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Mari Eriksson is the owner and founder of Fusion Beads Inc., a retail and online bead business that sells beads and beading supplies to customers all over the world.

Mari’s passion for beads and jewelry began early in her life as a hobby and artistic outlet. In 1992 Mari completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Georgia State University, partly supporting herself by selling her earrings to friends and stores. After college she moved to Seattle and began working as a graphic designer, while occasionally setting up a bead booth at the Fremont Sunday Market. Beads were quickly becoming more than a hobby with many weekends dedicated to looking for the perfect future storefront for Fusion Beads.
In early 1997 Mari lost her mother and decided it was the right time in her life for a big change. Fusion Beads opened in the Ballard area in November of that year with one employee, Mari. SInce opening in Ballard, the company has launched its ecommerce website in 2004 and moved to a new retail location in the Wallingford area in 2005.

Fusion Beads now employs over 50 people and carries 30,000 different beads and supplies on its website. Mari is grateful to work with all of the wonderful people at Fusion Beads, all of whom are an integral part of the company’s success.

In 2008 Fusion Beads added to their charitable donations by holding the first “Sparkle for a Cause” silent auction. Jewelry designs from the FusionBeads.com Inspiration page were auctioned off and proceeds were donated to a local children’s charity. Mari loves being a part of the Seattle business community and spending time with her husband and two kids. Her love of beads and commitment to living a creative life continue to be the inspiration for Fusion Beads. www.fusionbeads.com

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Anne-Marie Faiola is CEO and Founder of Bramble Berry Inc. “A good business,” she says, “comes from finding something that works and capitalizing on it.” For Anne-Marie, that something came from making soap, a business concept she started as a hobby and then turned into a multi-million dollar enterprise.

As a teenager, Anne-Marie learned how to be business savvy from her father, a doctor who also ran a network of clinics and who encouraged her to find her own business opportunities. Taking her father’s advice, Anne-Marie started making personalized soaps to sell to friends and family. Years later, after pursuing a career as a correctional officer and about to apply to the FBI, Anne-Marie realized that her true passion was business and decided to become an entrepreneur. Determined to start her own company that would provide the highest quality products and ingredients for soap making, Anne-Marie left the criminal justice system and founded Bramble Berry Inc. in her living room. Desiring formal business training, she went back to school and received her MBA in 2007 while running her rapidly growing company.

Today, with over 2500 products, Bramble Berry has a customer base that extends across the country. In addition to soap, Anne-Marie now offers supplies to make candles, lotions, exfoliants, lip balms, and mineral based cosmetics. Otion, Bramble Berry’s retail component in Bellingham, Washington, offers workshops so customers can learn the latest project ideas and techniques. For those looking to expand their skill sets, Anne-Marie also built the website www.teachsoap.com. Her most recent project is Soap Queen TV (www.soapqueen.tv) where Anne-Marie is featured in free weekly episodes demonstrating melt & pour soapmaking techniques. She also maintains direct communication with her clients through her daily blog, www.soapqueen.com.

With new products added frequently as well as plans to expand the Otion store, clearly this is only the beginning for Anne-Marie.

“Success doesn’t happen overnight,” she says. “It’s about replicating small victories everyday.”
Bramble Berry Inc. provides the highest quality ingredients for making personalized soaps, as well as candles, bath and body essentials, and cosmetics. With over 2500 products and priding itself on offering the highest level of customer service, it’s no wonder that Bramble Berry, www.brambleberry.com, is one of the leading craft suppliers in the United States.

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Marcia Ives is President and Owner of With a Little Help Inc., a home care company in its 10th year of providing services to seniors. Marcia created With a Little Help to encourage seniors and people with special needs to stay engaged in life, to lessen their isolation, and to assist with tasks of daily living. “The heart of our success is the warm and caring bond that builds between our caregivers and clients,” Marcia says. “The quality of our caregivers truly sets us apart in this industry.” As the company’s first caregiver, she knew she wanted to hire people who would provide the same level of detailed, loving care that she was personally providing. This meant finding mature, college-educated, compassionate individuals who had an interest in being of service to others. To attract caregivers who meet this profile, she offers a wage that is higher than the norm in this industry. Today, With a Little Help has a staff of 88 and serves 125 clients.

Prior to starting With a Little Help, Marcia worked with special needs populations and created several small businesses. In 1999 she was looking for something different and became curious about the senior industry. She went to work at a retirement community and was surprised and excited to discover an intense core connection with seniors. Marcia also observed that many senior citizens, no matter where they lived, spent far too many hours alone. “I immediately experienced their gratefulness for my time and realized that we made each other feel good,” Marcia says. “I learned that the very simple act of both giving and receiving loving one-on-one attention makes an amazing difference in a day.” As With a Little Help has grown, Marcia has continued to ensure that building caring, rewarding relationships remains the most important part of the business.

Marcia’s strong commitment to helping others also shows up in her volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity. To help fulfill Habitat’s mission of eliminating poverty housing, she has raised funds and put on her tool belt to build homes in Seattle, on a reservation in South Dakota, in a township in South Africa and on the steppes of Mongolia. She completed Habitat’s leadership training program and, in early 2009, led a team of twelve to Thailand to build a home for a single mother. Next year she heads to Guatemala to build homes. www.withalittlehelp.com

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Julie Tappero is the President and owner of West Sound Workforce. She has her Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and Human Resources. Julie has many years of experience in business operations, human resources and workforce development, having worked for Fortune 500 companies such as Hughes Aircraft Company and Monsanto Company, as well as for medium and small businesses. In 1998, she started her own business, West Sound Workforce, a professional staffing and recruiting firm located in Poulsbo and Gig Harbor.

Julie is active in many civic organizations, and serves on numerous boards, primarily focused on business and economic development. She is a past president of the Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce, is on the Board of the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance, and the Board of the West Sound chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management. She is a Rotarian, is the past chair of the tri-county Olympic Workforce Development Council and was appointed to the state’s Community Economic Revitalization Board by Governor Gregoire. Julie also writes a monthly article on human resource issues for the Kitsap Business Journal. In addition, she actively supports a wide variety of charitable organizations.

Other finalists

Kate Baldwin has owned and operated Kate Baldwin Photography, Inc. for nearly fifteen years. Specializing in people and food, she brings a sense of creativity, depth and grace to all her subjects. Kate is comfortable and proficient working either in her studio/warehouse space in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle or on nearly any location around town or abroad.

A native of Seattle, Kate has both a fine arts degree from the University of Washington and a commercial photography degree from the Art Institute of Seattle. The combination of this art and business background set the stage for not only a successful career as a commercial artist, but also as a photography teacher, a role model and a leader in her industry.

In addition to having taught at the Art Institute of Seattle for nearly 4 years and lecturing to photography classes around the city, Kate is on the national board of ASMP, American Society of Media Photographers. This organization acts as an advocate for commercial photographers, educating its members and the community about photographers’ rights and best business practices. Since photographers are such an independent group, it’s a little like herding cats.

Kate lives in north Seattle and spends her free time hiking, gardening and teaching skiing.

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Dianne Cumberland is a Certified Personal Trainer and Lifestyle Consultant with over 25 years of fitness experience. She is the owner of Personal Training Team, Inc., and manages a very dedicated team of talented trainers providing personalized, one-on-one fitness programs to clients of all ages. In 2008 she launched Custom Fitness Systems, an in-home fitness center consultancy. She is a well respected leader in the fitness community.

Being introduced to weight training in 1990 at the age of 44 was life changing for Dianne, leading her into the world of competitive bodybuilding. Through the years Dianne has won many awards including first place finishes at the Northwest Bodybuilding Championships in Seattle and the Olympia Natural Classic in 1991 and was named trainer of the year in 1998 by Bally Fitness. At the age of 55 she won the 2001 Washington State Championships, Over 35 Division, and more recently, to celebrate her 60th birthday in 2006 she placed in the top three at the Masters National Bodybuilding Championships in Pittsburg.

Dianne has a passion for training, teaching and motivating others with a firm belief that “It is never too late to get in shape!” www.personaltrainingteam.com and customfitnesssystems.com

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