Maria Versluis entered the job market as a registered nurse in 2010, in the midst of the recession's strong grip. Instead of dwelling on finding a job with her degree from Northern Kentucky University, however, Versluis says she decided to make a path for herself. She opened the Pink Tulip Club, a boutique in Old Montgomery in October 2010.

Through her career at her boutique, Versluis says she's able to give the women of Cincinnati beauty options in an unparalleled manner. Standing out aesthetically, she says is all about being distinct from others. "When I order clothing for the store, I actually order just two pieces of each style," Versluis says. "Once it's sold out, I never re-order the same pieces. I think people like that it's unique – especially with the dresses I sell."

This ideal for her store fits well with Versluis' ideal of beauty, she says. "No matter what the trend is, what the runway fixates on, you really need to pick your own style and your own personality," she says. "The more you do that, the easier it is to develop your own style. If you've always liked jeans, but the fashion dictates that you need to wear skirts, look for the trends on the top - not necessarily on bottom. You can wear your jeans still."

To further this sense of individuality for women and start dialogues on beauty, fashion and health issues, Versluis started the now-inactive Women's Empowerment Club in 2010. Although Versluis says she loved the purpose of the group, she gave away the rights of leading the club to someone else once she realized the meetings were just turning into hangouts for her friends.

Versluis - a russian immigrant - tweaked the concept a bit to denote the Russian emphasis present in the group's membership and conversations. "My friend said, 'Most of the people coming are Russian anyway, so why not just make it that?'"

She continues this work now through the Fashion Russian Club. The organization meets on the third Friday of every month at the Pink Tulip Club to talk about anything from beauty to fashion to gossip. In addition to meetings, the group has also hosted a couple fashion shows, one of which had professional models. Despite the new title, the group is not for Russian-speaking people only, Versluis says.

Wherever the conversation may take the ladies during their meetings, the key point to the group is encouraging that dialogue originated in the Women's Empowerment Club, she says. She set the tone accordingly by bringing a motivational speaker to the club's first meeting. "It absolutely does have the motivational part of it: When women get together, they discuss everything," Versluis says. "From my experience, women are really willing to give advice, I think, so we talk about everything."

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