Most Leesburg Lifestyle readers know that our editorial point of view is that a truly extraordinary lifestyle involves giving back. Because this issue is a testament to all that we love about our local community, it is thus particularly rewarding that five of eight of the best small businesses in Loudoun as judged by the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce late last year, are themselves supporters of this magazine as well as proponents of community first practices. We’ve recently profiled one such business, WB20 Whole Body 20 EMS, which won Best Health & Wellness Business of the Year. We bring you snapshots of the rest of the best below, with some insight into what makes them both successful and generous.
Best Small Business and Best Non-Profit of 2021: Loudoun Cares, Valerie Pisierra, Executive Director
For only the second time ever, a non-profit organization was named both best non-profit of the year AND best small business of the year by the Loudoun Chamber. Think of it as the business version of “Best in Show.” The winner is Loudoun Cares, which rose to meet the community’s many unanswered needs during the pandemic of the last two years. Loudoun Cares’ ConnectLine became a lifeline for the county’s most vulnerable residents to find resources of all kinds from food and rental assistance to clothing, shelter and help with utilities. The organization believes strongly in the power of networking to meet those needs, but also served as a focal point for channeling government assistance.
Where aid fell short, the group’s Faith Network filled the gap. In all, more than $1.48 million in aid, kept nearly 800 needy families in their homes, and connected people who serve with people in need in keeping with its mission statement. It’s Volunteer Center connected more than 1,900 volunteers with a network of 240+ non-profits in 2021, and will step up its efforts this year.
Executive Director Valerie Pisierra is the organization’s only full-time employee. She says, “Once COVID hit, everyone went, ‘Ah! That’s what we need – an umbrella organization that can bring together different resources and non-profits and be the connector and communicator. It was the perfect storm for highlighting what we do in the community.” Behind the scenes, there were weekly meetings with county officials and the Loudoun Human Services Network, which Valerie now chairs for a two-year term. “What happened during COVID was that everyone was on the same team, as opposed to being on different teams who just worked together to get people what they needed. That was really exciting.”
In accepting her awards, Valerie made a point of calling on everyone in the community to find a non-profit that touches their heart and volunteer. “You don't have to do everything, just do something to get involved in your community, because your community needs you.”
Visit LoudounCares.org, share the ConnectLine number (703-669-INFO) and find a cause to fall in love with at Volunteer.LoudounCares.org.
People’s Choice Award: Lost Rhino Brewing Company, Matthew Hagerman, President and Founder
Fresh out of Virginia Tech a little over two decades ago, Matthew Hagerman and a friend visited Old Dominion Brewing Company in Ashburn and Matt fell in love. “I had been doing some home brewing but when it came to craft beer, I didn’t know that was a thing. But by the end of the tour, I made the decision right there that that’s what I wanted to do forever.” He hounded the owner for a job until he was hired to clean floors and exchanged his engineering job for minimum wage.
It's a classic tale of hard work paying off: he worked on the machinery, all while making root beer and giving tours on the weekends and learned the art of brewing from the ground up. He then took the U.C. Davis Brewing Program in Sacramento (https://brewing.ucdavis.edu/), one of the oldest of its kind in the country. When Old Dominion was purchased by Anheuser-Busch InBev and relocated to Delaware in 2009, Matt bought some of the company’s brewing equipment, and resolved to keep the spirit of craft beer alive in Loudoun. He launched in Ashburn in 2011 as Lost Rhino Brewing Co. after a surfing term, “rhino chaser” – someone who is out to find the biggest and best waves, a.k.a. “an adventurer.”
Of course, any rhino chaser looking for a truly tubular experience in inland Loudoun must be lost – right? Yet, when cranking is applied to craft beer, it turns out that Loudoun actually may host the perfect curl. Why? Certainly, a passion for perfection and quality ingredients from local farmers is key to making great beer, but so is great water, says Matt. Lost Rhino has three different filtration systems to make sure the water for its brews is pure, but “Loudoun County actually has pretty amazing water to begin with.”
Classic styles and local flavors flesh out this brew-master’s winning formula, “Everything we craft is personal.” Today’s facility, trebled in size, sports its own canning and packing operation, to accommodate its expansion to shelf space in Cosco where you can look for the “Lost Rhino Excursion Pack” with Face Plant, Rhino Chasers and Shooter McMunn’s Irish-Style Stout.
Lost Rhino Brewing Company, 21730 Red Rum Dr #142, Ashburn, VA 20147; 571-291-2083
www.LostRhino.com; Twitter @rhinobrew; on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/LostRhino.
Entrepreneur of the Year: Dawn Crawley, Owner, House Cleaning Heroes
Dawn Crawley crackles with energy as fiery as her hair as she fiercely proclaims one of the keys to the current success of her housecleaning business: Failure.
When her first cleaning business failed in 2017, she had more than 40 employees and more than 450 customers. She grieved, but then distilled all that she’d learned into founding her next business: “Failure is not an option this time. I am all-in!” she fiercely proclaimed.
Of course, the risk of launching any business is failure, but, for her, it’s riskier to submit to a traditional job. She aimed to not only change the culture of her woman-owned business, but that of the community that surrounded it. And her perspective, tempered by failure, gave her the gumption to make a very big bet on some dramatic changes to her industry.
Seeing COVID as a game changer, she first invested thousands of dollars on a cleaning product certified to kill the virus, then thousands more on equipment needed to spray commercial offices. She hired laid-off restaurant workers in Richmond and won a lucrative contract there for commercial spraying. The germ-killing properties of her cleaning supplies come without the use of harsh chemicals or toxic smells, protecting her workers as well as her customers.
With her mindset of community service, she advises GIRLS, LLC (Girls Inspired and Ready to Lead), and her husband Geoff serves on the board of the Loudoun First Responders Foundation. Together they developed a non-profit arm called Helping Heroes which offers free house cleaning for women undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and anyone else in the community who needs their support.
Her super-hero alter ego promises to “save the weekend,” which she says she couldn’t do without the support of the business women of Loudoun. “I want to thank all of you for helping me to step up and to go to a direction that was uncomfortable for me. Now it's our turn. We don't fight any more for a seat at the table. We build our own table.”
Does your weekend need saving? Visit https://housecleaningheroes.com/ or call 703-348-2221.
Superb Service of the Year: Extraordinary Transitions – Long & Foster, Pamela and David Jones
It would be hard to find a business owner in Loudoun County who doesn’t know or been referred to Pamela and David Jones. Hers is the largest lead-share group in the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce. He’s involved in the Rotary Club and serves on the Chamber board. Both have amassed a world-class portfolio of relationships with home services providers – the kinds of folks you’d find indispensable when you’re either buying or selling a home in Loudoun County.
So, whether you’re just beefing up your “curb appeal” for a quick sale, tapping a home organizer to downsize, or taking advantage of great mortgage rates to refurbish or re-finance, Pamela and David can help you get ‘er done, and probably with one phone call.
Together she and David sponsor countless non-profit events and work to better their community. Since 2013, Pamela has served on the board of Oatlands Historic House and Gardens and has chaired the board for the past two years.
Married 39 years, she and David met while working in management at Montgomery Ward. They became a professional team in 2009 with the birth of Extraordinary Transitions. Making things easy for your clients takes hard work. Pamela spends every day on the phone, making as many as 30 new contacts per day.
Such diligence pays dividends for both the Jones’ customers and their business. Whereas the average realtor in Loudoun County sells six to eight homes per year, the Jones’ sell 45. Even divided by two, that’s triple the norm. It’s a system that’s helped the pair transition more than 1,000 homes in their tenure, and keep the magic alive in their own relationship.
“I truly believe that buying, selling and buying a home is is a lifelong dream for many people. And, and if we can contribute in an extraordinary way to making that dream come true. That's a pretty satisfying feeling,” Pamela says.
Visit https://extraordinaryvirginiahomes.com/, https://www.facebook.com/ExtraordinaryTransitions/, or drop by to see them in One Loudoun: 20396 Exchange St, Ashburn, VA 20147, (703) 726-3409.
Virtual Business of the Year: Cuciamore, Daniella Williams, owner
It comes right out and wraps its arms around your shoulders and enfolds you in a hug, that Italian accent. Daniella Williams acquired it honestly growing up in Treviso, Italy, not far from Venice. There she wanted to be a chef. Instead, she studied the tourism business to pursue her other passion, which was travel.
After a couple of decades running a travel agency, she married an American and moved to San Antonio. Desperately shy about what she calls “my bad English,” she landed a job at a grocery store. But she couldn’t hide her love of people or of food, so the company put her through management training and put her in charge of the chain’s cooking classes designed to help customers make nourishing meals from the fresh meat and produce their stores offered. For six years she compiled her own recipes and began to connect on a deeper level with American tastes.
Brick by brick, she built the technical background to do what she loved, which was cook with and for families in their own kitchens. So emerged Cucinamore – a made up word for her now certifiably awesome “virtual business” that combines the notion of cooking and love.
Daniella brings all the fresh, local ingredients needed to prepare a home-cooked meal in your own kitchen, helps you make it, then shares a font of information on the recipe’s origins, making the experience like a trip to Italy without the plane. “I used my business to present my identity as an immigrant in a much bigger way, beyond the food – the food was an excuse. Food is always an excuse to get together and be happy. Cucinamore is an authentic experience that people can enjoy with their friends!”
Be forewarned: When Daniella refers to an authentic Italian culinary experience, she doesn’t do chicken parmesan, or many other Italian-American knock-offs. Your pasta will be prepared fresh on your countertop, seasoned with fresh herbs from the farmer’s market and it will make you dream in Italian – and then wake to tell all your friends.
You’ll find her calendar of availability and a sampling of her seasonal menus at https://www.cucinamore.net/.
Main Street Business of the Year, The Marketing Management Group
TMMG specializes in branding strategies, customized marketing plans, events and promotion materials – signage, stickers, banners, pop-ups – the works. From logos to lapels, in other words, if you need to brand, rebrand or celebrate your business, TMMG can probably show you an example of their work done for a company like yours.
Founding partner Steve Fraser takes charge of brand strategy – what is your business and how should it be perceived? Katie Schneider, president of TMMG’s Promo service, joined eight years ago, sending logos and related messaging out into the world on virtually any conceivable object.
Then came COVID, and Katie says, “We last just about all of our business overnight. There were no events, no sports, no fundraisers – not even any schools buying spirit-wear. The first thing companies tend to cut back on when business is tight is marketing, which is counter-intuitive, because soon everything got delivered and customers typically bought the last brand they recalled seeing.”
New products emerged, of course, like signage for curbside pick-up and PPE, and by 2021 the company was able to open up a new office space where people can come and see samples and work on projects together – “instead of at my dining room table, and that was really exciting!” Katie exclaimed.
Among her favorite shirts, by the way, was one TMMG created for Loudoun United’s childhood cancer night. “We saw all of these kids out on the field with the players wearing our shirts and it was really heartwarming.” Another favorite was a shirt she designed for X’s and O’s, a local start-up sports bar. When the owner said, “We have a shirt, so we are real now!” Katie just sighed – “It’s just fun to be part of that process.”
A core value of the company is “we give where we live,” so they support multiple charity golf tournaments annually and an annual “Cops and Kids” coat drive. “We collect coats every year. It’s just important for us to make our community a better place.”
See https://tmmgservices.com/.
Destination Business of the Year: Magnolias at the Mill
Magnolia’s at the Mill is hard to miss for anyone who has ever biked or jogged the Washington & Old Dominion Trail (W&OD) to the Trailhead in Purcellville. It’s the larger of the imposing, buttercream buildings with outdoor dining along the path, perfect for a cool draft and lunch on a summer’s day before riding, yes, all the way into or back to D.C. But it turns out Magnolias rates a trip whatever the vehicle, having been designated 2021’s “Destination Business of the Year.”
Locals know it was never a water mill like sister restaurant Tuskie’s in Leesburg – it was always electric. Built in 1905 it generated current on site burning coal for steam, it even sold current to Winchester Gas and Electric in the 1920s, according to General Manager Matt Perkins. Suspended, antique mechanisms for this earlier use add atmosphere to the main dining room.
The current owners began restoration in 2002 and opened in 2004. Matt joined in 2015 as the bar manager. Then it was more of a “craft beer place,” but Matt added signature cocktails and built out the store of fine wines. Though it’s become a bit cliché, the restaurant prides itself on serving food that is farm to table featuring local artisan products like Lindera Farms’ vinegars, and Matt does the same using spirts infused with lavender from Blueberry Hill Farm in Lovettsville, or other local herbs. As a way of encouraging wine tourism, diners can buy local wines and have them with a meal at Magnolia’s with no corkage fee.
Executive Chef Mark Marrocco likes to mingle his Italian background on dishes like Osso Bucco and butternut squash ravioli, with Southern influences like gulf shrimp and cheddar grits into menu that can delight for repeat visits. One of our particular favorites is the butterscotch bread pudding with caramel and vanilla ice cream. It’s no secret to the region, having won awards like 50 Best Restaurants in Washingtonian and Zagat so book ahead!
See https://www.magnoliasmill.com/, 198 North 21st St, Purcellville, Virginia 20132, 540-338-9800.
Shawn Mitchell, 2022 Loudoun Chamber Board Chairman, Owner Modern Mechanical
Shawn Mitchell has belonged to the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce as long as he’s been in business in the county, running a triumvirate of businesses in Ashburn known collectively as Modern Mechanical (https://modernmec.com/): One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, Mister Sparky Electrical. In just his second year of operation in 2011 Modern Mechanical was elected Service Business of the Year, then he went on to win Entrepreneur of the year in 2013, and then Business of the Year in 2014.
As a small business owner, he may be biased for thinking that “small businesses mean everything to Loudoun County,” but he makes a good case.
“Small businesses are the companies that sponsor the Little League baseball teams and all the other youth sports... And I challenge you to look at any charitable board in the county and you’ll find it’s manned by local business leaders. That’s a tremendous strength” to both their businesses and Loudoun County as a whole, he adds. He himself has a soft spot for Mardi Bras (see p. X) in support of Free the Girls, a group that combats human trafficking with entrepreneurship, as well as for law enforcement and veterans causes.
As one of those charged with electing the chamber’s “best of” awards in recent years, he’s put a high premium on community involvement by those who attain top honors, along with revenue growth, innovation and creative marketing. “I'm really looking for that element of commitment to our community; I think that’s the one thing that sets the exceptional companies apart from the others.”
Over the next year, he’ll continue to work to drive membership which fell off slightly during the pandemic, convinced that networking with other businesses in similar fields is key to profitability, and goes hand in hand with building a strong company culture. “Our employee morale is the highest it's probably ever been... I know 2022 is going to be great for us and I'm hoping it'll be our best year yet!”
