With everyone coming off the roller coaster year of 2020, all are looking forward to truly fresh starts this summer. The West Chester Lifestyle team wondered how others are maintaining optimism and bolstering nurturing spirits. Things we hope for and think about. So, because May is a commonly considered a month devoted to women each year, we asked some of the women of West Chester the following questions: For the remainder of 2021, what do you most want for 1) yourself; 2) your business; and 3) our community? And, what's your inspirational mantra or favorite quote for this year?
Last year was a reminder that nothing is impossible, permanent or unchangeable. One aspiration to apply to 2021 is: Don’t let the pursuit of perfection get in the way of progress. It may be difficult to have a perfect 2021, but we can keep progressing!
ANITA YODER
Interior Designer and President of Heritage Design Interiors
info@heritagedesigninteriors.com // 717.354.2233 // HeritageDesignInteriors.com
FOR SELF: Strive for balance of career and personal life. It's so easy to get lost in a crazy work schedule and forget about yourself.
FOR BUSINESS: Provide the best experience for our clients and customers as we help them with their decorating projects. Create the best working environment and invest in my employees, along with being flexible with their personal lives and their careers.
FOR COMMUNITY: To be less divided…work together on problems, especially among our children and teenagers. They're our future generations; they are assets to invest in!
2021 INSPIRATIONAL MANTRA/FAVORITE QUOTE: "Aspire to be you best. Turn your dreams into goals so they are achieved!"
LINDA BARILANI
Owner and Natural Hormone Balancing Specialist, BeBalanced Hormone Weight Loss Centers
linda.barilani@bebalancedcenters.com // 484.999.2133 (West Chester) or 610.750.5158 (Wyomissing) // BeBalancedCenters.com
FOR SELF: To spend more time people I love and enjoy. I want to become more involved in the community and expand my circle, adding more friendships, and grow from those around me. I'd love to influence and help others in uplifting ways. My goal is to compliment others, do random acts of kindness and to try to share a positive outlook, no matter what has happened, because I believe we always have things to be grateful for.
FOR BUSINESS: Of course it's always about growth of the business, but at the heart of what I do, it is simple--help women feel better, look better and be better. Find happiness and balance within themselves. Show them how amazingly wonderful they truly are. My business helps women balance hormones, lose weight and pinpoint exactly what foods put weight on but it's more than that. I see women regain confidence, pride, self-worth and deeper happiness with themselves, which helps in all their relationships. It's why I love what I do; I'm anxious to share this with anyone who's willing.
FOR COMMUNITY: We have over half of the year left, and I'd like to see our community come together to celebrate life. Feel free to shake hands, hug and enjoy each other's company. Realizing we've taken some of the small things for granted for too long, we can embrace how precious life truly is. Gratitude for all we are and have as humans, women, people and communities. Learn to enjoy life again. Breath slow deep breaths of the clean, fresh springtime air. Slow down and enjoy.
2021 INSPIRATIONAL MANTRA/FAVORITE QUOTE: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." ~Mahatma Gandhi
JENNIFER STEINER
Co-Founder of Adorn Goods boutique
info@adorngoods.com // 302.575.9657 // Instagram@ Adorn.Goods // AdornGoods.com
FOR SELF: Continue the creative pace that 2020 gave us. We were forced to find ways to survive in a difficult time. I completed my website during that time and last spring, instead of closing our doors, opened up several days a week for custom gift crates and curbside pickups.
FOR BUSINESS: Continue our creative energetic spirit...giving our customers unique finds and exceptional shopping experiences.
FOR COMMUNITY: Continue to support local businesses energizing our community and the entrepreneurial spirit.
2021 INSPIRATIONAL MANTRA/FAVORITE QUOTE: “You can find an excuse or you can find a way."
ALLISON PRETTYMAN
Owner of Allison Prettyman Intuitive Healing
afprettyman@yahoo.com // 814.795.2059 // AllisonPrettyman.com
FOR SELF: I want to continue growing and learning, keeping healthy, cherishing precious time with friends and family, being of service, and remembering that in the end, love is all that really matters.
FOR BUSINESS: To continue being a place of sanctuary, peace, growth and transformation for the many clients who courageously seek healing and support for the challenges and joys of life.
FOR COMMUNITY: I want our community to flourish and strengthen in innovative ways to be of support to one another and the Earth, to come together with the wish for the upliftment of all, no matter what our differences may be. True strength as a community is possible when we see the best in one another and seek to be of benefit.
2021 INSPIRATIONAL MANTRA/FAVORITE QUOTE: "Gratitude changes everything!"
SUSAN REISER
Cloud Nine Professional Painter
reiser.susan@hotmail.com // 610.755.5807 // Insta: cloud_nine_painter // CloudNinePainter.com
FOR SELF: Live music was put on pause last year. This year, I want to hear as much live music as I possibly can. And I will, because my soul needs it.
FOR BUSINESS: 2021 is a wonderful year to create. I'm pushing my creativity to new levels, and seeking and exploring all day, every day. It's part of my DNA.
FOR COMMUNITY: Similar to past years, I plan to raise a substantial amount of money allocated toward research for pediatric leukemia through the proceeds of my work for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. My motto is to always "Paint It Forward." I want to encourage engagement within our community through the use of paint. I have, and will always be, a community-focused painter.
2021 INSPIRATIONAL MANTRA/FAVORITE QUOTE: "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds." ~Bob Marley. We can all relate to the idea of being held in bondage by our minds. It's time to let go and soar.
DEBORAH BETTCHER
Interior Designer, Owner of Decorating Den Interiors
debbettcher@gmail.com // 610.964.8403 // Deborah.DecoratingDen.com
FOR SELF: To be consistently true to myself.
FOR BUSINESS: To offer the same level of great service during times of extraordinary demand.
FOR OUR COMMUNITY: Greater tolerance of differences.
2021 INSPIRATIONAL MANTRA/FAVORITE QUOTE: "As we evolve, our homes should, too." ~Suzanne Tucker Interiors, The Romance of Design
LUCIE GRECO
Owner of Lucie's Barkingham Palace dog daycare, grooming and pet boarding facility
luciesbarkinghampalace@gmail.com // 610.240.0190 // LuciesBarkinghamPalace.com
FOR SELF: For friends and family to be happy and healthy.
FOR BUSINESS: To continue to grow and succeed.
FOR COMMUNITY: For everyone to be kind to one another and respect each other.
2021 INSPIRATIONAL MANTRA/FAVORITE QUOTE: "Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them. And remember that the best therapist has fur and four legs."
ERINN WENRICH, AIA NCARB
Associate Principal, Period Architecture, Ltd.
wenrich@periodarchitectureltd.com // 610.719.0101 // PeriodArchitectureLTD.com
FOR SELF: To get better at focusing on the present more than the past and future, and to spend more family time without technology.
FOR BUSINESS: For us to continue to grow closer together as a team as we grow in size.
FOR COMMUNITY: For all of us to continue to support our local/small businesses, and as a global community, for us to learn to listen more than we speak.
2021 INSPIRATIONAL MANTRA/FAVORITE QUOTE: "I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I have lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." ~Diane Ackerman
DANIELLE MORTIMER
SERVPRO sales and marketing manager of West Chester and Southern Delaware County
Danielle@SERVPRO365.com // 610-506-8919 // ServProWestChesterPA.com
FOR SELF: I look forward to beginning to reconnect and re-engage as the world opens up, traveling and new experiences, seeing friends and family, rebuilding a sense of community. I'm grateful for those who helped me stay positive and optimistic.
FOR BUSINESS: This year, SERVPRO and I wish to continue to help the community return to normal. Our ultimate goal is when the need arises for professional cleaning or emergency restoration services, we continue to be the community's heroes, making people’s worst nightmare 'like it never even happened.'
FOR COMMUNITY: As Chester County opens up, coming together to emerge stronger and better, with a greater focus on taking care of each other. I’m reminded how fortunate we are to be a part of this strong community that supports each other to accomplish great things.
2021 INSPIRATIONAL MANTRA/FAVORITE QUOTE: "I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." ~Maya Angelou
MIA MILLER & CATE LOWNES
Principals, EM Interiors
Mia@em-interiordesign.com // 215.808.4094 // Cate@em-interiordesign.com // 215.601.6035 // EM-InteriorDesign.com
FOR SELF: To live with gratitude, appreciate good health, friends, family and community. To find creative, new ways to stay connected and to create environments that meet our clients' “new normal."
FOR BUSINESS: COVID has changed our lives in ways we never expected. Especially impacted is the way our homes must now function. Our houses have become offices, classrooms, exercise spaces and sometimes even accommodations for grown children or grandparents. Our strength is in helping individuals and families create functional spaces that are flexible, aesthetically pleasing and most importantly, livable. We are problem solvers for these changes.
FOR COMMUNITY: To find creative solutions that allow us all to personally interact with one another so we stay connected within our community.
2021 INSPIRATIONAL MANTRA/FAVORITE QUOTE: "My mission in life is not merely to survive but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style.” ~Maya Angelou
ERIKA JACOBI
Chief Development Officer, Northwestern Mutual – King of Prussia
Erika.l.jacobi@nm.com // 610.225.6555 // NM-EasternPA.com
FOR SELF: It seems to get clearer as I gain more life experience. It’s not about focusing on proving I can do it all, in every aspect of my life. Rather by using my strengths, creating realistic goals that excite me, setting boundaries, not comparing myself to others and staying focused on things that are most important to me.
FOR BUSINESS: As a leader new to the role, I want to nurture a fun and inclusive culture where everyone is proud to show up each day. Our advisors connect our clients' finances to what they want out of life and create a plan designed to make it happen, revealing possibilities while protecting them from the unexpected—today and every day after.
FOR COMMUNITY: West Chester has a very unique charm, making it where people want to be. My vision is getting our team integrated into the community's fabric so we're able to serve members and other businesses of the community.
2021 INSPIRATIONAL MANTRA/FAVORITE QUOTE: "Remember that we are in full control of our lives, even when it feels like our lives are out of control."
"You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson