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Sarah Francis

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DOULA ­DETAILS: Melissa Bowley, founder and CEO of doula service Flourish Collective Inc., doing business as Flourish Care, in her Newport office.
PBN PHOTO/DAVID HANSEN

Bowley is connecting mothers with doulas to have successful births

Melissa Bowley took a roundabout journey to become the founder and CEO of doula service Flourish Collective Inc., doing business as Flourish Care, which...

Gilbane’s people-first culture puts mental health and wellness at the center

PBN Healthiest Employers Awards 2026 1,500-4,999 EMPLOYEES 3. Gilbane Inc. CEO (or equivalent): Edward T. Broderick, CEO Full-time U.S. employees: 3,300 With some 3,300 employees globally, Gilbane Inc., a...

Ocean State Job Lot builds a culture where healthy associates come...

PBN Healthiest Employers Awards 2026 1,500-4,999 EMPLOYEES 4. Ocean State Job Lot CEO (or equivalent): Marc Perlman, principal owner and CEO; Alan Perlman and Steve Aronow, principal...
EXPANDED OPERATION: Kelly Nevins, CEO of the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, has grown the organization from one staffer and a $160,000 budget to seven employees and $800,000. 
PBN PHOTO/ELIZABETH GRAHAM

Kelly Nevins

PBN Leaders & Achievers Awards 2026 KELLY NEVINS Women’s Fund of Rhode Island CEO When Kelly Nevins graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1990...
FULFILLING ENDEAVOR: Farouk Rajab, CEO and president of the Rhode Island Hospitality Association, rose from restaurant host to the top job and said what he finds most rewarding is helping develop employees and seeing them become happy and successful. 
PBN PHOTO/ELIZABETH GRAHAM

Farouk Rajab

PBN Leaders & Achievers Awards 2026 FAROUK RAJAB Rhode Island Hospitality Association CEO and president Making people comfortable is in Farouk Rajab’s DNA. Rajab was raised in...
SHINING BRIGHT: 
Rich Reynolds, left, fabrication supervisor, speaks with Jessica Mularski, majority owner, at Renova Lighting Systems Inc. in Warwick.
PBN PHOTO/­MICHAEL SALERNO

Mularski is lighting the way for her clients

Drab paint, tile floors and fluorescent strip lights, all wrapped in a mood of dreary desperation – for those forced to spend time there,...
INN THE KNOW: Monica Hopton has owned and operated the Christopher Dodge House, a 14-room bed-and-breakfast in Providence, since 2002.
PBN PHOTO/­MICHAEL SALERNO

Through thick and thin, she keeps urban B&B running

When Monica Hopton was a teenager, her father and stepmom bought a bed-and-breakfast on Nantucket. The island surroundings were lovely, and the B&B was...
IN A GOOD PLACE: ­Physical therapist Amy Smith decided to launch her own therapy business with her wife, Emily Smith, in 2020. Roots Physical Therapy and Yoga has grown ever since. 
PBN PHOTO/­MICHAEL SALERNO

Roots of success: Physical therapist blends yoga into healing

Ask Amy Smith why she wanted to open her business, and she’ll tell you she didn’t. “I have a business bone in my body....
IN THE KNOW: Patricia Lyons-Bousquet, owner of CompLyons HR Consulting LLC, says her graduation from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program in Rhode Island was transformative. 
PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

She’s put her resources into building an HR firm

PBN Business Women Awards 2026 ACHIEVEMENT HONOREE: Patricia Lyons-Bousquet, CompLyons HR Consulting LLC Patricia Lyons-Bousquet launched CompLyons HR Consulting LLC in 2023 out of the East Providence...
FLYING ­COLORS: Elaine Felag opened Feminine Fancies in 1982 and gave herself five years to work. Nearly 44 years later, the women’s boutique is still going strong. 
PBN FILE PHOTO/­MICHAEL SALERNO

4 decades later, Felag’s store stays in vogue

PBN Business Women Awards 2026 ACHIEVEMENT HONOREE: Elaine Felag, Feminine Fancies For more than four decades, Elaine Felag has owned and operated Feminine Fancies, an upscale ­women’s...
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