Women Impacting Mason-Deerfield Panelists
The August event will feature four distinguished panelists, Cathy Harbison, owner of Baysore's Flower Shop; Amy Lortz, owner of The Common Beer Co.; Jean Raga, owner of eXp Realty Main Street; and Lisa Vitek, owner of Mim's Off Main; who are all business owners in the Downtown Mason Mile corridor. They will share their personal and professional journeys, offering invaluable advice on overcoming challenges and achieving success. Additionally, they will outline their vision for the future of the Mason Mile and the greater MADE region.
Cathy Harbison
Owner, Baysore's Flower Shop
Cathy is the Owner of Baysore’s Flower Shop in Mason, Ohio. Cathy has owned and operated the business since 2002 and has long been associated with the flower shop. She grew up spending time at the shop with her Mother, a floral designer who managed the shop until her retirement in 2015. A lifelong resident of Mason, Cathy has been part of the Baysore’s family and still remains close with the original owner. Baysore’s Flower Shop has been a fixture in the community for over 60 years and since owning the business she has focused on meeting the needs of the community while maintaining the family focus and providing personal and exceptional customer service. As a business owner she believes in the strength of small business and support of the local community. Baysore’s received recognition as the Best Flower Shop from the Best of the North in 2018 and was named as one of the Top 250 Florist nationally from FTD.
Cathy has deep roots to the community and currently serves on the Mason Deerfield Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. She is also the Co-Chair of the Chamber Downtown Committee and the Chamber Women’s Advisory Committee. In addition, she represents the Chamber at the Downtown Committee of Council and the Downtown Arts committee.
Cathy’s focus has always been on providing excellent quality, innovative and creative solutions to clients, customers and business partners and giving back to the community. She places strong emphasis on providing exceptional customer service and value to her customers.
Jean Raga
Owner, eXp Realty Main Street
Jean Raga is an Executive Vice President at exp Realty and the owner of exp Main Street in downtown Mason. She began her real estate career by helping friends find their dream homes and grew that business by listening to each client with that same care. Her proudest moments are working with her many repeat clients. She’ll listen to their needs, understand their dreams, and share her expertise to provide a truly personalized experience.
Real Estate wasn’t Jean’s original career trajectory, she began in a much different professional area. Jean graduated with a master’s degree in clinical chemistry from the University of Rochester and worked and built satellite chemistry labs in a local teaching hospital. Her thesis detailed an important Cystic Fibrosis screening test used in the hospital to this day.
Moving to Deerfield Township in 1995, Jean was unwilling to sacrifice her growing family to the unpredictable hospital schedule and lifestyle. So, she changed course and used her other talents to start two businesses over the course of the next five years, selling both to partners. Enjoying the flexibility of working in her own business, Jean became a licensed realtor and later managed an office for Sibcy Cline Realtors.
Today, at exp Main Street, Jean is building a real estate team and serving her community. Her goal has always been to build her business on integrity and to welcome others into the business and offer her expert training for new and experienced realtor so the thrive in the Real Estate Industry.
Combined passion for cooking to create her tagline “Recipe for Real Estate” and has produced a cookbook of personal favorites and co-authored publications for her clients on home buying and selling.
Jean is a member of National Association of Realtors, Ohio Board of Realtors, Realtor® Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, The Mason Deerfield Chamber and the Deerfield Board of Zoning Appeals. Jean remains an active volunteer and community leader. She and her husband, Tom, have two adult children, Colleen and Rick, and share their home with their family dog, Lucy.
Lisa Vitek
Owner, Mim's Off Main
Lisa Vitek had always dreamed of owning her own gift shop. After working for other individuals in the retail gift shop business for several years, her dream came true.
A friendship with Mim Kelly turned into a dream when she asked if Lisa would be interested in pruchasing Mim's Off Main in October 2013. Vitek says the purchase has been the best decision of her life and also the most challenging.