March is Women's History Month. In that spirit, five women agreed to be interviewed about their work as a way to share their paths with young women who still have their own roads to create. Contributing to their communities in ways that represent their unique talents and visions, they stand as examples of a phrase that Eleanor Roosevelt penned: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

The rewards of 24/7

As someone who was born and raised in Eastport, the houses that dot the landscape hold a special place in Mary Pottle's heart. It gives her great pleasure to see the houses saved by people moving to the area. The houses are old, she explains, adding, "I'm just thankful that people are saving them." Pottle started with Spinnaker Realty in 1985 and became the owner in 1995. She has seen ups and downs many times and says that getting through the tough times means "persevering with your dream, having faith, building a good relationship with family, employees and friends to hold you up when the going gets rough."

Of the many real estate transactions that she has facilitated over the years, she says, "I'm selling them Eastport. People that stay really stay for the lifestyle."

Pottle is nearing retirement age but has no plans to close shop and move to warmer climes. "As long as I'm able to continue, I'll do so." She'll take trips for a few weeks but plans on staying in the city she was born in.

She gives back to her community constantly but prefers to remain anonymous. If a small bit of time ever opens up, she hopes to find a way to reach out to girls and young women with self-esteem building programs. Owning a business means being available 24/7, Pottle says. The rewards are the good people that she interacts with every day. She'd like to pass that feeling along to the young women of her community.

Finding a flexible niche

The Phish Net Café of Machias was originally started by Maria Griggs and her husband Terry with the vision of a "place to meet or for travelers to use." Very quickly, however, she found that computer repair and sales were services that Downeast Mainers wanted. And from that start, the business evolved into carrying computer accessories, such as flash drives, laptop bags and printer cables. The café, Maria Griggs describes, "makes it comfortable for people who want to have some leisure time on a computer and can have something to munch on." They carry a line of cookies and muffins along with coffee and tea.

The business has also added computer consulting to the mix. Griggs reports, "That part has been interesting. People bring their computers in with lists of needs and uses." The staff will assess existing systems and do a cost comparison of upgrades versus new options for the customer. Flexibility is the absolute key to owning a business, she says, along with creativity and ingenuity.

She and her husband have always participated in community groups, and while she has been very busy with the business start-up, she has been writing a landscaping grant for the Machias downtown revitalization group. "My role as a business owner is trying to do the best I can for commerce and community."

No dream is cookie-cutter perfect

“I have a vision for bringing people together," says Karen McGraw, owner of The Beacon Cottages and Event Center of Pembroke. It was a long-held dream that she and her husband would move to the area, but it took an unexpected leap of faith to make it happen. They had originally dreamed of a place in Whiting where they could create a camp that would be enjoyed by family groups and community  members. But when the property in Pembroke came up for sale, they took their life's savings and bought it. "When the realtor told us about the homestead, I thought, 'Dreams aren't given to us cookie-cutter perfect.'"

The 10-acre property has a number of cottages that are being renovated year by year and a building that can be used by guests for games and gatherings. Gardens and paths are in the works. "We hope to be there in five years," she says. While the housekeeping cottages aren't quite the camp she was originally thinking of, she says, "The core idea is still the same. Bringing people together is at the heart of the project."

As a relatively new business owner in Washington County, she says, "You have to work in fear sometimes, have to keep pushing. Washington County is a tough place [to make a living], but it's full of great people. We are so happy to be here, so happy to be ourselves without the constrictions that you find in some other places."

The art of creation

Water drips off an icicle; wind ripples across a plane of snow. These are some of the inspirations of place that inform jeweler Heather Perry of Robbinston. "It's all about forms and nature," she says of the way that the Downeast landscape inspires her. "It's hard to choose sometimes." Perry began her business, Heather Perry Fine Jewelry, in 2003. She knew that it would be fulfilling to make art. "It's what I went to school for," she says. But she did not want to pigeonhole herself with a specific type of jewelry design.

"Foremost is the act of creation," she says, with the functions of shape being at the heart of her creative process. The business part does not come as naturally, but she has become successful at narrowing down the thousands of shows available to artisans by pinpointing those that provide her with the best opportunities to meet people who will respond to her designs. She now has customers from across the country as well as from Germany, France and Japan who have found her through the shows she attends.

As for her community, she says that she has donated so many of her pieces or gift certificates to nonprofits or other civic causes that she has lost count. She gives willingly to community causes and has been in preliminary discussions with area nonprofits about teaching classes. She is enthusiastic about sharing her passion for jewelry as an art and the concrete skills it takes to turn form into function.

Returning to a vision

The Inn at Whale Cove has been an institution on Grand Manan since the turn of the last century. When Laura Buckley took over operations in 1995, and then inherited the inn from her mother in 2005, she was taking on a risk that even her mother had warned her against. Buckley grew up in Toronto but summered as a child on the island while her mother helped run the inn. As a young adult, Buckley trained as a professional chef and worked in places such as Banff, Alberta. "I always wanted to come back," she says, "but mother was against it. She didn't believe it could be a full-time living."

In 1989 Buckley returned to Grand Manan but this time as a year-round resident working at the Compass Rose Bed & Breakfast. "It was very good for me to work there," and she explains how she had to learn to change gears from being a chef at high-end resorts to running a B&B establishment. "The cost structure is way different; plus you have to be less myopic than when you're just a chef." While she worked at the Compass Rose she also worked on renovations at her mother's inn.

"There is an endless parade of challenges when caring for old houses," she says of the collection of early 19th century homes that make up the Inn at Whale Cove. During the quieter months of winter she has time to work on the Swallowtail Lighthouse project and is passing on her skills to a young woman apprentice.