Brick Woman Named To Best 50 Women In Business In NJ

BRICK, NJ — A Brick Township woman has been named one of the Best 50 Women in Business in New Jersey by a business publication.

BJ Dowlen, the entrepreneur behind Bodyworks Enterprises, will be among those 50 women who will be honored at an awards reception and ceremony in March, according to the NJBIZ website.

The list includes influential women from all over New Jersey, including college presidents and heads of architectural firms, lawyers and more.

Dowlen is the creator of the Bodyworks Ball, a portable self massage tool for instant relief of neck cricks, shoulder knots, back pain, and for sore aching hands, wrists and feet. She started her company in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, which significantly damaged her home but also pushed her to make the change in her career; she was a partner in an export company before Sandy hit. The company shipped a variety of materials overseas, where they were then turned into products and sold in the United States.

That bothered her greatly, and in creating the Bodyworks ball she has worked hard to ensure it is 100 percent manufactured in America, down to the printing on the bags the balls are packaged in.

In 2015 Dowlen won a STEP Award for Women in Manufacturing. for the ball and for her efforts to ensure it was made in America. The award (STEP stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Production), presented by the Manufacturing Institute in Washington, DC. And Dowlen and the Bodyworks ball has been featured in a variety of places and publications, in part because she rarely takes a day off from trying to connect with companies and organizations that might get her product more exposure.

You can read more about her journey to entrepreneurship: Sandy Gives Brick Woman Push To Launch Wellness Product

Follow Dowlen on Instagram and see what she's up to; click here.

Photo courtesy of BJ Dowlen