From Home Office to Physical Office

What is it like to open a physical office?

Our open house was last week. It was surreal. I do not know how to describe it any other way. My family was there. The mayor was there. The city council. The chamber. Many friends and business associates. 

There is much talk about the inclusion of women and minorities in the technical workforce. Diversity in senior positions and executive boards of high tech companies. It was the theme for the recent Silicon Slopes summit held in Salt Lake City, Utah in January of 2018. 

What about women and minorities creating, managing and growing a business to the point of opening your physical office? How about in a rural town in Utah? How about being family owned? All challenges to overcome, right?

DynaGrace Enterprises is a Women-Owned Small Business in a rural county in Utah. 

Just that statement alone hopefully gives hope and dreams to women everywhere. I own, founded and manage that business with the help of my family.  We have been in business since 2006. Almost twelve years. All these facts make us in the less than 1% of the nation.

Our mission statement:

DynaGrace Enterprises provides Information Technology, System Integration, Writing and Business services, quality products and innovative solutions for government and commercial businesses of all sizes.

Milestones

I had an office once before. I rented an office from Select Engineering Service. My mentor into government contracting. I am so very grateful for them, and I would not be where I am today without them. The office was excellent and a beautiful location but there is something different about a whole building and a beautiful sign out front. 

Our mainstay has been augmenting professional services of the Department of Defense. We also write software and have been involved in some highly innovative and technical solutions to environmental problems.

We had Milestones. Responsibility for employees and their families is ever present. The following were my milestone steps for my small business.

1. Sole Proprietor
2. Two People
3. 8(a) Status
4. First Employee
5. Mentor/Protégé relationship
6. Five Employees
7. Ten Employees

Did I ever think I would be an entrepreneur? No. An author? No. I was a cube rat enjoying my time writing code. However, I took the jump and had not looked back. I am so glad I got past my fear.

I recently got interviewed by Elin Barton podcast where she referred to me as a small business warrior. We talked about the fear and why some people jump at chances and others do not. 

I guess in a way I am a small business warrior. I have suffered gender discrimination and still have subtle discriminatory moments. However, times are changing. 2018 is the year of the woman.

We intend to add services to help the local economy. We wanted to do it in our hometown of Morgan, Utah. People are rural counties of Utah are looking for opportunities and jobs (25 K jobs operation https://25kjobs.com/).

I want to be part of the solution to several items. Women in Tech, Rural Jobs, Small Business and I am just getting started.

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Linda Rawson, is a tech entrepreneur, Founder, Inventor (WeatherEgg?) and Author. She owns DynaGrace Enterprises, an 8(a), WOSB in rural Morgan, Utah.  She also is a mother and a grandmother. 

Linda went through the Goldman Sach’s 10,000 small businesses training and intends to utilize this training to expand and grow her company further.

She finds balance in her life by being very close to her family and spends time with them as much as possible. She also finds pleasure in life by traveling and participating in outdoor activities like golf, hiking, and snowshoeing. She loves meteorology and is an amateur photographer at times with her companion Scott. She also raises honey bees.

Her latest innovation is a compact, portable weather station called the WeatherEgg?. She educates children about weather through her coloring book and is developing animated humanoid characters called the “WeatherEgg Kids” to enhance the education of weather with children.

Her background as a software engineer, combined with her corporate executive experience, merges the technical with the business world. Her experience is shared in this book that is designed to help women and minority business owners get started in government contracting.

Author:

The Minority and Women-Owned Small Business Guide to Government Contracts: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started

WeatherEgg Kids: Weather from A-Z: Coloring Book

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