A passionate entrepreneur and award-winning educator, Dorothy Hamilton is one of the most influential forces shaping the American culinary landscape today.

She is the Founder and CEO of the International Culinary Center which includes the world-renowned French Culinary Institute whose graduates include many of America’s most prominent chefs and The Italian Culinary Academy.

Hamilton’s distinguished career in vocational education and her outstanding reputation for creating innovative programs in gastronomy has earned her numerous awards and even a knighting.

Most recently, she was inducted into the Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America by the James Beard Foundation and was nominated for the Entrepreneur Award of Excellence by the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Hamilton was also the creator and host of Chef’s Story, a 26-part television series and the author of the companion book, Chef’s Story. The textbook she conceived for the school — The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine- received James Beard Foundation Award in 2008. Her book on culinary careers, Love What You Do, and the school’s Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts were published last year.

The lifelong food lover talks about her inspirational work philosophy in this following short video from NYBC New York Channel and shares advice on balancing a demanding career with motherhood.

WomanzWorld was able to take a moment of Dorothy’s time to find out what’s driven her entrepreneurial success.

WomanzWorld: What was the catalyst that made you want to start your own business?

Dorothy Hamilton: I returned to NYC during the recession of 1974. I was an English major in college and had just served in the Peace Corp in Thailand. I had no job skills or opportunities so I took the only job available to me—a job at my father’s trade school in NYC. I loved it. I loved working with the students. From there, I followed my passion for cooking and food after I visited culinary schools in Europe. I convinced my dad to create a culinary trade school in NYC and the FCI was born.

What has been your biggest challenge to date and how did you overcome it?

Business never runs smoothly. 9/11 happened 10 blocks away and the economy tanked. During the savings and loan crisis in the 1980s students couldn’t get loans. The day-to-day operations of a business are grueling. You have to steel your stomach and know where your center is.

When did you experience your first business win or success & what impact did it have?

When Julia Child got FCI on Good Morning America and the school started to fill up. I understood the power of the press and how integral the press is to you in helping your reach your consumers.

What’s the single most important thing you’ve learned to date?

Trust your instincts. At the end of the day, you have to know who you are and what you’re doing.

What are the key strengths/qualities you’ve found in yourself as an entrepreneur?

Creativity. I’m also personable. In business, people don’t work for you. People have to want to work with you.

What’s your secret to keeping focused on your business and the vision you have for it?

I love it. I absolutely love what I do.

Do you have any daily habits as an entrepreneur that propels you to success?

I try to go to bed at a decent hour most nights. I’m clearest in the morning when I can think and strategize. A restful sleep is key to intelligent thought the next day.

What are the 3 top books you’ve read that have made a personal difference to you and influenced you and why?

Pierre Franey’s memoir, A Chef’s Tale. Epitomizes the of joy of French cooking and cuisine.
La Technique by Jacques Pepin. Don’t ask. Just look at it and you will know why it is seminal.
Moby Dick. Because it is so much more than a whale of a book.

Which females are your personal source of inspiration and why?

Julia Child was highly influential in my life. I observed how much of a people-person she was. She taught me the value of spending a moment or two with people– listening to them, asking questions, paying attention to them. She never talked about herself.

My Czech grandmother was inspirational to me. She came over to the U.S. when she was 14.

My friend, Christine Baranski, too. I am inspired by how hard she works!

What are your future plans?

We’re looking to spread the gospel of the International Culinary Center (FCI and Italian Culinary Academy) on TV, radio and the web.

What is your key piece of advice to any female considering becoming an entrepreneur?

Find the courage to pursue your dream job.

Currently, Hamilton is on the board of Abraham House, an organization that trains ex-offenders from New York City’s Rikers Island prison for reintegration into society; is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and Les Dames d’ Escoffier; and is a Sopexa Chevalier..

Hamilton holds a B.A. with honors from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, and an M.B.A. from New York University.

My friend had recently talked to a dynamic young lady called Danielle Cuomo, founder of Virtual Assist USA. He was looking to source his administrative activities and was so impressed with what she was doing that he sent me a Facebook message saying `You should interview her for WomanzWorld!’

So I did some research and realised he was right. Danielle has been nominated to the exclusive list of the Best 50 Women in Business Top Businesses to Follow on Twitter in 2010. I shot her an email and within 20 minutes had a reply, two days later we had a Skype call. Luckily I recorded it so we could all benefit from Danielle’s passion for what she does.

Danielle is the perfect example of dealing with what life throws you and making it work for you. She was working as an IT Consultant for a large firm when she was laid of in September 2007. Rather than starting the job hunting process, she decided she’d take the plunge and go in to business herself.

Danielle did her research and looked for a recession proof idea. She knew that it was 30% cheaper for an employer to have a virtual assistant than a full time executive and figured that was hugely compelling in tough times.

She found two competitors in her area, but they didn’t have any virtual assistants – they were just doing it between themselves. So she created a one stop shop whereby where she grew she could bring on more women as the work volumes grew.

Now she has a dynamic enterprise that is devoted to helping businesses succeed by delegating all those tasks so that her clients have more free time and go from “I’m too stressed out,” to “I love running my business again”.

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I was fortunate enough to meet the phenomenal Rose Shuman in Santa Monica, LA over my Christmas break. Over coffee I got to learn more about this human ball of energy and inspiration. A TED Fellow and Social Entrepreneur, Rose is incredibly engaging and her enthusiasm is infectious.

What I admire most about Rose is that she cares passionately about every aspect of her enterprise. She describes herself as very opinionated and uppity as well as strongly motivated and unafraid of challenging situations..

Question Box is no exception. She knew that 4 billion people in the world aren’t online but increasing numbers have mobile phones. She asked how do you take the promise of the internet and deliver it to people speaking obscure regional languages? Her answer – why not build something that does it for you and uses the networking ability of GPS and mobile phone network infrastructures that even Grandma could use?

She spent three years incubating it and 5 iterations of software and produced a brilliant yet simple innovation. Literally a box with a big button on the front that’s hooked up by mobile phone, it helps users ask for exactly what information they want, when they want it, and how they want it – live, in their local language.

It’s currently being used in Pune, India and piloted last summer in rural Mbale and Bushenyi, Uganda. Callers ask about anything they wish – agriculture, education, sports, health.

Question Box in action

As Founder and CEO of Open Mind, she’s on a mission to bring Internet information to everyone who lacks access. On a daily basis she handles major strategy and company vision, investor relations and fundraising, business development, marketing/collateral development, complex international project management, research, operations management. What’s more she directs 15 team members on three continents, including engineering staff!

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Kim & Laura Appleton

Laura and Kim Appleton are a force to be reckoned with and two of the most passionate and engaging entrepreneurs I’ve met recently. Together they are on quest to change how the world sleeps – one duvet at a time.

In the space of an hour they enlightened me on the entire silk making process, how to source it ethically and why everyone should have one of their amazing Silk Concept duvets. It was clear that Laura could have talked about this for hours and Kim could convince anyone that, once you owned one of their duvets, you would never be able to sleep under anything else.

Laura grew up in the UK with entrepreneurial parents and with a degree in Digital Design she’s a keen connoisseur of all things web related. With stints in professional roles, on a potato farm, as a coffee quality controller, pie maker, waitress, desert chef, junior designer and snowboard instructor she gained a diverse range of priceless skills and knowledge. Mix in representing England at the U17 World Cup aged 11 and playing Field Hockey at the highest level for 8 years and you can tell she’s an over achiever.

Growing up in small town Northern Ontario, Kim thrives on adventure and from a young age competed in sports including sailing and swimming at a national level. She went on to become a globetrotter after highschool and work as a lifeguard, a ski instructor/ski patroller, tree planter, forest fire fighter and managed to squeeze in a degree; a BA in French.
A year working for Rothschild Investment bank in the heart of London’s financial district watching companies sell for millions piqued her curiosity into the world of business. On her return to Vancouver she became Program Director for FWE for two years, helping educate and mentor female business owners in Vancouver.

So how do these two manage to work together, live together and nurture a fantastic relationship? Find out below.

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For years dessert has been the bikini’s ultimate nemesis but entrepreneur Dani Kates has found a way to bring them both together in perfect harmony.

Inspired by all women’s favourite indulgence, sweets, Kandi Swim by Dani Kates line of swimwear is a fun, playful and flirty line of swimwear that lets you have your cake and wear it too!

KanDi Swim has already made a splash in the fashion world and can be seen in the pages of WWD, Seventeen and Women’s Surf Style Magazine. Additionally Dani Kate’s swimwear has been showcased on The Travel Channel’s ‘Bridget’s Sexiest Beaches’ and The Los Angeles KTLA morning news.

It’s clear that Dani is bound for a great future in building her empire as she’s not afraid to dive head first into the deep end with her unwavering passion and enthusiasm for what she does.

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Elisa and Tara of BabyBellies

Elisa Hoole and Tara Taylor do not share an ordinary relationship as sister-in-laws. Together they’ve cofounded a refreshing Vancouver start up babybellies.

Over champagne they realised the huge opportunity that lay in creating and providing baby products that were all natural, free of chemicals and harmful ingredients and tried, tested and loved by moms.

They designed their babybellies products for the fabulous, health conscious, eco-savvy new or expecting parents. They’re now starting to see the fruits of their labour with more retail outlets stocking their products and recently being featured in the Vancouver Sun.

I caught up with Elisa over coffee to talk about the challenges and constant surprises of running a startup. It was interesting to discuss our opinions on situations we’d both faced as entrepreneurs, including wearing so many hats on a daily basis such as sales, marketing, operations, finance and legal.

It was fascinating to learn how they’ve gone about breaking into a highly competitive market with just the two of them to run every aspect of the business and what they’ve learned along the way.

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Like many entrepreneurs, Beverlee Rasmussen had outgrown her  place of employment and decided to venture out on her own to start, what would become a multi-million dollar award winning travel business.

E-Myth Scholar Beverlee Rasmussen

She would soon learn that just because you are a great travel agent doesn’t mean you automatically know how to run a travel agency business.  After being introduced to The E-Myth, Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do about It, written by Michael E. Gerber she started working ON her business instead of being her best selling employee.

After 7 years was able to sell her business, Somerville Travel Inc, on her terms at a time when you could not give a travel agency away.

Beverlee went on to work for Michael E. Gerber and has assessed over 3,000 small businesses, giving her unique insights into the systems and mindset you need to have in place to start and grow a successful business.

Today, Beverlee is the Founder and CEO of PACE Strategic Business Systems Design, a small business consulting firm that walks clients through the process of creating a rock solid documented strategic plan and then building the efficient streamlined systems that will  eliminate recurring frustrations and increase profits for entrepreneurs, start-ups and established companies.
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Malene Grotrian

In less than one year Malene Grotrian Design has developed a reputation as Vancouver`s premier haute couture designer and a talented young entrepreneur.

After debuting at Vancouver Fashion Week in March this year and receiving the first standing ovation in VFW history, Malene Grotrian Design was the only Canadian designer personally invited to showcase her Spring/Summer 2010 collection last week at New York Fashion Week.

Born and raised in Denmark, Malene Grotrian graduated in 2004 from the Danish design school, Teko Center Denmark.   After furthering her design and fine art studies in Italy, Malene re-located to Canada.  For over four years, Malene worked with leading Canadian designers honing in on her skills and love for detailed tailored designs and couture fashion.   It was during this time that she discovered her true passion for women’s evening wear and her signature bustier, these experiences inspired the inception of the Malene Grotrian label.

WomanzWorld got to hear from Malene, on return from her debut in New York, and found out more about how she mixes creativity with business.
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Andrea Baxter

A talented, driven yet humble entrepreneur, Andrea Baxter is living proof of what can be accomplished both personally and financially in just two years.

Along with her fellow Smart Cookies founders Angela Self, Katie Dunsworth, Robyn Gunn and Sandra Hanna they have written two books, appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and are the hosts of their own TV show on the W Network.

Just to add to her demanding and hectic schedule, Andrea recently started her own boutique marketing firm, Bratface Marketing, and below she shares her insights on some of her best money sources and finding your financial balance without sacrificing your lifestyle!

WomanzWorld: Tell me about the inspiration behind Smart Cookies?

Andrea Baxter: Oprah’s Debt Diet initially inspired the Smart Cookies. I had seen an episode of Oprah’s Debt Diet and I just started using the tools they provided and I realized that I was spending uncontrollably and needed to take charge of my finances. I then called a few girlfriends, and asked if they would be interested in getting together and chatting about it and the Smart Cookies were born. There was just a real genuine interest in living the lives we truly wanted and when we looked at how we were spending our money, it wasn’t aligned with our goals.
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From September 14th – 18 the award winning Nolcha Fashion Week will take place simultaneously with New York Fashion Week . For the third year running this event will include a dazzling array of runway shows, accessory exhibits, cocktail parties and fashion business seminars and behind it all is the talented 26 year old CEO of Nolcha, Kerry Bannigan.

Kerry Bannigan, CEO Nolcha

Starting out with multiple internships in Public Relations and Marketing while completing her BA English and Communications at Sheffield Hallam University, UK, she took her 9 years of extensive experience in marketing, events and brand management and founded this award winning multi-faceted media and events platform. Kerry envisioned a much needed revolutionary advance of resources in the emerging/independent fashion industry and together with her business partner Arthur Mandel, they launched Nolcha in March 2007.

She’s grown Nolcha’s mission to help aspiring and talented designers with the launch of Nolcha Fashion Week: NYC, Nolcha Metier Magazine, Independent Retail Week and Dress the Band Competition. Splitting her time between New York and London working closely with designers, reputable industry companies and associates she aims to continually grow the Nolcha brand on an international platform. Kerry has been highlighted in Forbes, Smart Money, BBC and more. Despite her busy schedule Kerry found time to answer our questions below in record time proving that her energy and efficiency are just some of the amazing qualities that have led her to succeed as an entrepreneur.
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