BPW Business Spotlight: Laurel Hartman

CapeWomenOnline has teamed up with BPW Lower Cape Cod to bring you the stories of Cape Women at work. Our featured business owner is Laurel Hartman, who was recently honored as the BPW's Member of the Year.

Meet Laurel Hartman,
BPW's Member of the Year

by Patricia Monahan

The Business and Professional Women's foundation (BPW) has been celebrating women for over 90 years. From its early roots in 1919, led by Lena Madesin Phillips, a Kentucky lawyer, the energy continues to grow towards the empowerment of women all over the world.

This April, our local BPW of Lower Cape Cod chose to honor Laurel J. Hartman, CMP, as our Member of the Year. Laurel has been tireless in her role as VP of Membership and we have watched our numbers grow rapidly this year. Her vitality is infectious as she greets every new guest with warmth and grace. Who wouldn't want to join a group with someone like her at the door? She also keeps track of the goings on in the group as our Interim Secretary. When our Secretary had to step down earlier this year due to personal reasons, Laurel never hesitated and took right to the task at hand.

Laurel is a wearer of many hats. She is a certified meeting professional (CMP), a certified sommelier and a certified meditation teacher. She is also owner of Laurel Consulting, and the co-founder and VP of Programs of the Cape and Islands Wedding Group.

Laurel has been a member of BPW since December 2008. In this time she has served as the following: Secretary 2009-2010 & 2010-2011, VP of Membership and Secretary 2011-2012, and on the Scholarship Committee 2009-2011.

She was even our moderator during one meeting, and in her energetic way taught us the best way to feed an elephant and get things done even with our busy lives!

Laurel resides in Brewster with her husband, Mark, and her two precious daughters, Madeline (6) and Charlotte (4). She is grateful to have multi-generations of family nearby. Her grandmother, Jannette, Mom, Janet, and sister, Lindsey, offer her much love and support.

"I am grateful to have friendships with wonderful people in this community," says Laurel. "The women of the BPW are inspiring and supportive. There is a loving and generous community of people who are interested in yoga and meditation including my extraordinary teacher, Diane Kovanda of the Kind Yoga School. The wedding vendors of Cape Cod are a tight knit community of wonderful, talented, hardworking professionals and I am so happy to call many of them my friends. The brides, grooms and clients that I work with are a joy - every wedding and event is as unique as the people celebrating."

As spring comes to life on Cape Cod, Laurel is constantly on the move. As Director of Catering and Conference Planning for the Catania Hospitality Group, she is busily helping brides make their dreams come true.

"Cape Cod is such an amazing wedding destination that weddings are now a focus. It is a privilege to help people execute their vision for their special day." Laurel says it's a breath of fresh air compared to corporate meetings and Trade shows she put on in New York. It doesn't make it less stressful though.

To help reduce the daily stresses that come her way, Laurel practices meditation. "My mother had taken Diane's Yoga Teacher training so I knew what a great experience I was in for when she added a Meditation Teacher training.

Having a meditation practice helps me to process the stress inherent in my work and to achieve greater balance with my various responsibilities. It is also a special gift to be able to model for my daughters that there is value in silence and stillness."

I asked Laurel how she manages to pull all this together. She doesn't feel that her time challenges or constraints are unique. "I think most mothers struggle with juggling the demands of work outside of the home and inside of the home. While my work, activities and family keep me very busy, I work to try to find balance. As difficult as it can be, there are some things I just have to say no to because there are only so many hours in a day."

Laurel takes pride in everything she does and always gives her full attention to the task at hand. That is what makes Laurel so special and earned her the 2011 Recipient of the 40 Under 40 Award by Cape and Plymouth Business Magazine.

If you have that special day in mind and you want to make it a reality, give Laurel a call. Anniversary or graduation? Special homecoming? Contact Laurel at lhartman@cataniahospitalitygroup.com or 508-771-3000 x755. She is sure to make your day.

Patricia Monahan is a regular contributor to CapeWomenOnline magazine. She is currently the Accounting Supervisor at Vacation Resorts International in Hyannis and current Treasurer of the Lower Cape BPW. She is a mom of three and resides in Brewster.

Business and Professional
Women's Foundation

To achieve equity for all women in the workplace through advocacy, education and information.

BPW Lower Cape Cod meets on the second Tuesday of each month from September through June at various restaurants around the Lower Cape Cod.

www.bpwlowercapecod.org