Gotham Gal

Deirdre Lord, Energy Maven, Woman Entrepreneur

One of the things I really enjoy about the many people I get to meet and greet each week is the myriad of different industries I learn about.  I have always believed in hiring people for their skill sets regardless of what industry they come from because sometimes the ability to think out of the box in a new industry with the perfect skill set works wonders.  Having coffee with Deirdre Lord two weeks ago made me think about that.  We could learn from each other although I have never been involved with energy except to use it, whereas energy is Deirdre's expertise. 

Deirdre has been interested in energy from the get-go.  After going to undergraduate in Vermont she took a job with The International Institute for Energy Conservation.  There Deirdre worked in Chile and India implementing energy efficient technologies and policies with private sector partnerships.  The next move was to graduate school at University of Delaware to get a masters in energy and environmental studies.  Once graduating she found herself living in Boston working for Citizens Energy.  A non-profit started by Joseph Kennedy.  Citizens Energy began in 1979.  Citizens Energy exists to make lifes basic needs, such as energy, more affordable and accessible.  Joe negotiated with African countries to buy their unused energy and gave it away to people in lower income areas to heat their homes.  The business was divded into two pieces; one for-profit and the other non-profit.  Using the profits in the energy business to fund the non-profit business of providing people in low-income areas with energy.  At that point energy was deregulated, the market shifted and the game changed.

It was 1998 and Deirdre moved on to New Energy Ventures, a start-up that was focusing on the retail energy space.  Buying energy at wholesale prices and then selling it to residential, commercial and industrial companies.  As a start-up the company went through a series of management changes and Deirdre ended up helping run their retail business that was called Constallation New Energy.  There she helped countries leap frog energy development by providing zero infrastructure and moving directly into power plant development. 

It was time to create her own business.  She left with two people and created a company called Juice Energy to provide energy for commercial companies.  Once energy was deregulated you could buy energy from secondary providers.  We actually did that personally for our residence about 10 years ago.  Your first instinct when someone calls you on the phone to give you a better deal on energy is skepticism.  What is interesting is that when a secondary company such as Deirdre's buys energy for their clients, they have to put down twice the amount in collateral in order to secure the energy.  The reason being that the energy markets can be volatile and if they go down or up, the providers do not want the secondary markets to walk away from the energy they purchased. 

Two and a half years into her business they were doing over $100 million dollars in revenue and were in two states and about to enter into two more.  They had great relationships with their clients and Deirdre loved what she was doing.  She just had a baby and was taking off some time with her husband and the market imploded.  Lehmann Brothers was the provider of capital for the collateral needed. 

She came back to the office with baby in tow immediately. Deirdre and her partners got in a room to strategize.  She put up a make shift sheet so she could breast feed during the meeting.  As she is telling everyone how they need to start winding down and let go of 40 people she could hear a pin drop.  She peeked outside the sheet and realized nobody was there.  Deirdre picked up her baby and said "well at least you are still here."  Her child proceeded to throw-up all her and as Deirdre put it, her business and her baby threw up all over her and the world changed.  She sat there and cried. 

After spending some time at home thinking she would just be a stay-at-home Mom she got restless.  Went on a few interviews and realized very quickly that she wanted to own her own business again.  And so she picked herself up and started another business around energy.  This business helps companies procure and manage their energy.  Buying the energy is easy.  Managing it and understanding how you use it is hard.  Her company, The MWh, provides access to everything online where their customers can stay on top of their energy needs by evaluating pricing options by looking at their historical data and in many ways this forces companies to think their carbon footprint. This saves businesses money.  One of the tag lines I like is, transactions are simple, decisions are hard.  MWh puts customers in charge of their energy and power costs.

It took years for people and companies to understand phone deregulation.  Energy isn't quite there yet.  I was so impressed with Deirdre.  She stayed true to her passions about energy from the very get-go.  She learned how to make a difference and has grown her second business with a very different head than the first one.  She is an environmental energy entrepreneur.  I am looking forward to picking her brain again next time I see Deirdre.  She is involved with the tech world because she built her business online but as I have said in the past, tech is a platform for the many interesting businesses out there.  Tech is just changing the way we do business. 

Credit Ready NYC

On March 7th, at Manhattan Community College, there will be a Women's Small Business credit fair.  As March is recognized as Womens History month and the month that the initiative out of Christine Quinn's office is taking place.  The fair is being conducted for women owned businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups and businesses where women have a partnership stake. 

At the fair there will be banks, alternative lenders and non-profit organizations to offer loans and financial services.  The City Council is trying to make a change for small business owners particularly women in NYC and this is a step n the right direction. 

Events like these and organizations like the Women's Initiative will help make a longer term impact on the economies of many areas in the city. 

Good People Manhattan Theater Club

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. 

We went to see Good People last night, the latest production at MTC.  Great acting.  An incredible cast.  Always love seeing Frances McDourmand in theater or on the big screen and Estelle Parsons is hilarious.  I just didn't enjoy the actual play.

Perhaps there are times when you don't like the content or it makes you uncomfortable are the times you should consider sticking it out.  Thinking about what makes you uncomfortable about the content.  Many lessons are learned by putting yourself in a position where you have to listen to characters you just don't like.  But last night, at intermission, Fred turned to me and said "the acting is great but I can't stand any of the charcters and I know you hate them too....want to stay or go"?  Well based on the weeks that I have been having, all good but extremely busy, the thought of crawling into bed and falling asleep before 10pm was much more appealing than sitting through the rest of the play.   And so we went home.

The play is about a middle aged woman from Southie (Boston) who never got past a HS education, was knocked up and has a severly retarded daughter.  She finds herself without a job.  Making a visit to an old flings office who is now a very successful doctor thinking she can get a job.  Lives take many turns from High School and watching this woman, played by Frances McDourmand, pursue this doctor who was someone of the past to help toss her a lifeline just didn't do it for me.  There are more layers to the play but the characters and content just annoyed me. 

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. 

i think i love you, a novel by allison pearson

Cover of David Cassidy

I stayed up last night to finish i think i love you, a novel by allison pearson.  the book is very british in its humor.  i had a hard time getting through the first half but really enjoyed the second half.  like theater, i generally check out after the first half if i don't like it but i stuck through it because i had to see what happened in the end. 

why did i had to stick it through?  because the book is about david cassidy.  two 13 year old girls who worship david cassidy in the first half of the novel and then in the second half, at middle age, they reconnect to go see him perform and meet him in person.  you can only laugh and relate if you were a david cassidy fan.

teen beat was one of my all time favorite magazines growing up.  i had david cassidy pictures on my wall just like the girls in the book but i wasn't loyal.  i also had bobby sherman and as much as i though donny osmond was cute i couldn't get pass the mormon thing ( even at that age ). 

that time of my life was short lived.  i was into plastering the wall next to my bed with their posters at 9 years old and then it was over.  but i can recall those posters as if they were yesterday.  hence, i had to finish the book and the hilarious insightful recent interview the author has with david cassidy at the end of the book. 

an ode to ottolenghi

I am a huge fan of Ottolenghi in London.  Truth is I have never been to their newer places but always return to their original in Notting Hill every time we visit London.  On my first visit I bought their first cookbook, on my second visit I bought their second cookbook which is completely vegetarian.  We had a dinner party this past week and I made a few things from their book.  All good, all middle Eastern flavors but the hardest part was converting all the amounts.  Thank god for the Internet.

We began with a tart.  This is a major event.  I am going to give the very short version. 

1 red pepper sliced and de-seeded

1 yellow pepper sliced and de-seeded

1 eggplant cubed

1 sweet potato cut and peeled

1 zucchini cubed

2 medium Spanish onions thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

1 cup ricotta cheese (you are supposed to use 1/2 cup feta and 1/2 cup ricotta but I ran out of feta)

7 cherry tomatoes cut in half

2 eggs

1 cup heavy cream

thyme leaves

Make a simple crust and pre-bake it in the tart pan for about 30 minutes and let cool.  The bottom should be lightly browned. 

In a small pan, saute the onions with the bay leaves until they are completely carmelized.  Cool.

Set the oven to 350.  Put the peppers on a cookie tray separately from the other vegetables and let them just continue roasting the entire time the other vegetables are in the oven.  Mix all the vegetables separately with olive oil and kosher salt.  Roast the eggplant on a cookie tray for about 10 minutes.  Then add the sweet potatoes to the eggplant dish and roast another 10 minutes.  Then add the zucchini to this and roast another 10 minutes. 

When the peppers are done, take off the skin and then pull into long strips. 

Scatter the onions over the bottom of the tart.  Add in all the roasted vegetables (including the peppers).  Scatter thyme leaves all over the vegetables.  Set the cherry tomatoes in the tart with the them cut side up. 

Dot all the vegetables with the cheese.  It was hard to get it all in there.  With a whisk, mix together the eggs and cream.  Slowly pour into the tart.  If it can't all get in there, don't worry, it will be ok. 

I set this on a covered cookie sheet and baked for about 35-45 minutes.  Serve warm. 

Eggplants

Half an eggplant for each serving.  This serves 4.  You can easily double, triple, etc.

2 large eggplants cut in half

olive oil and thyme

pomegranate seeds

1 tsp za'tar (or just a mixture of herbs of your choice)

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

kosher salt

Set the oven to 350.  Mark the eggplants with a knife creating a diamond-shape pattern but not cutting all the way through.  Douse in olive oil.  I used a brush.  Sprinkle with kosher salt and thyme.  Roast for about 45 minutes.  Continue to check on the eggplants and put on more olive oil if necessary.  I did it two more times.  When it is done, cool completely.

Mix together the buttermilk and yogurt.  Pour over the eggplants, then sprinkle the pomegranates seeds over the top and then sprinkle with salt and za'taar.  Serve.

Lentils  Servess 4

1 cup French lentils

2 bay leaves

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. coriander

olive oil

1 medium onion roughly chopped

1 cup Greek yogurt

2 cups baby spinach ( one cup cooked, one cup raw )

3 tbsp. chopped cilantro

3 tbsp. chopped mint

juice of one lemon

Cook the lentils in boiling water with the bay leaves for about 20-30 minutes.  Drain and set aside. 

In a small frying pan dry-roast the cumin and coriander to release the aromas.  About 2 minutes.

In another frying pan, coat with olive oil and then fry up the onions until golden and very soft.  Now add the spices into this mixture.  Then add this to the lentils.  I found that I needed a little bit more spice for my taste so I just made some more. 

Once this is cool, add in the yogurt, spinach, herbs (cilantro and mint), lemon juice and a tablespoon of olive oil.  Add salt and pepper for taste. 

I put this on small puff pastry rounds to serve.  Not necessary.  The lentils are excellent.  They'd be great just rolled up in a pita. 

 

my mom

Every time anyone asks about how I am since my Mom died, I always answer the same thing.  I say, "It is just so weird that she is gone that I can't quite describe what I feel."  I wrote a post about her after she died and made her the Women Entrepreneur of the week, and she was quite an entrepreneur.  My sister has been wanting to write something and she finally did.  Her post, of course, just made me weep. 

Here it is.

My Mother Was

It’s hard to believe that only recently my mother was the “young 73 year old,” living her life, mentally sharp, interested, active, meeting friends at new restaurants, playing bridge, going to movies and plays, walking the streets of New York, feeding its economy by spending at all the best stores and nail salons. It’s hard to believe that only months ago she was always at the other end of the phone. But my mother was, and isn't anymore. On November 5th we found out she had brain cancer. And on December 16th she died. 

I’ve tried to sit down and write this, write something, many times over the last few months, but never got very far. Initially I think I had wanted to give life to her memory, and then maybe in some small way to honor me, my brother and sister for the experience we had all gone through together. Other times, just to clear my head. But today is my birthday, a day that was naturally as much hers as mine. Also a day when, year after year, I could always rely on the first call of my day to be from her. Today, filling the silence with words about her, seemed like the right time to try to finish this, whatever this is.  

The numbness from the shock and the emotionally exhaustive 5 1/2 weeks we spent watching as each day she disappeared a little more has worn off. But in its place, has come a strange, long mix of emotions. Initially I just felt “off,” for lack of a better term. It was time to go back to work, get back to life, so my body went through the motions. But my brain didn’t always follow. I found I couldn’t concentrate very well or pay attention to anything for very long. I can’t count the number of things I lost or misplaced during that first month. The “off” phased into a feeling of disorientation, just couldn’t find my balance. My brother described it in terms of DNA, half of it suddenly disappearing. For me, it felt like a missing limb. I knew she wasn’t there, but it felt like she was. And in her absence, pain and sadness. Now, I'm just trying to make sense of how someone is here - and then not. 

There is definitely some comfort having my siblings, Jerry and Joanne, around. Both to share in memories of her, and process the whole thing. Although we all had very different relationships with my mother and are coming to terms with it in our own way, we’re all tied together in ways that go back far beyond the last few months. And the loss is profound for each of us, even as it manifests itself in different ways. 

Random memories of her come at the oddest times and for no reason at all other than she is clearly top of mind. At the gym, in a meeting, on the subway... thoughts of her through the years, when she was sick, and the weeks before that, of the signs that might have been a clue there was something wrong. 

My mother was a dichotomy of many things, as we all are. She was sweet, sensitive and very easy going, but also quite judgmental. She was very opinionated, but didn’t always feel it was her place to interject. (Sharing her thoughts with others instead of the intended target.) She was very loving, but could also be aloof at times, putting up just enough of a wall to keep her in her comfort zone. She could be very giving, but also unbelievably self-absorbed. She was creative, but also very smart with a good business head. She was quite weak in some ways, while incredibly strong in others - and brave too, braver than she gave herself credit for. Actually a real survivor. She just didn’t see herself that way. Ultimately, she had a very good life, fortunate in so many ways. But too often she viewed life through the lens of a half empty glass.  

Regardless of all the negative traits - some of which unfortunately she passed right along to me - I loved my mother deeply. She was incredibly cute, often quite silly and could really be very fun. Loved a party and a drink. Loved exploring new things, loved food & cooking (something she was excellent at), loved her kids and adored her grandchildren. My mother and I talked all the time, many times a week, if not daily. We enjoyed the city together, we traveled together, talked about nonsense – stories no one else would care about or listen to - and at times, we also annoyed the shit out of each other. In the end, although not always in the ways I wanted or needed her to be, she was there, always. For good, for bad and for everything in the middle, she was my mother - and I miss her. Especially today. 

My brother and I have birthdays two days (and two years) apart. And this year, I am celebrating with him and his family in L.A. Although I didn’t get the call from my mother this morning, appropriately, the first birthday greeting I got was from my youngest niece Ruby. She is sweet, sensitive, looks very much like a Solomon and loved Grandma Judy deeply. A picture of her and her grandmother sits by her bed. And she misses her too, so we reminisced and told funny stories about her the last few days. As Ruby says, sometimes it really feels like she is still here, like she just went on a long trip. 

Indeed.

Hot Bread Kitchen event

To celebrate the opening of Hot Bread Kitchens new facilities at La Marqueta we are having an event.  Please come and support this fantastic organization that is not only making delicious breads, tortillas and crackers but changing the lives of women. 

 

 

the womens initiative

The Women's Initiative is a non-profit organization located in the Bay Area which provides job training, resources(think micro-lending) and on-going mentor support to lower income women to improve their quality of life and their pocket book.  They do great work.  La Cocina, a commercial kitchen space area in the Bay Area that provides many of its immigrant clients the ability to rent inexpensive space to grow their own food ideas came out of a feasibility study done by the Women's Initiative in 1999.  It is probably the impetus behind La Marquetta where Hot Bread Kitchen is doing the exact same thing. 

I have been talking with the Women's Initiative for a while now.  WI is now taking the success that they have had in the Bay Area and bringing it to NYC.  Years of successes and of course disappointments but they have fine tooled their business model and know exactly what it takes. 

They help women who can't find jobs create their own.  70% of the women who come through their program are still in business 5 years later.  That is an impressive statistic.  The average household income increases almost by $13,000 after 12 months of training with The Womens Initiative.  This shows a $30:1 ROI as women create businesses, pay taxes, employ others and come off public assistance.  One year after training 90% of the WI women are employed or self-employed and after 5 years they provide an average of 2.5 jobs. 

Last year, WI in the Bay Area trained more than 3000 low-income women who are now on they way to either launch their own businesses or be employed.  Pretty damn impressive.  The cost to WI to create these jobs is roughly $4000 per person.  They have figured out how to mentor and train to success. 

WI is bringing the model to NYC and I believe Chicago.  If they can do it in the Bay Area, why not do it across the country.  Changing the economies of lower-income women can essentially change a neighborhood while providing role models for the children at the same time. 

I am very impressived with this group.  Women run, women backed, women power. 

Dannijo, two sisters, both Entrepreneurs

I got an email from Danielle, the younger of the two Snyder sisters behind the New York based Jewelry brand Dannijo, introducing herself as an avid fan of my blog.  Funny enough, I own one of their bracelets so how could I not resist meeting the sisters.  So glad I did.  Two smart women with interesting stories and a passion for life who definitely work as hard as they play. 

Growing up in Jacksonville, Florida.  Both Danieille and Jodie started making jewelry at 9 and 12 years old together.  Grabbing their father's medical tools they worked their way into using metals for their designs.  As the story unfolds, it is not surprising at all that the road would eventually lead to a jewelry business. 

During High School, Jodie worked in a high end store in Jacksonville and convinced the owner to sell their jewelry line.  Everything sold out and both Jo and Danielle saw their wares being worn on the college students walking around town.  They were definitely on to something. 

Jodie went to school at University of Florida and Danielle went off to Vanderbilt.  Three year difference in age.  When Danielle went abroad for a semester she spent some time working with Robert Cavelli learning more and more about the fashion business.  They continued to make jewelry together while in college.  Moving forward, while Danielle was at Vanderbilt, their uncle gave them an opportunity to take over a small storefront which they called Dannijo Jewels that was part of his real estate portfolio.  Their parents seeded this idea.  They certainly learned alot but after running that store for a year and a half that was enough.  They paid back after dime and paid their rent and even was able to pocket a little bit at the end of its run. 

Fast forward and Jodie is living and working in NYC at Sam Edelman, a shoe company.  She is doing private label sales for their large clientsl.  A great experience but not sure this was it.  Danielle comes to NYC to do a summer internship at 85 Broads.  The internship sent her and a few people to Africa to make a documentary for an organization they started called Lwala (Living with a Lifelong Ambition).  The concept was to create a documentary about the AIDS problems in the village of Lwala, Kenya hoping that it would motivate their peers to do something to fight AIDS in Africa.  They raised money for the elders of the community who had a very hard time with young people opening up these issues to the world. One of the initial members of Lwala was a Vanderbilt University medical student who had lost his parents to AIDS.  This organization still exists today.

It was the Lwala event where Danielle and Jodie has worked together on a small three piece collection for the fundraising party when they started thinking perhaps they had something here like a jewelry business. 

Graduation was around the corner and Jodie was continuing to figure out her career in the fashion industry in NYC.  Once graduating Danielle got a job at Prime Time hoping to fulfill her desire to become the next Ed Bradley.  After spending hours in a small room doing time coding, she lost interest.  Went on Craigs list and found a job at Penny Preville, a fine jewelry company and pivoted back to jewelry. 

Within one month of each other both sisters found themselves out of work and looking at each other and thinking now what.  This goes under the heading "things happen for a reason".  The line they had created for LWALA had been so well received thatt hey knew they were on to something.  They had success before in paying back their parents when they funded the store so they went back to the well.  Give us six months and let us launch this business. 

Both Danielle and Jodie have serious energy but they truly compliment each other.  One has a better head for business and the other has more creativity and tenacity.  Taking their line into Bergdoff Goodman after calling at 5pm and getting an assistant designer on the phone who they told that they were in the neighborhood on route to see someone who was about to write about them and wanted BG's opinion on their wares.  The assistant designer bought it hook, line and sinker.  Once she saw the line, the buyer walked in and took a peak and the rest if history. 

Their business has doubled each year since.  They are starting to think out of the box and how they use social media to push out their product directly to the consumer.  I loved these girls.  After spending many of my former years in the retail and manufacturing space, on many levels no much has changed and I could completely relate to what they were doing and how they are going about it. 

Don't be surprised to see Dannijo become a big life style brand built on top of their first product and love, good jewelry. 

 

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checking out, if only for a few days

Weekends are generally for seeing friends, relaxing, catching up and the usual errands.  It is kind of like relaxing but it isn't really relaxing.  It is just checking out of the normal daily grind.  This weekend everybody wanted to just get out of the city.  The kids have a four day weekend. 

We have a house on the East end of Long Island which sees little face time during the winter months.  The kids each brought a friend and we all made the journey.  Nice call guys.  I have been here less than twenty-four hours and I feel like a new person.  Change of scenery was much needed. 

As I wrote to someone today, it is so desolate out here in the winter and NYC is never desolate.  The desolation feels good.  Time to relax, time to reflect, time to read, time to just be mellow. 

By Monday we will be raring to go back to the urban rat race (although I love it).  We truly need to come out here more often.