SOUTHBURY, Conn., Dec. 11, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WEBB Women Empowered By Business®, an organization designed to support, encourage and empower women to go into business and to grow their business, has awarded Northern Virginia entrepreneur Sandra Hambley with its WEBB Crystal award. Hambley, who owns and operates DecorAndYouDC, was presented the award due to her outstanding success as a female entrepreneur and mentorship to other women entrepreneurs.
WEBB's mission is to promote successful entrepreneurship among women by providing opportunities and resources designed to educate, empower and enlighten them as they embrace the challenges of business ownership. The organization presents the WEBB Crystal award each year to women within its network who exemplify this mission by mentoring female entrepreneurs in their local communities as well as WEBB members.
"Sandra is a prime example of a successful woman entrepreneur," said Karen Powell, who is on the WEBB leadership team and has been involved for the past few years. Also the founder and CEO of Decor&You®, Powell added, "Her entrepreneurial drive and determination is inspiring, and she never hesitates to help others within the WEBB network or Decor&You franchise system. We are pleased to honor her success as a female entrepreneur, and can't thank her enough for her support over the years."
Hambley began her professional career in the direct mail department of, what was then, a new and emerging finance company, Capital One. As the company expanded exponentially, she moved into a role as a senior manager, becoming one of only ten women out of the nearly 150 senior manager positions. After eight years of working 60-70 hour work weeks, coupled with a long commute, she knew she needed to make a career change. She loved the entrepreneurial energy of the early years at Capital One and began looking into business opportunities that would mimic that feeling.
Hambley invested in Decor&You, a young, emerging interior decorating franchise, in 2003 and had positive cash flow within the first six months. Within 18 months of joining the franchise, she expanded into a second region. She recalls that her first two years with Decor&You were like having two full-time jobs – balancing decorating with recruiting and coaching decorators for her region.
Today, Hambley is a Regional Developer – serving the Virginia, Maryland, District of Columbia and the surrounding DC-metro area – with three franchisees and six contract decorators. She focuses primarily on managing and growing her business, but still decorates high-profile jobs, such as the Chambers of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice and staff.
Sandra Hambley of DecorAndYouDC can be reached at shambley@decorandyou.com.
About WEBB Women Empowered By Business
WEBB Women Empowered By Business is an organization designed to support, encourage and empower women to go into business and to grow their business. Its mission is to promote successful entrepreneurship among women by providing opportunities and resources designed to educate, empower, and enlighten them as they embrace the challenges of business ownership. For more information on WEBB, visit http://www.womenebb.com.
About Decor&You
Established in 1998, Decor & You, Inc. (Decor) furnishes and refines America's residential and commercial interiors through a nationwide network of professional interior decorators, who make it easy for people to achieve comfort, style, and enhanced value in their homes and businesses. Decor decorating experts use the company's proven StylePrint® Design System to create a seamless process from design to execution to ensure a worry-free makeover process for every client. A socially conscience company, Decor also advocates for change in the decorating industry, with a focus on bringing safer, higher-quality and greener decorating options to American homes. Decor was honored recently by The World Franchising Network as one of its top 100 businesses in the services sector; by Entrepreneur Magazine as a top home-based franchise and No. 446 in the 2012 Franchise 500 rankings; and by RedHotFranchise.com as No. 47 on its top 100 Hottest Franchise list. For more information on Decor&You, go to www.decorandyou.com.