
Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart, Susan B. Anthony – these are some of the women we honor during Women’s History Month. They broke barriers, changed laws, and pioneered some of the most progressive movements in the history of women. It is iconic women like these and many others – both past and present – we revere during the month of March.
In celebration of Women’s History Month, we here at BNO give a little extra attention to all of the amazing, strong, determined women found within our agency walls. This month we are featuring three notable women who have not only made BNO history, but who are also creating our agency’s exciting future: Joanne Obenauf, Trista Walker, and Beverly Thomas.
Joanne Obenauf, Founder and CEO
Women made career strides in the 1980’s, and luckily for us, our founder was one of them. Joanne’s entrepreneurial vision, passion for excellence, and energy provided a strong foundation for BNO in 1981 (just a year after National Women’s History Week began). And after nearly four decades growing BNO, she could have rested on her laurels as a successful businesswoman, but Joanne doubled down on women entrepreneurship instead, and continued to attract and support women entrepreneurs as fuel for agency growth. This growth has included new levels of revenue, substantial client growth, launching new capabilities, and expanding to new geographic territory. She continues to lead the agency’s future with the launch of its latest venture, BNO Creative Labs – BNO’s newly formed innovative offshoot in St. Petersburg, FL.
Growth-minded:
Obenauf representing BNO Creative Labs in Orlando, FL, meeting Vernice “Fly Girl” Armour, the first African-American female combat pilot in the U.S. armed forces.
Trista Walker, President
Paying it forward:
Walker with protégé Pauline Theeuws at Theeuws’ Rider University graduation. Theeuws is now a project manager-in-training at BNO.
Beverly Thomas, VP of Marketing and Strategic Accounts
Women-to-women networking:
Thomas representing BNO at the 2020 Diversity Alliance for Science (D4AS) West Conference in Laguna, CA.