A Word with the Women of Western Wake

By Cary Magazine

This year’s 2009 honorees share candid answers to questions about their tough challenges, professional success and passion for our community.

Billie Redmond, Chief Executive Officer of Coldwell Banker Commercial TradeMark Properties:
Q: What originally drew you to the profession of real estate?
A: I am a people person. I love people. The best thing about real estate is you get to know a lot of people. I tell our staff here that we get the privilege of knowing the very best people and only occasionally do we come across some of the very worst. I’m very interested in long-term relationships. I like knowing our clients.

Q: You are very involved in the community. From the board of directors of Communities in Schools of Wake County, the Kids ’N Community Foundation, the Triangle Community Foundation, the Raleigh Area Development Authority, Paragon Commercial Bank to WakeMed Health and Hospitals, it is apparent that you have passion about your community. Where does that stem from?
A: It’s the right analogy whether it’s about your business or personal life. We take care of the things that we value. When you value where you live — it’s where you invest all of your energy and particularly financial resources — it makes perfectly good sense you would get involved and care about what’s going on around you.

Mary Henderson, Director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources, Town of Cary:
Q: How has being a Cary resident helped you better understand what the community wants?
A: That helps you understand the connectivity issues. The more we participate, the more we can get input.

Q: From the early 1980s until now, Cary has grown from 21,000 residents to 125,000 residents. How has Cary been able to increasingly grow?
A: Whether it was on a playground, a soccer field or during the highly successful Lazy Daze Arts&Crafts Festival, I have sought to bring the citizens of Cary together. It’s part of the reason why the town has been able to attract so many people along the way.

Mary DePuew Kamm, Volunteer Extraordinaire:
Q: When your husband, Art, formed his own clinical research firm in Cary, what made you want to join him as vice president?
A: One of my strengths is interpersonal communication. That gave me opportunities with client relations, diffusing situations and making sure their needs are met. Art’s philosophy, and mine, was that as a corporation, we should give back to the community. I was the interface for that. It gave me an opportunity to be involved.

Q: You were faced with a life threatening disease, but even through your battle, you stayed committed to volunteering. How did this affect you?
A: It didn’t change my philosophy on helping others. What it did was cause me to say, “All right, Mary, you’ve got to find that two-letter word that hasn’t been in your vocabulary — no — and focus on just a couple of things.” 

Sepi Asefnia, President of SEPI Engineering Group:
Q: You faced many challenges after opening SEPI Engineering group, but you’ve stated that you believe roadblocks are the nature of the beast and the business. How has forming your own company enhanced your professional experiences?
A: I loved it. I really, really loved it. I think the most exciting part for me was that every time I was facing difficulties and challenges and had to make tough decisions, it helped me grow as a person, and I liked that process. Pushing the limits is what I like to do.

Q: Engineering is a male-dominated field. You have proven yourself very successful and your company has even been named by Business Leader magazine in its Top 100 N.C. Small Businesses of 2009 List. What qualities do you believe females can bring to the engineering field?
A: I think that communication and interpersonal skills come easier to women, and that helps as well in dealing with an organization like mine that has lots of employees. Communication for the company is very important.

To learn more valuable tips about what it means to be a woman in the professional world, please join us for the Women of Western Wake Luncheon on Friday, Nov. 6, at 11:30 a.m. at the Umstead Hotel and Spa. Cary Magazine’s 2009 honorees will share their stories on the balance of personal and professional life and answer your poignant questions.