Cyrena Nouzille is a self-described beer nut. When her husband Jean Luc gave her a home brewery kit for one of those “almost milestone near-mid-life-crisis” birthdays I’m sure neither of them imagined that the gift would spark a hobby that would turn into a business 10 years later.

Cyrena, along with business partners brewmaster Dave Grittiths and chef Ray Luna opened Ladyface Alehouse and Brasserie on November 9, 2009 at 29281 Agoura Road in Agoura, California. (Not so coincidentally at the base of Ladyface Mountain!)

A resident of Old Agoura, Cyrena is a former exhibit designer and project coordinator for The Los Angeles Natural History Museum and Petersen Auto Museum turned stay-at-home mom who started brewing beer on her kitchen 10 years ago. She became friends with more Old Agoura residents who were also home brewers; most notably Dave Griffiths who later became the head brewer at BJ’s in Oxnard. Dave and Cyrena daydreamed about opening a brewery of their own one day and 5 years ago got serious about it and sat down to write a business plan. Cyrena met Ray, a former chef at Spago Beverly Hills and Shutters on the Beach, through her cousin and they hit it off immediately.

After graduating UCLA, Esther Hopkins had a decision to make: Med school or Law School? Law school at Loyola Marymount won out. Her parents could not have been prouder.

Esther is not only a first generation Californian, but a first generation American. Born to Mexican immigrant parents, Esther grew up in the Mar Vista area of Los Angeles. Her parents moved to this country for a better life but they didn’t quite know how to go about providing a good education to their children. Fortunately for Esther, she had a teacher who recognized that she was incredibly bright, had her tested and found that she was gifted. She was put into classes with other gifted kids and grew up surrounded by good kids with educated families that welcomed her into their lives and helped her parents put her on the right academic track. It was extremely important to Esther not only to receive a college degree, but to become a professional – to make something of herself; something that would have been much more difficult in her parent’s home country. She was the first in her very large Hispanic family to graduate college. (She did want me to mention that her sister and her brother followed suit soon after.)

Paulette is my Shero because she creates a supportive, even loving, atmosphere for patients at the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood, many of whom lack health insurance. After sending a nurse to "hold my hand" during my IUD placement, she distracted my boyfriend (who’d paled two shades in the waiting room) with a guided tour.  
~Nominated by Joia Wood, Charlottesville , Va.
 
Spurred by the growing need for women’s health services, Paulette launched a $4.6 million campaign for VLPP’s new facility, opened last month at 201 N. Hamilton. “Access to affordable family planning often means, quite literally, the difference between a woman finishing college or not,” Paulette, VLPP’s President and CEO, notes.  On weekends she hits the Goochland countryside with her horse, Splash.

 

"Jill is my Shero for the sheer number of superhero outfits she wears with grace! She’s the mother of five children. She’s an athlete, riding for Team GHS Every Woman and training for an Ironman. She’s a mentor and a friend to many women. Oh, and she works full time!"

~Nominated by Elizabeth Brady, Spartanburg, SC

“I’ve always admired Sacagawea,” Jill says. “Here’s a woman who wasn’t even treated as an equal to men and yet she led them through the wilderness, she cooked their food, and she trapped, all with a baby on her back. Women today have it made in comparison!” Jill will represent today’s woman in a full Ironman challenge in Barcelona on October 4th of this year.

Jenna McCarthy of Santa Barbara is an internationally published writer and has just released her first book, The Parent Trip: From High Heels and Parties to Highchairs and Potties.

“I resolve to stop talking about how busy I am; it’s a choice. I’ll stop thinking about how to get it all done. It’s not the season or time of the year; it’s not the ages of the kids. We just grow to the size of our life.”

Shannon, along with her husband Rob, is co-founder of Ventura’s True North Fitness & Health. Together they are passionate about coaching people towards wellness and vitality.

“I resolve in 2009 to reach even more people and inspire them to create sustainable healthy lifestyle changes; to help them realize that the path to attaining true health is a lifelong journey comprised of many small choices for continuous improvement which are presented to them each and every day.”

Lettie Lopez of Sal’s Mexican Inn in Oxnard has been helping with the family business since the age of 18. She greets everyone that walks through the doors, just as her father did. It is her mother though that inspires us dreamers and entrepreneurs.

“My mother, 20 at the time, was encouraged by my grandfather to open and run her own restaurant. She cooked and managed the restaurant with children in tow, no less.” Carefully saving, Lettie’s mother was able to help provide the remaining funds to buy the building in 1952, where the restaurant still stands.

Lettie carries the same spirit of hospitality that her parents, Sal and Mary, bestowed on their patrons. “I never tire of hearing customers share their warm and sometimes poignant stories of growing up, dining and celebrating the moments of their life in our restaurant.” 

Need is always a great catalyst of invention. In the case of Frinée of Ventura, it began with a desire to nurture herself after the birth of her second child.

“Your body is so raw right after, and you need healthy foods to heal.” With this concept, Frinée began her company, Sprout About, two-and-a-half years ago. Frinée understands how time-consuming shopping locally and organically can be, so her company takes the hard work out of bringing healthy food to Santa Barbara and Ventura’s tables.

With Sprout About, her clients can create custom orders, and Frinée works with about 12 local farms to make sure that everything is provided for. Each week families can pick up their orders at various pick-up locations in the area, bringing home organic produce, eggs, bread and even yummy cookie dough, from just one quick stop. 

Public service can mean many things, but to Congresswoman Capps it has a very specific persona. Her approach to politics is real and in keeping with that mindset, her role of what a Congresswoman should do and what she does is one in the same for her.

Wendy, Santa Barbara’s most formidable clothing and life stylist, first came here at the age of five, and remembers her love affair with fashion beginning around the same time: “I can remember that I always wanted everything in my grandmother’s closet. [My grandmother, mother and I] always enjoyed shopping together. Fashion provides a forum to be creative and unique.”

Christy’s plans did not have politics in the picture. What began as small incremental things such as watching city council meetings to becoming passionate about preserving a part of her city’s history, gradually developed into the reality of a desire to serve her community.

A prolific entrepreneur for over 20 years and Co-founder and CEO of BōKU International, Lynn Rolle of Ojai still considers her greatest achievement her two teenage children and 23 years of marriage to her husband.

1. Worry less; 99.9% of the things we worry about never happen.

2. Don’t be afraid to bob and weave down the road of life; you find many surprises when you get off the beaten path.

3. Try it with a smile—how do you know you don’t like something if you don’t try it?

Moxie is owner of Moorpark-based Blonde on the Roof Productions, mother to a son and passionate about music. She began writing music at age nine and licensed her first song in 2004.