DANBURY, CONN. — Possessing a passion for your work is the theme of three local business people who will talk about their experiences as entrepreneurs at a panel discussion sponsored by the Ancell School of Business on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014.

The “Entrepreneurship Arc” will take place at Western Connecticut State University at 6 p.m. in Room 218 of the Westside Classroom Building on the WCSU Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury.

Dr. Pauline Assenza, associate professor of Management, will coordinate the panel, which is the third in an ongoing series.

“These entrepreneurs are all successful and each of them took a different path to their current position,” Assenza explained. “They all have interesting stories to tell about their entrepreneurial journey, stories that should provide valuable insights to both students and members of the community. Being entrepreneurial is all about taking risks, overcoming difficulties, and learning to make decisions that can benefit both yourself and others.”

The panel will feature:

• Jeff LaCava, founder of TotalHousehold.com, a website dedicated to helping consumers get the most out of the Web by providing easy access to quality information on home improvement projects.

• Dawn Reshan-Doty, who has worked for two decades at Benay Enterprises, Inc., providing accounting and other back-office support to other businesses. She has been president since 2010. Reshan-Doty is also the founding partner and publisher of For Beginners, LLC, which produces the For Beginners series, a graphic nonfiction book line distributed internationally by Random House.

• Lisa Scails, a former social worker and civil rights leader who is now executive director of the Cultural Alliance of Western Connecticut, promoting arts and culture in Northern Fairfield and Southern Litchfield counties.

Reshan-Doty, who got her bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service at Georgetown University, said she has been successful in business in part because she is never afraid to ask for advice.

“My attitude is, if you don’t ask you don’t get,” Reshan-Doty said. “There’s no harm in asking, whether it’s advice from someone in business longer than me, or staff for ideas, or help in any area. It’s the same for students who ask a potential mentor for five minutes on how to get ahead in life. No one will turn you down. But if you don’t ask you will never get it.”

Scails, who has had three distinct careers, said she has been lucky to find work she could be committed to.

“To the extent possible you should be somewhat passionate about your work,” Scails said. “I do understand that is a luxury for a lot of us.”

She began as a social worker, the same career her mother had. But as a nontraditional student at WCSU, Scails became involved in civil rights issues that led to volunteer work with the Connecticut NAACP, where she quickly became the state-wide president. After several years, she founded a company that provided diversity training for businesses and schools, and then “a dear friend of mine tapped me on the shoulder because he had an idea for a regional arts organization.” That led to the directorship of the new Cultural Alliance of Western Connecticut.

“The skills and discipline that I learned as an entrepreneur lend themselves very well to this job,” Scails said. “Nonprofits are challenging enough but a startup nonprofit, hoo-boy! But I knew what I was getting myself into.”

Jeffrey LaCava also has switched careers. A WCSU graduate with a degree in Finance, he ran a successful hedge fund for several years before he decided to start an online marketplace to match home improvement contractors and potential customers.

LaCava describes himself as a “serial homeowner” who has done renovations in several homes over the past 15 years. Many times, the experience was frustrating, leading him to recognize there was a need to provide help to other homeowners, therefore the TotalHousehold business was born.

TotalHousehold.com has so far signed up 1.3 million home contractors across the country and offers guidance and tips to homeowners.

“Entrepreneurship is about finding your passion, experiencing the joy of doing something unique and different, and perhaps inspiring others to do the same,” Assenza said. “I encourage everyone to come and listen, network and learn. You never know when or where the next new idea will come from.”

For more information, call the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.

Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics
of New England’s best small private universities.