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When my father was dying, he repeatedly asked me, “What should I do? What should I do?” Being able to reassure him with calm and loving presence was the first step in my journey toward becoming a certificated end-of-life doula in 2015, after a career as an educator and an editor. Before that time, my loved ones had been fortunate to receive tremendously competent medical support; thereafter, I was able to provide spiritual, emotional, and practical support to them and my clients.

Joining GAWN this year has been a highlight of 2023. Before moving to Gainesville in 2018, I was a lifelong resident of northern Ohio and began offering end-of-life doula services there. GAWN has helped me to connect with the special women in the Gainesville area community who form the membership. The monthly meetings are energizing because of inspiring speakers, and also because of the lovely new people I meet each month.

I joined GAWN as part of a group of End-of-Life Doulas who represent the Gainesville area membership if a statewide organization called FEOLDA, which stands for Florida End-of-Life Doulas. My mission is the same as FEOLDA’s (https://FEOLDA.com): “to provide resources, non-medical care, advocacy, and compassionate support for the dying” and their families and friends.

It amazes me to be part of FEOLDA’s collection of talented and compassionate souls. Each member has areas to which they gravitate. We have experts in grief/mourning, advance directives and preparation, media resources, advocacy, funeral/burial, legacy projects, and education. I am among those who focus on bedside vigil, but we are all trained to provide non-medical, personalized care in all areas.

Each of us meets personally with a new client to devise a care plan based on the needs of the individual. Each scenario is different, and each of us has expertise in meeting unique needs. I am fortunate to be able to collaborate with my colleagues whenever necessary to provide what each client might need. The colleagues who joined GAWN with me are as follows.

• William Turner Heath is multitalented. As a licensed funeral director and host of The Calling Hours (https://callinghours.co/ or williamturnerheath@gmail.com ) he is also a certified end-of-life doula and media specialist;
• Shanti Vani ( shantivani.com or 352-225-1385 ) enhances her end-of-life doula practice as a grief recovery training specialist;
• Rev. Jane Roy is an interfaith minister, green burial specialist, co-host of My Trail Ends, as well as partner in William and Weed Funeral Services (https://mytrailends.com or 352-204-2381); and
• Anna Schwait has expertise in Advanced Directives (anna.schwait@gmail.com; https://www.compassionatecarenow.com/ 352-538-7161).

The privilege of accompanying the dying has provided me with some of the most meaningful times in my life. My areas of focus are bedside vigil and legacy works, but I delight in meeting the needs of clients and their families with practical support, ethical will preparation, life review, and additional services to facilitate the best experience during this sacred passage. Please feel free to contact me by phone, text, or email:

Phone: 216-316-4454 or Email: Lee_Wilberschied@yahoo.com

Jennifer is the Business Development Manager at West Networks, which helps local  and national companies improve the speed and reliability of their internet connections both in their office locations as well as at off-site or mobile deployments.

Jennifer has been in the Alachua County community for 19 years and counting.  She has worked in technology and telecommunications for nearly 25 years and is a great resource for all your internet connectivity questions.

This is her second time joining GAWN and she’s thrilled to be back.  She first joined GAWN in a previous life when she was the local Cox Business representative for several years. 

In addition to GAWN, Jennifer is also involved in several other local network associations.  She is currently a Gainesville Chamber Diplomat, a board member of the Hawthorne Area Chamber, a former Ambassador of the Ocala CEP, and a member of the Alachua County Hospitality Council.  She is also a founding organizer of TEDxGainesville, which is the locally executed version of the famous “TED Talks.”

Jennifer loves facilitating connections so please don’t hesitate to reach out to her if she can help your networking efforts.

Jennifer Phelps | Business Development Manager
Mobile/Text: (904) 874-4229

jennifer.phelps@westnetworks.com
2404 NW 43rd St Gainesville, FL 32606
www.westnetworks.com or www.buypeplink.com

We were informed and entertained by Elizabeth Hanselman's two-minute speech during our most recent luncheon!  She won our Spotlight Award drawing at our May luncheon.  Here is a summary of what she had to say:

"To put it simply, GAWN changed my life! I had recently relocated from the Big Apple and was trying to start a Massage Therapy practice when I attended my first meeting in January of 1995. There was this red-headed fellow who I assumed must either be connected to the restaurant or married to one of the other members. However, Robert Hanselman was the very first male member of GAWN and very much single!

At the April meeting, Robert finally got the courage to approach me, we traded business cards and… the rest is history – we got married a little over a year later. I guess you can say I got the most from networking!

Fast-forward several years and we both stopped attending meetings until I was selected to be the Program Director of Jeff Galloway’s Run/Walk/Run Training in Gainesville in the Fall of 2010. At that point I re-joined GAWN with the idea of guiding people to better fitness through a Program that easily fits into most people’s lifestyle, provides accountability, and produces results while having fun.

The Run/Walk/Run approach is particularly empowering for women over 50 who often sell themselves short and are discouraged from their full potential by senseless fitness fads and misleading information! In 2017 I added a Walking Only group to Gainesville Galloway for those who cannot or should not run but want to participate in run/walk events and get out in the fresh air with other like-minded and encouraging people.

What I like about GAWN is the friendly atmosphere, the opportunity to showcase my business with a table-top display and the range of topics presented. However, the members of GAWN are the best part of every luncheon.

Besides GAWN, I am also a member of the Writes’ Alliance of Gainesville (WAG) and have written my first novel (about running, of course) and am pursuing both an agent for the book and studying how to edit and proofread so I can help other writers.

As for advice to anyone starting out is Network! Network! Network! Meeting people not only increases your “bottom line” but also enhances you as an individual. Everyone has something of value to bring to the table…and unless you’re willing to meet and mingle, you may very well miss out on something, or someone, special."

Elizabeth Hanselman

Gainesville Galloway Program Director

352-214-6836

gainesvillerunwalkrun@gmail.com

We are excited to hear from one of our newest members, Nancy Short, at our May luncheon!  She won our Spotlight award in April.

Nancy is the Director of Sales for Our Town Magazine.  Our Town is a direct-mailed family magazine which has an interesting collection of articles about people and places in our community, timely and pertinent columns, as well as a comprehensive calendar of events, festivals, and area happenings.

Nancy has been a resident of Alachua County for 30 years.  She has worked in marketing and print advertising for 25 years.

She is very involved with other local networks, including BNI, The Jonesville Business Group, and Toastmasters.  She also serves on the fundraising committee for the St. Francis House.

Nancy loves networking, and getting to know and learn from others.  She looks forward to meeting you at one of GAWN's next events!

visitourtowns.com

Due to increased costs associated with our luncheons and the need to provide an accurate headcount to our venue in a timely manner, we have adjusted our luncheon registration types and pricing.

The new registration types and pricing are as follows, and you'll see this same information each time you register on our website for one of our luncheons:

• GAWN Member - Early Registration, $20, available up to the Thursday the week before the luncheon
• GAWN Member - Intermediate Registration, $30, available from Friday the week before the luncheon to Monday the week of the luncheon
• GAWN Member - Last Call Registration, $35, available the day before and the day of the luncheon
• Guest - Early Registration, $25, available up to the Thursday the week before the luncheon
• Guest - Intermediate Registration, $35, available from Friday the week before the luncheon to Monday the week of the luncheon
• Guest - Last Call Registration, $40, available the day before and the day of the luncheon

We strongly encourage all attendees register as early as possible to keep registration costs low and help your GAWN Board have an accurate count to provide to our venue.  This will help us have the correct number of tables set up before the luncheon and ensure we have enough food prepared for all attendees.

We are excited to hear from Angela Dragon at our luncheon tomorrow!  She won our Spotlight award at the March luncheon.

Angela is the CEO of Simplify Home Organizing and Happiness Coach Angela.

In 2014, after a 12-year career in marketing and event planning, she began what she now refers to as her Year of Transformation. She quit her full-time job at the University of Florida and enrolled at the Florida School of Massage. That same year, she also went through a divorce, traveled around the country for several months, and founded what is now Simplify Home Organizing where her team specializes in decluttering and downsizing, including whole home clear-outs that help real estate agents get homes listed and sold fast.

She is also a Functional Health & Happiness Coach, inspired by a long journey of healing from depression and anxiety, gut health issues, and sleep challenges. She is honored to facilitate transformation in the lives of her clients, who seek out her services in order to create the lives of their dreams, filled with meaningful work, fulfilling relationships, and healthy habits. Now more than ever, she sees a great need for empowerment as it relates to our physical and mental well-being.

She's happily an active member of the Gainesville community where she enjoys leading home organizing workshops, ecstatic dances, and Cuddle Sanctuary events. In her free time, you can catch her birdwatching, dancing all over town, and finding friendly neighborhood cats to pet.

SimplifyHomeOrganizing.com

HappinessCoachAngela.com

Enroll in her affordable and fun online course, Declutter Your Clothing with Ease & Joy!

We are excited to hear from TJ Young at our luncheon today!  He won our Spotlight award at the February luncheon.

TJ is a Comfort Consultant with Browning Heating and Air, servicing all of Alachua County.  He works mostly with residential as well as light commercial doing maintenance, repairs, installations and Air Quality Solutions for homes and businesses.   

TJ has lived in Alachua County for the past 11 years.  He has been married to his wife Connie for the past 33 years and they have four children and three grandchildren.  Before working in the Comfort industry, TJ worked for Fortune 500 companies Torchmark, Boarshead and AT&T.  He also worked for five years at the Rock School in Gainesville.  

Because the air conditioning industry is constantly changing, he has found it extremely important to stay educated, both personally and professionally.  His family is very involved at the Rock of Gainesville and a few other community outreaches.  He enjoys GAWN for the opportunity to network and fellowship with strong leaders in our community and being able to be relaxed without losing professionalism.  

His advice to someone starting a new business would be to get involved in the community as well as networking platforms such as  GAWN to help grow their business.   

Our "Kitchen Remodel Basics" social at Jackson Stoneworks that was scheduled for next Tuesday, March 7, needs to be postponed to a later date.  We are working on securing the new date/time. 

We will share new event details as soon as they are determined, and you can register for the event at that time.  We apologize for any inconvenience.

Due to increased costs for our organization over the past couple of years, we made the decision to increase our membership prices. As communicated during meetings and in our email to members and contacts on November 11, 2022, our annual membership dues were adjusted as follows as of January 1, 2023:

• Individual - $75
• Corporate I (up to 3 members) - $125
• Corporate II (up to 7 members) - $200

You can read about our membership benefits and whether GAWN would be a good fit for you here.

Dianna Ullery of North Florida Rehab and Chiropractic was our Spotlight Winner at the October Luncheon!

Here's a bit more about Dianna!  And we look forward to hearing more about North Florida Rehab and Chiropractic during her two minute Spotlight at the November Luncheon.

I have lived in the Gainesville area for over 20 years and previously served the community as a law enforcement officer. After retiring in June 2021, I joined the staff of a small chiropractic office, little did I know that just a few months later Dr. Laura McChesney and I would be the owners of a new chiropractic practice when the previous doctor retired. October 2021 brought a lot of change to the practice, we focused on becoming more of a family atmosphere, nutrition, wellness care and acute injury care.

I joined GAWN after being a guest of a member and found the group to be very informative and supportive. Making connections with other women business owners is very empowering to women just starting the adventure of owing a business.

North Florida Rehab and Chiropractic supports local and national charities such as Bread of the Mighty Food Bank, Off Road Foundation and Scleroderma Research Foundation. We are also supporters of the Gators and the Kansas State Wildcats.

Stop by our office at 2341 NW 41 st Street Suite C Gainesville Fl and meet our office dog aka “Puplick” Relations Officer Allie.