FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 24, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 61
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Polish American networking
I oft en refer to my world as a
giant spider web, with one
person connecting me to the
next.
My dear friend Lydia Sarfati,
who I met through another treasured
friend Lois Christie, introduced
me to Agata Golubiewska
and her husband Maciej, who is
the consul general of Poland.
Agata is an entrepreneur who
is having a child in a month, but
that has not held her back from
creating a business summit to
off er critical opportunities for
hundreds of women to meet and
do business with each other in
Central Europe.
Th rough our new friendship,
Agata asked me to speak at a VIP
party at the stunning, elegant
consulate on Madison Avenue
the night before the conference.
It was a powerful opportunity
for me to meet new spectacular
women. And I did!
I learned that Poland is now
the economic engine and fastest
growing Central European
country and it off ers many
opportunities to entrepreneurs.
On the night before the conference,
Agata asked me to join
a panel with Lydia — also an
entrepreneur like me — along
with a woman from an international
accounting fi rm and
another in the leadership of the
United Nations.
We shared our experiences of
starting our businesses and for
the corporate women going up
the ranks of success.
Although we all know that
there is still a glass ceiling preventing
larger numbers of
women from being the CEO
of their companies, Lydia and I
found it possible because we led
and built our companies. Too
few women are in that position.
Th e next day at the conference,
I met new people from
European countries who hoped
to make meaningful connections
to broaden their relationships. I
was one of them.
Th e co-sponsor of the meeting
was Cultural Vista, a company
that helps bring exchange students
to over 130 companies. For
years, our company participated
by having Korean students spend
six-month shift s in our offi ces.
Th ey were great young people
here to perfect their English and
business skills and proved to be
great assets on many levels.
Sitting next to me was
Agnieszka Kulikowski, the sales
manager of Lot Polish Airlines.
We got to chat and it turned out
she lived in the town next to me.
Th at’s the treasure of spreading
my web of friendships. May it
continue to grow!
Speaking on a panel before the Polish
American Woman Conference
Lot Polis Airlines representative Agnieszka
Kulikowski presented Lydia with a round
trip ticket to Warsaw or Budapest.
Agata with Bogdan
Chmielewski, CEO of the Polish
Slovak Federal Credit Union.
Woman of the Year Lydia Sarfati of Repechage Skin Care
with Consul General of Poland Maciej Golubiewska and
organizer of the event Agata Golubiewska.
“Last Rites”
My cousin Judy Nenner was a dear
real friend as well as a beloved relative.
Her life was cut short by lung cancer, but
I kept my friendship with her husband
Fred aft er she passed.
Fred, as Judy was, is a talented highly
trained social worker. His path took
him to work for decades at the former
Lutheran Hospital as a medical ethicist
and private psychotherapist.
He just published “Last Rites,” a fascinating
book recounting the life and
death of beloved community members
in a small town.
Fred is a great storyteller and his writing
made me turn each page feeling like
I knew and cared about the people and
the world they live in. He draws a beautiful
moving picture of them.
I recommend you also read “Last
Rites” by Fred Nenner, available on
Amazon.
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