Patty Tobin joined co-organizers, Sheri Best and Lisa Ricciardi, and First Lady of New York State Michelle Paige Patterson, last week at the Women in Construction & Real Estate Networking Event held at the Haworth building in New York City. The purpose of the night: to celebrate and empower women pursuing careers in nontraditional employment fields such as construction, real estate, transportation, facilities maintenance, green and energy industries. These women are an important part of this dynamic effort to help women lead and succeed in this challenging economy.

As a woman who worked for more than a decade leading her own private contracting firm before turning to pursue her passion for jewelry design, Tobin was asked to say a few words about her experience running her own construction company in such a male-dominated industry. Tobin spent the night speaking to guests about the critical importance of creating better business opportunities for women. To help boost proceeds for the event, Tobin also donated a lovely bronze shell pearl necklace, which will go to benefit NEW: Nontraditional Employment for Women. You can check it out along with other pictures from the night here!

Tobin, who said she is a positive person by nature, keeps a stone Buddha in her store, a gift from her brother provided in time for last year's opening.

Just in time for Halloween, Reuters reporter Deborah L. Cohen published this story on small business owners who take comfort in spiritual and superstitious beliefs. Patty Tobin was interviewed for the piece and provides a rosy outlook on the subject:

“The overarching thing for me is mind over matter,” said Tobin, a former marketing consultant who began designing jewelry six years ago. “It’s the whole idea of moving energy and making a situation a little more auspicious toward whatever goal you’re trying to accomplish.”

Tobin, who said she is a positive person by nature, also keeps a stone Buddha in her store, a gift from her brother provided in time for last year’s opening.

“We had magnificent sales that night,” she said, noting that overall sales of her merchandise have done well despite the economy.

Read the full Reuters article here.