By Susan Elise Campbell

Nourish Designs is a mission-based business that sells “gifts that give back.” The name perfectly reflects the desire of its owner, Betsy P. Seplowitz, to nourish and calm the mind and to help lift up local children with food insecurity with donations from the business. 

Through this business model, to date she has provided nearly 306,000 meals to kids in need.

Seplowitz was selling her hand drawn circular designs online and at pop-ups and craft shows before making the move three years ago to a storefront at 87 Milton Avenue in Ballston Spa. 

Drawing was something Seplowitz did at home on short breaks during her busy days as a mother of young children. She does not have an art background like her husband, who has a photography business that she helps to market.

But she does have a retail background that goes back to childhood on the family farm.

“My father had a pumpkin business,” said Seplowitz. “He told me and my sisters, ‘here is five acres. I’ll plant, you sow.’” 

The girls sold pumpkins on a main road just outside of Vermont and managed their business all through middle school and high school, she said.  

“I always thought it would be fun to have a little retail shop someday, but the business evolved later out of my mission to provide funding for meals for kids,” she said.

By Susan Elise Campbell

Frivolous Boutique owner Beth Jameson has proven that when it comes to shopping along Broadway in Saratoga, girls do just want to have fun.

On June 1st, Jameson marks 20 years of successfully navigating the challenges of a sole proprietor of a retail shop in a changing local economy. 

Most of her tenure has been right on 385 Broadway, which she and Thomas Newkirk purchased jointly at auction in 2012. Newkirk developed the 20,000 square foot building. Jameson moved Frivolous Boutique into the storefront. 

So many years later, Jameson remains true to her concept that often the best reason to buy something is “because it makes you happy.”

“The name ‘Frivolous’ can be defined as reflecting something you might want, but don’t need,” she said. “It may not be an impulse purchase, but one you have to have and feel good about.”

The boutique is designed so shoppers discover new and interesting items as they move through the space, she said.

“It has evolved to be more eclectic,” she said. “There are clothing items here, random items there, such as candles and dog gifts,” as well as jewelry, scarves, handbags, and other accessories.

By Ann Donnelly

Sheila Greco’s journey to becoming the founder and CEO of SGA Talent, a Saratoga-based recruiting firm, is a testament to embracing opportunity and the power of networking. Her story began in bond trading in New York City and took an unexpected turn after a chance conversation at a cocktail party. “Someone said, ‘Oh my God, you should be a recruiter,’” Greco recalls. Intrigued, she explored the field, landed a job at New York City firm Goodrich and Sherwood, and quickly discovered her passion.

Life, however, had other plans. In 1989, family matters brought Greco home to Saratoga. Fortuitously, a client offered to support her in starting her own business, and SGA Talent was born. “I started as sole proprietor, and within about three years,” says Greco, “I hired five people, four of which are still with me today.”

SGA Talent started as a research house that provided organizational chart structures and name generation, which involves providing a company with candidates from a list of competitors that they select. “Our clients said, ‘Why aren’t you doing recruiting? Why aren’t you doing competitive intelligence?’” Greco explains, highlighting how the company’s service offerings evolved organically based on client needs.

Over the years, SGA Talent expanded into executive recruiting and, more recently, ventured into the staffing sector. In 2022, an opportunity arose to staff the Saratoga race track. Despite having no prior experience in hospitality, Greco embraced the challenge. “I said, ‘I don’t know anything about it,’ and embraced it,” she says. This leap of faith led to SGA Talent staffing major events like Formula One races in Las Vegas, the Super Bowl, and the PGA. The firm also provides staff for college food service, outdoor festivals, and corporate events. “That business is a lot of fun, and we’re having a great time,” Greco enthuses, “I love the industry.”