The MBYP Story

In October 2007, Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce CEO Helen Duncan and Karen Hill had just come back from a Chamber conference in Las Vegas. They were excited about a group which the Vegas Chamber had great success with, Young Professionals. They knew that they wanted to start their own Young Professionals group in MB and knew who they wanted to chair it, Tricia Flaherty.

Tricia is a successful local realtor with Shorewood Realtors. As an active member of the chamber, Tricia is great at the Chamber mixers and events, working the room and meeting everyone in attendance. Tricia was their woman.

When they first approached Tricia, she was hesitant. She was busy with work and her upcoming wedding to Mike Flaherty. Helen and Karen’s persistence finally won her over. “We’ll start slow, two events a year” they told her.

Manhattan Beach Young Professionals (MBYP) hosted their first event in March 2008. Now, a year and almost 20 events later the MBYP group has made a huge impact on the way professionals network not only in Manhattan Beach, but also across the South Bay.

The name can be deceiving. People from every age group attend their events. “We define Young Professionals as a state of mind” says Tricia. She goes on to say “our events offer people of all ages not only the opportunity to network with other business professionals, but to further educate people on business development.” The energy of this group is contagious.

The MB Young Professionals go beyond just networking, they also connect and give back to the community. During their first year, they raised $5,000 for Cheer for Children, a local non-profit organization that assists local families in need of temporary help with food donations, warm clothing, shoes and haircut certificates. MBYP looks forward to continued community outreach with local charities and organizations.

While Tricia has been a huge part of the groups success, she said that she could not have done it with out the help of the Chamber and her MBYP Board: Ricky Arakaki - Communications Chair, Mike Flaherty - Professional Development Chair, Isela Blair - Sponsorship Chair, Todd Anderson - Marketing Chair, Angela Park - Social Networking Chair, Board members Kimberly Blaine & Jeremy Patmon, Tracy Breshears - Official Photographer for MBYP and David Curry - Chamber Board Liaison. The MBYP Board helped to grow the group from 50 to 850+ members in the first year.  Tricia looks forward to seeing MBYP’s continued success and future growth through the years to come.