By Christian May-Suzuki
The Culver City Chamber of Commerce is hosting its Women in Business Leadership Awards Luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 18. The luncheon is being held at the Doubletree Hilton as it was last year, and will “honor women who lead through their professional and community endeavors.”
Four women will be specifically recognized at the luncheon for their achievements as women in the business world. These women were chosen by the Culver City Chamber’s Women in Business Council for their innovation and vision as businesswomen.
The first honoree, who is being awarded the Founder’s Award, is Dana Sayles. Sayles is the head of three6ixty, a property development firm in Culver City that she helped found in November 2012. After receiving a Master’s Degree in City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning from USC, she started her career as a planner in 1996. She only moved up since then and has been directing development projects for 20 years.
She founded her own development consulting firm in July 2007, and lead the company as owner for over five years until Three6ixty came to be. Three6ixty was named the 17th best lobbying firm in Los Angeles and recently began acting as the Land Use and Development Services branch with Englander Knabe and Allen (EKA), a firm that focuses on private sector and government development projects.
Helen Greene is the second honoree and the recipient of the Innovator Award. Greene is the founder and President of GreenhausGFX. GreenhausGFX is an entirely female owned production studio tucked away right next to Rocco’s Tavern in Downtown Culver City. Greene’s dream was to launch a motion graphics studio, so that’s what she did out of college without partners or investors.
Greenhaus has since grown into a recognized production company and is responsible for main title sequences on major projects, including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and the Wonder Woman movie.
Receiving the Trailblazer Award and the third honoree for the event is Antonia King, founder, owner, and CEO of Zooga Yoga, a yoga studio for children just across the street from Tellefson Park. King received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Film Production from USC and worked as an Executive Producer in a variety of TV shows and films for 15 years.
King always held a passion for arts, dance in particular, which was one of the driving forces for her to found Zooga in 2012. Her three children and work in many youth-related projects over her production career was another big factor that leads her studio to focus on children’s yoga. There are currently two other locations beyond the Culver City headquarters, and King hopes to expand Zooga all across the United States.
The fourth and final honoree and the Visionary Award winner is Steph Sklar-Mulcahy. While she has enjoyed a long career in the entertainment industry, Mulcahy is being recognized for being the first CycleBar franchise operator in Los Angeles, located at just off of Washington Boulevard at Sepulveda Boulevard.
She opened the franchise in March 2017, and it has done well for itself in a busy area since its opening. Part of this success comes from the leadership of Mulcahy, who has worked in leadership roles in a variety of production companies since receiving a Bachelor’s of Science in TV and Film from Boston University in 1998. From primitive internet films to Spike TV, Mulcahy has been a part of it all and has used that knowledge to keep CycleBar appealing and customer friendly.
Registration for the event will start at 11:30, and luncheon will last from Noon-1:30 p.m. Tickets for the luncheon are on sale at the Culver City Chamber of Commerce website and are $45 per person.
