Local women earn top honor
Local businesswoman Linda Taix, of Taix Workout Studio and Extreme Bootcamp, said she was stunned when she got a telephone call from Assemblyman Anthony Portantino’s office informing her she’d been selected as one of two La Cañada women to be honored as Women of the Year.
Taix’s co-honoree, Houri Aposhian, of Pacific Horizon Bancorp, also expressed surprise at the recognition.
Each year, Portantino, state Senator Jack Scott and Assemblyman Paul Krekorian honor businesswomen from across Southern California for their contribution to the economic growth and well being of the area. This year, the ceremony will be Sept. 19 at Castaways restaurant in Burbank.
Portantino said he’s proud to recognize and honor the women. “Our honorees demonstrate a wonderful diversity and depth of achievement, exhibiting attributes of success which serve as important examples for us all,” he said.
Taix and Aposhian are among 20 businesswomen to receive this year’s designation.
“I feel honored, humbled, and really blessed,” Taix said, of being selected for the recognition, and her life in general.
Taix, 47, is a lifelong Foothills resident. She founded Taix Workout Studio and Extreme Bootcamp seven years ago, and has been a supporter of several community functions throughout that time.
Athleticism has been part of her entire life, beginning with working out to Jack LaLane television shows with her mom, when she was only 3 years old. She credits her parents with teaching her discipline and the ability to stay in shape. She graduated from Holy Family High School in Glendale, where she was active in track, cheerleading and softball.
After earning an associate’s degree from Glendale Community College, she studied exercise science at the University of Southern California, where she earned a bachelor of science degree in 1994.
Her business mind pushed her beyond initial work as an aerobics instructor, she said. “I knew there had to be something more and the good Lord opened a lot of doors for me,” she added.
Taix’s Christian faith is important to her and that is what made her who she is. “It has taken a lot of prayer and guidance,” she said.
Her La Cañada business earned national recognition in 2004, when she made the front page of the Wall Street Journal. “That was the most wonderful dream,” she recalled.
Since then, a friend urged her to franchise her company, which now has 22 locations across Southern California.
Aposhian also has accomplished much in her personal and business life. She is Armenian and grew up in Beirut, Lebanon. She came to the United States as a student in 1976.
Thirty-one years ago, she married her husband, Kevorak. The couple have three children: Pattyl, 30, a vice president of marketing at Caltech; Sarkis, 26, a senior financial analyst at Kaiser; and Aleen, 18, a student at Pasadena City College.
In addition to being owner and CEO of Pacific Horizon Bancorp, Aposhian teaches mortgage finance at UCLA, is a volunteer for the Armenian Relief Society and numerous charity organizations, and is a board member of the Verdugo Hills Hospital Foundation.
She also enjoys travel and recently returned from a trip to Paris, Switzerland and Italy with her husband.
Aposhian considers herself very family-oriented, and also feels it’s her duty to empower and educate women. She said it is everyone’s duty to participate in his or her local community. “Everyone has something they can contribute,” she added.
Rich Harris, the CEO of Caltech Employees Federal Credit Union and chair of the Verdugo Hills Hospital Foundation, said he believes Aposhian is worthy of the title “Woman of the Year.”
“I have a great respect for Houri, both as a business woman and with her family,” Harris said. “She’s very, very good at what she does and she’s a wonderful addition to any group she’s involved with.”