I AM Prescott Woman

This woman is beloved in the Prescott community for her innate ability to engage, empower, and inspire those around her. Throughout her lengthy career and avid community involvement, she has led with exceptional grace and finesse, her actions echoing the core mission of Prescott Woman magazine. The impact she has made as a woman and for women is key.
Sponsored by Prescott Woman Magazine

Finalists from this category are from the covers of our 2023-2024 Prescott Woman Magazine.

Missy Sikora, Yavapai Family Advocacy Center

‘You Deserve to Feel Safe’

Yavapai Family Advocacy Center strives to help clients take back their power

By Hilary Dartt • Photo by Trisha Shaffer

The Yavapai Family Advocacy Center’s (YFAC) mission statement reads: “to reduce trauma to victims of abuse by providing a safe and supportive environment and facilitating a team approach to advocacy, investigation, and prosecution.”

But the people behind the organization describe their work a bit differently; they say they guide their clients to find their voice, take back their power, and rediscover their worth and value (or discover them for the first time).

“The best part [of our work here] is watching somebody … become their own hero,” said Missy Sikora, Director of YFAC.

Julie Glaze Gorman, Wild Iris

Entrepreneurship Runs In the Family

Mother-daughter duo create spaces that bring people together

By Hilary Dartt • Photos by Trisha Shaffer

It took a degree, a couple of careers, and several years for Julie Glaze Gorman to dial in on what she wanted to do. Now, she’s living her dream (which looks nothing like she expected), and she’s sharing it with her daughter, Autumn Sierra, who is enjoying the ride, too.

Julie opened Wild Iris Coffeehouse and Bakery 15 years ago this past November. Just a kid at the time, Autumn grew up washing dishes, taking orders, and managing the store. This past November, on the Wild Iris’s 15^th anniversary, Autumn opened her own digs, The Century Lounge, and is now putting her experience to use.

While Julie earned her fine arts degree, she said, “I always supported myself by working at restaurants and coffeehouses.”

“When I got my degree, I was also a single parent, and the idea of working in art seemed unstable.”

So she became a firefighter for Mesa Fire Department, remarried, and moved up to Prescott. Her younger son had some health issues, and while Julie was at work, she’d often receive phone calls that he was in the emergency room. She made the tough decision to leave firefighting and took at job at Yavapai Regional Medical Center.

Alexes Niekamp, Lessons by Lexe

#SheCan

Entrepreneur, IFL Dance Team Coach, and Miss Saguaro Title Holder Strives to Empower Youth to Go After Their Dreams … and Put in the Work

By Hilary Dartt

At 27, Alexes Niekamp’s list of achievements is impressive by any measure. She owns two successful businesses: the award-winning Lessons by Lexe dance studio and Quest Character Parties. She holds the Miss Saguaro title (a local title within the Miss Arizona organization). And, she’s the dance team coach for the Mustangs, the Northern Arizona Wranglers dance team.

Her journey hasn’t been easy; she’s worked hard for every one of her accomplishments … and the payoff is sweet.

That’s what she wants young people—especially young women—to know: “You can do it all. You deserve what the universe has to offer—but you have to put in the work.”