Driven to Succeed

Boulder women are taking creative approaches to their businesses and careers

By Irene Middleman Thomas

Each March, Women’s History Month invites us to shine a light on the innovative women and girls who have built, shaped and improved upon our community and those who are doing so today. Here in Boulder County, we enjoy an abundance of women smashing glass ceilings and creating unique businesses and nonprofits across various industries. From a long list of local trailblazers, we’ve chosen five to highlight. 

Mia Semingson, Two Hands Paperie

“Pause. Reflect. Make things with your own two hands!” That is Mia Semingson’s mission for her Pearl Street shop, Two Hands Paperie.  

Two Hands Paperie opened in 1993 by Diana Phillips as a small bindery with a few hand-bound books and a small rack of decorative paper. It was acquired in 2010 by then-employee Mia Semingson and her husband Gerald Trainor. Today, the boutique shop carries hundreds of journals, notebooks and more than 30 racks of decorative paper, as well as cards, books, art supplies, fine writing instruments, candles, photo albums, greeting cards, tea towels, ribbons, stickers and gifts from around the world. The shop offers creative classes and hosts free events such as book signings, artists’ lectures and monthly letter-writing events.  

With twelve years of experience teaching in CU Boulder’s art department, Semingson is a natural educator. She recently developed and recorded classes for Creativebug, an online craft community offering a wide range of pre-recorded creative classes, which allows participants to work at their own pace. Since acquiring the shop, she has made classes and events a central focus, with online, in-store and “in-studio” classes in local artist’s studios.

“Two Hands aims to foster a sense of community,” Semingson says. “We prioritize building relationships with our loyal local customers. Our store has become a source of inspiration for many, as simply stepping inside is a visual delight that cannot be replicated through online shopping.”

Stephanie Hauser, 4those

In 2019, Louisville resident Stephanie Hauser’s son Zev was born at 23 weeks gestation. However, 24 weeks and later is considered viable for sustaining life outside the womb, she explains. “Despite the less-than-one-percent chance of survival and weighing just one pound, four ounces, Zev did live through birth and went on to spend 147 days in the UCHealth NICU.” After beating impossible odds, Zev is now a thriving five-year-old boy.

Hauser and her husband founded the nonprofit 4those to support families like theirs. The organization promotes general welfare, provides specific adaptive support, and creates access to active adventure, affirmation and community for children and families with a history of or current health outcomes and disabilities related to premature and early birth. “Our message is of hope, healing and possibility during and after the journey of extreme prematurity,” Hauser says. 

As executive director of 4those, Hauser is responsible for all fundraising, event planning, general operations, media and online relations, family support, and more. Hauser also produces the Zev Project Podcast, now in its third season, while parenting her four young boys and co-owning FOX•DOG COFFEE in Erie with her husband, Ben.

4those hosts an annual NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) Family Day Out, a free mini-fair for all families who have experienced the NICU journey to find fun, community and joy together. Additionally, through its Parent Care Workshop, the organization provides a day dedicated to helping parents and caregivers experience healing facilitated by a licensed family and trauma therapist to help them connect with others who’ve been through a similar experience and to provide emotional and physical rest after the long, harrowing NICU journey.

“In our first two years of operation, we are estimated to have served more than two hundred people between our NICU Family Day Out and our Parent Care Workshop, which amounts to about sixty to eighty families,” Hauser says. “It may seem like small potatoes at first glance, but the impact has been profound based on feedback and surveys.”

Sandy Calvin, Farfel’s Farm & Rescue

Farfel’s Farm, a dog and cat boutique at 906 Pearl Street, has earned its reputation as “The Pets’ Republic of Boulder.” Named for a classic Seinfeld episode in which a dog named Farfel wouldn’t stop barking, owner and founder Sandy Calvin launched the shop in 2005 and added the rescue in 2011 in Boulder because she feels Boulder begets compassion.

On the West End of the Pearl Street Mall, Farfel’s Farm is a storefront shop with high-end, carefully sourced pet supplies open daily. Farfel’s Rescue became an integral part of Farfel’s Farm, which now rescues hundreds of dogs each year from high-kill shelters in four southern states. Calvin stresses that it’s not a shelter, and no adoptable dogs are at the store—it’s a foster-based rescue. Farfel’s takes adoption very seriously and mandates that anyone wanting to adopt a dog must confirm that they have registered for obedience classes. 

“We make a commitment to our rescues that they will never be in a facility again. As a result, all of our adoptable dogs are in foster homes getting hugs and belly rubs,” says Calvin, whose parent adopted their first family dog, Jingles, when Calvin was 6 years old. 

The idea for Farfel’s Rescue started taking root when, in 2003, Calvin brought home a street dog from Santorini, Greece. She notes that she and her husband, Jeff, have rescued approximately 6,000 animals over the course of 20 years. 

Andrea Uzarowski, Süti & Co

Süti & Co is a café and shop in a cozy 1890s building a half-block from the Pearl Street Mall, dedicated to “the art of simple pleasures,” says owner and chef Andrea Uzarowski. “In the crazy mad rush of life, this is a space where people feel embraced, loved, supported, cared for and like they are part of a family with us. I wanted to create a space where it is encouraged to slow down.” 

After much thought, the former investment professional decided to leave her lucrative career to enroll in culinary school. Finding just the right place for her coffee shop and bakery took a year. “This building spoke to me right away, with its large arched window in the front and its original details, like the old creaky wooden floors,” Uzarowski says. She created several comfy nooks where folks can nestle in to read or chat quietly. Fluffy sheepskin throws and pillows are draped on chairs inside and on the inviting front patio.

Uzarowski grew up in Denmark and designed Süti & Co with a Scandinavian-inspired ambiance, selling home and kitchen items from small-batch, independent producers. The baked goods, all made on-site, are unique, especially those made from her family’s shortbread recipes and European-style pastries such as Prinsesstårta—a traditional Swedish sponge cake—honey cake and galettes, as well as gluten-free olive-oil cakes. 

“Süti” means a little sweet treat at the end of the day. “To this day, as an adult, I don’t feel like my day is over until I have something small and sweet,” Uzarowski says. “One of our customers once said that our shop is like a small retreat where you can escape to care for yourself and recharge yourself for a bit. I love that so much.”

JR Payne, Head Coach, CU Women’s Basketball Team

Coach JR Payne is just the second University of Colorado coach who began her career with ten straight wins, and the first win since 1980. Throughout her career at four other universities, and now nine years as head coach at CU, she has coached three All-Americans, three conference players of the year, 45 all-conference players and 45 all-academic team members.

Payne, whose birth name is Ali-Marie but goes by the nickname JR, originally planned to be a college professor and majored in French while playing basketball at Saint Mary’s College of California. Her coaching career began at Gonzaga University as an assistant coach in 2000. Additionally, she’s coached at Boise State, Southern Utah and Santa Clara universities.

Coach Payne came to CU for several reasons. “The main one was the vision and belief that I had in our athletic director, Rick George. I knew that it would be a major overhaul to be able to win consistently, but I believed that he would support what it would take for us to turn the program around.”

She did indeed turn the program around from only 14 wins in the four years before her arrival. In January 2021, the Lady Buffs—for the first time in history—beat No. 1 ranked opponent Stanford. The team made it to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in the past two seasons. Payne’s overall record as CU head coach is 153 wins to 107 losses, and since the turnaround season in 2020-2021, her record soared to 93 wins and only 43 losses.

“The support we feel in and around our Boulder community is second to none,” she says. “I think we all understand that successful sports teams are a win for not only the student-athletes but also the entire Boulder community.”