To The Leader

 

The Better Business Bureau Serving Southeast Texas announced the names of the women who they will honor at their first annual SETX Women’s Conference. 

Four local women were selected based on their business leadership, community involvement and strong relationship with BBB Southeast Texas. The BBB “Woman of Integrity” honorees will be recognized at the BBB’s SETX Women’s Conference on Thursday, October 24th at the Beaumont Civic Center.  

The 2019 Woman of Integrity honorees are: 

Shawn Hanley, Howell Furniture and Ashley Furniture. Shawn is the Co-Owner and Director of Marketing for Howell Furniture and the Owner of Ashley Furniture.   

Gisela Houseman, The Houseman Companies: Born in Hamburg, Germany, Gisela immigrated to the U.S in 1950 and has since become a pillar in the SETX community. With 25 years’ experience in insurance, she also has an extensive background in accounting, tax and financial planning and was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame in the Business and Finance category. Gisela currently sits on several boards, including the Lamar University Foundation, the Lamar State College-Orange Foundation and the Lutcher Theater. She is a past Board member, Chairman and Founding Member of many SETX organizations including CASA of Orange County, Leadership SETX and BBB of Southeast Texas. Gisela has received many honors and accolades including Citizen of the Year by the Greater Orange Chamber of Commerce and the Frances Monk Award for Leadership. The Houseman Company was the 2009 recipient of the BBB Torch Award.  

Rebekah Maxwell, ReStep Marketing and Lamar University. Rebekah is the owner of ReStep Marketing and the Director of Scholarships at Lamar University.  

Kathryn Veal, Kathryn’s Music Academy: Mrs. Kathryn Veal is the Founder/CEO and Head Instructor of Kathryn’s Music Academy.  

 “Each of our honorees inspires all of us to use our unique talents and time to make SETX a better place and we are thankful for their contributions,” stated Liz Fredrichs, President and CEO of BBB Southeast Texas.  

This marks BBB SETX’s first year recognizing honorees for “Woman of Integrity.”  

“Our BBB is excited to present our first Woman of Integrity honorees at our inaugural SETX Women’s Conference,” continued Fredrichs. “BBB believes it is important to celebrate these women leaders that make our community better.  Together we can empower every woman to partner with us to improve our community. We look forward to continuing this honor in future conferences to recognize inspirational women leaders who generously contribute their time and talents in SETX.”  

BBB’s Foundation will host the SETX Women’s Conference on Thursday, October 24th at the Beaumont Civic Center from 10 am-2 pm. The conference will feature an expo of local vendors, luncheon, Q & A with SETX professional women, guest speaker- author Kim King, raffles and much more! Individual tickets are $35 with table sponsorships beginning at $350. Tickets and registration at bbb.org/us/tx/beaumont or contact Candace Carver-Brooks at candacecarver@bbbsetexas.org or 835-5951 ext 110

BBB is excited to have major corporate sponsors Home Instead Senior Care, Christus Southeast Texas Health Systems and the Christus Health and Wellness Center and Mobil Oil Federal Credit Union support this year’s event with special thanks to Media Sponsors KFDM/Fox4 and 12News.  

Proceeds from the event benefit the BBB Foundation Student of Integrity scholarships and ethics training in Southeast Texas.