Shelly Hughes
Founder & CEO, Nolia Roots
Shelly Hughes launched her business on a Monday in 2020. By Thursday of that week, the Media resident knew she was pregnant with her first child. Now that she was expecting, she worried how she’d be perceived as a female entrepreneur. “I felt like I couldn’t give the same value to my clients,” Hughes admits.
But it’s low points like these that have defined Hughes’ philosophy on success. “Every time there’s a rock-bottom moment, there’s a big positive change that happens right after,” she says.
Four years later, Hughes has found success with Nolia Roots, a strategic marketing agency that offers support to business leaders in strategy, content, messaging, community relations and executive coaching. Her staff consists of two full-time employees. The rest are part-timers and contractors. Structuring her team this way ensures that the right people are working on each job. “It’s not the typical agency where everyone is in-house. A lot of times, it can cause burnout,” Hughes says. “But I want to surround myself with people who are a ton smarter than I am.”
Visit noliaroots.com.
Jen Su
TV Host & Entertainment Contributor
Jen Su’s first taste of the entertainment world came when she was a college student studying abroad in Taiwan. “When my landlady heard me singing in the shower, she secretly entered me into an American Idol-style singing contest, and I ended up as one of the winners,” she says.
She’s since lived in Thailand, Hong Kong and South Africa, working as a news anchor for various networks before returning to the Main Line region. Today, Su contributes to the Sunday Times, and you’re likely to see her on FOX 29’s Good Day Philadelphia. She covers prestigious events all over the world, from the Oscars to Paris Fashion Week. “Many times, I start my day at 4:30 a.m.,” she says. “I’m running to the airport, doing my makeup in the Uber, landing and rushing to check in. Then I have minutes to look red-carpet ready, go through security checks and stand by on the press line.”
Out there on the red carpet, the Wayne resident is always wearing something from a local designer—and she’s often taking a red-eye flight back home to attend a regional event. Su has also devoted time to raising funds and awareness for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where her son was treated for leukemia. And she sits on the Philadelphia Film Society’s board of directors and is a member of the Recording Academy and the Asian American Journalists Association. “All women are multitasking all the time,” she says with a laugh.
Follow on Instagram @jensu1.
Megan Crocetto
Owner, Chameleon Day Spa Founder, Nova and Nadia’s Closet
Megan Crocetto started working at Media’s Chameleon Day Spa at age 16. A decade later, she bought the place, dedicating the building’s second floor to a nonprofit named for her twin daughters. After cervical weakness forced an early delivery and the loss of her son, Nathan, Crocetto became pregnant with the twins in 2022—but it was anything but an easy pregnancy. The girls were delivered at just 26 weeks at Lankenau Medical Center, where they spent 115 days in the NICU. “I thought to myself, ‘One day, when I’m feeling good and we get through this, we’re going to give back in some way,’” Crocetto says.
Nova and Nadia’s Closet provides clothing and blankets to preemies in the NICUs of Main Line hospitals, along with mental health coaching and spa treatments for moms. “You never know what anyone has been through,” says Crocetto. “When you see Nova and Nadia now, you probably wouldn’t think they fought really hard for their lives, but it’s a really good feeling—and I’m so proud of these girls.”
Visit chameleondayspa.com.
Laura DiFrancesco
Founder & CEO, Dean Street Law, Flourish Coworking Space & Ethereal Farms
Studying international business, finance and real estate, Laura DiFrancesco graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2010 as the institution’s first triple major. Three years later, she doubled up at Villanova University, getting her master’s degree in business administration and juris doctor. By 2019, she’d founded Dean Street Law, quickly growing the firm to a team of eight in less than six months.
A year later, the self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur opened Flourish Coworking Space in West Chester. “I wanted a place where people could thrive and have their best ideas come to light,” she says of Flourish, which has hosted over 90 events since its inception.
In 2021, the 72-acre farm adjacent to fiancé James Wilson’s Wayvine Winery & Vineyard became available, and DiFrancesco negotiated the sale, renovating two Airbnbs and implementing regenerative farming practices at the property now called Ethereal Farms. She’s also offered funding help to other commercial real estate ventures and startups. “I’m very passionate about investing in women, minorities and entrepreneurs in general to support their access to capital,” she says.
Visit lauradifrancesco.co, deanstreetlaw.com, flourishcoworking.com and etherealfarms.co.
Rachel Cathell
Executive Director, Western Chester County Chamber of Commerce
Rachel Cathell’s “chamber obsession” began with an internship at the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce before she made her way to Cecil County’s organization. Eight years ago, she took over as communications coordinator at the Western Chester County Chamber of Commerce, then became its executive director. “I never imagined that would be my journey, but this is what I was meant to do,” she says.
It’s the chamber’s ability to share local stories that she loves most. “I just fell in love with showing everyone these amazing backgrounds and how they built their success,” says Cathell.
There’s a revitalization buzz in Coatesville, but Cathell’s vision is growth in all 24 of the municipalities she oversees. “As the only city in the county, any success in Coatesville is going to affect the surrounding areas,” she says. “It’s important that our city revitalizes so we can revitalize our region collectively. We’ve come a long way. It’s a collaborative effort.”
Visit westernchestercounty.com.
Christina Henck
CEO, Henck Design
After graduating college in 2011, Christina Henck wasn’t having much luck in the job market. So she decided it was time to do her own thing, creating a Facebook page to launch her interior design business. The Henck Design portfolio now includes the homes of many high-profile professionals and celebrities, including Philadelphia Eagles players. She’s also worked closely with Jonathan and Drew Scott of Property Brothers and made several appearances on HGTV and A&E. “I never thought I’d be so passionate about anything as I am about interior design—and the arts in general,” she says. “It turns out leading people, solving problems and innovating are what I’m best at.”
After over a decade of success in the Philadelphia suburbs, Henck was ready to grow the business beyond its Manayunk headquarters. She now splits her time between the Main Line region and Nashville—and she’s added a home-staging component to the mix. “I’d be nothing without my team,” she says. “I’m grateful for them every day.”
Visit henckdesign.com.
Sandy Stauffer
Founder, The Bakery House
Beloved for its muffins, pies and other baked goods, the Bakery House comes from humble beginnings. Over 35 years ago, Sandy Stauffer was selling cookies in a Chestnut Hill farmers market. By 1989, she’d made her move to the Bryn Mawr location many of us know and love. Goodies from the Bakery House are now a staple across the region.
During the pandemic, Stauffer turned her bakery into a bodega of sorts, selling ingredients, produce, masks and gloves to customers who were hesitant to frequent supermarkets. “This community is an extension of my family,” she says. “I made a commitment to always support the community—and, in turn, they’ve always supported me.”
With help from her wife, Kelly, Stauffer has renovated the West Lancaster Avenue location to improve her baking and decorating space. “I knew from a very young age that I wanted my own business,” she says. “This never-ending journey has surpassed even my wildest dreams.”
Visit thebakeryhouse.net.
Kimby Kimmel & Amy Fink
Co-Owners, Ilyan Jewelry
Kimby Kimmel and Amy Fink were freshman-year locker neighbors at Akiba Hebrew Academy (now Jack M. Barrack), quickly becoming best friends. After college at New York’s Hofstra University, Fink spent 25 years in the Manhattan epicenter of the jewelry industry on 47th Street. Kimmel, meanwhile, had a successful stationery business.
By 2020, Fink had returned to the area, Looking for a way to stay busy during the pandemic, she partnered with Kimmel to launch Ilyan Jewelry in Haverford that summer, sourcing inventory from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Italy. “During COVID, a lot of businesses went under, and we decided to create something—we made lemonade out of lemons,” says Kimmel.
“My strengths aren’t necessarily hers, and her strengths aren’t necessarily mine,” adds Fink. “We complement each other.”
What also sets Ilyan apart is Fink’s status as a gemologist, something many such businesses lack. And they love to give back through fundraising events for local schools and charities. “Every year, it gets a little better and a little stronger,” Kimmel says. “Hopefully, it will continue to do that.”
Visit ilyanjewelry.com.
Sarah Shafer
Founder & CEO, Milk Made Skin & Fertility Dreams Foundation
In their efforts to conceive, Downingtown’s Sarah Shafer and husband Zach endured seven IVF treatments before eventually giving birth to their daughter, Evie, in 2016. Around that time, Shafer took a look in the mirror and realized that, after years of hormone and fertility struggles, her skin was unrecognizable. Hearing that breast milk was great for a baby’s skin, she tried it on herself. “I couldn’t believe it,” she says. “Fine lines, wrinkles, age spots—all gone.”
Tapping into her experience as a buyer with QVC and Anthropologie, Shafer launched Milk Made Skin, which incorporates the vitamins, amino acids and other beneficial elements of breast milk into an exfoliating gel cleanser, a daily moisturizer and a brightening eye cream. A percentage of Milk Made Skin’s profits go to Shafer’s Fertility Dreams Foundation, launched in 2023 to raise money to offset the cost of IVF treatments, which can run up to $30,000 for a family hoping to get pregnant. “As a woman, you feel like your body should just do this—and when it doesn’t, it’s a very troubling experience,” says Shafer. “Money shouldn’t be a factor in that,”
Visit milkmadeskin.com and fertilitydreamsfoundation.com.
Patricia Mae Olson
Owner, Piqued PR
Third-generation Unionville High School graduate Patricia Mae Olson was a student at Immaculata University when she started a fashion blog to share celebrity-inspired outfits and interviews with industry entrepreneurs. Through Instagram, she has since garnered over 20,000 followers.
But Olson had entrepreneurial dreams. After two post-college jobs in public relations, she acquired several clients of her own and started Piqued PR in 2013. “It came really naturally,” she says. “It was hard work, but it was something I always dreamed of doing.”
Olson has seen nationwide success, landing clients on Oprah’s Favorite Things list and working with Kathy Hilton and several Real Housewives franchises. Today, her blog lives on through the Piqued PR website, Instagram and the weekly Preppy Podcast. “I interview the influencers, brands and businesses keeping the modern preppy lifestyle alive,” says Olson.
Visit piquedpr.com and patriciamaeolson.com.
Candace Gantt
Founder & Executive Director, Mind Your Brain Foundation
Candace Gantt’s world changed forever on July 21, 2005, when she was struck by a construction vehicle while riding her bike on Goshen Road. Airlifted to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, she remained in a coma for two weeks. She couldn’t walk, talk or swallow.
Facing long odds, Gantt regained her abilities within months—and though she completed rehab, she felt like her recovery wasn’t over. “I went back to my neurologist and told him this plight of challenges I had,” Gantt recalls. “I had to really dig deep to find any materials I could for help.”
When her doctor heard all the information Gantt had amassed on her own, he suggested a conference to share the resources with other brain-injury survivors. Founded in 2013, Gantt’s Paoli-based Mind Your Brain Foundation provides free resources for brain injury survivors and their families as they continue the care process and navigate insurance and treatment options. Gantt is also working in Harrisburg to pass bills that mandate payment for cognitive rehab by private insurance companies. “It’s incredibly rewarding that we’re able to help a population that’s so vulnerable,” she says.
Visit mindyourbrainfoundation.org.
Heather Turner
Attorney, Law Office of Heather L. Turner
It was a common topic among parents at play groups and parties. “People would say they didn’t have a will,” says Heather Turner. “When I’d ask why, they basically said it’s because they hate lawyers—they’re stuffy and unapproachable. I said, ‘Well, I can solve that problem.’”
Out of her Narberth office, Turner specializes in estate planning, helping clients with wills, trusts, probate administration and elder care. “Knowledge is power,” says the Penn Valley resident. “If I give you a paper to sign and you don’t have knowledge of what it is, you’re powerless.”
Turner works closely with the PALM Center for Positive Aging in Ardmore and New Horizons Senior Center in Narberth, where she connects once a month with seniors, helping them with anything involving wills or powers of attorney. She also holds seminars on estate planning and the ways to pay for nursing-home care. “[Seniors] are underrepresented—and that’s what draws me to it,” she says.
Visit heatherturnerlaw.com.
Ana Welsh
Founder & CEO, Ana Welsh Coaching & Consulting
Born in Brazil, Ana Welsh came to this country at age 5, paying her way through college by working in the restaurant industry. But she would ultimately find her life’s purpose with Schweiger Dermatology Group. As head of its human resources department, she reduced the company’s 60% turnover rate to 21%. “That’s when I realized that this is my gift—helping people live their best work lives,” says Welsh, who lives in Wayne.
Securing a certification in professional coaching from New York University, she started her own coaching and consulting business, with Schweiger Dermatology Group as her first corporate client. “I’m genuinely living the life of my dreams,” she says. “I got here with risk, grit and manifestation. Everything I’ve worked so hard for and struggled through is all paying off now.”
Visit anawelsh.com.
Ginny Palmieri
Cofounder & CEO, myNextory
Many people are afraid of change. Ginny Palmieri isn’t one of them. Her career path has included senior executive positions at several companies. She also authored the 2015 book Unspoken: Finding Your Voice and Living Your Authentic Life.
Later, as a consultant, the Broomall resident joined forces with Grace Migliaccio to launch myNextory in 2023, providing career advice to professionals at every level of an organization. “We’ve empowered employees to understand who they are, who they want to be and how to get there,” Palmieri says of the program, which is self-guided with the help of AI and avatars. “We want them to own their careers.”
And Palmieri is doing all this in a tech environment where less than 4% of CEOs are women. “It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had in my entire career—which I never thought was possible,” she admits.
Somehow, she also finds time to mentor with the Shadow Her program, serve as a trustee at Thomas Jefferson University and volunteer in other ways. “My grandmom used to say, ‘To those who are given many gifts, much is required,’” she says.
Visit mynextory.com.
Dr. Lauren Rosen
Primary Care Internist & Founder, LSR Wellness
When Dr. Lauren Rosen started practicing family medicine in 2001, she worked alongside a doctor with a practice in Wayne. She loved how the office had a homey feel, which for her is what primary care is all about. After 10 years, she joined a local health system, where she spent another decade.
“People come to primary care doctors for so many different reasons, and it’s so rewarding to be able to solve problems for people and help them,” says Rosen. “But the voices telling me how to run my day became so loud—and they were really impacting my ability to do that.”
For Rosen, it was time for a new chapter. Founded in Haverford in 2021, LSR Wellness offers personalized care in an industry that, more and more these days, feels impersonal. “We’ve lost that family-doctor understanding,” she says. “It’s a really important relationship, and you can’t have a relationship unless someone knows who you are.”
Visit lsrwellness.com.
Nicole Stephenson
Executive Director, Society of Professional Women
In 2010, when a 23-year-old Nicole Stephenson became the director of marketing at KYW Newsradio, she was the only female department head at the station. “You can imagine that when I was in that room, it was very dismissive,” she says. “They all talked around me.”
At KYW, Stephenson was involved in sales agreements with the Main Line Chamber of Commerce’s Society of Professional Women. By 2015, she’d moved on from KYW to become SPW’s executive director, encouraging the advancement of female leaders in our community and fostering an environment where women can connect. “My job is more than just a job to me,” Stephenson says. “My daughter is hopefully going to have less of a struggle when she comes to the workplace because I’m advocating for inclusivity.”
Stephenson also sits on the board for Girls Spark, a nonprofit that supports and empowers teen girls. This fall, she’s embarking on her first year as a lecturer in the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Communication Program, and she also has a book in the works.
Visit spwmainline.com.
Dr. Sheedeh Madani
Founder, Bala Kids Dentistry
On school-designated service days at Friends’ Central School, a young Sheedeh Madani would serve as a teacher’s aide in Philadelphia schools. These days, she’s bringing those same conscientious, supportive qualities to her work as a pediatric dentist. In 2017, when Madani began her practice in Bala Cynwyd, she outfitted the space to provide the most inviting atmosphere for kids and families. “A big part of my practice is looking at the child as a whole and seeing if there’s some knowledge I have that can help the families and patients,” Madani says.
At Bala Kids Dentistry, Madani follows a “tell, show, do” philosophy, first talking to a young patient about the treatment, then showing them what it will be like before she starts. She also visits local schools to teach students proper oral hygiene. “The most rewarding part is hearing parents say, ‘My kids have been asking to go to the dentist all weekend,’” she says. “That makes me so happy—like I’ve done my job right.”
Visit balakidsdentistry.com.
Joyce Chester
CEO, Friends Association for Care and Protection of Children
Joyce Chester was head of her own copywriting business when a friend asked her to teach a summer GED class for the Chester County Opportunities Industrialization Center. It was her first introduction to the nonprofit world—and the start of a 23-year career with the organization. She took over as OIC’s president and CEO in 2012, working to help the homeless gain self-sufficiency. “It was amazing to be able to help people change their lives—to go from being homeless to having a job, getting a car and being able to take care of their children,” she says. “That, to me, is everything.”
Chester is now CEO of the Friends Association for Care and Protection of Children in West Chester, where she works to provide emergency housing, prevent homelessness and keep families together in times of crisis. She recently resigned from the West Chester Area School Board after more than 10 years as the first Black woman to serve. “I love thinking deeply on a project,” says Chester. “I don’t see it as power, I see it as grace—and I see it as a blessing that I’ve done the things I wanted to do.”
Visit friendsassoc.org.
Olga Sorzano
Founder, Baba’s Brew & A Culture Factory
For 15 years, Olga Sorzano searched the United States for something that tasted like her great-grandmother’s Siberian kombucha. She eventually found it at a fermentation festival in Santa Barbara, California, in 2015—but the local company couldn’t get their products to Pennsylvania. So she took the leap and started brewing kombucha herself, honoring her Baba in the process.
Baba’s Brew got its start at the Phoenixville Farmers Market before expanding to a nearby tasting room Sorzano has dubbed A Culture Factory. “We brew our kombucha very traditionally, just like my great-grandmother used to make,” Sorzano says.
The end result is low in sugar, with only four grams per serving. There are no juices, no extracts, no artificial flavors or colors—only organic fruits, spices and herbs acquired locally. Meanwhile, Sorzano’s passion for food and how it nourishes the body has helped grow A Culture Factory into a hub for cooking classes and delectable celebrations that honor the monthly cycle of the moon. “I think my great-grandmother would be proud of me,” she says.
Visit babasbrew.com.
Michele Thackrah
Partner, Archer & Buchanan Architecture
Growing up in upstate New York, Michele Thackrah was enrolled in ballet classes—but it wasn’t the dancing that held her attention. “The lessons were in this very old mansion that always piqued my interest,” she says. “That’s kind of where it started for me.”
Fresh out of Penn State University, Thackrah kicked off her career in residential design in 1994 at Peter Zimmerman Architects in Berwyn. She became a partner at West Chester’s Archer & Buchanan Architecture in 2018, after 15 years with that firm. Every day is different, whether she’s meeting with clients, helping with designs or out on a job site. “Leaving something behind that makes a client happy and impacts their overall daily life is meaningful to me,” she says.
Historic conservation and preservation are also important to Thackrah, who volunteers with Colonial Dames of America and Daughters of the American Revolution while also dedicating time to the Junior League of Philadelphia.
Being a female in a male-dominated industry isn’t always easy. “For me, navigating it is just being OK in my own skin,” Thackrah says. “I’m not a bull in a China shop. I’m not trying to be the biggest voice in the room. My strength is listening to people—and I think that’s a valuable skill to have.”
Visit archerbuchanan.com.
Related: Your Guide to Independent Schools in the Main Line Region
