Who is Carolyn Stephens?

I was born and raised in Georgia but I consider Las Vegas my home. I arrived in here in 1977, as an Air Force officer's wife. Shortly thereafter the pilot flew away, and I became a “displaced homemaker”, a woman who has never worked outside the home but suddenly finds herself out of a job. You see, when I graduated from high school in 1962, getting a college degree was just something to “fall back on” which is probably why I got mine in Sociology. I decided to take my chances in Vegas. Using my volunteer experience to compile something resembling a résumé, I found a job as Director of the Health Care Division for a temporary staffing agency. (It might have helped that the previous Director just died and they were desperate.) I also found a new husband there, and he's still around. In 1983 he walked into my office and asked, “How would you like to run your own business?” I said, “Sure,” (I was so clueless) and opened Information Products, Inc. a supplier of products for information technology. In 1985 we joined forces and I became President of Lazer Graphix, a pioneer in the digital pre-press industry. Somewhere along the way, I also published the Women's Yellow Pages of Southern Nevada.

When I joined the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and was elected to the Board of Directors of the Women's Council (the first in a long string of community Boards and Chairs), I heard frustrated comments from members about not being able to make connections with other members. So I created the position of "Networking Chairman" and began teaching members how to get the most from their chamber involvement. That experience has stood me well over the years.

In 1989 I joined with eleven other women business owners to organize the Southern Nevada Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). I’ve been privileged to be recognized for doing what I love, including the first ever Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Circle of Excellence, SBA Women’s Business Advocate, the American Heart Association Heart of Gold Award, and the American Red Cross Clara Barton Medal of Excellence. My biggest thrill was to be appointed by Sen. Richard Bryan as a delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Small Business.

Currently my husband and I operate a company specializing in database management and marketing and internet consulting. He's a computer expert and I'm pretty good at marketing and copywriting. I write for the Southern Nevada Home & Garden Magazine as The Sensible Shopper. And just to make sure I don't get bored, I'm also an independent consultant for Barefoot Parties, www.barefootparties.com. In addition to NAWBO www.nawbosnv.org , I'm also a member of Moms In Business Network, www.mibn.org, the Direct Selling Women's Alliance www.mydswa.org, and the Glazer-Kennedy Inner Circle, www.gkiclasvegas.com. But enough about me - let's hear about you! Just click to send your story!

I just discovered British journalist and author, Lynne Truss and I think she is wickedly funny. A friend and fellow writer sent me a dictionary for Christmas. I wasn't quite sure how to respond - doesn't everyone use m-w.com now? Anyway, what I did was send her a copy of this funny little book about punctuation called Eats, Shoots & Leaves. I think you might enjoy it, too, as well as some of her others.