A look back at Local Women Local Business | Local Women Local Business

The Cleveland Jewish News interviewed and profiled 14 Jewish women from Greater Cleveland that started their businesses, each with a unique story to tell and special motivation to help them keep moving forward.

Here are their stories:

Jessica Kulick | IMG Jewelers

As a fourth-generation gem and jewelry expert, 38-year-old Jessica “Jessie” Kulick has much to teach her two young daughters when the time comes, but for now she is focused on maintaining the quality reputation IMG Jewelers has earned since its founding by Kulick’s paternal grandfather in 1949.

“I grew up in our family business and was almost always in the store,” at the side of her father, Steve Greenberg, Kulick said.

Janna Zborovsky | Style Vault CLE

When 63-year-old Janna Zborovsky came to the United States 30 years ago, her aunt gave her a used but perfect-conditioned Gucci handbag, a handbag she still possesses today.

“It sparked my love for designer goods,” Zborovsky, who immigrated to the Cleveland area from Uzbekistan, said. “(In Uzbekistan), brand names like Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Chanel were a fairytale.”

Carrie Miller | HFLA of Northeast Ohio

HFLA of Northeast Ohio Executive Director Carrie Miller has only been with the organization since 2021 when she was hired as its assistant director, but she is keenly aware of the organization’s roots-based principles of the Talmud.

Aligning with the tradition that a Jewish person should not demand interest on a loan, especially those who cannot afford it, Miller said the group’s main touch point is being there “for those who can’t access traditional capital.”

Erica Medina | Reprieve Spa

Business owner Erica Medina is carrying on the memory of her late friend by offering cancer patients the opportunity to enjoy an even brief respite from the daily stressors of living with the condition that claimed her friend’s life.

Medina owns Reprieve Spa in Bainbridge Township and offers a service called “Aliye’s Reprieve,” a once-a-month spa service provided to a person Medina selects from the nominations she receives.

Tracy Zwick Hammer and Sue Bell | Studio MZ Salon and Spa

Unbeknown to one another as children or even as teenagers, Tracy Zwick Hammer and Sue Bell teased and styled the hair of Barbie dolls.

Half-a-century later, the women are owners of Studio MZ Salon and Spa in Woodmere, which opened three decades ago. Named for the first letter in the last name of each woman – Bell has not married and was then known as Sue Mate – Studio MZ Salon and Spa opened in December 1993.

Inna Muravin | Engel & Völkers Distinct Real Estate

If you’ve achieved your dream of owning a home in northeast Ohio, odds are good that Inna Muravin assisted in making it happen.

Muravin, 42, and her husband, Gary, are co-owners of Engel & Völkers Distinct Real Estate in Landerwood Plaza Pepper Pike. The Germany-based real estate firm has franchises worldwide, typically catering in the luxury-home market.

Tamar Brecher and Robin McCann | Luster

When Tamar Brecher and Robin McCann started planning their gift boutique, they brainstormed dozens of possible names. Before they chose Luster, one of the ideas on a white board was “Something Awesome.”

The two friends laugh about it now, but they both admit the growth of Luster has been nothing short of awesome since it opened in 2014 at Van Aken District in Shaker Heights. In fact, they’re in the final stages of an expansion that will increase the store’s size by one-third. Now, Luster’s Market Hall space will be close to 1,300 square feet.

Dr. Jessica Katz | Center for Restorative Health and Wellness

For Dr. Jessica Katz, being a physician of one kind or another is the only thing she ever imagined.

“I can’t remember a time I didn’t want to be a doctor and help people,” Katz, a doctor of osteopathic medicine and a certified OB-GYN, said. In March, Katz and two partners opened the Center for Restorative Health and Wellness at 34305 Solon Road, Suite 55 in Solon.

Rebecca Fellenbaum | Rebecca Fellenbaum Life Coaching

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the world, in some cases permanently, in a myriad of small and big ways, including setting people on life paths they otherwise would not have explored.

Among those individuals is 44-year-old Shaker Heights resident Rebecca Fellenbaum.

In November 2023, Fellenbaum founded Rebecca Fellenbaum Life Coaching, designed to help clients find the tools to make a successful journey to get “unstuck.”

Elana Turoff Lurie | Divorce Ready

After nearly three decades as a family law attorney, with a focus on divorce and dissolution, Elana Turoff Lurie stepped away from her job as a practicing attorney during the COVID-19 pandemic, but resumed receiving clients just last month in a different capacity.

No longer an attorney providing legal advice or representing clients in negotiations with opposing counsel, Lurie founded Divorce Ready to instead help clients realize all the available options and understand what to expect before deciding to obtain an attorney and begin a divorce or dissolution.

Morgan R. Caruso | Caruso Law Offices

Morgan R. Caruso never viewed being a woman in the law field as a disadvantageous mix. Instead, the defense attorney found that it was her actions that spoke a lot louder than any of her tangible characteristics.

“I was raised to work hard, take responsibility and earn my place through preparation and consistency,” the defense attorney and owner of Caruso Law Offices said. “That mindset has shaped how I practice law and how I carry myself in every professional setting. I am aware that credibility is something you continually earn in this field, and I welcome that. I focus on the quality of my work, my judgment, and my results. Over time, those things speak for themselves.”

Marnie Katz | Epicenter ABA Therapy

As a child, 38-year-old Marnie Katz struggled in learning to read in the same manner at other students at her school but a diligent and motivated tutor helped her discover another way she could best learn.

That experience led Katz into a career in speech therapy and eventually to founding Epicenter ABA Therapy, a clinic that serves children on the autism spectrum.