Two Years of Powerful You

The Queens chapter of the Powerful You Women’s Network celebrated its second year in Douglaston this month with a special meeting full of games, prizes, fun facts and, of course, a monthly networking tip and discussion topic.

Nearly 30 women filled the room of Giardino’s on Douglaston Parkway for the network’s gathering. Facilitators Jo-Anne Behar and Gayle Naftaly deviated slightly from the norm of the regular meeting for an anniversary celebration.

“I am grateful to be a facilitator of this chapter,” Behar said. “It gives me so much pleasure to meet such interesting women and to be able to offer this forum for like-minded women to communicate and collaborate.”

The group opted out of bringing in a speaker this month.

“We wanted to have some fun and get to know our members and non-members on a deeper level,” Behar said.

As a token of gratitude, each of the meeting’s regular members were given a copy of the book Powerful Intentions Everyday Gratitude-100 Transformational Days to Create a Life of Joy, Grace and Ease, which was written by Powerful You founder Sue Urda.  

One member, Maria Vitulli, donated a lovely gift basket of health and wellness products from Melaleuca as a door prize, which went to member Karen Neiman.

“I’m not normally lucky, only at Powerful You,” Neiman said.

The group also took part in a special activity called ‘The Match Game,’ during which each attendee anonymously jotted down an interesting personal fact on an index card. Cards were then collected and read aloud by Behar. The group was then asked to guess to whom each fact pertained.

“It was really fun to learn something new and interesting about each person who attended,” Behar said.

The game revealed that someone in the group was writing a racy book, while another member was interviewed on “60 Minutes.” One member appeared on Fox News with the Kardashians and another turned out to be a rock ‘n’ roll singer. The group also found out that several of their fellow Powerful You members were amateur photographers.

“We have a group of really talented ladies among us.” Behar said.

Veronica Rose, one of the nine new members attending this month’s meeting, was one of the first women to hold a New York City Master Electrician License. She founded her own company, Aurora Electric, in 1993 and serves in the United States Air Force, all the while being a professional businesswoman, wife and mother of five.

The group also discussed the monthly networking tips “When Times Get Tough, the Tough Keep Networking.”

“Our group is very close and we all feel comfortable to share many aspects of our lives, business and personal,” Naftaly said.

Powerful You members were interviewed last year by NY1 during the group’s first anniversary. This year, Behar said she wanted to keep the event “low key.”

“It was a fun and festive atmosphere with great energy,” she said.