Two Atascadero businesswomen are celebrating a major milestone after graduating from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, an intensive course designed to help business owners take their companies to the next level.
The two women's businesses are located just blocks apart, and without even knowing it, both became two of only 152 entrepreneurs nationwide selected for one goal — becoming stronger business leaders.
“It was an amazing experience,” said owner and licensed marriage and family therapist Jessica Dawson. “It was such a great opportunity to learn about myself, how to grow my business and how to support the community in an even bigger and better way that I never would have been able to do before without them.”
Dawson helps families heal as the owner of Dawson Counseling, while just down the road, Anna Pecharich is building confidence through fashion at Anna & Company, a women’s boutique centered on personalized style and connection.
Both entrepreneurs were chosen for the program that is a very prestigious, rigorous business education and growth initiative for business owners across the country.
“It was so much work! I mean, every day,” said Anna Pecharich. “My clients are like, is Anna still here? because I would be in the back room, like in classroom Zoom calls, like crazy, crazy, crazy time commitment.”
But all that hard work paid off.
After completing the program in May, the two companies continue to grow. Anna & Company is now on its third move, relocating from its space downtown to a much larger retail location, and Dawson Counseling has opened a second location and has hired two new therapists.
“We often have a wait list, and I was thinking, like, people are reaching out for services, they need support and care. So, for us to expand and provide another location, that just gives us more opportunity to reach more people,” Dawson said.
“We looked at the next five years of business, and I just see consistent growth,” Pecharich said. “We are going to have some open hours now. We are going to keep track of our foot traffic and try to accommodate the masses as best we can."
The two say the lessons they gained from the program are priceless, but the most unexpected part wasn’t found in a classroom. It was finding a friendship just blocks away that’s now become a lifelong bond.
“It was such a blessing, like that has to be a God thing, because that is so crazy!”
The Goldman Sachs program initially set out to help 10,000 small businesses. To date, it has nearly doubled that.
