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EWF International Members Honored |
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Left to right: Linda Durbin, EXAKT Technologies, Darcie Harris, EWF International, and Umi Chahal, Choice Home Health Care, Inc. Congratulations to EWF International members Umi Chahal and Linda Durbin, who were honored as 2010 Riata Distinguished Women Entrepreneurs of the Year during the first annual Women Entrepreneurs Inspire Conference on March 30, 2010.
Umi Chahal, M.S., MBA, RD/LD, owner and chief executive officer of Choice Home Health Care, Inc., and Choice Hospice, Inc., was awarded the Distinguished Woman Entrepreneur Award for Small Business for creating a small business with fewer than 20 employees and less than $1 million in revenues.
For the past 13 years of her 34-year tenure in the health care field, Chahal has worked in the home health and hospice care industry.
EXAKT Technologies, Inc., owner Linda Durbin was awarded the Distinguished Woman Entrepreneur Award for High Growth Venture for having created a growth business with more than 20 employees and over $1M in annual revenues.
EXAKT is the North
American distributor of Germany's Exakt Technologies Inc., which sells precision cutting, grinding and compounding equipment to prepare bone and other materials used in medical research. Durbin has owned her company for more than 20 years.
The awards recognize entrepreneurial achievement, contribution and the demonstration of true entrepreneurial spirit.
Congratulations to these amazing women!
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EWF INTERNATIONAL MEMBER SUCCESS PROFILE: KATHLEEN PATTON, SENIOR BUSINESS ANALYST
Chesapeake Midstream
Oklahoma City Executives Forum
Kathleen Patton
 | Kathleen Patton has always had a certain drive about her. That drive ultimately led to a professional life spanning more than 25 years and encompassing both corporate and entrepreneurial experiences.
Born in Oklahoma City and raised in Moore, Kathleen graduated from the University of Oklahoma's Electrical Engineering College with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science. In addition to being one of the few women in that degree program, she worked her way through school as a computer programming intern at Tinker Air Force Base - an internship that gave her a distinct advantage when she graduated.
"I had quite a bit of experience when I graduated," Kathleen said.
Her first position after college was with Funk Exploration, an oil and gas company. As an Oklahoma native, she'd ridden the oil wave through both boom and bust. When the wave crashed in 1985, she was let go from her position, but was able to turn that challenge into an opportunity. An off-shore blowout company hired her on as a technical and engineering consultant, which led to the creation of her own company: Kathleen Patton & Associates.
"I worked with the off-shore company for about two years," she said. "Once that contract had ended, I began working with small businesses in Oklahoma. We worked with a pretty wide variety of businesses."
Kathleen's business did work in a variety of industries, including insurance, legal and medical. Eventually she began helping companies with not only technology consulting, but process development and business consulting.
The number of people working for Kathleen Patton & Associates varied based on the company's workload. Kathleen frequently utilized subcontractors and interns on projects, but said that she often needed to clone herself and didn't always have access to the capital she needed.
To help her navigate the waters of owning her own business, Kathleen began looking for a network where she could talk about the issues she was having and learn from other business owners. She ultimately joined EWF International in 2003.
"The entire Forum experience was very important to my business development," she said. "I counted on them to function as the board I didn't have."
In late 2006 Kathleen's husband became ill and she decided to close her business. She began working with recruiting firm James Farris & Associates and was offered the Operations Manager position at Teleflora in April 2007.
"I loved it," she said. "It was just an extension of what I had been doing: applying technical and business knowledge to process improvement. I loved the people, developing long term relationships, and I enjoyed having a set place to go every day."
After rejoining the corporate world, Kathleen decided that an EWF International group for Executives would be a better fit.
"I missed my old Forum, but the Executive Forum filled in a lot of the gaps for me because I had been out of the corporate world for nearly 22 years," she said.
Teleflora began experiencing a downturn and Kathleen was laid off in May 2009. She slipped back in to her consulting role, and one of her group's members suggested she explore an opportunity with Chesapeake Energy.
She began her role as Senior Business Analyst for Chesapeake Midstream - Chesapeake's pipeline company - in November 2009.
"I look to my EWF Forum members as my mentors," she said. "They help me solve problems, whether it's an employee issue or a political question."
"I just learn so much from listening to the other members. It's a huge learning experience for me."
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