Kathryn Kahalley Cariglino
Executive Director and Founder
[email]

Raised in an entrepreneurial immigrant Lebanese family, Cariglino started her own business in 1989. As owner and publisher of the Women’s Yellow Pages of the Gulf Coast, Inc., she soon realized the true need of the women business owners in her area was for counseling, networking and training. She founded the Women’s Business Assistance Center (WBAC) in Mobile, Alabama in 1993. The WBAC was one of the earliest SBA Women’s Business Centers, and has been continuously contracted with the U. S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership from 1993 to the present. The Women’s Business Assistance Center, now called simply Women’s Business Center, Inc., is a 501 (c)(3) corporation that currently operates one Women’s Business Center in Mobile, Alabama and formerly operated a Women’s Business Center in Pensacola, Florida.

SBA Women in Business Advocate of the Year for the State of Alabama, 1991
Delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business, 1995
Delegate to the First National Women’s Economic Summit, Chicago, IL, 1996
Mobile Area YWCA Professional Woman of Achievement Award, 1999
Graduate of Leadership Mobile Class of 2000
American Business Women’s Association Mobile Bay Chapter Woman of the Year 2005
Alabama Micro Enterprise Network, Founding Board Member and past Chair

Sylvia D. Browder comes to the Women’s Business Center, Inc. with over 20 years of business experience, including: working in corporate America; working with small companies; and being an entrepreneur. In her new role as Project Director of the Women’s Business Center, a non-profit economic development organization, she is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the center, providing business consulting services to current and potential business owners, conducting business skills training workshops, seminars and conferences. She received her B.S. in Fashion Merchandising with a Minor in Marketing in December 1990 from Southeastern Louisiana University.
Sylvia is no stranger to running a business. In 2000, she launched a start-up building maintenance company in San Diego, CA and single handedly grew it into a thriving and respected business. In addition, in 2004, she operated a home based small business support and consulting company providing virtual support for businesses throughout the United States. She has written several articles published on various websites, relating to marketing and growing small businesses.

Sylvia is active in the following organizations:
Alabama Microenterprise Network: Board of Directors (Elected 2007); Officer (Treasurer 2007)
SCORE Counselor: Chapter Secretary (Elected 2004-05); Director of Marketing: (Appointed 2004-06), Counselor (2004-Present).
Women’s Business Center of Southern Alabama Advisory Council: Advisor (2003-Present)
American Business Women’s Association Mobile Bay Chapter (ABWA): Member (2004-Present), Board of Directors, Secretary (2007), Woman of the Year (Chair 2006), Fundraising Committee (Chaired), Business of the Year Award (Co-Chaired), served as Panel Judge for Miss Mobile Pageant.

Sherman Blosser is a native of Denver, Colorado.  After graduating from college, she worked as a paralegal before retiring to raise a family. During the ensuing years Blosser was an entrepreneur and volunteered through the Junior League.  She served and held offices on various not for profit boards in the Denver and Kansas City areas. Blosser reentered the workforce to direct training for a regional school-based mentoring initiative headquartered in Kansas City.

As part of the Women’s Business Center’s staff Blosser utilizes her expertise as a facilitator, event planner, trainer, and coach. She is a member of Business Network International, New Mobilians and a sustaining member of the Junior League of Mobile. Prior to moving to Mobile, Blosser received ASTD certification in Training and Development through the University of Oklahoma.

LaToya Brooks, is a native of Mobile, AL and has lived there all her life. She is currently the Administrative Assistant for the Women’s Business Center, Inc., a non-profit organization. She assists with counseling and trainings but handles all data entry and appointment scheduling. LaToya has five years of clerical experience with large corporations, including the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and Infirmary Health Systems. LaToya prides herself on providing excellent customer and phone service. When LaToya’s not at work you can find her eating out or spending time with family.

A good Financial Administrator is invaluable to maintaining the financial stability of any organization. The reputation of the organization in the community is largely dependent on how it manages its business dealings. By focusing inward on the “numbers” the Financial Administrator frees up other staff members to focus on our clients and partners.

LaKesha Womack, a Small Business Consultant with the Women’s Business Center, is a native of Evergreen, Alabama.  She has ties to Mobile as a graduate of the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science.  LaKesha received her Bachelor’s Degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

She has over ten years of experience training, managing and consulting in the financial services, real estate, publishing, food services, health services and many other industries.  LaKesha enjoys consulting with small business owners because “it feels great to empower people to become successful doing what they really enjoy.”

LaKesha is actively involved her community as:

• Board member of the Evergreen/ Conecuh County Chamber of Commerce,

• member of the Evergreen Leadership Development Steering Committee,

• member of the Monroe Professional Women,

• Program Director for her church’s Young Adult Christian Ministry and

• Co-Founder of Tee Time at Cambrian Ridge.

She is also the owner of Premier Event Planning, a full service Event Planning firm specializing in family reunions, golf tournaments and dinner banquets as well the co-owner of Premier Media Group, a multi-media firm providing website design, brochures, business cards, logos and many other marketing products.  In her spare time, LaKesha spends time with her son, Kristian, and enjoys baking, traveling and playing golf.