modestly attributes his four victories — a “Gold Slam” — to the fact that a top opponent was unable to compete in two of the events. “Twice before I had won two championships in the same year,” he adds, “but four! Are you kidding?” Davis certainly wasn’t kidding with an easy 6-0, 6-1 victory over his French opponent that helped the United States take the title for players in their 70s at the 2005 International Tennis Federation (ITF) Super-Seniors World Team Championships in Turkey. He then teamed with fellow Californian Richard Doss to win the ITF doubles title. “I’ve been lucky with my health. I can still run,” explains Davis, who says he’s saving golf for when he gets old. — Dave Orman
RUNNING MATES
When Carol McCurry began training Nancy Stevens, a newcomer to her running group, the two women wrote a whole new chapter in their running diaries. “Nancy has been blind since birth, and I became her running buddy, as well as her guide,” says McCurry, a member of the Aspen Glen Club in Carbondale, Colorado. “We just ran so well together that we started doing half-marathons.” Last year, McCurry guided Stevens into history, as she became the first blind athlete ever to complete the 35-year-old Maui Half Marathon. They run with a tether attached to their wrists to keep them together and will participate in six half-marathons and one full marathon this year. “Being around Nancy has opened up a whole new world,” McCurry says. “This is all about doing things you never thought you could do.” That’s a recurring theme for McCurry, who didn’t even discover her love for running until 2001. “I call it Adult Onset Athleticism,” McCurry quips. “I just fell in love with it.” McCurry participated in four triathlons in her first year, and still runs “two or three” a year as part of a team, in addition to marathons. “Once I started running, I was like Forrest Gump,” she says. “I just didn’t stop.” — Paula Felps
– Photography by Jeffrey Aaronson
LUCKY HORSESHOE
Opening one door in life often leads to other opportunities. Billy Joe Tolliver, a former NFL quarterback, kicked down one door last summer by winning the American Century Championship, the most prestigious celebrity golf event. Shortly after his victory, Tolliver seized an opportunity by accepting a job offer from Harrah’s Horseshoe Bossier City and Harrah’s Louisiana Downs, the casinos and hotels in Louisiana. Retired from the NFL since 2001 (he finished his pro career with the New Orleans Saints), he had been searching for a second career, and the personable Tolliver believes his position with Harrah’s suits him to a tee. An executive in the marketing area of player development, he touts the benefits of the Horseshoe to prospective guests, primarily wealthy ones. “You don’t run into many situations where you get to do a job where all you have to do is be yourself,” explains Tolliver, a member of Southern Trace Country Club in Shreveport. “I enjoy meeting people, and I’m traveling around hosting dinners and golf outings, trying to get to know as many people as I can and introduce them to our property.” As a fringe benefit, he will mix business with pleasure at the American Century Championship in July at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. “I’m certainly looking forward to defending [my title] and getting the opportunity to network a little bit.”
— Steve Wilson
– Photography by Neil Johnson
… SHORT TAKES …
A salute to University of Texas Club member Frank Denius, awarded a Presidential Citation from the university in the Lone Star State’s capital city. He was awarded this citation for meritorious service and profound contributions to the university. … Bold faces: At the 60th annual meeting of the Society of Golf Course Architects, Pinehurst Resort gathers golf greats and designers Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, along with noted architects Tom Fazio and Rees Jones, under one roof. … Golf Magazine’s review of “America’s Best Golf Resorts” includes Barton Creek Resort & Spa, The Homestead, and Pinehurst Resort as “medalist” resorts. … More kudos: Child Magazine names Pinehurst among the “60 Best” U.S. family friendly resorts. … Who’s one of Pennsylvania’s “Best 50 Women in Business”? Terri Sokoloff, dual member at Treesdale Golf & Country Club and Diamond Run Golf Club. She is co-founder and owner of Specialty Group, which provides financing, insurance, business and real estate brokerage, liquor licenses, and preparation and filing of all liquor board documentation exclusively for bars and restaurants. … The “Good Guys” of California’s Morgan Run Resort & Club live up to the group’s name, raising more than $100,000 for families of Marines killed or wounded in the war. This is the sixth year the Good Guys of Morgan Run have held a charity golf tournament. Next year’s goal is $250,000. … Michigan’s Oak Pointe Country Club paves its way to additional support of the Susan G. Komen Foundation with its “Path for the Cure.” Members are purchasing “pavers” for a landscaped walkway created to celebrate the memories of loved ones. … Doin’ good at City Club of Washington: Board chairman Frank Fahrenkopf presents the USO a check for $19,500 — proceeds from ClubCorp’s annual Lobster Feast events. More than 160 clubs in the ClubCorp family participated in the most recent Lobster Feast, serving more than 6,500 lobsters and donating $3 of the cost of each meal served. Lobster Feast began in 1992 as a way to help victims of Hurricane Andrew and has donated event proceeds to charitable organizations over the years. To date, Lobster Feast has raised more than $180,000 for various charities. … In California, Shadowridge Country Club member John Strege garners the 2005 U.S. Golf Association International Book Award for When War Played Through: Golf During World War II. The author and book were featured in “Clubs & Members” in the January/February 2006 issue. The book chronicles the impact the war had on the golf community and how the golf establishment responded to the war effort. The award is presented by the USGA Museum and Archives committee. … Tennis staff and volunteers at Texas’ Canyon Creek Country Club initiate a new Special Olympics program, and prep eight tennis athletes for the Dallas chapter games. … Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Ohio’s Capital Club marks the 20th day each month this year with FUN — from fitness competitions to wine tastings.