Count Me In's Make Mine a Million Dollar Business program came to Seattle this week and spoke to a full house of women entrepreneurs at Fisher Pavilion.  Governor Christine Gregoire presented the keynote address, letting the audience members know why it was such a good idea to do business in Washington.  As a woman governor of a state with a healthy economy, great international trade, and rankings of one of the best states in the country to start a small business, Governor Gregoire was the perfect choice to keynote at an event for women entrepreneurs.

Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence is the leading national nonprofit provider of resources and business education for women.  The founder and CEO, Nell Merlino, was the creative force behind Take Your Daughter to Work Day in 1993 and is now focused on bringing one million women business owners to $1 million in revenue.  This is where Make Mine a Million Dollar Business program comes in.

The Process:

• Women-owned businesses of at least $250,000 in revenue are encouraged to submit detailed applications.  (Businesses under $250K can go for the smaller Micro to Millions award).
• Finalists are chosen from the applications - for the Seattle event we had 400 applications from the Northwest and 16 finalists.
• Those finalists spend one day working on their 3-minute pitch with experts, and then they perform them live in front of the audience at the event.  The judges votes plus the audience votes determine the winners.

The winners receive a $50,000 line of credit from American Express, equipment from Dell, and financial, marketing, and promotional help from industry experts.  They also get executive coaching from the experts at Make Mine a Million.  It is really a terrific opportunity for a woman business owner, and 16 I saw yesterday were inspiring.  Four past winners presented a short panel discussion about their experience and continuing success.

In addition to the finalists' presentations, we heard from Simon Sinek, who took a standard "here is what we do and how we do it" pitch and turned it on it's head.  He outlined why Apple, Southwest Airlines, Patagonia, and other companies with loyal customers and employees get that way and how we can do it to.  Simon has a book coming out this summer called The Why Book, and inside sources have told me he will be coming back to speak here in Seattle.  You don't want to miss this.

Nely Galan, Latina media entrepreneur and former Celebrity Apprentice star, spoke about her experience in television from her early 20's until now, including some great impersonations of former bosses.  From selling Avon to classmates to pay for her private schooling to negotiating with Rupert Murdoch, she has a lot to tell.  She spoke about the things she learned (directly or indirectly) from bosses, her own successes and failures, and that while life doesn't get any easier, it is easier to live on your own terms. 

Without further ado, here are the winners of the Make Mine a Million Dollar Business program.  Expect to see great things from them!

1. Ann-Marie Archer of Archer & Associates (Washington)
   
2. Patti Dobrowolski of Alchemy (Washington)
   
3. Kelly Durbin of Mismos Gymnastics (Montana)
4. Monique Hayward of Dessert Noir Cafe (Oregon)
5. Katherine Merritt of Great Kate Construction (Oregon)
6. Lola Michelin of the Northwest School of Animal Massage (Washington)
7. Laurie Pfarr of LPD Engineering (Washington)
   
8. Nadine Sullivan of Eco Depot (Washington)