Student honored at business awards lunch

LYNN – Thirty-seven women, including a high school teenager were recognized for their business acumen, savvy and success during the 13th Annual North of Boston Business Women of the Year Lydia E. Pinkham Awards.Moira Landry still doesn’t know who nominated her for the Civic/Non profit award, which she didn’t win.”It was a surprise,” she said.It was a bigger surprise when the 17-year-old Swampscott High School junior was singled out for a special award because sponsors of the event were so taken with her story.Mindy Hanlon, Landry’s mother, said her daughter first asked to volunteer when she was 9.”She looked at me and said, ?I want to help the homeless,'” Hanlon said.By 12 Landry had figured out how to do it. The founder of the non-profit Hope for Creativity has provided close to 1,500 packs of art supplies to children in over 25 shelters across the commonwealth.”Now she’s looking at expanding, doing it through college and making it her career,” Hanlon said. “I never thought we would be here four years later, but she continues to surprise us.”Kelly Delaney wasn’t much older than Landry when she decided to open her own business, Cakes for Occasions, 57 Maple St., Danvers.”I opened in 1997 and back then I was 27 years old ? I thought, ?I’ll open a bakery because I like to cook and I can bake,” she said shaking her head.Delaney said she had no business experience but she’s learned a lot in the 17 years that has seen her business grow from 1.5 employees in a 2,000 square foot building to 30 in a 4,700 square foot space.”My motto is, ?Just say yes and figure it out later,'” she said.Delaney said she knows many business owners would disagree with her style but she doesn’t have the time to sit around a table and debate the possible outcomes of any given plan.”If I don’t go with my gut then my ship has sailed and I’ll be alone on the dock,” she said.Delaney also has a few hard and fast rules that include having a personal theme song to pick yourself up when you’re feeling down. Hers is “Gotta Be” by Des’ree. Her rules also include being able to “turn it off” on her day off, trying for things that seem out of reach, and knowing what she can and cannot do. She urged her fellow businesswomen to surround themselves with people who can shore up their weaknesses, remember that everyone has suggestions, and to look for a common thread and to put a great support staff in place.”I think that helps to make a better business,” she said.Phyllis Sagan of Sagan Realty, who emceed the event, said she agreed with everything Delaney had to say and shared her motto, “If you love what you do then you never have to go to work.”Also recognized during the event was Narine Mussaelyan, who took home a $1,000 Atlantic Referral-BNI Chapter Scholarship, and Suleidy Bautista, who won The Daily Item Scholarship.Business awards were given to women in five categories and included Cathy Rowe, who as the Lynn Housing Authority Youth Services Coordinator took home the Civic/Nonprofit award; Sarah Jackson, owner of Sarah J Consulting, who won in the small business category; St. Mary’s Head of School Grace Cotter Regan, who won for medium size business; Lisa Almeida and Heidi Nicholon, co-owners of Bella Sera Bridal, who shared the award for intermediate business, and Alexandra Drane of Eliza Corporation, who took home the Lydia E. Pinkham award for the large business category.”This is nice,” said Cotter Regan. “It was a team effort.”To see a full list of nominees and the winners for each award, visit www.womenbizawards.com.