“The Sunday Night Funnies has always been a diverse show,” says Brian B., MC and Founder of the SNF. “I wanted to celebrate the contribution women comedians have brought to the show through the years.”
Brian B. went on to say that, locally, women performing standup comedy was rare.
“Over the course of the last few years, that number has been steadily growing,” Brian B. says. “We’re featuring seven extremely funny women comics for this show.”
The lineup
The March 3 special performance will feature Grand Rapids comedian Kim Cook, a Second City alumni and semifinalist in the 2022 Kingpin of Comedy competition; Nicole Melnyk, voted Lansing’s Best Comic three times; Lauren Corbett; Cheryl Stoner; Amanda VK; and SNF first-timers Lucky Lee and Cinda DeBolt.
Lucky Lee (Courtesy, SNF)
Kim Cook (Courtesy, SNF)
Cheryl Stoner (Courtesy, SNF)
Amanda VK (Courtesy, SNF)
Cinda DeBolt (Courtesy, SNF)
Lauren Corbett (Courtesy, SNF)
Nicole Melnyk (Courtesy, SNF)
Mark your calendars for upcoming SNF events!
The following Sunday, March 10, is SNF’s annual LaughFest show. Comics 50+ will celebrate Older American Month with a show on Sunday, May 5. Soon after will be the start of SNF’s sixth annual Kingpin of Comedy competition.
About SNF
The creation of Grand Rapids stand-up comedian Brian B. (Brian Borbot), the SNF is a weekly live stand-up comedy performance featuring a variety of comics from Michigan and around the country.
Three years ago, Kristin Ruther found her niche at RE/MAX of Grand Rapids. (Supplied)
By Sheila McGrath WKTV Contributing Writer
Kristin Ruther has a word of advice for women who feel like they’ve somehow landed in the wrong job.
“You’re not a tree,” she said. “You’re not planted. You can move.”
Kristin Ruther and her husband John were college sweethearts, marring while Kristin was still in college. (Supplied)
Over the course of her working life, Ruther has found success in a variety of jobs that made use of her business development skills and her love of bringing people together.
These days, she’s a Realtor who leads the Ruther Daigle Team at RE/MAX of Grand Rapids. She has worked in real estate for the past six years, and as one of the top-selling agents in the area last year, became a member of RE/MAX’s Platinum Club.
But not every job she took over the years turned out to be a good fit. And when it wasn’t, she found a way to move on.
Ruther and her husband, John, got married while she was still in college. Their first child arrived before she graduated, so finishing college and starting a career were temporarily put on hold. Their family grew to include two more children, and she loved staying home with them when they were small.
After going back to school and finishing her degree in 2005, she took a job as a recruiter in Downers Grove, Illinois, with hopes of eventually becoming a human resources generalist.
But the hours were long – she left home at 6 a.m. and couldn’t leave the office until her boss left after 6 p.m. When the opportunity arose to join an architectural firm that specialized in building churches, she jumped at the chance.
“It was really fun to be able to think about architecture and design because that’s what I really enjoy,” she said.
When she joined the group in 2008, the firm’s average project size was $750,000. By the time she left six years later, she was director of strategic partnerships and the average project size had grown to $3 million.
But Ruther and her husband had decided to return to Michigan to be closer to family, and she was once again pondering her next career move. After thinking for a while about becoming a real estate agent, she began taking classes and got her license.
The kickoff to her new career didn’t go quite as planned, though – at her first job, a male colleague introduced her to the rest of her new team by saying “This is my girlfriend.”
“I’m nobody’s girlfriend,” she told him afterward. “It’s not a joke.”
Despite her objections, his behavior continued. So she got out and joined a different brokerage.
“There are so many places where you can feel empowered and strong, and that’s where you need to be,” she said. “I think it’s almost every woman’s experience: of pushing back and saying ‘That doesn’t feel right, I need to move away from that.’”
Three years ago, she joined RE/MAX of Grand Rapids after falling in love with their sleek, contemporary office space on Byron Center Avenue in Wyoming. She describes the office as a “big learning community” where there are always classes going on to help them grow as Realtors.
“There’s always something that you’re learning that they’re pouring into you,” she said. “There’s always something to learn about houses and what makes a good house for somebody, or what some of the red flags are.”
She loves the design aspect of staging houses and helping her clients get top dollar for their properties. And she’s honored by the trust they put in her.
Kristin Ruther and her husband John with their family. (Supplied)
“As agents, we are trusted,” she said. ‘You’re giving me the keys to your house. You’re trusting me with some very big financial things. So there’s a level of integrity you have to have.”
The team Ruther leads now includes her daughter, Lauren Daigle, who does all of her marketing and photography, and her son-in-law, Aaron Daigle, who joined the team as a Realtor.
Ruther said education has been a big part of her success.
“Education is the key. Every time you take a class you gain a little more confidence and a little more competence, and I think all of that really piles up.”
But she said for her, it was also really helpful to have a coach –someone who always has your back.
“There’s always something for you to learn from somebody who has been there, done that,” she said.
NOTE: For Women’s History Month we are featuring local female business leaders. We start our series with Nancy Jacob, who with her husband Mike own Apple Spice Box Lunch Delivery and Catering Co.
Nancy Jacobs is co-owner with her husband Mike of Apple Spice Box Lunch Delivery and Catering, Co. (WKTV)
When you meet Nancy Jacobs, you can’t help feel she is the neighbor you just want to have a sandwich and soda with while discussing the day’s ups and downs.
If that does happen, Jacobs can definitely supply the sandwich and beverage of choice as her and her husband Mike are the owners of Apple Spice, a box lunch delivery and catering company located off of 68th Street.
“We often joke that when Nancy goes out our sales go up,” said Mike Jacobs.
Nancy Jacobs is the face of the operation. She is the one who will load up with samples and then head out to visit with local businesses, encouraging prospective clients to try what Apple Spice has to offer.
“I think because many of the people I meet are often women who are the gatekeepers when it comes to planning events at the business, it is a lot easier for me to get connected with the right person,” Nancy Jacobs said, adding that about 80 percent of her contact is woman-to-woman. Jacobs’ husband agrees that for their business, Nancy Jacobs’ ability to network has helped to make Apple Spice successful.
Nancy Jacobs noted that teachers love the heavy duty box that Apple Spice’s box lunch comes in, using the boxes for a variety of purposes. (WKTV)
The Dream of Having Your Own Business
Mike and Nancy Jacobs started Apple Spice just before the pandemic. Mike had been laid off from his aerospace job and through a seminar his former company offered, came home with the idea of the couple starting a franchise.
“It was something that we had talked about in the past, starting a business,” said Nancy Jacobs, who was a nurse. “However, after the seminar, Mike thought that a franchise made for a reasonable way for us to do that since with a franchise the start-up work of creating the business had been done.
“Basically it is like starting a business but with training wheels.”
Through coaching, the couple narrowed it down to two possible franchises and after visiting both companies, opted for Apple Space, which is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Food seemed like a natural fit for the couple, Jacobs said as the reason for the choice.
A peek inside one of the Apple Spice box lunches. (WKTV)
The couple selected its 68th Street location, in the same mall as The Dollar Tree and Blain Farm and Fleet, because of the space it provided for their business needs while being close to US 131.
Apple Spice offers primarily lunches, through box lunches and catering. Jacobs said they do offer breakfast and some late lunch/early dinner service. Delivery is available for five or more box lunches and catering. Those wishing to order four or less box lunches may pick up from the store front on 68th Street. She noted that it is the Apple Spice team that delivers the food, not an outside service. This is to assure that items are set up to the customer’s expectations, she said.
And things were going pretty well with the couple even adding their own sandwich, the Michigan Cherry Chicken, to the menu and coming up with a “bread flight” that features three of the catering company’s breads.
Then, the pandemic hit.
“We just watched as our catering business went from steady to zero,” Jacobs said. But the business had a second side, box lunches, which offered a solution to providing individual meals for groups.
“People wanted to help hospital workers or police and fire and they would call up to have box lunches sent to a certain floor staff or department,” Jacobs said. The heavy duty box, which Jacobs said teachers find all kinds of creative ways to use, includes a sandwich, pickle, cookie, and a choice of salads, chips or fresh fruit in the classic box. There are other options as well including salad box meals.
The box lunches helped the business through the pandemic, making up almost 95 percent of its business. The business is now seeing more of a 60/40 spited between its box lunches and catering. Of course, there have been supply demands, with the couple adding a storage container in the back parking lot which has allowed them to stock up on items when they do find them.
It takes two
“I like going to Wyoming Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce events such as the B2 Outlet opening because it gives me the opportunity to network and meet new people,” Jacobs said. “The Chamber is a good resource for me.”
And while Jacobs maybe good at networking and marketing, she does have her weaknesses.
“I can’t work the computer,” she said looking hesitantly over at her work station. “I just learned one system and they changed it on me. I have to rely on Mike, my general manager and staff to help me.”
That is where having a partner has been key to the business’s success, Jacobs said, adding that Mike handles a lot of the operational needs while she focuses on promotions and networking.
“Sometimes I get a call from a customer and I just know it would be better if a man handled it,” she said. “That is when I can ask Mike if he can take it and sometimes, he gets a call and knows it would be better if a woman took the call, so he gives it to me.”
As for challenges of being a women in the catering world, Jacobs admits she has not had many. Husband Mike said he feels it is because the business they are in, food and catering, is fairly diverse.
“I think there would be more challenges if Nancy was say in something like manufacturing which is more male dominated,” he said.
Apple Spice is the couple’s retirement job as they look toward the future. Jacobs said they hope to get a recreational vehicle someday and travel. They currently do some travel as certified Kansas City Barbecue Society judges.
As for now, Nancy Jacob said the couple’s goal is to continue to build Apple Spice and on that note, as the promotions person, she didn’t hesitate to add to encourage people to connect and check out Apple Spice’s offerings.
Apple Spice is located at 701 68th St. SW. The phone number is 616-805-3288 or visit the website at www.applesauce.com.
As March is Women’s History Month, WKTV is celebrating some of the women leaders from the cities of Kentwood and Wyoming.
When Carol Sheets heard that Metro Health was looking for a new home in the early 2000s, Sheets made a phone call to hospital officials and proposed the City of Wyoming. The rest is history.
Sheets served on the City Council from 1993 – 2009, the last four years as the city’s first and only female mayor. During her tenure, she saw the city go through some of its roughest times, the lost of Celebrating Wyoming and the closing of Rogers Department Store and the GM Manufacturing Plant on 36th Street. Still she proved unwavering to her dedication to the city she loved, serving as its advocate and making those calls to bring organizations in. Sheets died in 2013. She was 69.
A woman who survived the Holocaust and escaped imprisonment will give a presentation at Grand Valley State University on March 15, as part of Women’s History Month.
In 1944, Magda Brown, from Hungary, was sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland, where she was separated from her family. She spent time at a work camp before escaping with several other prisoners during a march to Buchenwald. They were discovered and liberated by American soldiers. Brown, now 89 years old, moved to the U.S. in 1946. She is a great aunt of Samantha Murray, a Grand Valley student who is president of the university’s Hillel chapter.
Brown’s presentation will take place from 7-9 p.m. in room 2250 of the Kirkhof Center on the Allendale Campus.
Magda Brown at a younger age.
Hillel member Robin Hutchings said Brown’s presentation will be recorded and donated to Grand Valley’s archives for future campus community members to watch.
“Magda loves presenting to university students because she feels we have a great ability to make change in our societies,” said Hutchings.
Brown was united with her brother, Miklos Brown, in 1962. For 40 years, Brown worked in a physician’s office as a certified medical assistant. She is an active member and past president of the American Association of Medical Assistants, Illinois Society. She is also a member of the Speaker’s Bureau of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. Learn more about Brown at www.magdabrown.com.
Girls Scouts from the Byron Center area ride on the float in the Byron Center Christmas parade.
Girl Scouts all over the world are marking the organization’s 104th anniversary with Girl Scout week, running through March 12.
To help celebrate this special occasion, WKTV will be rebroadcasting its Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore Media Experience program March 9 at 4 p.m.
The program, a collaboration between the local council, Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore, and WKTV, was designed to give area Girl Scouts a taste of what it was like to produce a television show. The girls operated cameras, used the video switcher, monitored audio, and loaded graphics to produce the interviews featuring many of the crew members.
Girl Scouts, interviewed by local media experts, discussed their Girl Scout experiences from earning awards to their favorite memories about Girl Scouting.
March 12 marks the official birthday of Girl Scouts. This is the date that commemorates the day in 1912 when Juliette Gordon Low officially registered the organization’s first 18 girl members in Savannah, Georgia. Today, the organization boosts of 2.7 million Girl Scouts – 1.9 million girl members and 800,000 adult members – in about 92 countries, according to Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., which was officially chartered by the U.S. Congress on March 16, 1950.
And this being Women’s History Month, it should be noted that it is estimated that more than 59 million women in America today have participated in Girl Scouts during their childhood.
To learn more about Girl Scouts, including how to get involved, visit the Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore website. For more on WKTV programs, visit wktv.org.
March is Women’s History Month, a time to reflect on how far women have come in the workplace. One can examine popular culture like the television show MAD MEN to cringe at the way women were treated in the business world. In one episode Don Draper, the show’s leading man, announced to a female client that he “won’t let a woman talk to him this way.” Combine that with excessive philandering, continual sexist jokes, illicit affairs, holiday parties where male execs actually tackled secretaries the see what color their panties were and women being expected to sleep their way to anything that even resembled a management position. I had the opportunity to talk to local women to see what adversity they overcame to gain leadership in business ventures.
Tommy Brann and Marge Wilson
75-year-old Marge Wilson runs the very successful Marge’s Donut Den in Wyoming, Michigan. She’s been at it since 1975. The business just recently went through expansion and remodeling to meet the needs of the community. She wakes up at 3:00a.m. to be at work by 4:00a.m. It’s not easy and she was doubted by many when she first started. ” I remember when I first started so many men told me that it would be absolutely impossible for a woman to run a successful business,” she said. “There were so many doubters.” Look at her now. Running one of the most successful donut establishments in West Michigan. She makes and distributes baked goods, wedding and corporate cakes, brownies, cookies, muffins and donuts. She recently kept the business open 24 hours on Fat Tuesday to sell 24,000 Packzi’s and went through 2,500 pounds of dough.
Anne Doyle was a successful broadcast journalist at WZZM-TV 13. She is now the author of POWERING UP! How America’s Women Achievers Become Leaders, a City Councilwoman in Auburn HIlls, MI. and a global speaker. She has been tested for decades in some of the toughest leadership laboratories for women: sports locker rooms, the global auto industry, elected office and single parenting.
When she first started in reporting– in a relatively all male newsroom– she was told that it was her responsibility to get the men their coffee every morning.
How things have changed:
“My 2015 message is simply this: BE COURAGEOUS. Dare to continue raising your voice to make a positive difference. Everywhere we look, the human family is crying out for the mothers of the world — women — to step up and take an equal role in shaping the economic, cultural, educational, military and public policy decisions that impact all human possibility.”
I love the words of Admiral Michelle Howard, vice chief of U.S. Naval Operations, who is raising the Navy’s game. She recently told a Washington, DC audience, “My definition of leadership is ‘Not standing around and doing nothing while watching everything go to hell!’” Everywhere we look, things are going to hell. Pick your passion. Then put your shoulder to the wheel and let your voice be heard — particularly if you are the lone voice who brings different perspective to decisions.
Leadership is rarely easy. I draw courage from watching or reading about others in action, such as the movies: Selma, directed by Ava DuVernay; Iron-Jawed Angels and Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon. Or, pick up, “Race Across Alaska,” the fascinating book on Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the 1,000-mile Iditarod dog-sled race. Plus, right before our eyes, fabulous examples of powerful, brave and wise women are rising up and taking action. For example: •United States Congress.
We now have 100 women (out of 535) elected to the U.S. Senate (20) and House of Representatives (80). That’s nowhere close to what it should be. Two of our newest Congresswomen, Brenda Lawrence and Debbie Dingell, are from Michigan and pesonal friends. Here’s a fascinating articles on the women who led the way in the ultimate “boys club” and the sexism even U.S. Senators still contend with. •DC’s Matriarchy – For the first time in history, the Mayor, Police Chief and School Chancellor of an American city are all women — and two are women of color.
It’s time for the rest of America to catch up! •Women of Africa Rising — Kah Walla, a courageous political leader I met years ago at a global conference, is running for president in Cameroon. Her TedTalk is a must-view primer on this critically important continent. •Marissa Mayer and Silicon Sexism – 2014 brought fascinating revelations about the blatant sexism in Silicon Valley. In Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo! author Nicolas Carlson blames Mayer’s Oscar de la Renta shoes !!!) instead of Silicon Valley culture for any sexism she faced. The recent review in NY Times magazine is worth your time. •Actress and activist Geena Davis continues to raise her voice on behalf of girls and women. She is partnering with Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods and Walmart to host a film festival promoting women and diversity in movies.
Yes, indeed, we have come a long way baby–to get to where we’ve got to today.
