Sterling Women Manassas Takes Off with First Event

Kristina Bouweiri, owner of Reston Limousine and Founder of Sterling Women, opened Sterling Women Manassas’s first networking event by saying, “We women are the event planners.”

Shateea Holmes, Founder and Director of Sterling Women Manassas, illustrated that sentiment by setting up the kickoff at the Wyndham Garden Manassas. The networking luncheon featured numerous sponsors and vendors and keynote speaker Dr. Grace Keenan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Nova Medical and Urgent Care Center, Inc. and the Garden of Eatin’, LLC Grab & Go Café.

Dr. Keenan said being invited to speak forced her to “get off the merry-go-round” and think about what she really wanted to share. What she did share was grounded, inspirational and educational.

A native of Canada, Dr. Keenan was raised on a potato farm. She was strongly influenced by her mother who ran the farm and her nanny who instilled in her a sense of confidence and optimism. She learned early on that women could and should make financial decisions. When faced with the choice of becoming a teacher, nurse or secretary, Dr. Keenan chose a different path – medicine. She said she didn’t want a traditional career, liked math and science, but wondered if she was “smart enough” to be a doctor. So she asked her own doctor if she was. Her doctor told her what to do to get through medical school, and she did.

Dr. Keenan received her medical degree from Memorial University School of Medicine in 1985. Upon successful completion of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at St. Thomas Hospital Center in Akron, OH, Dr. Keenan relocated to Loudoun County and began private practice in 1988. The previous sole proprietorship became Nova Medical Group in 1991. Today, it is the largest integrative primary care practice in Northern Virginia with locations in Ashburn, Sterling, Leesburg and Gainesville.

But that journey was difficult. She said when she came to the United States, she felt like a foreigner, and she could not get a job. So she decided to open her own business. “Sterling Women of Manassas would have been helpful at that time,” she said.

With the challenges women face, “we have to be able to multi-task,” Dr. Keenan said. She is a mother and business owner who has had her share of difficulties, having been in a bad marriage and having a difficult pregnancy. But she said she was “determined to have a happy ending.” Dr. Keenan now has three grown children, as well as her thriving initiatives.

Dr. Keenan said medicine is a challenging field, but she has had support from friends and professionals. “I feel loved and fulfilled,” she said. She closed with three lessons learned:

1. Seeing yourself as a minority or as disadvantaged holds you back.

2. Don’t let others define you.

3. Access support systems.

Dr. Keenan reminded everyone that, knowing you will have challenges, remember “spring and rebirth will always return.”

Sterling Women Manassas is a local network of professionals committed to encouraging, supporting, inspiring and strengthening one another. Through events and monthly meetings, Sterling Women Manassas showcases and celebrates exceptional women in the Prince William Area.