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 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 the university of Colorado, 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 the AMEN board of directors, Alabama Asset Building Coalition-South Alabama Region, Leadership Mobile, Junior League of Mobile, and VOA Leadership Development Committee. 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 office manager for the Women’s Business Center, Inc., a non-profit organization. She assists with counseling and trainings and 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.

The Women’s Business Center, Inc. is proud to welcome Cindy Campbell as our new Program Manager. Cindy is a lifelong Mobilian. With the help of the Women’s Business Center she started and operated her own profitable catering business, Perfect Touch Catering, for nine years.

 In her new position, Cindy will serve as our “head cheerleader” as she puts it for all the activities of our organization. She will be charged with recruiting and guiding the volunteers for our Advisory Council. With their help she will be planning the training programs, fun activities and special events for the upcoming year. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, a speaker or a volunteer for an upcoming event, just contact Cindy.

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.

Tanisha Rankins, a native of Monroe County, Alabama, is the owner of Customer Service & Efficiency Solutions (C.S.E.S.). It is a coaching and training group dedicated to providing quality solutions to build strong, loyal customer relationships for retailers, restaurants, hotels and manufacturers. She also lends her services to local chambers to help develop strategies to increase city hospitality ratings and enhance tourism.

Tanisha received her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Saint Leo University.  Prior to opening C.S.E.S, Tanisha worked for Fortune 500 companies, such as Wal-Mart, MCI, and Fruit of the Loom, formerly VF Intimates, one of the world’s largest apparel manufacturing companies, where she received numerous awards for her outstanding performance improving customer satisfaction.

Darrell Manning is a Financial Advisor and Licensed Professional Counselor with over 20 years experience.  He received his Bachelors and Master’s Degrees in Organizational and Clinical Psychology from the University of South Alabama.  His MBA studies were at The University of Alabama-Birmingham.

Darrell was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama.  He was employed for 6 years by Mobile Mental Health Center as a Therapist and Community Liaison.  He moved to Birmingham in 1991 to become the St. Clair County Director for Eastside Mental Health Center.  In 1996, Darrell started his own consulting company, Southeastern Business Consultants.  He has developed and helped manage benefits for companies such as Regions Bank, Alabama Power, BE&K Construction, and other Fortune 500 companies.  He joined Big Brothers Big Sisters in 2001 where he served as Executive Director of the South Alabama agency.  He joined Waddell & Reed Financial Services, Inc. in 2006, where he specializes in investment, estate planning and retirement planning services for individuals, businesses and non-profits. 

Mr. Siegwald is a graduate of Spring Hill College with separate degrees in History and Secondary Education. After teaching at McGill High School in Mobile and Tampa Catholic High School in Tampa, Florida, Mr. Siegwald entered private business, operating a successful retail and mail order business in Mobile for 10 years. From 1983 to 1986 Mr. Siegwald held the position of Marketing Director for Carter Investment Group, a company which held franchise rights to Godfathers Pizza in 4
Southeastern States.

In 1986, Mr. Siegwald accepted a position in the market research field as a member of Stacey and Associates of Mobile. Together with Mr. Stacey, Mr. Siegwald established the firm of Entrepreneurial Training Services in 1987, a company formed to develop and disseminate curriculums and training products to the growing Business
Incubator Industry. The 33 hour Entrepreneurial Training course developed by E.T.S. is used in business incubators across the southeast and, under the auspices of the Tennessee Valley Authority Economic Development Division, has been installed in 55 junior college campuses in its region.

Mr. Siegwald joined the staff of the Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence, Business Innovation Center in 1993 and was named Director of Adjunct Programs in 1994. In 1996, Mr. Siegwald also assumed the role as assistant director for the Institute of the Future South, a program created by the Business Innovation Center in conjunction
with the Ewing M. Kauffman Foundation - Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership of Kansas City, Mo. for the purpose of developing curriculum and data bases for the training of Economic Development Professionals in Entrepreneurial Economic Development.

Since associating with Mr. Stacey at Stacey and Associates and, and in his position at the Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence, Mr. Siegwald has been involved in over 60 feasibility studies on small business incubator and Entrepreneurial Economic Development studies across the South-east.

In the spring of 2001, Mr. Siegwald was named Director of Entrepreneurial Services for the Business Innovation Center and as of August 1st, 2008 he was named Co- Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence.