When did you first go into business?
I opened by first business is 1977, after taking a “how to start a small business” at the local YWCA.
What in hindsight would you do differently when starting your business, if you knew then what you know now?
I would invest some significant money in my business to begin with and work from a well-considered business plan. As a woman, I felt compelled to try to succeed on a shoestring.
What problem do you believe your company’s product or service solves and why?
Next Wave Group, LLC helps associations operate more cost effectively through wise use of technology and strong systems. There are many economies of scale when associations share services.
What were the biggest challenges of bringing your unique project/idea/solution to market and why?
We are always on the leading edge – whether it be in providing new ways for associations to operate or new types of publications. There is no clearly defined path to follow and mistakes are inevitable.
What is the best business related advice you have ever been given?
Trust your instincts, but verify.
What does you love most about what you do and why?
I love the opportunity to learn new things and crawl around on the inside of many different professions.
What do you as a woman businessowner feel is the biggest challenge of running your own business and why?
My biggest challenge is doing everything I want to do and to keep focused while dealing with constantly shifting priorities.
What problem do you believe your company’s product or service solves and why?
Next Wave Group, LLC helps associations operate more cost effectively through wise use of technology and strong systems. There are many economies of scale when associations share services.
When you’re not working how do you like to spend your time?
I love to travel – whether it be visiting a few very special places or exploring new places. Sometimes I just like to do nothing for a few hours. I also spend time running my activities group FacetsWoman.
How do you define success?
Rising to meet a serious challenge and getting past it onto the next challenge.
Patricia Troy is a recognized community leader and business owner in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, where she has lived since 1976. In 1989, Troy formed Bay Media, Inc., a publication management firm.
Always active in community work, Troy was the founding chairman of ASPIRE, Inc. (Association for Severna Park Improvement, Renewal and Enhancement) which she organized in 1994 to focus on community master planning. She serves as a lifetime board member of Chesapeake Academy, which she and three other educators founded in 1980. Today the independent elementary school enrolls nearly 300 students in grades preschool through five and just completed at $4 million expansion. She is a three-term president of the Greater Severna Park Council, an umbrella organization of more than 60 communities. She chaired the Anne Arundel County Advisory Task Force on Cancer Control and the Severna Park Small Area Plan. Troy served as vice chair of the board of trustees for Anne Arundel Health System and was chair of the Strategic Planning Committee. She is a past president of the board of trustees for the Cultural Arts Foundation of Anne Arundel County, past president of the Three Rivers Unit of the American Cancer Society, past president of Panhellenic Club of Annapolis and a former board member of the Friends of the B&A Trail. To learn more about Pat Troy – click here.