Group Names Businesswoman of the Year

By Suzanne Brown
Salem News, Staff writer

Jeannette (McRobert) Sullivan holds a degree in plant science from the University of Rhode Island but since her departure from a floral and gift company almost 10 years ago, her career has grown in a very different direction.

The change in plans brought McRobert back to the North Shore and to North Shore Women in Business. Thursday, June 17, 2004, she was named businesswoman of the year by the organization.

McRobert is the owner of Fox Run Designs, a marketing solutions firm which recently moved from Newburyport to Danvers. The mostly self-taught Website and newsletter designer left Barber Bros. in Natick as a vice president after 15 years in 1995.

"It was time to go out on my own," she said.

Her first independent business venture was Fox Run Baskets. She created gift baskets for special occasions. While she enjoyed the freedom of working from home, after four years she was ready for another change. "In that kind of business, holidays really aren't your own," she said.

Her focus shifted to marketing when she "saw a definite need" in the area's small businesses community. Many, McRobert said, can't afford to build Websites or generate other promotional material for themselves. Appleby and Wyman, New City Mortgage and the Pickled Onion are among the businesses with which McRobert works.

The Businesswoman of the Year award is given annually to a woman who owns her own business in or works on the North Shore and has demonstrated "achievement through courage, character, commitment and perseverance," said Ginny Maglio, awards committee chairwoman. Nominees must also be active members of North Shore Women in Business by serving on the group's committees and have a record of service in their community. "These women show leadership, competence, intelligence and professionalism," Maglio said.

"Being singled out in a group of such talented women is an amazing thing. It makes you feel like you are doing something right," (McRobert) Sullivan said.