Photograph by Nathan Klok
Anne Hed CEO of HED Cycling
WomenVenture Keynote Speaker
ANNE HED, CEO of Hed Cycling
While most people watch television to unwind, it was a televised event—the 1982 Hawaii Ironman triathlon—that prompted Anne Hed to pick up her things and literally leave town, giving new meaning to those couch-to-race plans.
“I saw this amazing woman crawl across the finish line and in that moment I decided I wanted to be a part of that,” Hed says. “The following year, I drove to Texas to qualify for the 1983 Ironman triathlon, and was fortunate to win.”
After competing in and winning several triathlons, Anne was looking to upgrade her bike. A friend referred her to the Grand Performance Bike Shop in St. Paul, where owner Steven Hed had just started producing a fiberglass bike wheel prototype, modeled after the rear disc wheel that Italian cyclist Francesco Moser used to claim his one-hour speed records. And so began Anne and Steven’s personal and professional relationship.
“I started racing with that wheel,” she recalls. “A lot of other pros saw it and wanted one, so Steve and I decided to start a little wheel-making business.” Amongst the pros was an up-and-coming triathlete by the name of Lance Armstrong, who would later become one of their customers.
“The earnings from a triathlon are what concocted that very first solid rear wheel,” she says. “And that’s what I tell people when they ask how our company got started: on one wheel.” Over the next 30 years, the husband-and-wife duo known as Hed Cycling evolved into a fast-wheels fundamental, manufacturing aerodynamic carbon-fiber wheels for world-class riders competing in the Tour de France and Olympics.
Before Steve’s sudden passing in 2014, he had just completed a bike frame prototype that would be sold through a Canada-based company. Anne made sure to see his vision through: The frame was used in the Hawaiian Ironman triathlon last October.
Now a multimillion-dollar company, Hed Cycling continues to grow under Anne’s leadership, with high-profile mentions by Forbes, Lance Armstrong, and more. But “making it” doesn’t mean the hard part is over. At least not on Anne’s time.
“You don’t find out who you are unless you’ve challenged yourself,” she says. “People can’t believe you can keep changing wheels, but you can.”
Photography Jenee Anderson
Taina Burgos owner and CIO of Avivage Massage
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained: Expanding Business Award
TAINA BURGOS: Owner and CIO, Avivage Massage, St. Paul, avivagemassage.com
Taina Burgos has a calming effect on people. It comes with her job, after all, but the wisdom she’s gained from coming out on the other side of hardships may have something to do with it, too.
“Being present and wanting to be here is a big thing for me,” she says. Being “here” isn’t exactly a destination for Burgos. It’s a journey that’s led her from taking appointments with a pen and notebook in a tiny studio, to taking the reins as CIO and owner of Avivage Massage, overseeing a staff of 12.
When the previous owner of Avivage announced her retirement, she asked if Burgos wanted to purchase the business from her. “I said, ‘Are you kidding me? I’m just a massage therapist!’”
She saw the potential in Burgos who, once told by a high school teacher to “not even think about” applying for college, came from an upbringing where encouragement was hard to find.
Working three jobs at the time, Burgos accepted the offer, and it was business as usual for several years—affording her the opportunity to leave her side hustles behind and even expand from one massage suite to three—until it wasn’t. In late 2016, her studio rent doubled, sending her into crisis mode.
“It was either sign a lease and lose my business or find a new place altogether,” she says. After she was denied a loan through a bank, a friend urged her to connect with WomenVenture.
With just days to spare, Burgos was able to stake out an economically viable space for Avivage that met the zoning requirements. “It was a last-minute miracle,” she says.
As she settled into her new Grand Avenue location, she had the financial support from WomenVenture to ease the transition and then some. The organization also helped her learn the basics of accounting now that she was confronted with taking over the books after years of putting it into somebody else’s hands.
Avivage Massage has tripled in growth since 2010, the year Burgos took over.
Shirley Wikner President and CEO of Aviation Charter
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained: Social Entrepreneur Award
SHIRLEY WIKNER, President and CEO, Aviation Charter, Eden Prairie, aviationcharter.com
The eldest in a family of six children, Shirley Wikner learned to appreciate order and process from a young age when she tended to her father’s restaurant and cleaners business. “I’ve always loved the purpose of a nice operation,” she says.
It was her future husband and business partner, Roger Wikner, whose background in investment banking and love of flying would eventually lead her to the aviation industry—and clinch the title of president and CEO of Aviation Charter.
In 1988, the pair decided to go all in: They obtained their aircraft charter certificate and shared ownership of Aviation Charter.
Business boomed for several years, affording them the opportunity to build a corporate tenant facility to branch into maintenance and fuel sale.
But 2011 presented a new set of challenges: Wikner’s husband sustained a traumatic brain injury, leaving her to run the business alone, and simultaneously forcing her to find a new banking relationship. An aviation business with a woman at the helm was not in its risk portfolio.
When her husband passed away the following year, and still with no new bank in sight, Wikner sought out WomenVenture for its Scale Up! Twin Cities, a 31-week program that provides critical resources and support to women-owned mid-sized companies.
“Roger was the finance person, so I didn’t have the understanding of the accounting behind the business,” she says. “This program gave me the tools to plan ahead and look at my business from an outside perspective. Instead of working in the business, I learned to work on the business.”
Her efforts in community service have earned her multiple awards through the years. She credits WomenVenture for helping her advance her philanthropic goals.
“When you’re over 70, it’s time to think about what you’re giving back and what you’re doing to make a difference,” she says.
These days, Aviation Charter boasts a staff of 48 and a fleet of 10 aircrafts that provide year-round charter services. Adding to a long string of successes, Wikner was recognized this past May as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Minnesota Small Business Person of the Year for her tenacity and ability to fight on several fronts to preserve Aviation Charter.
“I’m not looking for what I want to do when I retire,” Wikner says. “I was lucky that my purpose found me rather than searching for this my whole life.”
Connie Sheehan owner of PUSH Fitness Studio
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained: Emerging Business Award
CONNIE SHEEHAN: Owner, PUSH Fitness Studio, St. Paul, pushfitnessforyou.com
Connie Sheehan’s professional experiences are linked by a common theme: helping people realize their full potential. With a degree in education, she taught for a couple of years, then worked as a recruiter, and finally headed for the corporate life. It was around this time that she discovered her love for fitness.
The moment that set the tone for the rest of her life, Sheehan recounts, was the time she walked out the doors of a women-only gym in Chicago. Endorphins pumping, she was struck with a profoundly familiar feeling.
“After that first class, I felt more like me than I had in years,” Sheehan says. “That person who was plodding through the day just hours before? That can’t be me.”
Never one to pass up a challenge, Sheehan embarked on a quest to bridge the differences. When she relocated to Minnesota, she started going to the YMCA and became inspired to get certified, leading her on a fitness teaching journey that spanned over 10 years.
But it wasn’t until she began teaching at the St. Paul Midway YMCA that she identified an overlooked market to tap. “St. Paul has a lot of diversity, but that didn’t carry over to my classes,” she says. “I saw very few brown faces and thought, ‘I know my sisters want this, why aren’t they here?’ And that’s what gave me my impetus.”
Sheehan felt that if she facilitated these classes on a smaller scale with a more intentional focus, one on women of color, she had the makings of something good.
“I decided I was going to do something every day for one year to work toward opening this business,” she says. “If it worked, then great! And if it didn’t, I wasn’t going to talk about it anymore.”
She treated each day as an opportunity to do something new, big or small, that would inch her closer to her goal of launching a fitness center.
“At some point, someone asked if I had considered reaching out to WomenVenture,” she says. “I thought they only provided consulting services, but it turned out to be so much more than that.”
Sheehan attended an intake session where she learned of the multi-session Guided Business Plan series. She came out of the three-month course with a business plan, which guided the soft launch of summer fitness boot camp classes she hosted in the park.
In November of 2015, her hard work paid off: PUSH Fitness officially opened its doors to the general public. “I lead all classes except for yoga, so tabata, spin, boot camp, it’s all Connie!” she says. “I have five amazing subcontractors who work for me and bring their own spark to the studio.”
Just ahead of PUSH’s second anniversary, Sheehan has a lot to celebrate, including the diversity of women who have since set foot in her studio. “It’s gratifying to watch all of these beautiful women learn how to love their bodies,” she says. “It doesn’t matter if you’re big or small, we’re all here to honor the body just as it is.”
Through this experience, moving the body has brought dual meaning for Sheehan. “Opening your business doesn’t mean the hard parts are over,” she says. “It’s just like fitness, it’s something that you need to continue to work toward every single day.”
WOMEN MEAN BUSINESS LUNCHEON AND MARKETPLACE
For ticket information, visit WomenVenture.org
Luncheon guests will learn how WomenVenture helps women entrepreneurs launch and grow successful businesses. Hear the inspiring stories of keynote speaker Anne Hed and the Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained award winners. Shop in the Marketplace, which features the products and services of more than 40 women-owned businesses.
Friday, October 13: The Depot Minneapolis
Shopping in the Marketplace: 11 am–12:15 pm
Main Program and Lunch: 12:25–2 pm
Shopping in the Marketplace: 2–3 pm
