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Date: Tuesday January 13, 2009 |
Morgantown woman a one-person work force. By Michelle E. Arevalo, Reading Eagle correspondent
Despite her petite stature, Denise DiNorscia Williams is a powerhouse, a one-woman work force.
She runs the East Coast office of a marketing company, owns a small business and is on the board of the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association.
On top of this, she is the mother of a teenager, a wife and a volunteer for causes close to her heart.
She admits her life is busy; and she loves every minute of it.
"I like to get things done," Williams said. "Whatever you need, you tell me and I'm on it."
Williams, 45, moved to Caernarvon Township in 2003, setting up a home office and a home-based business after living in California for several years.
"We lived in San Jose during the dot-com boom and moved back in the bust," she said.
Williams, a Chester County native, and her husband, Robert K., relocated to Silicon Valley at a time when Internet-based businesses saw profits soar. When the technology bubble burst, the Williamses were among the unemployed when companies were forced to close.
The couple, and their daughter, Lori, returned to Pennsylvania for a new start. Robert found work in Philadelphia with Amtrak and Denise worked for a Chester County marketing firm.
In 2005, she landed an account with the San Rafael, Calif.-based Goodman Marketing Partners, owned by Carolyn Goodman.
"Carolyn and I work well together, we have a good time and we understand each other," Williams said.
Soon after Williams began handling Goodman's account, Goodman offered Williams her position as director of strategic marketing.
Williams left the agency and set up Goodman Marketing's East Coast office in her basement.
"Before, I was on the fast-track - commuting, traveling, spending a lot of time away from home," she said. "Although I still put in a 12-hour day, Goodman allows me to work at a slightly slower pace and focus on the creative side and customer service."
After her long day in the office, Williams often works the night shift for BellaPizzelle, the Italian cookie business she started in 2003, while living in San Jose.
"I started it for my mother, who was 76 at the time, as a way for her to earn some extra money," she said. "The idea hit me at three in the morning because she'd always made the cookies from a recipe that had been in my late father's family. Before long, I'd written out a business and marketing plan, and we had a Web site."
Since they were living on opposite sides of the country, Williams and her mother, Lucy DiNorscia, who then lived in Kennett Square, Chester County, tested shipping methods for BellaPizzelle.
"We always knew this would be a purely Internet-based business, and pizzelles are fragile, so we also knew we'd have to find a way to ship them anywhere without breaking them," Williams said.
After several unsuccessful attempts at sending the wafer-thin cookies cross-country, Williams was struck with another late-night brainstorm, a rigid cardboard tube that holds a stack of the delicate delicacies. That, combined with some tweaking of the recipe and bubble wrap, made for long-distance shipments with no broken pizzelles.
"It is proprietary packaging, and it is as pretty as it is functional," she said. "It took a while to get it right, but we did it."
Mother and daughter make the cookies in BellaPizzelle's own space, a licensed commercial kitchen in Williams' basement. The company sends shipments out daily, and what was meant to be a way of earning a little pocket money for Lucy has turned into a thriving small business.
"There are many nights when we start at six and work late, sometimes we eat dinner at two in the morning, but it's nice to do it together," said DiNorscia, now 84, who lives in her own apartment on the Williamses' property.
When orders surge, 14-year-old Lori, Williams' daughter, lends a hand with packing, working beside her mother and grandmother.
"I like that after spending hours and hours working, I can spend time with my mom and my daughter," Williams said.
When not working for Goodman Marketing or BellaPizzelle, Williams helps plan events, among other things, in her work as a board member for the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association.
"I've been with them for the last three years and wear many hats," she said.
•Contact correspondent Michelle E. Arevalo at 610-371-5049 or business@readingeagle.com.
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