Fabi Preslar, founder and president of SPARK Publications, was inducted into the North Carolina Women Business Owners Hall of Fame Class of 2019 at a gala on May 7, 2019. Founded in 2018, the Hall of Fame honors North Carolina’s most successful female entrepreneurs and advocates who have made significant and enduring contributions for women’s entrepreneurial development in North Carolina.
Fabi Preslar moved to Charlotte by herself at age 17 with no money, car or family support – she knew no one. Working three jobs, she put herself through school and earned a degree in commercial art at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) and also soon earned her U.S. citizenship. Today, she is the founder and president of SPARK Publications, a 21-year-old independent publishing firm. She and her team help entrepreneurs, associations and corporate leaders empower their brand communications to influence their stakeholders. Custom magazines, catalogs and books created with print, digital and interactive solutions are the tools of their trade. The firm has won over 200 industry awards. Fabi has been celebrated with numerous awards for her creativity and business savvy from prestigious organizations such as NAWBO, WBENC, CPCC, The Stevie Awards and Enterprising Women magazine. Fabi contributes a great deal of her time as a mentor and guide to women business owners. She is also the publisher of b2bTRIBE, a magazine for business owners, and has authored two books, On Heaven’s Couch and Fabulous F Words of Business Ownership. She works full time with her husband of 33 years and their daughter as part of her talented team of “SPARKlers.”
The North Carolina Women Business Owners Hall of Fame initiative is coordinated and sponsored by the National Association of Women Business Owners chapters in Charlotte and Raleigh, the Small Business Association, the National Federation of Independent Business, Bank of America and many other North Carolina organizations. Previous inductees include Dale Halton, former CEO of Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company; Elizabeth Nisbet Miller, founding director of First Trust Bank; and Janice Byrant Howroyd, founder and CEO of the ActOne Group and the first African-American woman to create and run a billion-dollar business.