Naperville's woman launches book project to help young girls
Cindy Harris of Naperville has raised three daughters, worked with young girls over the years and has seen how peer pressure can be a problem while growing up.
An aspiring writer, Harris developed Rising Empress, a package of posters, stickers and related products with a book that provides inspirational role models. It is for girls ranging in age from 3 to 12 and promotes creative and interactive play with trading cards featuring fictional empresses and their talents.
Rising Empress was recently launched in Salt Lake City, Utah, and also was introduced recently at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville.
"I saw a need for creating more empowering products for girls in the market place," said Harris, 47.
Harris, a mother of 5 children, is originally from Utah, where she met her business partner, Margaret Lee, an artist and designer.
"As I developed the storyline and created the foundation of the product, I needed to find an amazing artist that could bring the characters to life," Harris said. "In my search to find such an artist, my sister mentioned that her neighbor had hired an incredible designer to paint murals in her home. Soon, arrangements were made for us to meet. ... Margaret fell in love with the project, and our passion to empower girls aligned."
Harris and her husband, Steve Harris, have been living in Naperville for about 20 years and raised their five children. Steve, a financial consultant, is also chief financial officer of Rising Empress.
Cindy Harris had also been director for about 5 years for the Naperville Stake Young Women's Camp for girls ages 12 to 18. The summer camp is hosted annually by the Naperville Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Raising her own daughters and watching other young girls helped to inspire the project.
"I've noticed over the years that girls are filled with magic and dreams when they are young, but as they reach their middle school years, they get bombarded with various images and peer pressure," Harris said.
Harris said she also learned some lessons while working on the project for about 7 years.
"I have learned a great deal about the importance of perseverance, the power of marketing, and the need for flexibility in such a competitive market. From the very beginning I learned that staying true to the vision of our product and believing in its success was key to its promising future."
<h3 class="briefHead">Former Bear on tap for fantasy football </h3>
Jim Schwantz, Palatine mayor and former Chicago Bears linebacker, will co-host a fantasy football event on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Famous Dave's in Bolingbrook. Paul Charchian, who has designed more than 25 web-based fantasy applications and is a contributor to KFAN Radio in Minneapolis, also will be on hand. Schwantz works as national account sales manager for Von Sydow's Moving & Storage in Palatine and co-hosts the Chicago Bear's pregame and postgame shows on WBBM Newsradio 780 AM and 105.9 FM and also various sports shows on The Score, 670 AM.
<h3 class="briefHead">Waddell honored </h3>
Frederick H. Waddell, chairman and CEO of The Northern Trust Corp., will receive the 2015 Daniel H. Burnham Award for Distinguished Leadership from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. He will be honored at the 24th Annual Daniel H. Burnham Award Dinner on Nov. 3 at the Hilton Chicago. Northern Trust has banks and offices in Chicago, Oakbrook Terrace, Wheaton, Barrington and elsewhere. Waddell has also been a member of the board at AbbVie Inc., Art Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and others.
<h3 class="briefHead">FastTracks</h3>
Owners Cristina and Christian Aponte just had the grand opening for their Smallcakes Cupcakery and Creamery in the Arboretum of South Barrington. ... Neil B. Fairfield has been named vice president, controller and principal accounting officer at CDW, a provider of technology products based in Vernon Hills. ... Kathleen M. Boege, general counsel and corporate secretary for Freightcar America Inc., is expected to leave for a similar position in early September with Rosemont-based Wintrust Financial Corp.
Mike Stapinski, president of Naperville-based Next Step Systems, said his company marks 20 years in IT recruiting. ... Brian Hoffman, an executive with Northbrook-based Red Seal Homes, said the company has earned the Award of Distinction from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based Residential Warranty Company LLC. RWC has partnered with Red Seal Homes to offer its residential home warranties for more than 10 years.
Lou Manfredini, WGN Radio host and home expert, was on hand during the Oak Brook-based Ace Hardware retailer convention last week at McCormick Place in Chicago. ... Michael Englehart starts Oct. 1 as the new president and CEO of Presence Health, a Catholic health care system in Illinois. He replaces Sandra Bruce, who is retiring after seven years leading Presence Health and one of its predecessors, Resurrection Health Care.
Peter "Pete" DiCianni, Elmhurst mayor and member of the DuPage County Board, will be honored as the 2015 recipient of the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry's Good Works Award during the luncheon at the chamber's 67th annual golf outing held at Sugar Creek Golf Course in Villa Park on Friday. ... Terrence Ryan, CEO of Itasca-based LaunchPoint, said the provider of cloud-based solutions and software received about $22.5 million in funding from Carrick Capital Partners investment firm. ... Rick Frake is the new senior account manager at Bolingbrook-based Filmquest Group Inc.
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