The 70’s. A time for Women to rise up, speak up, and to fight for basic rights. Before the 70’s women were not allowed to sit on a Jury, not allowed to open a bank account on their own, not allowed to get a loan without their husbands signature, and were not taken seriously as women business owners. It was a time of Gloria Steinem, Dorothy Pitman Hughes, Shirley Chisholm, and the rise of Feminism.

In 1977 the very first National Women’s Conference was held over four days in November, before that in June one woman saw the need for women’s rights in a whole new way.

A third generation Sicilian, Nancy only knew what is was to be an entrepreneur. It was really in her roots, no like really. After growing up in the family auto body shop and restaurant it is no surprise that Nancy ended up not only an entrepreneur herself but one who discovered her passion, at a very early age, which was and still is, providing (women) business owners with a forum to generate business and marketing support so they can achieve their dream of creating and maintaining a successful business.

In June of 1977, after she could not find a referral for a female doctor, she saw a need for women to not only be able to find services they could rely on and trust but to find each other so they could support each other with business referrals….and so… Women's Referral Service, Inc. was born, first by providing a telephone referral service where consumers could call and get a FREE referral to a pre-screened and qualified professional or woman in business, which was something completely unique at the time. It wasn't long until WRS Members wanted to meet to do business with each other, and refer their family, friend, and clients to each other and so, WRS' networking organization formed chapters in So. Calif. transforming how business owners and professionals would generate referrals for each other. Some of the very first networking events began in Nancy's living room!

Still today, the core mission of WRS is all about supporting women business owners to generate more business through building meaningful relationships and learning how best to send each other referrals.