Meet Nancy Sardella, founder of
Women’s Referral Service (WRS)
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!
In 2006, WRS came to be also known as Worthwhile Referral Sources. It had evolved into more than a telephone referral service and included more than just women.
Today WRS is known as both names while it is mostly women, anyone who gets approved for membership can join. The core mission is all about supporting business owners generate more business through building meaningful relationships.
The WRS Difference
WRS is one of the first, if not the first networking organizations in Los Angeles. It was a new concept in 1977. Of course, the world has evolved in major ways since then, but what has always remained the same? Entrepreneurs and professionals in private practice want their business to do more business!
Think about it, even in this world of technology and convenience we all look for avenues to acquire quality referrals to ensure the success of our businesses. As a consumer, before you purchase an item online you read reviews, these are basically referrals from strangers. You might find a service on social media from people touting how awesome it is, again a form of referrals.
However, even today, what is the best method of referrals? Person to person referrals. You might be hanging with friends, at a dinner party or any other social situation and someone tells you about their great their trainer/doctor/dentist/therapist/etc. You trust them, you take their word for it and will probably get the information for the service from them to contact the person they are raving about. That right there is the main idea behind WRS. Members meet, get to know one another, build trust and get to know what types of referrals are good for them and their fellow members and do just that, send them quality business referrals. WRS is not a place for selling yourself, but rather a place to let other members know what kinds of referrals you are seeking so they can send you quality referrals via fostering meaningful business relationships and the desire to support one another. The synergy and trust between members, is actually really awesome!