Shannon Watkins is the co-owner of Blendz in downtown Los Gatos where she can be found greeting everyone with a smile. Shannon is one of those women who oozes empowerment AND spirituality. Standing next to her, I can FEEL an energetic boost almost as good as the fresh salads and fruit smoothies available for purchase.

What is so neat about Shannon is that she is a great example of what *really* believing in a dream can accomplish. Shannon and her husband, Gary, dreamt for years of owning a business yet chose another priority; caring for Gary's elderly mother. They put their dream on hold until Gary's mom passed away. When the Blendz opportunity came up, Shannon and Gary knew it was time to bring their dream to life.

And it was not without risk. Their Blendz is the first of its franchise in a location that honestly hasn't done well for other businesses. Yet Shannon and Gary followed their intuition and opened the restaurant. Two years later they run the area's most successful soup, sandwich and smoothie shop.

For all of these reasons and more, we declare Shannon Watkins as our August 2007 Aspiring Woman.

Visit Shannon at Blendz and be sure to order my favorites: A Seven Topping Salad with a Fresh Squeezed Carrot Juice. Yum!