Encouraging. Inspiring. Empowering.

These words can be applied to each of our honorees in this inaugural edition of Southwest Colorado Women in Business.

When this magazine was a small idea, we debated how many people would be nominated. We wondered if the magazine would resonate with readers.

We were wrong: We received 252 nominations.

I didn’t envy the task before our selection committee. Being presented with an inch-thick book of the nominations, representing 134 individuals, and charged to cull that number to 10 could have been overwhelming. But the committee selected each nomination thoughtfully. It was not an easy decision in any category, but listening to the committee identify the slivers of accomplishment that propelled one woman to the top of her category was thrilling. When we were done, the committee and I were confident in and proud of the 10 honorees.

Women who work face myriad underlying issues that can make it difficult to succeed, from earning 80 cents for each dollar men make – lucky us, it’s 84 cents in Colorado – to sexism, discrimination and that ever-present glass ceiling. Despite those difficulties, or perhaps because of them, the women on these pages work tirelessly. They are aspirational, they support others, they always show up and they always lend a hand. These are the women we would like to be if we ever grow up. They are the women we want to be our best friends. And they’re the women we want to be our supervisors, colleagues and desk mates.

Here at Ballantine Communications, Inc., we’re lucky to have many aspirational women employed with us across all of our products, from The Journal and The Durango Herald to Adventure Pro, DGO, Directory Plus, Dorado Brand Studio, BCI Media Services and Four Corners Expos.

We are incredibly thankful for the support we received from the community, and, more importantly, the yearning that our community has to honor the women who help us thrive.

This edition is about those women: Our top 10 honorees, the 128 women nominated and all the women who contribute to improving our lives every day.

Thank you for taking this journey with us.

—Claudia Laws