The Fall issue of Charlottesville Woman is out in today’s Daily Progress. If you miss picking up Wednesday’s newspaper, click this link to find a list of areas to pick up copies!!

This month we talk about friendship in our Etiquette section. In today’s very connected world, social media can sometimes blur the lines of acquaintances, working relationships and friends, very important distinctions. I know I’ve struggled to define my responsibility to people on social network sites and being OK with the decisions and limits I place on myself for those I communicate with on Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn or through my personal blog. You can make “real” friendships with those on these and other social network sites, but to keep you from stumbling blindly through such open communications, our piece “Are You My Friend” (with comments from Woman We Love Marijean Jaggers) can help you appropriately set up your communication policy to avoid awkward situations later.

We feature Cathy Smith Train, who has worked for the past 22 years with the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area. This mother, wife and president of the organization was recognized for her achievements at Quadruplicity in March with the Athena Award. Her passion for her work shines through as we learn more about this incredible woman in the story “Living United.”

Understanding our bodies so that we feel good is important. Part of that comes from finding balance, part comes from healthy living and another comes from fitness. This month we learn how to say no to help us keep all the balls in the air. We also learn more about the Club Red Clinic at UVA Health System and how to be heart healthy. And we laugh it up in Laughter Yoga, which is a gentle aerobic exercise and mood enhancer all in one.

Our next issue (publishing Dec. 1) will contain a gift-buying guide. Do you have a secret gift shop that always contains the perfect gift you’d like to share with us? Email us at . We’d love to hear from you! Also, check out our every-other-week Women We Love blog posts (and other updates) at http://cwmag.dailyprogress.com! You can always follow us on Twitter @cwmag. Have a great fall!

Charlottesville is nearly bursting at the seams with successful, inspiring women. Charlottesville Woman magazine enjoys profiling these ladies in our quarterly publication and on our blog (http://cwmag.dailiyprogress.com), but we’ve decided to take the next step to recognize the efforts of Charlottesville-area women with our first-ever contest: 4 Under 40 Awards.

Charlottesville Woman’s 4 Under 40 Awards is designed to honor young professional women who have made innovative strides in their professions and are making a positive impact on the Charlottesville community as a whole.

Do you know a woman under the age of 40 (by Dec. 31, 2010) who has done something new, something innovative, something that moves the Charlottesville area toward a bright and shiny future? We want to hear about them! They can be of any vocation, but must live in our area and be at least 21 years old as of the end of this year. All nominations must be submitted no later than Dec. 15, 2010. We are going to present the awards at the Quadruplicity women’s conference next year—a really big thank you goes to the organizers of the conference and the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce, CBS19, WINA and Z95 for partnering with us on this inaugural adventure. We will also profile the winners in our spring issue of Charlottesville Woman magazine.

There’s a bit of housekeeping we should mention here:
•  All nominations must be submitted on the online 4 Under 40 Nomination Form (only available online at http://www.dailyprogress.com Keyword: Awards).
•  You can nominate yourself, sister, mother, daughter or local female professional.
•  You may nominate as many inspirational Charlottesville area women as you wish, but nominating someone more than once will not help their chances of winning.  It is the quality of the nomination, rather than the number of nominations, that will determine the winner.
•  You may attach a resume, but it is not a substitute for completed responses on the nomination form.
•  Answer all questions as fully as possible.

Who should you nominate? The woman must have shown innovation and achievement in their vocation; must show exceptional service commitment to our community; she must have shown vision and leadership in professional and/or charitable works; and she must have demonstrated her ability to juggle work/family/self.

We cannot wait to read about these inspiring ladies and celebrate the fabulous Charlottesville-area women!

Cute. Adorable. Supportive. Energetic. Happy. Fun. These are the words that immediately come to mind when you hear the name Ginger Germani. Germani, the Treasury Management officer at Virginia National Bank (VNB), is a wife, the mother of four, and involved in many activities in town she finds dear to her heart: such as Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA and helping to organize Quadruplicity, the women’s conference.

Germani followed her passion and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Randolph-Macon College. “My degree in economics was no accident,” she says. “I’m an economics dork. I love spending time looking at how people are operating their businesses and how I can help make a positive impact on that. Banking relationships are very crucial to the success of a business. It’s just a great fit.”

Germani is a dynamo—giving back to her family and her community. She carves out at least 30 minutes a day to just talk to her husband. “It doesn’t sound like much and most times it’s an hour, but our alone time to talk is really important,” Germani says.

And she tries to lead her life by her beliefs.

“My greatest strength is probably my conviction. I enjoy being able to speak so genuinely about the people and organizations I associate myself with. I only spend my time and effort on things that I truly believe in,” she says. “I believe that VNB offers the best possible banking relationships. I believe that our chamber can make a difference for businesses and professionals in our community. I believe that pets are valuable to people’s lives and should be given every chance to have a home because they will give back. I believe that my children are paying attention to everything that I do so it’s important for me to pay attention to them.

“My work with the chamber and the CASPCA can also be part of my day,” she adds. “VNB is very supportive of our community.”

And it’s her job at Virginia National Bank that Germani credits with helping her lead a balanced life.

“I has taken me a long time to figure out the secret to living a balanced life. I would attribute it to surrounding yourself with the right people and letting them know how much they mean to you: my husband, my boss and my friends,” Germani says. “My husband is a true life partner; he understands the importance of my family to me and of my career. My boss understands the same two things and a person spends most of their week working, so this is important. Both of them support me in those endeavors and I appreciate it so I try to tell them often. I don’t think I could have better friends. Most of them have begun as professional relationships and are such positive influences on my life.”

Her days at work are not “typical,” she notes, and she finds that exciting. “I could be analyzing bank statements to create service proposals or meeting with customers to learn about their daily operations and what they are trying to achieve to determine is there are Treasuring Management solutions that can help them.”

While she loves the day-to-day differences, and the strong relationships it affords, it’s her boss who has given her most rewarding professional experience.

“I get a tremendous warm and fuzzy feeling when one of my customers calls me because they want to bring me additional business because they enjoy and appreciate working with me. And as strange as it sounds, I get as excited over an exceptional service proposal as I do over a new pair of shoes,” she says. “But, none of that tops my last review. My boss has spent his entire career in banking. I have listened and learned very intently every time he has spoken. I couldn’t have a better mentor. So for someone that I regard so highly to tell me how pleased he has been with my work, well it doesn’t get any better than that. It’s sort of like Peyton Manning telling you what a great spiral you’ve got. I’m smiling just typing about it.”

As for other women thinking of going into banking, Germani offers this advice:
“Banking is a relationship-driven career. You are selling a relationship with yourself first and your organization second,” she says. “Join an organization that you can believe in so that you will always be genuine to your customers. Keep the dialogue about your career path open. Ask what opportunities will be available and what you need to demonstrate to be given those opportunities.”

8 Things You Might Not Know about Ginger Germani

1)  Who is your favorite author and why? I would love to have something profound to offer up here. However, I raise four kids and three dogs. My reading consists of periodicals that relate to my profession because I can get through an article at a time and blogs because blog posts do not tend to be too long either. I love to read Marijean Jaggers’ blog and Amy Eastlack’s Suzy Has More To Say and her other blog, Finding Amy…Again . Both of these ladies provide a comfortable place for me when I read their blogs. I am reminded that so many others experience all the same things I do. Some better—some worse. But when I have a few moments, I go to my Google reader and catch up on their blogs.

2)  Favorite thing about Charlottesville? My favorite thing about Charlottesville is the beautiful scenery. I come from Richmond, where I never noticed how flat everything was until I moved here. I look around everyday and appreciate the view that I have living in Charlottesville.

3)  What is your favorite hobby/pastime? My favorite hobby or past time is playing softball. I played it all my life until I went to a college that did not have a softball program. I missed it tremendously. I have coach my sons’ baseball teams when they were younger and my stepdaughter’s first softball team. I managed to form a co-ed team a few springs back but didn’t have the time to be in charge of it after that season. I look forward to playing again. I’m not so girly once I step onto that field.

4)  What is one of your hidden talents/skills? Hidden talent other than softball is cooking. I’m no five-star chef, but I have some pretty impressive dishes. Just no actual recipes. I never write anything down when I create it.

5)  What is your guilty pleasure? My guilty pleasure is my favorite consignment shop in Richmond. There are labels in that store that you can not find in this state! When my husband asked what I wanted for my birthday, I said I wanted to go there. It’s a good thing I moved. I would have a completely ridiculous wardrobe if I could still go every week.

6)  What is your favorite movie and why? I would have to pick two movies to be my favorites. The first being “The Notebook.” Love that is that strong is so moving. It’s so refreshing to see a story about two people who aren’t perfect but are perfect for each other. People whose strengths and weakness compensate or compliment each others. My other favorite movie would be “The Blind Side.” I think that knowing that it was a true story made me buy in to every moment of it. I was also so impressed with Leigh Anne Tuohy’s conviction and character. She’s a woman to admire.

7)  Where did you grow up? I grew up in Mechanicsville, a suburb of Richmond. A lot of farmland.

8)  What is the greatest invention of your lifetime and why? The greatest invention of my time. That has to be the Internet. There is an endless list of how the Internet has changed the way we do business and carry out our personal relationships as well.

In an effort to ensure that job seekers in our community have professional interview clothing, the Charlottesville Community Job Fair is sponsoring a Career Clothes for Job Seekers clothing drive. The goal is to provide all women and men job seekers in need of a professional clothing at least one outfit that they can wear when they attend the 2010 Charlottesville Community Fall Job Fair on Wednesday, Sept. 29 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.

Donations of gently used career apparel are needed now. Check your closets for “interview appropriate” items that you have not worn in the last year and ask your friends and neighbors to do the same.

Clothing can be dropped off on hangers at the Virginia Workforce Center, 2211 Hydraulic Road beginning today-Sept. 24 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The donations will be given to job seekers at the Workforce Center during the weeks leading up to the fair and there will be an image room available at the arena on the day of the job fair.

Wish List
Women’s Apparel Needs:
Skirt and pant suits
Separates—jackets, skirts and pants in all sizes
Dress shoes—black pumps, 1-3 inch heels (all sizes—clothes toe, no sling back)
Dress scarves; business appropriate jewelry

Men’s apparel needs:
Dress suits—dark neutrals for all sizes
Sport coats—dark neutrals for all sizes
Khakis and dress pants—neutrals for all sizes
Dress shirts—long sleeves, no print for all sizes
Dress ties—conservative stripe
Dress belts—black or brown in all sizes
Dress shoes—black or brown in all sizes

For more information, contact Bonnie Rogers, Image Investment Institute at (434) 326-1115 or or Holly Lee, city of Charlottesville/Economic Development at (434) 970-3117 or .

Better World Betty hosts a community picnic to celebrate earth-friendliness in the community on Sunday, Sept. 12 from 3-5 p.m. at Riverview Park.

Environmentally minded residents of all ages are invited to enjoy face-painting, food, music, eco-games, raffle prizes, an herb walk and conservation tips to use in their daily lives. Bring a picnic basket packed with a reusable beverage bottle, utensils and a side dish to share among friends near our precious local water resource, the Rivanna River. There will also be a book/CD/media exchange for anyone interested in swapping those items. The event is free and open to the public. Raffle tickets are $5, or 4 for $20. 

Local sponsors, Whole Foods, Harvesting Rain, Blue Ridge Eco Shop, Eco Dry Cleaners, Relay Foods and Trees on Fire, have donated raffle goodies to support Betty’s local action-oriented environmental initiatives.

, founder and director of Better World Betty says, “The picnic a great chance to gather as a community, support each other’s green habits and start new ones!” This picnic will have a water focus so organizers will give away a dozen water kits and are raffling off rain barrel, a Brita filter, a dual flush converter kit and more.

Better World Betty is a local grassroots organization dedicated to providing local solutions for a more sustainable life. Kent and her advisory board of dynamic, environmentally conscious business owners, activists and Charlottesville’s own Mayor Dave Norris have worked for more than two years to bring environmental awareness and action to the community. Every month Betty reaches more than 80,000 people with her website, community outreach programs, local column, and 106.1 The Corner radio show.

Why the name Betty? “Betty is a modernized 50’s mother, who tends the larger kitchen – the Earth kitchen—by giving us tools to green our lives in a fast, fun and friendly way.”