Inspiration & Profiles

A Business Inspired by Syd

Syd’s Book Shack & Boutique was inspired by Sydney Daggett, a 17-year-old girl with an immense love of books, telling jokes and eating Chinese food.

Goal-Setting Tips for Entrepreneurs

Whether it’s a personal New Year’s resolution or a business plan goal, there are best practices to help ensure success in goal setting.

The Role of Key4Women Certified Advisors

How can a Key4Women Certified Advisor help you? Let us count the ways. They have studied, trained and tested and they are here to help you, a woman business owner.

TheWMarketplace: A Business Supporting Women-Owned Businesses

Who doesn’t love an inspiring woman-owned business story? At Key4Women^®, we especially love hearing about a business model that creates a platform to help others realize their dream as business owners. One such story is about Key4Women members Kate Isler and Susan Gates of TheWMarketplace.

Lilian Lo: Leading Change and Innovation at Oriental Jade

Borrowing a term from the sports world, Lilian Lo is a “natural.” She embodies all the essential skills and attributes of a successful entrepreneur and instinctively knows when and how to make the just-right next play. She is a confident leader who embraces new systems and technologies, builds important relationships, and creates interesting opportunities for growth – all while investing in knowing her market, customers and employees extraordinarily well.

Meet Rachael Sampson, Incoming Director of Key4Women®

Rachael Sampson has been named Director of Key4Women. Sampson is a 20-year veteran of banking with a focus and passion for helping entrepreneurs, businesses and communities thrive.

Looking Through the Windshield: An Interview with Sarah Thomas

Sarah Thomas, the NFL’s first female official, was the Keynote Speaker at Key4Women’s Annual Forum in 2020. In this conversation with Susan Zongrone from KeyBank, Sarah Thomas talked about overcoming adversity, maintaining work-life balance and looking through the windshield toward opportunity.

The Pandemic’s Toll on Working Women and What Companies Can Do

According to recent research by the National Women’s Law Center nearly 2.2 million women have left the workforce since February 2020. Another Study by McKinsey & Company highlights that the pandemic has affected women’s confidence, as well as their thoughts about their financial future. Learn more as KeyCorp experts weigh in on the topic with tips on how to support women – and parents – throughout the pandemic and beyond.

Spotlight - Nancy Kern Eaton: Community Impact Award

Nancy Kern Eaton, President at the United Way of Central New York and recipient of Key4Women’s Central New York 2020 Community Impact Award, talks about why community is central to addressing the root causes of poverty and changing the systems that make it persist.

Angela Benton: Trusting Her Intuition to Guide Her Entrepreneurial Passions

Meet Angela Benton, a pioneer of diversity in the technology industry. Benton has created companies that have enabled Black, Hispanic and female entrepreneurs to successfully grow their businesses with venture capital financing, own and monetize their data, and network with other minority executives.

Benton places a high value on integrity, transparency, simplicity, and intuition in all her business pursuits – values informed by her life’s experiences as a mother and cancer survivor.

Spotlight - Laura Serway: 2020 Key4Women Achieve Award Winner

Laura Serway, winner of Key4Women’s Central New York 2020 Achieve Award, talks with KeyBank’s Rachel Galusha about the importance of building relationships, giving back to community and how she handles challenges she faces as an entrepreneur.

Spotlight – Debra McClendon-Boddie: Small Business Achievement Award

Meet Debra McClendon-Boddie, who has been chosen as this year’s recipient of the Central New York Key4Women^® Small Business Achievement Award for her work as founder of PGR Foundation, Inc. Hear how her mentorship makes a difference in the lives of young girls, and how this work has changed her life, too.