Unlike previous generations, very few people today stay in one career until retirement. There are lots of pivots and opportunities to start again, especially if you strike out on your own or take the helm in a new industry. That’s exactly what each of these female founders and executives did, using their experience to solve problems and create new opportunities for connection in their communities. Each brought an item that inspires them, whether it’s what got them started or what keeps them going, day after day.
Mary Nguyen
Executive Chef & Owner, Olive & Finch
After spending years structuring bonds and trading commodities, Mary Nguyen realized the work, while intellectually stimulating, was not her true passion. Cooking for friends and hosting dinner parties eventually led her to decide to become a chef and restaurateur, combining a love of cooking and making people feel at home. For Nguyen, there’s nothing better than seeing smiles on her guests’ faces and bringing people together.
Nguyen also loves helping her team grow and find their own path in the industry. Over the last few years, she’s watched more women, especially women of color, break into new fields by emphasizing collaboration over competition and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. She’s proud to be part of that change, mentoring and lifting up the next wave of chefs and creating spaces where everyone is heard and respected.
She brought a photo of her parents when they first arrived in the US with her siblings as refugees from Vietnam. These photos are a constant reminder of what can be achieved through sheer determination—and they’re part of what drives her to keep the menu fresh and to open new Olive & Finch locations, with Union Station and the Denver Performing Arts Complex (DPAC) up next.
Rose & Caroline Matthes
Co-Founders, Poplight
Hate the big light? You’re not alone. Shark Tank veterans Rose and Caroline Matthes created a stick-on, rechargeable light that makes installing wall lighting easy for everyone. They were inspired to create the business when they moved into an 1890s house and wanted to install wall sconces in their bedroom. This proved more difficult and expensive than they'd anticipated, and after researching stick-on options, they realized the product they wanted didn’t exist—yet.
Rose Matthes loves working with their product design team to integrate customer feedback into improving Poplight, and Caroline Matthes has built their brand’s visual identity. They are each other’s business and life partners and have worked really hard to find a work-life balance that works for both of them. They have also found an incredible community of female founders who have helped them think through difficult problems and have kept them grounded in what matters most. They brought a note from Rose Matthes’ grandparents who are her inspiration in life.
Mary Allison Wright
Co-Owner, Yacht Club
When people ask Mary Allison Wright what she does, she says she owns a bar with her husband—but it’s so much more than that. She worked various roles in restaurants and even toured with bands before finding herself gravitating towards Denver’s burgeoning food and drink scene. Now, she’s the co-owner of Yacht Club, the anti-club club where all are welcome, and the co-owner of Door Prize, a meat & three pop-up concept. Her goal, night after night, is to make sure her guests are having a good time and feel at home—or as she says, her main role is keeping the vibes and (natural) wine flowing.
While she’s seen a huge shift towards inclusion in the last ten years in hospitality and beyond, she sees it as her responsibility, and all of ours, to stay on top of it, open more doors, and bring more chairs to the table. Wright truly welcomes everyone to Yacht Club. They’re open every day but Tuesday, so there's no need to wait until the weekend to come have fun. Wright brought her Robert's Western World Koozie because it’s always on her person. Robert’s has been a big inspiration for her establishments, so it’s a teeny tiny true north that keeps her teeny tiny hands from getting cold and her drink from getting warm.
Paulina Buckley
Owner, Buckley House of Flowers
Drawing from her interior design background, Paulina Buckley loves the challenge of transforming spaces with flowers. Despite operating from a storefront the size of a cargo van, her bold, unique designs have helped this one-woman business thrive in Denver's floral scene. Tucked inside Leever’s Locavore, she creates grab-and-go bouquets for shoppers while crafting architectural arrangements for weddings, events, and private clients. Buckley brought her favorite flower clippers. She’s armed with them wherever she goes, just in case inspiration strikes—unless it’s the airport, of course.
Over the years, Buckley has learned it’s okay to say no to an opportunity if it means compromising her artistic vision. However, she feels lucky to have clients who trust her creativity and push her boundaries. Her favorite part of the job is shopping at the flower market, and she also loves visiting flower farmers across the state. Someday, Buckley hopes to operate a flower farm of her own, giving her more control over the lifecycle of her products.
Carrie Shores
Executive Director, SAME Café Denver
After training at Le Cordon Bleu and working her way up to Executive Chef at Table 6, Carrie Shores brought her experience to the non-profit space where she now serves as Executive Director of SAME Café Denver. The participation-based restaurant provides access to healthy, nourishing food by contributing what you can, whether that’s time, money, or produce—and it’s now used nationally to help with food insecurity. Shores finds power in SAME’s ability to provide access to a healthy meal and to invite people to make an impact in their community.
Shores has spent her entire life in the food world, starting from a young age when she’d cook and garden with her grandmother. She still loves to garden and is excited about the fall goodies she’s harvesting. Her wife, children, and family are her biggest support system, and she brought a teddy bear from a Susan G Komen race to honor her aunt who died from breast cancer at 43. This bear reminds her of the strength and courage her aunt showed up with, even on the darkest of days.
Rayna Kingston
Founders, Hi Neighbor
In a city that’s become so transient, Rayna Kingston and her co-founder, Olivia Rogine, have made it their goal to connect people. Each month, they host an event in a different Denver neighborhood with the goal of bringing neighbors together. They believe that the more you know about where you live, the more respect and care you’ll have for it, so before each event, they’ll deep-dive into the history and share that with the attendees.
For both Rogine and Kingston, this is a second job, and finding time in their schedules can be a difficult endeavor. They also prioritize spending time together as friends outside of the business, and the rule is whoever mentions Hi Neighbor first has to buy that round of drinks. Ultimately, the success stories of bringing new friends together keep them going as each month they strive to make Denver less lonely.
Kingston brought their stickers because, as a business that travels each month, they don’t have many tangible items. They give these stickers out at every event to show off their creativity and playfulness and to bring new neighbors into the community. This month, their event will be at the Golden Mill on October 30—customers are encouraged!
Diana Whitcomb
Founder, WILO Collective
In her work as a real estate agent, Diana Whitcomb saw an opportunity in the market to provide more support and services outside of the traditional brokerage model. She’s never been someone with a rigid ten-year plan but instead follows her gut to create her own path and, in this case, her own company.
Everyone has self-doubt, and Whitcomb is no different. However, a childhood focused on sport and competing at an elite level taught her discipline, consistency, and dedication from a young age. She represented Team USA at the 2008 Olympics and brought her shoes from the opening and closing ceremonies. They remind her of the work she put in to earn that spot and that she’s more than capable of doing hard things.
If you have a yearning to do something, create something, or be something, Whitcomb would like to encourage you to act. Follow your gut. It’s something we all hear from time to time, but sometimes it comes at just the right moment. There’s so much joy in creating and being on your journey, and Whitcomb thinks that’s what this life is all about.
Jaclyn Tracy
Founder & CEO, SISTAIN
While creating a registry for her wedding, Jaclyn Tracy attempted to choose high-quality, timeless products that were also non-toxic and ethically and sustainably made. This turned out to be much harder than she imagined and led her to create SISTAIN, a sustainable home goods marketplace. SISTAIN stands for “Sisters in Sustainability” because women hold 80% of all consumer buying power. She thinks it’s time that female consumers take control of that power to raise standards by voting with their dollar. Tracy has a passion for creating change. Before founding SISTAIN, Tracy worked in marketing, advertising, and politics, and she could one day imagine lobbying in DC for higher regulation.
For Tracy, the hardest part of this business is wearing so many hats, switching from analyst to saleswoman to creative. It’s exhausting, and she wouldn’t change it for the world. She loves the community she’s cultivated and the artists she collaborates with. She brought one of their matcha bowls, created with local artist Andi Kilness, and sold exclusively at SISTAIN, including their new store in Cherry Creek!
Carol Ferguson
Owner, Element79
Right out of college, Carol Ferguson worked in pharmaceutical sales. It was a safe job that paid well, but she’d always loved making things with her hands and eventually worked her way back to it. Now she runs Element79, a designer-based, contemporary jewelry store that offers repairs and vintage jewelry, as well as the designs of Ferguson and 60 to 70 other artists. She loves getting to be a part of life’s celebrations, from marriages and new babies to anniversaries and birthdays. Ferguson describes the work as unique, creative, and beautiful—as personal as an adornment as a tattoo would be for some people.
Because of the nature of the business, safety is one of her top concerns, and she’s had to invest in their space to protect staff, customers, and inventory in recent years. One expense that’s come down recently is lab-grown diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds. They’re a third of the price of natural stones and invite designers to take more risks. Ferguson brought some of these showstoppers, and this month, she’s putting on a Bridal Event featuring Todd Reed, Artemer, and Dana Bronfman, as well as lab-grown diamonds and eternity bands.