CRAVE D.C. Pre-Launch Party

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Q: Where can you find one hundred suga-mamas mixing and mingling on a Tuesday evening?

A: Beacon Bar and Grill, thanks to CRAVE DC's 'Urban Girl Manifesto' Pre-Launch Party We kid about the suga-mamas (sort of), but we have yet to see a room full of strong, successful women that could rival the crowd CRAVE DC brought together last night.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of magazines, guidebooks and websites in circulation offering advice on the best cupcake shop in New York, or the best yoga coach in Miami, or the best jewelry designer in Los Angeles, but CRAVE has entered this market with a new and innovative outlook.

CRAVE's women-led team focuses exclusively on featuring female entrepreneurs, particularly solo-preneurs, whose businesses are successful, thriving, and unique. Businesses featured in the booklets range from jewelry design, to personal training, to cooking accessories and classes, to marketing, publicity, web and even health services.

With American metropolises such as Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, and Las Vegas, as well as international cities including Amsterdam and Vancouver already under its belt, CRAVE decided to expand into Washington DC last year. With woman-in-charge and chief collaborator Wendy McAllister at the helm, CRAVE came to DC in search of female businesswomen and entrepreneurs.

Over 120 women showed up at CRAVE's Pre-Launch Happy Hour at Beacon last night. Some had just started their businesses, some had been working on theirs for years, but as happy hour specials and on-the-house appetizers circulated the room, the women chatted, socialized, and learned from each other regardless of their business' standing.  Many of the entrepreneurs featured in the guidebook were in attendance, and we had the chance to talk with Kaushika Patel of Catalyst Gourmet and Christine Hayes of Fezerly Jewelry, among several others, about their experience with spices and necklaces.

The event was, in a word, inspiring, and we can't wait for CRAVE's 'Urban Girl Manifesto' to hit shelves in late summer 2010.