WithIt honors industry leaders at WOW event

Cindy W. Hodnett -- Furniture Today, February 4, 2013

Kathy Ireland, who received the Legacy Award, thanked WithIt “for helping to shatter glass ceilings.”LAS VEGAS - WithIt, a leadership and networking organization for women, recognized several of the furniture industry's leaders here at the organization's 2013 WOW Awards dinner on the eve of the Las Vegas Market.
      Held for the first time in Las Vegas at Worldview Terrace with the city's night skyline as a backdrop, the event brought together industry icons, future leaders and hundreds of WithIt members and supporters.
     "These awards represent the heart and soul of WithIt," said Betty Lyn Eller, 2013 president of WithIt. "This is an exciting venue and it represents the growth of the organization. WithIt started on the East Coast but has grown regionally, and it is important for us to have a presence out here."
     In the presentations, Margi Kyle, designer at The Designing Doctor, was surprised with the President's award.
     Other honorees included Peggy Traub, president and CEO of Adesso, Lifetime Achievement/Founder's award; Cheminne Taylor-Smith, vice president of marketing for the High Point Market Authority, Education award; Wright Global Graphic Solutions, Mentoring award; Kiersten Hathcock, CEO and designer for Mod Mom Furniture, Future Leader award; Kimberly Brown Knopf, founder and president of Innovative Mattress Solutions, Leadership award; and Kathy Ireland, designer and CEO of Kathy Ireland Worldwide, who was honored with the Legacy award.
     "I remember one of our first meetings (with a client), and when we went in, the sales team was wall-to-wall guys," Ireland said after accepting the award. "I asked them what percentage of their customers were women, and they answered 90%. I am so, so grateful to WithIt for helping to shatter glass ceilings and helping the industry gain more balance."

	Gordy Dodd, left, Dodd’s Furniture & Mattress, Victoria, British Columbia; Eric Nyman, Surya; Love Dodd, Dodd’s Furniture & Mattress; Mike Clapham, RSC Flooring Distribution, Winnipeg, Manitoba; Satya Tiwari, Surya
Stan Nizamutdinov, left, Surya; Conrad Kampp, City Mill, Honolulu; Seth King, Surya, at the Surya market party.
	At the Feizy market party are Jeffrey D. Harris, left, Furnitureland South, Jamestown, N.C., left; Tracy Porter, Poetic Wanderlust; Cameron Feizy, Feizy; Rhonda Jackson and Julie Messner, International Market Centers
John Whorton, Feizy Rugs, and Valerie K. Roberts, Dazzling Décor, Houston.
	John Feizy, left, Feizy; Ingrid Harazim and Ernie Harazim, World of Rugs, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Dale Sweary, Feizy Rugs.