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| Featured Keynote Speakers for 2010 |
 Debbi
Fields Rose
Founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies
Debra (Debbi) J. Fields
epitomizes the American dream. She launched what has become one of the nation’s
most visible, successful dessert empires. Fields earned more than 25
years of entrepreneurial, operational and managerial
experience in a company she built (literally) from
scratch. Founder, baker, chief cookie lover and
former chairman of Mrs. Fields Cookies, a $450
million company she founded in 1977, Mrs. Fields has
since sold her company, which is a market leader
among fresh-baked cookie stores. At the age of 20,
Fields was a young housewife with no business
experience. Yet, she had a dream, a recipe and a
passion for sharing her chocolate chip cookies. She
managed to do what most people considered
impossible. She convinced a bank to finance a
business concept which had never before been proven
and which appeared on the surface to have little
likelihood of success.
On August 16, 1977,
Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chippery opened its doors to
the public in Palo Alto, California. Twenty-plus
years later, Fields’ role had expanded from managing
one shop to supervising operations, brand name
management, public relations and product development
of her company’s 600+ company‑owned and franchise
stores in the United States and 10 foreign nations.
Fields’ personal values guide her
role as a businesswoman. Her philosophy of
excellence, stated in her motto of “Good Enough
Never Is,” is mirrored in a company that has earned
a reputation for providing the best in product
quality and superior customer service.
Fields is the author of two
cookbooks published by Time-Life. She is the mother of Jessica, Jenessa,
Jennifer, Ashley and McKenzie. She resides in
Memphis, Tennessee, with her husband Mike Rose and
family.
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 Lisa Price
Founder of Carol's Daughter
From humble beginnings in her
Brooklyn
kitchen, president and founder of Carol’s Daughter,
Inc., Lisa Price transformed her beloved hobby of
mixing up fragrances and creams at home into a
multi-million dollar beauty empire.
With $100 in cash, her own kitchen, and the simple
notion that people should follow their hearts, Lisa
started building the collection that would become a
beauty revolution. She began by selling her homespun
beauty products at flea markets, but then had to set
up shop in her living room as demand increased.
Favorable word-of-mouth spread like wildfire as her
customers enjoyed such unique products and her
business continued to grow, aided by the
encouragement and assistance of family members and
friends.
In August of 1993, Price
officially established Carol's Daughter (the company
lovingly named after her mother). Initially starting
out with a handful of steady customers, those
numbers grew in leaps and bounds as women outside
her neighborhood and circle of friends began to take
notice. Almost overnight, celebrities like Jada
Pinkett-Smith, Erykah Badu, Rosie Perez and Halle
Berry
became loyal customers.
Price is the recipient of numerous awards and author
of Success Never Smelled So Sweet, a remarkable
memoir that chronicles her transformation from a
young Black woman deep in debt and burdened by low
self-esteem to the president of a multi-million
dollar business. Today,
Carol's Daughter sells millions of dollars worth of
products, employs more than 20 staff members and
boasts nine
stores
across the country, with a flagship store in
Harlem.
Price hopes to continue
expanding Carol's Daughter to other cities. She
is dedicated to giving back to the community through
both her business and her personal life.
Price and her husband and
business partner, Gordon, have two sons and a
daughter and live in Brooklyn.
When she can find the time (between managing her
business and family), Price enjoys going to the
beach and to the movies.
 Taryn Rose
Founder of Haute Footure
Taryn
Rose is one of the most well balanced, inspirational
business women you will ever meet.
Mother, wife, friend and
entrepreneur, Rose does it all. She
changed the
footwear industry in 1998 by creating a line of
luxury shoes that were fashionable as they are
functional.
Her idea of
being well dressed with a sense of well-being
touched a nerve with women from coast-to-coast,
creating a dedicated following for her footwear
collection.
Formally
trained as an orthopedic surgeon, Rose saw patients
with many serious foot problems that were caused by
fashion footwear, high heels and pointed toes.
Being a lover of beautiful
footwear, her own feet ached after 14-hour days in
shoes with three-inc heels.
She saw a need and knew she
could combine her knowledge of foot biomechanics and
her passion for fashion to spread ease and joy to
women everywhere.
After her first
year in business, Rose opened a boutique in Beverly
Hills, California.
Women traveled from all over
the US and purchased up to 20 pairs of shoes before
returning home.
This inspired her to
immediately open a second boutique in New York and
by 2002, opened a third in San Jose, California.
Taryn Rose shoes are now found
in all major department stores such as Neiman
Marcus, Saks, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s and
many fine independent shoe stores and boutiques.
In 2006, Rose
released a full collection of handbags for men and
women and followed in 2007 with a unique line of
eco-friendly footwear.
In 2008, Rose successfully sold her
shoe business and is on to her next project, Haute
Footure, a new brand of foot
products that “worship your feet”. Using the
technologically advanced skincare products, hosiery
and shoe inserts that she invented, women everywhere
will be able to wear their high heels and sexy shoes
with a lot more pleasure. Rose is slated to launch
in Haute Footure in March of
2010.
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