Women to Watch: Business Finalists

Meet the Women to Watch award finalists in the Business category

Pam Fasse

President/Licensed General Contractor

Fasse Construction & Development Inc.

As a builder, Pam Fasse and the Wrightsville Beach-based company she heads up focuses on green building techniques.

This year, her company finished the first part of a low-impact development called Tonbo Meadow, which is receiving attention for its sustainability features.

Healthy living spaces also are an area of interest for the general contractor, who minored in architecture from Michigan State University and became a registered dietician.

She is active in the Cape Fear Builders Guild, which is now called the Cape Fear Provisional Branch of the U.S. Green Building Council–North Carolina Chapter, Cape Fear Green Building Alliance, and NC GreenPower, and she won two Lower Cape Fear Stewardship Development Awards.

 

Alexis Hinds

Owner/President | Sea Coast Staffing Inc.

Alexis Hinds has more than twenty-five years in the recruiting and staffing world, including ten years in the Wilmington area.

Last year, she started her own company that helps job seekers through the at-times frustrating and stressful process of finding work. The firm runs a blog to help job candidates with tips for interviewing, resume writing, and networking, while also working with companies searching for workers.

Hinds serves on the Good Shepherd Center’s board and the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce Chairman’s Committee.

 

Joan Keston

Founding Attorney | J.A. Keston Law

Though practicing law and working in business for more than thirty years, Joan Keston is relatively new to Wilmington, but hasn’t wasted any time becoming active in the community.

In the two years since moving to the Port City, Keston passed the North Carolina State Bar exam and started a law firm.

She previously worked as an international legal consultant and a business attorney.

After personal experiences helping family in life care planning, she was motivated to form J.A. Keston Law, which focuses on elder law, estate planning, and asset protection. Partnering with other professionals, she has helped develop programs to educate people about the legal issues and benefits available to seniors, holding free seminars throughout the area.

Keston, who recently finished building a home in downtown’s historic district, participates in activities with Residents of Old Wilmington, Historic Wilmington Foundation, and Aging in Place Downtown.

 

Stephanie Lanier

Owner | Lanier Property Group

In 2012, Stephanie Lanier started a boutique real estate firm in Wilmington after trying to figure out how to balance the needs of her family.

In its first year, the firm grew 85 percent, doubled the number of agents, and added a home stylist and support staff. Agents participate in a revenue-sharing model.

Lanier, who previously worked as a mediator and social worker with the ADR Center, also is an advocate for her son, Oliver, who has a rare genetic disorder called tuberous sclerosis complex.

A graduate of Leadership Wilmington, last month she was named part of the 2014-15 Leadership North Carolina group. Lanier also is on the Make-a-Wish Foundation for Eastern North Carolina’s advisory council and board vice president for Welcome Home Angel. She sits on the University of North Carolina Wilmington Alumni Association board, is an active member of Cape Fear CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women), and serves as chairwoman of the Wilmington Association of Realtors’ professional development Committee.

 

Ann Revell-Pechar

President/Founder

A.Revell Communications

A Wilmington resident for three years, Ann Revell-Pechar has had her public relations firm for more than twenty years.

She initially co-founded the company in Seattle in 1993 and has worked with clients from venture capitalists New Enterprise Associates to parental-control Internet filtering software Net Nanny. Revell-Pechar says she has been involved in campaigns to introduce more than 150 companies and products to the market.

Now locally based, her roster includes chambers of commerce, the North Carolina Technology Association, and Wireless Research Center of North Carolina.

In Wilmington, she started Business RadioX in December, which has grown to four, regular business shows. She has opened a Raleigh studio and has a Durham studio in the works.

For more about the awards and other category finalists, click here.