Countdown to the NJBIZ Best 50 Women in Business event A look back at the Class of 2008

Listen to this article

NJBIZ is celebrating the 10th anniversary of our Best 50 Women in Business event with a countdown to this year’s ceremony, to be held Monday, March 23, at The Palace at Somerset Park.For the nine business days leading up to the event, we’ll take a look back at a previous class, giving you a sneak peek at their answers to a class-only poll question and a class-only open-ended question based on topics involving women in the workplace.

Today, we’re featuring the Class of 2008.

But before we get to our answers (below) and a listing of the members of the Class of 2008 (even further down), we feel the need to remind you to get your tickets first.

This event always has capacity crowds and we’re expecting another sellout. If you haven’t made a reservation, click here now.

And if you want to start tweeting about the event today, please use #Best50WomenNJ on your tweets.

And now, the answers from the Class of 2008:

Poll Question: Are women more critical of female executives than men?

Yes: 65 percent

No: 35 percent

Open-ended question: What is the biggest mistake women make in the workplace?

1. Denise Blasevick, CEO, The S3 Agency: It really bothers me when female businesspeople share anti-male sentiments in the workplace — and feel that they are owed business because they are women. If we want to be treated as equals, we must return the favor. Frankly, I don’t think anyone should hire my company because we are female-owned; they should hire us because we are the best at what we do.
2. Debra L. Morrison, fee-only Certified Financial Planner, Empowered Retirement Inc.: Shrinking in front of the boss, instead of shining. This can take the form of not speaking up when a male colleague restates her idea and then gets credit for it, or not speaking up during meetings with top management, or not speaking in an authoritative — or at least assertive — voice, but rather in a questioning fashion.
3. Patrizia Zita, managing partner, Kaufman Zita Group: Not networking enough. Women have so many competing commitments, it’s hard to find time to network. But it’s one of the most critical things you can do to succeed.

More answers will appear in our special supplement covering the event.

Want more NJBIZ news? Check out items in Breaking Glass, our Women in Business blog.  Interested in everything else NJBIZ has to offer? Click here to get our daily e-mail newsletters and news alerts. Want NJBIZ’s award-winning print coverage and Book of Lists? Click here to subscribe.

Looking for the answers from other classes? Click the year:

The Class of 2006

The Class of 2007

And finally, a look back at the Class of 2008:

• Lita Abele, President & Owner, US Lumber, Inc.
• Patricia Bell, Senior Vice President-Investments/Wealth Management Advisor, Merrill Lynch
• Irene Britt, Vice President & General Manager-Sauces and Beverages, Campbell Soup Company
• Lisa Brodeth Carrick, Regional VP, Learning & Development, Comcast
• Donna Cardillo, RN, President, Cardillo & Associates
• Eileen Della Volle, Vice President, Business Development, KS Engineering, P.C.
• Ellen Dotto, VP, State & Local Government Affairs, Verizon
• Teri Duda, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Berkeley College
• Sally Glick, Chief Marketing Officer, Sobel & Co. LLC
• Meryl Gonchar, Partner, Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP
• Toby Grabelle, Partner, Grabelle & Staufenberg, LLC
• Lori Grifa, Partner, Wolff & Samson PC
• Alyce Halchak, Director, Corporate Department, Gibbons P.C.
• Judith Heim, Senior VP & Deputy General Counsel, Chubb
• Marge Jackson, Regional Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Comcast Cable Communication, Inc.
• Orsula Knowlton, President/Vice-Chairman, Tabula Rasa Strategies/ExecJet USA, Inc.
• Nancy Kridel, Member of the Firm, Smolin, Lupin & Co., P.A.
• Virginia Littell, Partner, Brazer and Littell
• Mary Livingston, VP, Strategic Sales and Sales Operations, AT&T
• Judith Lutzy, Owner, Financial Planner, Judith F. Lutzy, CFP
• Nancy McDonald, Founder/Managing Member, McDonald Law Group, LLC
• Frances McElhill, Partner, Archer & Greiner, P.C.
• Denise McVey, President, S3
• Pamela Miller, Esq., VP, Market Strategy & Development, Medco Health Solutions, Inc.
• Gabriella Morris, Corporate VP, Community Resources, President, The Prudential Base, Prudential Financial
• Debra Morrison, President, Debra L. Morrison Speaks, LLC
• Denise Morrison, President, North America Soup, Sauces & Beverages, Campbell Soup Company
• Dawn Nakash, President, Daybreak Marketing Services, Inc.
• Susan O’Connor, Partner, Hoagland, Longo, Moran, Dunst & Doukas, LLP
• Susan Onuma, Partner, Co-Chair Asia Practice Group, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
• Margaret Pego, Senior VP-HR & Chief Human Resources Officer, Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated
• Kimberlee Phelan, Tax Partner, WithumSmith Brown, P.C.
• Gaytana (Gaye) Pino, CEO/President, Paper And Ribbon Supply Co.
• Daria Placitella, President, Northern NJ, PNC Bank
• Margaret Prentice, CPCU, Chief Marketing Officer, RegentAtlantic Capital, LLC
• Daryl Rand, President, Harrison Advertising Inc./The Rand Group
• Elysa Scharf, N.J. Director, Government and Institutional Banking, Wachovia Bank, N.A.
• Cynthia Sharp, Attorney/Partner, Sharp Bratton
• Sandra Sherman, Partner, Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti LLP
• Eileen Shrem, Independent Insurance Planner
• Amy Simon, President, A Simon Says, LLC
• Suzanne Sowinski, Director of Sustainable Design, Sowinski Sullivan Architects, PC
• Sandy Spadaro, Owner & CEO, SS Marketing Solutions
• Carol Stillwell, President & CEO, Stillwell-Hansen, Inc.
• Jo-ann Straat, Communication and Community Relations, Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.
• Mei-Mei Tuan, Founding Partner, Notch Partners LLC
• Nadine Vogel, President, Springboard Consulting LLC
• Toyi Ward, Marketing Director, Global Endometrial Ablation, Ethicon, Inc. – Johnson & Johnson Company
• Amy Webb, President, Saratoga Benefit Services, LLC
• Patrizia Zita, Principal, Kaufman Zita Group

(Note: Titles and companies are as listed in the year the recipient was named to the Best 50 Women in Business.)